Description
This moist chocolate zucchini cake is rich, fudgy, and packed with bold chocolate flavor. Fresh shredded zucchini keeps every slice soft while disappearing into the batter for an easy hidden veggie dessert.
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips, optional
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar or xylitol
- 1 cup shredded zucchini, about 160 grams
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil or almond butter
- 1 1/2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan or two 8-inch round cake pans.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, and optional mini chocolate chips.
- If using almond butter instead of oil, warm it gently until it stirs easily.
- Add the shredded zucchini, oil or almond butter, vanilla extract, and water to the dry ingredients.
- Stir gently until the batter is just evenly combined and no dry flour remains.
- Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
- Bake on the center oven rack for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs.
- Let the cake cool completely before frosting, slicing, or serving.
- Store loosely covered at room temperature for one day, refrigerate leftovers for up to one week, or freeze slices for up to three months.
Notes
- Do not squeeze the moisture from the shredded zucchini because it helps keep the cake soft.
- Finely shred the zucchini so it blends smoothly into the batter.
- Avoid overmixing once the wet ingredients are added.
- Use high-quality cocoa powder for deeper chocolate flavor.
- Optional mini chocolate chips make the cake richer and fudgier.
- Nutrition values are estimated per slice based on 15 servings.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 265
- Sugar: 22
- Sodium: 245
- Fat: 12
- Saturated Fat: 4
- Unsaturated Fat: 8
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 39
- Fiber: 4
- Protein: 4
- Cholesterol: 0