Vegan Chocolate Zucchini Bread (Gluten Free option)
Dense, moist, ultra-rich and chocolatey - everything you want out of a chocolate treat, plus it somehow contains TWO full zucchinis! And of course undetectably vegan and gluten free. Cake for dinner, anyone??!
Ingredients
- 1 packed and heaping cup grated zucchini
- ¾ cup non-dairy milk
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 2/3 cup neutral oil
- 3 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp granulated sugar *if you want a sugar free option, this links to my favorite sweetener, you can substitute it 1:1 in place of regular granulated sugar
- 1 2/3 cups gluten free flour can sub all-purpose if desired. This links to my favorite store bought gluten free flour blend that works best with all of my recipes, or see "Ingredients Needed" section for further info.
- ¼ cups cornstarch see notes
- 2/3 cups cocoa powder see notes
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ½ heaping tsp salt
- chocolate chips and/or nuts optional, to mix in the batter and/or sprinkle over the top
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and line a 9x5 loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Grate the zucchini, measure out the correct amount, then lay out on paper towels to blot dry. I let mine stay on the paper towels while I prep the rest of the batter so it continues to seep out moisture. You don't want it bone dry, but also if it's too wet it could alter the consistency of the batter.
- Make the vegan buttermilk by measuring out ¾ cup non-dairy milk, then adding 1 tsp of vinegar. Let it sit for a few minutes to curdle.
- While the buttermilk is curdling, in a large bowl mix together flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder. See notes below or more details throughout the post about how to swap out the cornstarch, or use some Dutch cocoa powder in place of a little bit of the regular cocoa powder.
- Separately whisk together vegan buttermilk, neutral oil, applesauce, and vanilla extract. Add in sugar and whisk again until smooth, then add the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until just combined.
- Finally, add in the zucchini (and chocolate chips or nuts if you are using any), and mix until evenly distributed throughout the batter. Try not to overmix or the batter will get tough!
- Pour the batter into the lined loaf pan and stick into the oven. Bake for 55-60 minutes, testing for doneness by sticking a toothpick into the middle part of the loaf and making sure it comes out with crumbs, not wet batter.
- Once done, remove the pan from the oven and stick it onto a cooling rack. Let the cake continue to firm and cool inside the pan for an hour before removing to further cool, or eat while it's warm.
- Eat and enjoy!
Notes
- If you don't have cornstarch, you can absolutely just use more flour in its place, but I like adding a certain amount of cornstarch into gluten free goods like this to give them a softer feel, more like as if you'd used cake flour.
- Use regular cocoa powder here, NOT Dutch. However, if you want to swap out a few tbsp of the regular cocoa powder and swap in a few tbsp of Dutch cocoa powder to give it a richer chocolate flavor, you can do that.
NUTRITION INFO
Total amount: 1 loaf
Serving size: 10 slices
Per serving amounts: (note - this does not account for any chocolate chips or nuts you may include in your own)- Calories - 336
- Grams of fat - 16.2
- Grams of carbs - 47.1
- Grams of protein - 3.7
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!