Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

From breakfast pastry to delightful dessert, chocolate chip zucchini bread is a slice of deliciousness anytime. Wondering what to bring to a dinner party, school bake sale, family potluck or housewarming? This recipe makes two loaves—one to keep and one to give away—so dessert is also covered at home.

Making zucchini bread is one of the best ways to use your garden bounty of one of the most popular types of summer squash. It’s fantastic when made in the dog days of summer, but you can just as easily make it year-round.

As part of the quick bread family, chocolate chip zucchini bread recipe doesn’t use yeast, and it has a texture that resembles a muffin or cake. Zucchini’s role is more about moisture than flavor. Its presence gives your bread the perfect tender texture. This bread is a versatile and crowd-pleasing treat with a hint of vanilla, cinnamon, allspice and the all-important addition of chocolate chips.

Ingredients for Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

• Zucchini: Many people save the overgrown zucchini for zucchini bread, but remember. The bigger the zucchini, the higher the water content. You don’t want too much water in your bread. Choose smaller squash if you can, and squeeze out the excess water after you have grated them.
• Sugar: Granulated sugar adds sweetness and helps caramelize the bread, giving it a flawless finish with a beautiful, brown crust.
• All-purpose flour: You have many options for different types of flour, but all-purpose works great in this bread.
• Ground cinnamon and allspice: These warm baking spices accentuate the sugar and chocolate accents.
• Baking soda and baking powder: Without yeast, these two powerhouses act as the leavening agent, making these loaves rise and expand.
• Salt: Salt balances the sweetness and spotlights the chocolate.
  
• Eggs: Grade A large eggs are best for baking. Take them out of the fridge for about 30 minutes before mixing with the other ingredients. Here’s why you should always bake with room-temperature eggs.
• Canola oil: Unlike butter, which can solidify as it cools, oil remains liquid at room temperature, ensuring the bread stays soft and moist even after it has cooled.
• Vanilla extract: The sweet taste and fragrance of vanilla extract amplify the most delicious aspects of the other ingredients.
• Semisweet chocolate chips: Chocolate takes this zucchini bread recipe to the next level of sweetness, just knocking on the door of dessert. I love mini chips because they spread out better in the batter, but any size will do. Nestle Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels are the most common and best chocolate chips, but any brand will do.
• Raisins: The raisins are optional in this recipe, but for me, they’re a must-have when I make zucchini bread with chocolate chips. They break up the mouthfeel and add a divine burst of fruit flavor.

Directions

Step 1: Mix the dry mixture

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Preheat the oven to 325°F. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, baking powder and allspice.

Step 2: Mix in the wet mixture

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In a separate small bowl, beat the eggs, zucchini, oil and vanilla.

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Stir the wet mixture into the dry mixture until moistened.

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Then, fold in the chocolate chips and, if desired, the raisins.

Editor’s Tip: Mixing your dry ingredients separately from your wet ingredients ensures that your ingredients evenly disburse throughout your batter and don’t get clumpy. And don’t overmix. The more you mix your batter, the more you strengthen the gluten, creating an ultra-dense bread.

Step 3: Bake the loaves

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Pour the batter into two greased 8×4-inch loaf pans. Bake the loaves for 60 to 65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pans to wire racks.

Editor’s Tip: Zucchini has a ton of moisture, which is why it makes such a great loaf of bread, but it also means it might take longer to cook. Give your loaves the toothpick test after an hour in the oven (don’t try to rush it; it’s unlikely to be done early). If your toothpick comes out gooey, check back in increments of five minutes. Are the loaf tops getting a little too brown, but does the inside still need time to cook? Tent a piece of aluminum foil over the pans to keep your crust from burning.

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Recipe Variations

• Make double-chocolate chip zucchini bread: Add chocolate chips to our chocolate zucchini bread recipe for even more chocolatey goodness.
• Go nuts: Adding nuts to the loaf expands the flavor profile with an earthy, nutty flavor. I also love pecans, pistachios, almonds and chopped cashews for zucchini bread.
• Add some fruit: Have some leftover blueberries around? Throw them in the batter instead of raisins!
• Get rid of the gluten: Your results will still be fabulous if you use gluten-free flour.
• Expand your zucchini zone: Zucchini will add moisture to all your quick breads. It’s not surprising that there are legions of zucchini bread variations, both savory and sweet. Keep it simple with lemony zucchini bread, or try something savory with parmesan zucchini bread. Want many mini-loafs? We have your baking pan conversions!

How to Store Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

Store chocolate chip zucchini bread in an airtight container or zip-top bag. It will be good at room temperature for three to five days. If your bread is particularly moist, store it in the refrigerator.

How to Freeze Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

If you want to keep chocolate chip zucchini bread longer, freeze it. Make sure the bread is completely cooled, then wrap (either an entire loaf or slices) tightly in storage wrap or foil, and place in a zip-top bag or airtight container. Two layers of protection will prevent any freezer burn. Once frozen, zucchini bread is good for about three months. When it’s time to defrost, unwrap the bread, and let it thaw on the countertop.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread Tips

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How do you shred zucchini for zucchini bread?

The best way to grate zucchini is whichever way is fastest! I like to use a plain old box grater (on the side with the largest holes) to grate zucchini. Now, you don’t have to peel zucchini for this bread. The green bits of skin add a nice bit of color to the bread. Food processors with a grating attachment also come in handy for this task.

Zucchini is mostly water, and we don’t want our bread to be soggy, so squeezing excess water from the shreds is an important step, especially if your zucchini is on the larger side. Take a tea towel, spread the grated zucchini on it, roll up the towel and squeeze. This should remove some of the moisture. You can press it through a mesh sieve if that’s easier.

Why is my zucchini bread falling apart?

If you slice zucchini bread warm, it will likely crumble and not hold its shape. For that coffee shop-clean cut, let it cool completely and then put it in the fridge for a couple of hours before slicing. Using a serrated bread knife helps.

How do you prevent zucchini bread from collapsing?

To avoid the heartbreak of a loaf that sinks after baking, max your ingredients gently and only as long as it takes for them to come together. And don’t forget your leavening ingredients, baking powder and baking soda! Too much, too little, or none at all will affect your loaf’s height.