Remember when everyone in America made banana bread back in March? That was fun.
My whole wheat, no-refined-sugar version was pretty killer if I do say so myself – and I know many of you agree, because I’ve received so many beautiful pictures of your loaves over the past few months! I myself made quite a few batches of it.
But now it’s zucchini season, y’all. Time for zucchini bread. I knew I wanted to have bananas in my zucchini bread for the natural sweetness and for how moist they kept my Epic One Bowl Healthy-ish Banana Bread. So this zucchini bread actually has just one zucchini and three bananas. But you’ll see – it’s still chock full of zucchini – not the flavor, just the moist, fudgy texture it provides.
I made this bread in a 9×13” baking pan instead of in a loaf pan for a few reasons.
- It cooks so much faster.
- A lot of you had your banana bread loaves cave in because you thought they were fully cooked in the center but they weren’t yet. This gets rid of that issue because it’s so easy to tell when the bread is cooked through.
- It’s much easier to snack on! I usually don’t want an entire slice of bread, I just want a bite or two, but it’s tricky to cut off just a bite of a loaf. It’s easy to slice of just a little nibble of a snacking bread.
It’s moist, it’s delicious, you can freeze individual slices for later enjoyment, it’s the perfect zucchini bread.
Chocolate Zucchini Banana Snacking Bread
Equipment
- 1 large bowl
- 1 mixing spoon
- 9×13” cake pan or pyrex °Don’t have one? A 12” cast iron skillet will do the trick! It might cook in a little less time, so start checking around the 20 minute mark. °A loaf pan will also work, but your cook time will be 60 to 70 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup melted butter
- 3/4 to 1 cup maple syrup
- 3 large ripe bananas
- 1 medium zucchini, grated (about 1 cup – no, you do not need to squeeze the moisture out! Moisture is good!)
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose (or whole wheat) flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- Optional: 3 tablespoons chocolate chips, sprinkle of flaky sea salt
Substitutions:
- Melted butter—> coconut oil, olive oil (for a much richer cake), vegetable oil, dairy-free butter substitute.
- Maple syrup—> brown sugar, white sugar, honey (only use 3/4 cup).
- Bananas—> no sub for bananas, we need ‘em! With a banana bread they need to be extremely overripe, but with this one a ripe banana will work.
- Zucchini—> yellow summer squash also works.
- Eggs—> flax eggs will work for a vegan! Just google how to make them.
- Vanilla extract—> 1/2 teaspoon almond extract would be delish. It’s much stronger, which is why you need so much less!
- All purpose flour—> whole wheat flour can be subbed 1:1. You can swap in 1/2 cup of almond flour but NO MORE THAN THAT or it won’t bake properly! A gluten-free flour such as “Cup for Cup” will work too
- Cocoa powder—> omit if you want to! I’d add 1/4 teaspoon more cinnamon, and a pinch of nutmeg if you have it for some more traditional zucchini bread flavor.
- Baking soda and baking powder—> eh you kinda need them. There are swaps you can google, but they’re often more difficult to find than just going out and buying baking soda and powder.
- Cinnamon—> you can omit, but it’s so nice with the cocoa!
- Chocolate chips—> cacao nibs!
- Flaky sea salt—> I love salt with chocolate, but it’s totally optional. Don’t use kosher salt, it’ll just sink into the batter and give you a salty cake versus yummy distinct salt crystals.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Thoroughly grease a 9×13” cake pan with cooking spray, olive oil, or butter.
- In a large bowl, microwave 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter in 20 second intervals until melted, about 45 seconds total. Stir in 3/4 to 1 cup of maple syrup, depending on how sweet you like things. 1 cup will not make it overly sweet, but it will be pretty cake-sweetness-level. I like it with 1 cup.
- Add 3 bananas to the bowl and mash very very well. We don’t want big chunks. Stir in 1 grated zucchini, 2 large eggs, and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract until smooth.
- Pour 2 cups all-purpose flour on top of the batter – DON’T MIX IT IN YET! Pour 1/2 cup cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon salt on top of the flour and use your fingers or a fork to thoroughly mix all of the dry ingredients together before mixing them into the wet ingredients.
- Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and stop mixing as soon as they are combined. Over-mixing will lead to tough baked goods!
- Pour batter into the cake pan. Sprinkle the chocolate chips and flaky sea salt over top.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick or paring knife inserted into the center of the pan comes out clean.
- Allow to cool slightly, then slice and enjoy!
- Store covered with plastic wrap, at room temperature.
- 1/2 cup melted butter
- 3/4 to 1 cup maple syrup
- 3 large ripe bananas
- 1 medium zucchini, grated (about 1 cup – no, you do not need to squeeze the moisture out! Moisture is good!)
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose (or whole wheat) flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- Optional: 3 tablespoons chocolate chips, sprinkle of flaky sea salt
Substitutions:
- Melted butter—> coconut oil, olive oil (for a much richer cake), vegetable oil, dairy-free butter substitute.
- Maple syrup—> brown sugar, white sugar, honey (only use 3/4 cup).
- Bananas—> no sub for bananas, we need ‘em! With a banana bread they need to be extremely overripe, but with this one a ripe banana will work.
- Zucchini—> yellow summer squash also works.
- Eggs—> flax eggs will work for a vegan! Just google how to make them.
- Vanilla extract—> 1/2 teaspoon almond extract would be delish. It’s much stronger, which is why you need so much less!
- All purpose flour—> whole wheat flour can be subbed 1:1. You can swap in 1/2 cup of almond flour but NO MORE THAN THAT or it won’t bake properly! A gluten-free flour such as “Cup for Cup” will work too
- Cocoa powder—> omit if you want to! I’d add 1/4 teaspoon more cinnamon, and a pinch of nutmeg if you have it for some more traditional zucchini bread flavor.
- Baking soda and baking powder—> eh you kinda need them. There are swaps you can google, but they’re often more difficult to find than just going out and buying baking soda and powder.
- Cinnamon—> you can omit, but it’s so nice with the cocoa!
- Chocolate chips—> cacao nibs!
- Flaky sea salt—> I love salt with chocolate, but it’s totally optional. Don’t use kosher salt, it’ll just sink into the batter and give you a salty cake versus yummy distinct salt crystals.
Notes
- You can also make this in a loaf pan, but it will take 60 to 70 minutes to bake.
