This chocolate zucchini bread is dense, moist, and has a decadently rich chocolate flavor. Starting out with this recipe, I then did a little fiddling. I scrapped the honey and increased the brown sugar. I used butter where they called for oil. And I doubled the amount of vanilla and espresso powder. If you don’t have espresso powder or instant coffee, leave it out, but the coffee really enhances the chocolate flavor. The loaf doesn’t taste a bit like coffee, I promise.
Dark Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar, packed
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder (also called black cocoa)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder or instant coffee granules
- 2 cups grated zucchini (about 2 medium zucchinis; do not wring out the liquid)
- 1 cup dark chocolate chunks (or semi-sweet baking bits)
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F degrees and grease a 9” x 5” loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- Mix together the melted butter and the brown sugar until smooth and glossy, and then add the eggs and vanilla. Stir until fully incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and espresso powder. Then add to the butter mixture and stir well. Batter will be very thick.
- Using a sturdy spoon, mix the zucchini and chocolate chunks.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pan and then spread batter into all corners of the pan; smooth the top evenly. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the loaf cool for 15 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack. Serve warm or room temperature.
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USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR DONNA FASANO is a three-time winner of the HOLT Medallion, a CataRomance Reviewers Choice Award winner for Best Single Title, a Desert Rose Golden Quill Award finalist, a Golden Heart finalist, and a two-time winner of Best Romance of the Year given by BigAl’s Books & Pals Review Blog. Her books have sold nearly 4 million copies worldwide and have been published in two dozen languages. Her books have made the Kindle Top 100 Paid List numerous times, climbing as high as #5.
