Chocolate hazelnut zucchini bread

Chocolate hazelnut zucchini bread – sinfully delicious, super moist, and rich, with intense dark chocolate hazelnut flavor, this bread is the ultimate chocolate lover indulgence!

Could there be anything more indulgent than chocolate?

‘No’, if you ask me. Nothing beats the pure bliss of biting into a luscious, melt-in-your-mouth piece of dark chocolate. But as I write this, I also nod my head ‘Yes’…because I just made a chocolate hazelnut bread that I think tastes even more decadent than chocolate itself, and feels like chocolate nirvana. This is it!  This is the ultimate chocolate bread recipe – rich, dark chocolate flavor, enhanced by toasted hazelnuts, and ever so slightly sweetened by coconut sugar. But I’ll leave the judgment to the unbiased reader, since right now, I might be a tad more passionate and partial than usual 🙂

It’s is a very special recipe for me, and a bit unusual, I might add. I’ve been rolling this idea in my head for months, trying to come up with a chocolate quick bread recipe – more like a bread, than chocolate cake.  Something that you can use as a blank canvas and spread  it with any toppings you like, without overpowering its taste.  I wanted it to be barely sweet, so that the chocolate’s earthy, bitter taste can come through, and not get drowned in sugar.  I just wanted pure chocolate taste in a bread form.   And of course, I wanted it to be as healthy as possible.

The result blew me away even after the first attempt.  It was sinfully delicious, bittersweet, super moist, and deeply chocolaty.  “Simply divine”, as my daughter declared.

There are so many things I like about this bread.  For one, it has the exact chocolate intensity and flavor I envisioned.  I use lots of cocoa powder, and pieces of chopped dark chocolate for added flavor and moisture.  In place of flour, I use toasted hazelnut meal, as this to me is the ultimate companion to chocolate.   Toasting the hazelnuts before grinding them into a coarse meal makes all the difference, and perfumes the bread with intoxicating nutty aroma.  I sweeten the dough with a bit of coconut sugar, just enough to balance the bitterness of the cocoa.

Second, it really has no bad ingredient in it – hazelnuts, zucchini, coconut oil, coconut milk, and eggs.  It’s gluten free,  low in sugar, and full of good fats, and fiber.  If you haven’t tried zucchini bread, and you feel a little skeptical, don’t be afraid – zucchini have no flavor at all, but what they do is make the dough super moist, and provide fiber and extra nutritional value.  You could never tell there’s a veggie in the bread!  The coconut oil, and milk do not impair any coconut flavor either.  I like to use coconut oil in cakes for its healthy fats, and immune boosting properties.

The bread has a moist, slightly crumbly texture.  You can control it by using a finer hazelnut meal (which will make it denser), or make it more crumbly, by using a coarser nut flour.  You can also skip the addition of chocolate pieces to make the bread a little sturdier, and drier.

Fair warning: because this chocolate bread is not too sweet, it may be dangerously addictive.  In other words, since your taste buds don’t get overstimulated and numb with sugar, you simply cannot satiate your chocolate cravings, and may inhale large quantities of it.  That being said, if you have a sweeter tooth, you can totally adjust the sweetness, and customize it to your liking by adding sweet toppings of choice, after it’s baked.

Our favorite combination is a dollop of plain mascarpone cheese, with a drizzle of honey and chopped toasted hazelnuts – it’s insanely delicious!  Add some raspberry or strawberry preserve for another winning combo.

But you know what’s even better?

A smear of homemade coffee butter, and a few pieces of chopped dark chocolate on top, and you will go straight to chocolate heaven, I promise!

So go ahead, indulge your chocolate cravings with this bread, and if you do, shoot me a line, and let me know how you liked it.

For more chocolate hazelnut love, check out my homemade nutella recipe, or this super flavorful chocolate hazelnut mole chicken.

Print

Dark chocolate zucchini bread

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

45 mins

Total Time

1 hr 5 mins

 

Course: Baked goods, Breakfast / Dessert

Servings: 1 loaf/10 servings

Calories: 296 kcal

Author: Viktoria

Ingredients

• 2 cups roasted hazelnuts (8-10 oz)
• 1 1/2 cups grated zucchini (from 1 medium zucchini)
• 3 large eggs, or 4 small ones
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt
• a handful of hazelnuts (optional)
• 50 g chopped dark chocolate (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.

2. If your hazelnuts are raw, toast them first in the oven for 10-15 minutes stirring occasionally until lightly toasted and fragrant. Let them cool completely before processing. If using pre-roasted hazelnuts, quickly pulverize them in a food processor, with the S-blade attached, until they resemble a coarse sand (about 20 seconds).
3. Using a hand mixer, beat the eggs with the sugar, coconut milk, coconut oil, vanilla and a good pinch of salt.
4. Add the cocoa powder, the baking powder and baking soda, and mix well.
5. Stir in the hazelnut meal.
6. Grate the zucchini finely, and squeeze as much liquid as possible. Add the grated zucchini to the batter.
7. Optionally, add coarsely chopped toasted hazelnuts, and 50g chopped dark chocolate, and push into the batter.
8. Line a bread loaf pan with parchment paper and brush coconut oil at the bottom and sides.
9. Pour the batter, and bake at 350 F for 50-60 min, or until a toothpick inserted all the way in, comes out clean.
   
   
10. To make the quick coffee butter: mix 2 tbs softened butter, 1 tsp honey, and 1 tsp instant coffee (Nescafe is preferable) until you get a homogeneous mixture.