Celebrate National Zucchini Bread Day with these oh so delicious Chocolate Zucchini Bread Mini Loaves. Made with whole wheat, no oil, and no refined sugar(without the chocolate chips).
Tomorrow is National Zucchini Bread Day, which works out perfectly since we're heading into season and beginning to see loads of them in our weekly produce box. Once you've grilled, sautéed, and zoodled all the zucchini you care to, homemade bread is a great way to use up the bounty. These Chocolate Zucchini Bread Mini Loaves(or muffins) are deliciously sweet and deceptively healthy. I just love sneaky veggies!
This recipe is different from the typical zucchini bread recipes out there in that it has far less sugar and contains no eggs, butter, or oil. Instead of white sugar I went with coconut sugar and reduced the amount typically used considerably. The result is just sweet enough without being cavity inducing.
My favorite way to add moisture without oil to baked goods is with avocado. This trick works perfectly to keep the loaf from being dry and to produce a nice fluffy texture even with whole wheat flour.
Shredded zucchini also adds moisture to the loaf as well as a healthy serving of veggie goodness. I'm all for getting the veggies in anywhere and everywhere I can and this loaf makes it easy even with picky eaters. If you have fussy eaters or skeptics in your house like we do, I promise the zucchini is undetectable aside from the green speckles through out.
To make things even faster, use a food processor to quickly "shred" zucchini into very small bits like above.
As is, these mini loaves are refined sugar free, but if you want to make them a little extra special vegan chocolate chips do the trick. I like these. Of course, chocolate is totally optional, but there is a certain happiness that comes with biting into a slightly melted pocket of chocolate. Mmmm.
Don't have a mini loaf pan? No problem, you can use a muffin pan too. Just check the muffins after 20 minutes and adjust cooking time to avoid over baking.
If you try this recipe, let me know how it turns out! Leave a comment below or snap a pic and tag it @weelittlevegans on Instagram so I’ll be sure to see it!
Celebrate National Zucchini Bread Day with these oh so delicious Chocolate Zucchini Bread Mini Loaves. Made with whole wheat, no oil, and no refined sugar(without the chocolate chips).
- 1 ⅓ cup white whole wheat flour
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder
- 3 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 flax eggs (2 tablespoon ground flax seed + 4 tablespoon water)
- ¾ cup coconut sugar
- ¾ cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 1 ½ cup shredded zucchini, excess moisture drained
- ¼ cup vegan chocolate chips + more for topping optional
- 1 avocado
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line or grease mini loaf or muffin pan. Set aside.
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Prepare flax eggs and set aside to thicken while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
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Grate zucchini using a box grater or a food processor. Squeeze out excess moisture.
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In a large bowl whisk together flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.
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Combine avocado flesh, coconut sugar, and almond milk in a food processor until smooth. Add flax eggs.
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Add avocado mixture to dry ingredients and stir just to combine.
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Fold in zucchini and chocolate chips.
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Scoop batter into loaf or muffin pan filling ⅔ of each well. Top with additional chocolate chips, if using.
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Bake for for 22- 24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and tops spring back when touched.
For full instructions on how to make flax eggs check out this how to guide.
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