Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Chocolate Chips

Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Chocolate Chips is a great dessert recipe to use up all your zucchini! This Chocolate Zucchini Cake is dense, tender and loaded with chocolate chips. No worries. You won’t even know it has zucchini in it, it just adds moisture! Even with sneaky vegetables it’s amazingly rich and decadent.

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This Zucchini Cake is a family favorite dessert along with our famous Zucchini Bread. If you are a chocolate lover then don’t miss out on Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread. Remember to welcome fall flavors in with this to-die-for Apple Zucchini Bread!

Every summer I prepare for all of the zucchini we’ll get from friends and neighbors because (and if you garden you know this!) it’s grows like crazy and we often open our front door to see a bag of zucchini left by someone who had too much to use themselves. It’s all right by me because I love fresh zucchini and one of my favorite ways to use it is in this Chocolate Zucchini Cake!

Oh, sure, we love to grill it and roast it for savory recipes but, seriously, I love to use zucchini in cakes and quick bread. It adds so much moisture and you can’t even taste it. My kids gobble this cake up and they don’t even know there’s zucchini in it! All they know is that it’s rich and chocolatey with lots of chocolate chips.

There are two whole cups of grated zucchini in it that adds tons of moisture to the cake, but you don’t even know it’s in there. It has the best chocolate flavor and it’s topped with semi-sweet chocolate chops that melt over on top of the cake as it bakes, so you don’t need any frosting – it’s so rich all on its own!

Why this recipe works

• The zucchini adds so much moisture to the cake and you can’t taste it.
• It freezes great! Make a few extra cakes and pop them in the freezer for up to three months.
• With both cocoa powder and chocolate chips everyone will love this chocolatey cake.
• It’s an easy recipe that anyone can make.

Ingredients Needed

If you’d rather skip my (very helpful, I think) tips and tricks, essential cooking info, and similar recipe ideas – and get straight to this delicious easy recipe – simply scroll to the bottom of the page where you can find the printable recipe card.

• Butter
• Canola oil
• White sugar
• Eggs
• Buttermilk
• Vanilla
• Flour
• Cocoa powder
• Baking powder
• Salt
• Zucchini
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips

Steps to Prepare

• First things first! I use two bowls for this chocolate zucchini cake: one to combine the wet ingredients and one to combine the dry ingredients together. This makes it so much easier to add the dry ingredients to the wet ones without over mixing the batter! If you over mix the batter the cake won’t be as tender so it’s worth the extra bowl!

Mix Wet Ingredients

• After you cream the butter and sugar together with the oil and eggs add the buttermilk and vanilla.

Sift Dry Ingredients

• Sift the flour with the cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.

Combine

• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and stir just until combined. Gently stir in shredded zucchini.

Bake

• You can use one 9×13-inch baking pan or two 8×8-inch baking pans to bake the cake. Just pour the batter into the pan(s) and sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top of the batter.
• If you use a 9×13-inch pan, bake the cake for  40 to 45 minutes at 350F. If you use 8×8-inch pans, bake the cakes at the same temperature but only for 35 minutes.

How to Freeze

• Make sure the cake is completely cooled. If you freeze it when it’s still warm it will release moisture as it cools and make it soggy.
• We recommend wrapping it tightly in plastic wrap and then foil after that. I even go the extra mile and place it in a resealable gallon bag if I make the 8” x 8” size cake. Another layer of protection never hurts to prevent freezer burn.
• Make sure you label it so you know what it is after you put it in the freezer!

Tips and Tricks!

• What I love about baking with zucchini is that it adds so much moisture. Depending on what you’re making you can’t taste it at all, like this chocolate zucchini cake. Zucchini is mostly water so when it bakes in the cake it releases all of its moisture and practically disappears therefore you don’t need as much oil in recipes with zucchini.
• You don’t have to peel the zucchini first, just grate it and you’re done! You can use a box grater or you can use the grating attachment on your food processor to grate the zucchini.
• You don’t want to chop the zucchini with a knife because the pieces will be too big and the zucchini won’t disappear into the cake.
• You need two cups of grated zucchini for this recipe and it’s a good idea to use small to medium-sized zucchinis. Big zucchini often have a lot of seeds, which you can remove but it just adds one more step. You don’t need to worry about the seeds with smaller ones and you can just grate them up.
• Don’t squeeze the grated zucchini to remove the moisture! You want all of that moisture to be in the cake.
• Don’t worry about tasting the zucchini in the cake. No one will ever know it’s in there if you don’t want them too.
• I’ve already mentioned it, but for the best chocolate zucchini cake use two bowls to make the cake! I know it means one more bowl to wash, but I promise it makes a big difference. The texture of the cake will be so much better because when you use two bowls you don’t have to worry about over mixing the cake.
• Once you add the dry ingredients to the wet ones you want to mix the batter until it’s just combined. That way you won’t overwork the flour and your cake will be a lot more tender.
• You can make one big cake or two smaller ones just be sure to note the bake times depending on the pan size you use. Two 8×8 cakes will need about 5 to 10 minutes less bake time than a 9×13-inch cake. It’s always a good idea to start checking on the cake a little early because, depending on your oven, you may need more or less time to bake your cake. You know when it’s ready when an inserted toothpick comes out clean!
• You could stir the chocolate chips into the batter but I love how they look sprinkled over the top of the cake. They add some texture and a chocolate layer on the cake. Plus, I love the way the look on the finished cake!

More Zucchini Recipes!

• Hamburger and Zucchini Skillet
• Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
• Banana Zucchini Bread
• Cinnamon Swirl Zucchini Bundt Cake

WATCH THE STEP BY STEP VIDEO FOR THIS RECIPE BELOW:

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Try it and love it? Rate it, please!!! ?Seriously though a five-star rating below will make my day! If you snap a photo, please be sure tag me on Instagram at @julieseatsandtreats or #julieseatsandtreats so I can see your delicious Chocolate Zucchini Cake!!

Did you make this? If you snap a photo, please be sure tag me on Instagram at @julieseatsandtreats or #julieseatsandtreats so I can see your yummy treat!

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4.94 from 16 votes

Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Chocolate Chips

Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Chocolate Chips is the best zucchini dessert recipe! Easy, tender, dense and loaded with chocolate flavor!

Prep:20 minutes mins

Cook:40 minutes mins

Total:1 hour hr

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Ingredients

• ▢ 1/2 c. butter softened
• ▢ 1/2 c. canola oil
• ▢ 1 3/4 c. white sugar
• ▢ 2 eggs
• ▢ 1/2 c. buttermilk
• ▢ 1 tsp vanilla
• ▢ 2 1/2 c. flour
• ▢ 4 Tbsp cocoa
• ▢ 1/2 tsp baking powder
• ▢ 1 tsp soda
• ▢ 1 tsp salt
• ▢ 2 c. zucchini grated
• ▢ 1 c. semi sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

• In a large mixing bowl cream butter, oil, eggs and sugar. Add buttermilk and vanilla. Mix until combined.
• Sift dry ingredients together. Add to creamed mixture until just combined. Stir in zucchini.
• Spread in a greased 9×13 inch baking pan or 2 – 8×8 inch pans. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top.
• Bake at 325 degrees for 40-45 minutes for the 9×13 inch pan or 35 minutes for the 8×8 inch pan.

Tips

• What I love about baking with zucchini is that it adds so much moisture. Depending on what you’re making you can’t taste it at all, like this chocolate zucchini cake. Zucchini is mostly water so when it bakes in the cake it releases all of its moisture and practically disappears therefore you don’t need as much oil in recipes with zucchini.
• You don’t have to peel the zucchini first, just grate it and you’re done! You can use a box grater or you can use the grating attachment on your food processor to grate the zucchini.
• You don’t want to chop the zucchini with a knife because the pieces will be too big and the zucchini won’t disappear into the cake.
• You need two cups of grated zucchini for this recipe and it’s a good idea to use small to medium-sized zucchinis. Big zucchini often have a lot of seeds, which you can remove but it just adds one more step. You don’t need to worry about the seeds with smaller ones and you can just grate them up.
• Don’t squeeze the grated zucchini to remove the moisture! You want all of that moisture to be in the cake.
• Don’t worry about tasting the zucchini in the cake. No one will ever know it’s in there if you don’t want them too.
• I’ve already mentioned it, but for the best chocolate zucchini cake use two bowls to make the cake! I know it means one more bowl to wash, but I promise it makes a big difference. The texture of the cake will be so much better because when you use two bowls you don’t have to worry about over mixing the cake.
• Once you add the dry ingredients to the wet ones you want to mix the batter until it’s just combined. That way you won’t overwork the flour and your cake will be a lot more tender.
• You can make one big cake or two smaller ones just be sure to note the bake times depending on the pan size you use. Two 8×8 cakes will need about 5 to 10 minutes less bake time than a 9×13-inch cake. It’s always a good idea to start checking on the cake a little early because, depending on your oven, you may need more or less time to bake your cake. You know when it’s ready when an inserted toothpick comes out clean!
• You could stir the chocolate chips into the batter but I love how they look sprinkled over the top of the cake. They add some texture and a chocolate layer on the cake. Plus, I love the way the look on the finished cake!

Video

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1, Calories: 460kcal (23%), Carbohydrates: 64g (21%), Protein: 6g (12%), Fat: 20g (31%), Saturated Fat: 8g (50%), Cholesterol: 38mg (13%), Sodium: 219mg (10%), Potassium: 255mg (7%), Fiber: 3g (13%), Sugar: 33g (37%), Vitamin A: 295IU (6%), Vitamin C: 5.3mg (6%), Calcium: 41mg (4%), Iron: 3.1mg (17%)

© Julie's Eats & Treats ®

We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information. The information in the nutrition box is calculated through a program and there is room for error. If you need an accurate count, I recommend running the ingredients through your favorite nutrition calculator.