Rich, moist chocolate chocolate chip zucchini bread with tart dried cherries dressed up as a bundt cake.  Chocolate zucchini bread is my favorite way to eat zucchini. 

As soon as my son saw the giant zucchini on the counter he begged me to make him his favorite Chocolate Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread with dried cherries. We all love that zucchini bread recipe, but I always feel a pull to make something new for the blog. I decided a fun way to change it up was by baking it in half sized bundt pans.

When I went to the pantry, all the dried cherries were gone. I usually have a Costco size bag on hand, so I substituted Craisins (another huge Costco bag that’s always in my pantry.) The dried cranberries tasted great, but the dried cherries add just a little bit more flavor.

I always sift cocoa when I’m using it, to avoid having lumps of cocoa in my batter. And when make zucchini bread, I always get out the salad spinner and spin out as much water as I can.

The zucchini bundt cake was a big hit. My son even hid some in the back of the pantry goodie bin so there would be some left for him to take to work the next day.

If you wanted, you could even add a simple chocolate glaze to dress up the bread even more.

Yield: 12-16 Servings

Chocolate Zucchini Bundt Cake

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Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 3 cups grated zucchini*
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (can use mini as well)
• 1 cup dried cherries cut in half (or dried cranberries)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2 half size or a full size bundt pan and set aside.
2. Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
3. In large mixing bowl, beat sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla until well blended. Add sour cream and beat until well blended.
4. Add dry ingredients and mix just until combine. Mix in zucchini, chocolate chips coated in 2 tablespoons flour, and dried fruit.
5. Divide batter between pans. Bake half size bundts for 35 minutes; full size bundt for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
6. Cool 5 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan, and cool completely on a wire rack before cutting.

Notes

*Tip: I like to use a salad spinner to spin out excess water in the zucchini. You could also wrap it in towel and squeeze out excess water.