Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

Summer is quickly coming to an end, but fresh zucchini is still plentiful and it’s a shame not to put it to good use.

This year, I’ve cooked more with zucchini than ever before. You see, I actually like zucchini, while it’s not my husband’s favorite vegetable. It’s a tug of war around here when I suggest we have grilled zucchini as a side dish when we cook outdoors.

Even so, I’ve managed to squeeze in a few zucchini recipes here and there that he actually enjoyed like my Easy Skillet Vegetable Lasagna and this Summer Squash and Zucchini Casserole. It was cheesy, so that won him over!

It didn’t take quite so much arm twisting to get him to try today’s Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread, though. The zucchini is disguised inside a desert-like loaf and is loaded with chocolate chips, after all!

How to make zucchini bread

This recipe is super simple to prepare and makes just one loaf, which is perfect for our two-person household. It’s simple enough to double the recipe, though, and the bread freezes well, too.

1. Dry ingredients. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl.
2. Shred a medium zucchini. Use a box grated to shred the zucchini, peel and all, into another bowl. Some recipes tell you to squeeze out the moisture, but you want to leave it in this recipe.
3. Wet ingredients. To the zucchini bowl, add melted butter (no oil in this recipe), sugar, vanilla extract, and eggs.
4. Stir it all together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredient bowl and stir just until moistened. Then, fold in chocolate chips and nuts, if you like. You can use either regular or mini chocolate chips in this recipe.
5. Sugar on top. Prepare a loaf pan by coating with cooking spray. I also like to put a piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan because sometimes the chocolate chips still want to stick. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. The sugar will bake into a nice crispy, sugary top.
6. Bake and cool. Bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes or so, and let cool completely to room temperature before slicing. This loaf is actually best eaten the next day.