One-Bowl Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)
Perfectly tender and slightly sweet, One-Bowl Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread comes together in just one bowl and is naturally gluten- and dairy-free. A delightful treat for breakfast, snack or dessert.
One of my favorite parts of writing this blog is recreating comfort food classics with a real food spin.
Because at the end of the day that’s what I want to eat. And what my family wants as well.
Zucchini bread is definitely on the list of comfort classics, but my go-to recipe from way back includes white flour and a crazy amount of white sugar.
I definitely reserve a little room in my life for the occasional white-flour-sugar-laden treat, but I really wanted a real food version of zucchini bread that we could enjoy more often and feel better about eating overall.
Luckily we have a zucchini plant in our yard that’s producing several zucchinis per day, so I had plenty of product to test with. I love the tenderness that zucchini lends to quick bread, and also that the final result is so yummy nobody minds eating their veggies.
You can definitely make this zucchini bread without the chocolate chips, but I added them because Elle is a chocolate monster and anything I put them in she gobbles right up. It’s a tradeoff I’m willing to make.
I originally tested this recipe in a loaf pan, resulting in a traditional, sliceable quick bread. I also tested it using a muffin pan, and loved both options.
Baking in a muffin tin shaves some time off the total cooking time and makes this treat easier to pack in lunch boxes, so feel free to use whatever method best meets your needs.
If you’re lucky enough to have fresh zucchinis available, they are a must in this recipe. If it happens to be the dead of winter when a craving for this hits, though, grab a zucchini from the store and transport yourself right back to summer.
Now, let’s make some One-Bowl Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread!
RECIPE & KID-FRIENDLY ADAPTATIONS
1 | Peel the zucchini if you want it to avoid green flecks in the bread.
2 | Swap raisins for chocolate chips to make this recipe completely refined sugar free.
THIS RECIPE IS . . .
Naturally Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Naturally Sweetened and Vegetarian
One-Bowl Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)
Ingredients
- ¼ cup melted coconut oil, plus more for greasing the pan
- 2 large eggs
- ⅓ cup unsweetened applesauce
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cup oat flour*
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup loosely packed grated zucchini, from about 1 small zucchini
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips, plus more for topping**
Equipment
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350F.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, eggs, applesauce, maple syrup, and vanilla extract.
- Add the oat flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir gently until just incorporated. Add the zucchini and stir again until just combined.
- Add in the chocolate chips and stir to combine.
- Pour the batter into a greased 9×5 inch loaf pan.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the edges begin to pull away from the sides and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then cool the rest of the way on a cooling rack prior to slicing.
Notes
Nutrition Information:
Nutrition disclaimerThis post contains affiliate links
If I wanted to use white or whole wheat flour instead of oat would the amount be the same? Thx!
I haven’t tested the recipe with wheat flour, but I’m guessing it would work. Whole wheat flour would probably be the closest substitute. Let us know how it works out if you give it a try!
I used whole wheat and white flour since I didn’t need it gluten-free and I was too lazy to mill the oats 🙂 I got 12 large muffins that were so so good! And not like "good for a no sugar/butter recipe". These were so super moist and delicious! I also did blueberries instead of chocolate chips so I could give it to my 16mo for breakfast. I will be making another batch again this weekend to take to a brunch. Thank you!!!
Great to know the recipe works with whole wheat and white flour. So glad it was a hit. Love the sub of blueberries. I hope you all enjoy! 🙂
YUM!!! So tasty! It’s been the perfect breakfast and snack thus far this week. Thank you!!
Yay, so glad you enjoyed Emma! 🙂
I made these last night. They turned out great! The recipe was easy to follow, and I already had all the ingredients in my kitchen. Thanks for putting together such a simple, yummy recipe!
I’m so happy you enjoyed Stacy! 🙂
I made these as muffins and they were delicious! Thank you!
Yay, so glad you enjoyed Ashley!
What can I use in place of the applesauce? Here, in Ireland, applesauce is hard to find. What I can find is not at all similar to unsweetened US applesauce. I always. Avoid recipes that call for it, but this looks so good and I’ve a fridge full of zucchini….
Amanda, try upping the coconut oil and maple syrup to make up for the apple sauce. Hope you enjoy!
Could you sub butter for the coconut oil at the same rate?
Brianna, I haven’t tested this recipe with butter but I believe it will work. If you try it let us know how it goes!
Is there a good sub for coconut oil? Can I just use another oil?
April, melter butter will work well or avocado oil might work as well.
hi 🙂 looking forward to making this recipe. Can I substitute my local unfiltered honey instead of the syrup? If so, would it be the same amount? Also, if I have jumbo or Texas size muffin tins how much do you think I should put in each muffin cup? I would imagine the 1/4 cup wouldn’t be quite enough. Thanks!
Hi Tracy, you should be able to use the honey in the same amount, though you may need to warm it first so it incorporates well. The muffins will have a stronger honey flavor, but that should be fine. In terms of the jumbo sized cups, just fill to nearly the top of each. You’ll probably need to add some additional time to baking as well, just add time until a toothpick comes out clean. Hope you enjoy!
Delicious GF bread! My kids adore the chocolate chips in it and I of course, love the zucchini and that it’s healthy. I had to bake another 10 minutes and it was still a tad bit undone in the middle. Thanks for the great recipe.
Krista, so glad you and your crew are enjoying this one! I’m glad you added a little cooking time–zucchini can very in moisture content, so always good to keep adding until the center is done. Hope you continue to enjoy!
This looks SO yummy! I’m looking for a good zucchini-banana bread recipe. Would you recommend subbing banana in place of the chocolate chips?
Katie, I think swapping banana for chocolate chips would add too much moisture. You could try swapping mashed ripe banana for half the zucchini, though. If you try it let us know how it turns out!
So good. I can’t wait to share with my church group friends.
Yay, I hope everyone enjoys! 🙂
So glad you’ve come up with healthy options that are still enjoyable for the whole fam. Doing a bake-a-thon to use zucchini & also did half zucchini and half shredded carrots. Smells delish!!
Zoe, yay, so glad this was a hit with your crew. Love the idea of a bake-a-thon. Hope you continue to enjoy!
Delicious! And today, my daughter and her friend tried the recipe completely on their own (I melted the coconut oil and did the oven stuff, but that’s it). Turned out perfectly! (She also made your double chocolate brownies–twice, because they were so good!)
Lisa, LOVE that! So fun that they are cooking on their own. And yay for double chocolate brownies. 🙂
I made these as muffins
Added some psyllium husk and made the oat flour from scratch out of ancient grains rolled oats.
They taste good. But the mix was really dry so I added some milk. The muffins are very rubbery and doughy. I feel like the oat flour just absorbed all the liquid it’s quite strange.
Need to experiment some more but the taste is good 🙂
Hi Jesslyn, you definitely changed the recipe quite a bit so I’d expect they might not come out. Psyllium husk will definitely pull all the moisture out. Might wan’t to skip that ingredient.
Thank you Robyn! For me this made 8 muffins and I used mini chocolate chips. They are beautiful and so tasty!!
Michelle, yay, so happy to hear these are a hit. Love the idea of using mini chocolate chips. Yum!
This zucchini bread was great and so easy to make! I have lots of dietary restrictions so I was thrilled when I found a nostalgic recipe I could actually enjoy. I made this for my mother (no restrictions) and me; she absolutely loved it! Personally, I jazzed it up a little extra with some walnuts and cinnamon which were simply scrumptious. Thank for you such wonderful recipes that taste good while also making us feel good! 😊 ❤️
Juli, yay, so happy you and your mother were both able to enjoy this recipe. I’m all for the extra walnuts and cinnamon, too. Yum! Here’s to feeling good!
These muffins came out tender and just the right balance of sweet for me and the kids. I did make a double batch, using 2 regular eggs and 2 chia eggs. (1 T chia seeds + 3 T water = 1 “egg”). Next time I’ll try with just chia eggs and report back, but I usually have success with them in muffin recipes.
Yay, so happy to hear these were a hit, Lauren! Great note on the chia eggs, super helpful for others who want to make these egg free. Let me know how it goes next time, too. Thanks so much for leaving a review!