Walnut Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
I love zucchini bread. Zucchini bread is my banana bread. You will not find any banana recipes on this website, sorry not sorry. But I will make up for that with things like this walnut chocolate chip zucchini bread which will have you saying banana bread who?
Zucchini bread is a great option when you want a bread without yeast. Quick breads are one of my favorite things to gift to friends for special occasions. While zucchini may not impart any flavor on it’s baked goods – an excellent fact to get vegetable haters to try it, it does lend itself for a fantastic texture. It adds tons of moisture to make sure your loaf isn’t too dry. Plus, you can also say you had vegetables for breakfast!
To make this chocolate chip zucchini bread I first took my Chai Spice Zucchini Muffins and adjusted some ratios to work better as a loaf. While some muffin recipes can work either way without changes, my muffins as a loaf were a little too dense.
Baking Tips
Make sure not to overmix your batter. Overmixing can lead to gluten overdevelopment which is not what you want. Stir until just combined and there are no dry bits left.
I baked this with both milk and semi sweet chocolate, both were great. Milk chocolate will be sweeter but you can use your favorite variety. I like to add a few extra chocolate chips to the top of the loaf before baking. Additionally, you can use a chopped chocolate bar instead of chocolate chips. If you don’t like nuts, feel free to omit or substitute with another nut like pistachios, or pecans.
This loaf does have a long bake time but you do not want to under bake. Under baking can lead to the center of your loaf sinking as it cools. Personally, I always err on the side of slightly over baking rather than under when it comes to loaf cakes. If you wanted to speed up the baking time you could also bake mini loaves which would reduce your baking time. I did also test baking this zucchini bread in a slightly larger pan (a 9×5) and it only marginally reduced bake time by about 10 minutes.
Walnut Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread Key Ingredients
- Zucchini – When grating the zucchini, use a coarse grater, without blotting the zucchini. I have previously made this with blotting and honestly the extra moisture by not was minimal and welcomed.
- Chocolate – Whatever kind of chocolate you’d like is what you can use. Dark, semi sweet, or milk chocolate will all work. The darker the chocolate, the less sweet the bread will be though. Or use a mix!
- Oil – While many things I’m an advocate of using butter or butter and oil, my zucchini bread it’s always just oil. Oil gives the perfect texture, and the flavor comes from the other ingredients. Use a neutral oil like canola or vegetable.
Ingredients
- 280 g AP Flour 2⅓ cup
- 1 tsp Sea salt
- ½ tsp Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- ½ tsp Baking soda
- 150 g Dark brown sugar ¾ cup
- 50 g Granulated sugar ¼ cup
- 155 g Vegetable oil ¾ cup
- 2 large Eggs room temperature
- ½ tbsp Vanilla
- 200 g Grated zucchini ~1 large/ 1 ⅓ medium zucchini
- 130 g Chocolate chips ¾ cup
- 90 g Chopped walnuts ¾ cup
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F.Line a 8.5×4.5 loaf pan with parchment. If you have not already, grate your zucchini.
- In a medium bowl, add flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and baking soda and whisk together. Set aside.280 g AP Flour | 1 tsp Sea salt | ½ tsp Cinnamon | 1 tsp Baking powder | ½ tsp Baking soda
- In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, granulated sugar oil and mix.150 g Dark brown sugar | 50 g Granulated sugar | 155 g Vegetable oil
- Add your eggs and mix until eggs are homogenous with the sugar mixture. You can use a whisk or a spatula, you don't need to use a mixer.2 large Eggs
- Add your grated zucchini and vanilla and stir together.200 g Grated zucchini | ½ tbsp Vanilla
- Add in your dry ingredients and stir until mostly combined, then add walnuts and chocolate chips and mix until evenly distributed and no dry bits of flour are left.130 g Chocolate chips | 90 g Chopped walnuts
- Pour your batter into the prepared pan. I like to add a handful of chocolate chips and walnuts to the top for visual interest but it's not necessary.
- Place on the center rack of your oven and bake for 60-70 minutes. If baking in a 9×5 pan, reduce your bake time by about 10-15 minutes. A toothpick will come out cleanly and an internal thermometer probe will read 190°F.
- Remove from oven and let cool in pan for about 30-45 minutes. Remove loaf from pan and onto a wire rack to finish cooling. Let bread completely cool before slicing. Store in an airtight container, enjoy!
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