It’s quite a stretch to call this dessert-like quick bread a breakfast item, but whether you eat it morning, noon, or night this Gluten Free Chocolate Coconut Zucchini Bread is fudgy, moist, decadent, and downright delicious!
Oh hey there! Yes, I’m still alive over here. It’s been quite a few days since I’ve posted anything; not for lack of wanting to, but more so lack of time.
You know what, who am I kidding??? I’m just going to fess up to my preference of priorities over here. Blogging and sharing recipes is great and all. I truly love it, especially when I know that a recipe of mine has made someone’s day.
But, do you know what is even greater??? Going to the beach, surfing, spending time with in laws, living it up resort style at Disney’s Aulani, having movie nights with your kiddos, chaperoning second grade field trips, rescuing friends in a bind by watching their kids, and catching up with Gilmore Girls. Yes, Gilmore Girls is a guilty pleasure of mine. It’s only taken about 8 months for me to get through 5 seasons. Only two more to go. Help me!
Yeah, I’ve been playing a lot over the past few days. Let’s just admit that and move on.
Moving on.
Typically when I’m in the mood for a quick bread, I turn to my favorite: banana bread. I am a massive banana bread fan. I could eat warm banana bread with a scoop of ice cream for dessert for the rest of my life and feel completely satisfied.
But, Braelyn loves chocolate for dessert. Not just loves chocolate, but LOVES chocolate! Adding a handful of chocolate chips to my banana bread suffices that craving slightly, but I wanted to give her a little something more to make her extra happy. She deserves it, especially lately.
Let me just tell you, I yell at that kid constantly. Okay, not really yell, but talk in that overly obnoxious, stern mom voice that lets your kids know, “Hey, I’m serious!!!”
Today, for instance, I “yelled” at her for eating too many pancakes and giving herself a stomach ache. After two pancakes, she begged and begged for more. I said no and that she had eaten enough and should be full. But, she persisted, and against all my better judgement of standing my ground, I caved and gave her another half.
Once she finished eating, I asked her to get dressed for Emry’s soccer practice. A solid 10 minutes passed, and when I walked into her room, she was laying on her bed, still fully clothed in her pj’s, moaning and groaning of a tummy ache.
Pause. Most moms would hug or hold or kiss their child in pain. I, however, scolded her for eating another pancake, not listening to my warning of overeating, and told her it was her own dang fault. Then I proceeded to snap at her to get dressed because she was making us late. And to top it all off, I made her ride her bike with an upset stomach, lecturing her the entire way about listening, all the way to soccer practice.
Poor, poor kid. I would hate having me as a mom.
Pretty much my only saving grace with my children is when I make goodies like this Gluten Free Chocolate Coconut Zucchini Bread. That might make having a psycho mom such as myself a little more bearable.
Chocolate bread does wonders when making amends. Put chocolate (or anything with sugar for that matter) in front of Braelyn and she thinks you are the most amazing person that has ever walked planet earth.
I’m curious how long this dessert manipulation can last. At the rate she and I are going with butting heads, by the time she’s a teenager I’m going to be offering her at least 50 treats a day to make up for my overreacting ranting and raving episodes.
As I sit here and ponder my thoughts about how to raise this child of mine, let’s talk about chocolate zucchini bread. This bread is almost as stubborn as Braelyn. It took me four batches to finally get a loaf just the way I wanted it.
The first batch was too crumbly and not quite sweet enough. It tasted okay, but wouldn’t hold up when trying to pick up a slice. Fail.
The second batch was just a waste because I forgot the vanilla and I had to leave the house right before it was done baking. I opted to turn off the oven and leave the bread inside, hoping that it would continue to bake through. Then I quickly jetted out of the house. Luckily, the bread baked just fine, but how do I write that up in a recipe??? “Hey, uh, just turn your oven off and leave for about 2 hours. Hopefully it turns out for you too.” I don’t think so.
Third time around I filled the pans slightly too high and used too much liquid. So, the sides of my bread spread out and the tops sunk in. They tasted great, but didn’t look all too pretty.
Finally, round four. I used just the right amount of sugar, the perfect amount of liquid, and filled the pans just right. And you know what??? Heaven came out of that oven.
Usually gluten free baked goods only stay tasty for about a day or two before they become too dry or crumbly. Not this bread. This bread stays moist even after three days sitting at room temperature (in an airtight container, of course).
I wouldn’t quite call this a “quick bread” even though it is. I like to call it DESSERT instead. Seriously, even though I let Braelyn have a little slice for breakfast, we have been eating this bread warmed up with a tiny scoop of ice cream on top. It tastes just like cake.
My favorite part of this recipe are the little pockets of melted chocolate from the pieces of chocolate chips mixed throughout. So soooooo good!
Did I mention this is a TRIPLE chocolate bread??? Yep, it sure is. I use a mixture of cocoa powder, melted chocolate, and chocolate chips to achieve this phenomenal level of chocolate explosion. I’m telling you, the flavor is on point! Chocolate overload!!!
Oh, and hello. I haven’t even mentioned the vegetable. Duh. This bread has zucchini. A whole cup of it. So, that’s good for you, right??? Let’s just leave it at that.
I really am hoping and praying that Braelyn has more memories of her mom making her delicious treats like this chocolate zucchini bread than memories of me scolding her for every single thing that she does wrong…or different.
Come to think of it, maybe I’m the one that needs to eat more sweets. Isn’t sugar supposed to make you happier? Who knows. All I know is that getting my child to listen would really make me a happier person. Suggestions welcome people!
What is your favorite quick bread to make?
- ½ cup melted coconut oil, cooled to touch
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup coconut sugar
- 2 large eggs plus 1 yolk, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ cup coconut flour
- ⅓ cup superfine white rice flour
- ¼ cup potato starch
- ¼ cup tapioca starch
- 1½ teaspoons baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup full fat canned coconut milk
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
- 1 cup tightly packed finely shredded zucchini (about 1¼ cup loosely packed, 1 medium)
- 3 tablespoons chopped hazelnuts
- ¾ cup chocolate chips, divided
- ⅓ cup sweetened shredded coconut flakes
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Shred zucchini and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, cream together coconut oil, granulated sugar, and coconut sugar on medium for 1 minute. Add eggs, one at a time, and mix on medium for 30 seconds after each addition. Add in egg yolk and mix until incorporated. Add vanilla and coconut milk and mix until smooth.
- In a smaller mixing bowl, sift together cocoa powder, coconut flour, white rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, baking soda, salt, and xanthan gum.
- Add dry ingredients to egg mixture and mix until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.
- Melt ½ cup of chocolate chips in a microwave safe dish for 45 seconds. Stir until melted. Return to microwave for additional 15 seconds if not melting after a minute of stirring. Pour melted chocolate into batter and mix until smooth. Add additional ½ cup of chocolate chips and stir into batter.
- Fold in shredded zucchini with spatula and stir until evenly distributed. Let sit for 10 minutes.
- While batter is resting, lightly grease and flour with white rice flour or cocoa powder 4 mini loaf pans. Equally divide batter between loaf pans and sprinkle tops with hazelnuts, remaining chocolate chips, and coconut flakes. Gently press topping into batter so it sticks as it bakes.
- Place loaf pans on the middle rack of the oven and bake at 350 degrees for 35-38 minutes or until tops spring back at touch of a finger or toothpick inserted into center comes out clean with few moist crumbs.
- Place pans on cooling racks and gently run a sharp knife around edges to loosen sides of bread. Let cool for 15 minutes. Run knife around the edges again and gently flip loaves out of pans and let completely cool on cooling racks.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature, up to 1 week in fridge, or up to 3 months in freezer.
