Is there a better way to use zucchini than in a chocolate zucchini cake? I don’t think so either! With all the zucchini in there, it’s practically healthy too!
Making the chocolate zucchini cake
Start by grating your zucchini. You can also throw it in the food processor, that works as well and is really simple.
I love using oil in my recipes instead of butter. Although the butter gives it a great flavor, oil makes the baked good so tender!
If you are on a no refined sugar kick, you can always use a coconut sugar. I don’t recommend maple syrup as adding in that much liquid into a recipe always changes it.
Eggs of course.
Look at all that healthy zucchini.
Hershey’s Dark Cocoa is my favorite cocoa to use. I love that dark rich color is gives!
To make any recipe a one bowl recipe is simple. Add the flour on top of the wet ingredients. Cocoa is next. Then add your baking powder and salt. Carefully mix in the baking powder and salt right into the flour and cocoa only. Once it is lightly mixed in, you can mix everything together. Now, I guess I could say this is a double chocolate recipe. I threw in plenty of chocolate chips.
Flour
I used a blend of all purpose flour and whole wheat pastry flour. Most people are hesitant to bake with whole wheat flours, but there is no need to be. As long as you use the right type of flour, you will wind up with a baked good very similar to the original recipe.
Whole wheat pastry flour comes from a soft winter wheat. I have been buying mine from Farm Fresh Wheat Wa. It is a small family owned farm and I just love their wheat kernels. If you don’t own a grain mill, I can definitely recommend the Nutrimill. I have loved mine for so long, and use it constantly.
I like to line my baking pan with parchment. This isn’t necessary, but I think it is so much easier to remove it from the pan if you do use it.
Now, bake. Making sure not to over bake. That is vital when it comes to baking with whole wheat flour. It will come out very dry if you over bake.
There, look at how simple it is to remove from the pan. So simple!Plus, cleanup is a breeze.
Usually I wait until the cake is cooled to ice. I wanted to have it soft and runny on this cake though, so I let it cool for awhile and then iced while it was still a little warm.
It was perfect. It was slightly warm, the icing was soft and runny and the taste was perfect.
If you are looking for other cake options, check these out! You can see we have a thing for cake in this house!
Chocolate Zucchini Cake
Equipment
- 9×13 pan or 2- 8 inch cake pans, mixing bowl, grater
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup oil You can also use melted butter, but I love the texture oil gives. I used olive oil, but any other neutral oil is good too.
- 1 1/2 cup sugar You can use granulated, brown sugar or even coconut sugar if you prefer
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup greek yogurt I used a nonfat plain Greek Yogurt. You can also use sour cream if you prefer
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup cocoa I love Hershey's dark cocoa
- 2 1/2 cups zucchini, grated
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips optional, but really good! I love dark chocolate chips, but use whatever you prefer.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Line your 9×13 or 2- 8 inch cake pans with parchment. This step is optional, but makes it so much easier to remove the cake from the pan when you are done. You can see how I did it in the photo on post. If you don't want to use parchment paper, simply butter or spray the pan. You can also lightly coat with flour if you want to ensure an easy removal.Mix flours, baking powder, salt and cocoa in small bowl and set aside. Next add sugar and oil to medium sized bowl, mix well. I like to mix with a rubber spatula, but use whatever you feel comfortable using. I also prefer to mix this by hand as it is really easy to over mix this batter. Add in eggs. Mix to combine. Then add in the vanilla and yogurt. Again, mix to combine. Dry ingredients are next, mix only to combine. We want to be careful at this point to not over mix. Last up are the chocolate chips and grated zucchini. Again, only mix to combine. Pour the batter into your prepared pan. Place immediately into oven.Mine took about about 23 minutes to bake. it could take anywhere from 20-35 minutes. The time will vary depending on actual temp of your oven, thickness of pan altitude etc. Test with a toothpick. Now, you don't want it to come out completely dry. If you have a little on the toothpick, that is perfect. I always under bake my whole grain baked good just a touch as they will absorb more moisture even after you remove them from the oven. This is called carry over cooking. I wanted to ice mine when it was still a little warm. I did this because I wanted my icing to ooze on the cake. It was a personal choice, of course. If you prefer to wait until it cools do that!Now, sit back and enjoy. You deserve it!