My husband loves to eat little zucchini and won’t touch the big ones that I wait a bit too long to pick, so I’ve been baking zucchini bread for the last few months. There have been lots of great zucchini recipes posted this summer and I tried many of them. I was especially attracted to the recipes that didn’t use as much oil. Maria from Two Peas and Their Pod posted a delicious, healthy version with cranberries, whole wheat flour and applesauce to replace some of the oil.
Sara from Our Best Bites posted a chocolate zucchini bread that she described as “so light and moist and chocolaty that it’s pretty much cake in a loaf pan.” Declaring it “the one.” How could I not try “the one.”
I love her version too. I loved it so much in fact that I made five different versions of it. Her original Chocolate Chocolate Chip with cinnamon topping, Chocolate Chocolate Chip without cinnamon (my kids favorite), her Spiced Zucchini Bread with a hint of orange, Orange Cherry Zucchini Bread with orange oil and cardamom, and my favorite version, inspired by Hilda’s guest post on Jamie’s blog Life’s a Feast, Coconut Chocolate Zucchini Bread.
Fortunately, I have lots of nice neighbors who were happy to have a loaf of homemade zucchini bread no matter what the flavor. If you still have zucchini in your garden, gives this one a try!
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
- 1/2 t. salt
- 1 1/2 t. baking soda
- 6 T. unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1 C. sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 t. vanilla
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 3 c. grated zucchini
- 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut
- 1/3 cup shredded coconut
- 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2 loaf pans and set aside.
- Combine flour, salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder in a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
- Beat eggs, oil, sugars, and vanilla for about 30 seconds. Add sour cream and beat to combine. Mix in zucchini and coconut.
- Add dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Divide batter between 2 pans. Sprinkle coconut and chocolate chips on top of batter in pans. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. (I used 4 mini loaf pans and baked them for about 35 minutes.)
- Rest on a cooling rack for at least 10 minutes before you remove it from the pan. Be careful not to burn yourself on the hot chocolate chips when removing it from the pan!
Notes
adapted from Our Best Bites
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I love to bake, especially cookies, cakes, and pies. I’ll post my adventures in the kitchen, my favorite new recipes, as well as our family favorites.
Oh how I wish I was your neighbor! Those all look so amazing! I'd like to order 1 loaf of the coconut version, okay?
Like Sara said above, I'm thinking about moving in next door!
These loaves look delicious — love the topping!
This bread seems so nice and delicious!
What an excellent taste combo!! I'll bet it is hard to "leave it alone" on the counter…haha
I'm thinking that I am going to have to pick my family up and move to your neighborhood! This chocolate coconut look wonderful, and the other variations sound just as good!
Zucchini bread just gets better and better. This one is irristible. Love the addition of coconut and chips.
Coconut and chips sound delicious. I have no more zucchini left or else I would whip this up today for my neighbor. I have an elderly single gentleman in my neighborhood that I use as my official taste taster. I get to bake and enjoy a taste of the cake with him and he gets fat and I stay slim:)
Joyce
Wow! That is a lot of bread! They all sound and look fabulous. You definitely have lucky neighbors!
Why was i not living next door then i would have also got one of these delicous loafs.
Wow..superb..Last week on FIT tv i watched an episode making Choco Zucchini Cake.. liked the color,looks perfect ,yummm
Those look so pretty!
The Queen of Tocks does not reveal her own.
You are just so prolific and creative. All looks simply incredibly!
Good gracious Barbara, 5 different versions!? Wow! This looks amazing, and I've tried that one from Our Best Bites and it's good. I just haven't gotten it up on the blog yet LOL
I love cooking and baking with zucchini. I am always looking for new recipes. This is a winner. Thanks Barbara. Great@!
coconut, chocolate and zucchini?! what a wonderful combo, this looks delicious!
I now know what my zucchini bread is missing. YOUR TOPPING!! I will definitely have to try it. Thanks for sharing because it takes zucchini bread to another level. YUMMY!
ooh sounds interesting and different – I guess it's the same idea as carrot cake though, I made one yesterday, yum!! Must try this next! xxx
Yum! I like how this deliciously combines fall and summer flavors. All five versions do sound delicious.
Hey! I want one of those neighbors! I haven't baked any of these fabulous cakes or breads this season – I need to get on the ball!
I have had chocolate zucchini bread before but never with added coconut…delicious!!!
Your loaves are picture perfect!
Now that's my kind of bread. I will be making this soon.
Those are really pretty loaves! I made a chocolate coconut cake today as well!
I gotta try that chocolate coconut version. They are so pretty sitting there in their pans!
Awesome recipe!!! Made this twice on the wnekeed, and every time it was a huge hit. Very simple to make, and the kids loved it even though it was loaded with Zucchini and all good things!I used the large chocolate chip since that’s all i had on hand, but it still tasted great!
Wow, you made so many loaves! I wish I'm one of your neighbors right now
I was baking yesterday and my husband requested something with coconut. I already had a cookie recipe I was going to try so put the coconut on the back burner. I am going to try this soon as it looks great!
Sounds so good! I’ve never tried to actually make zucchini bread (even thought I love it), I think I’ll give this recipe a shot
!