Chocolate Zucchini Cake (Gluten-Free)
An easy chocolate zucchini loaf may become your favorite chocolate cake! Kids love it, and it's a great way to sneak in some vegetables. The zucchini keeps the cake super-moist. This will work with substituting flour for the almond meal if you don't happen to have it. I make it at 5000 feet altitude with no adjustments other than temperature (see step 1).
Adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod
Equipment: 9 x 5 Loaf Pan, Wire Cooling Rack
Yield 8 servings
Ingredients
1/2 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour
1/2 cup almond meal
1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa or unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/4 cup unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled
1/4 cup vegetable oil or melted coconut oil
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups packed shredded zucchini
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, divided
| 1 | Preheat your oven to 350°F (360°F for high altitude). Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside. |
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| 2 | In a medium bowl, whisk flour, almond meal, cocoa powder, baking soda, and sea salt. Set aside. |
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| 3 | In a large bowl, add eggs, melted butter, oil, vanilla extract, and brown sugar. Stir until smooth. You might have a few small brown sugar clumps and that is fine. |
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| 4 | Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, but don't overmix. Stir in the shredded zucchini until just combined. Stir in 3/4 cup of the chocolate chips. |
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| 5 | Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate chips over the top of the bread. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out mostly clean, you might have some melted chocolate chips on the toothpick and that is fine. You just don't want a lot of gooey batter. |
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| 6 | Remove the pan from the oven and set on a wire cooling rack. Let the bread cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the bread and carefully remove from the pan. Let the bread cool on the wire cooling rack until slightly warm. Cut into slices and serve. |
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| 7 | The bread will keep on the counter, wrapped in foil or plastic wrap, for up to 4 days. This bread also freezes well. To freeze, cool the bread completely and wrap in plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 1 month. Defrost before slicing. |
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