This healthier Double Chocolate Omega-3 Zucchini Bread is great baking project that is a bit healthier than a lot of other recipes and doesn’t require any fancy ingredients or equipment!
I love adding hemp hearts to this recipe! Packed full of omega-3 fats, protein and fibre they are a great addition here.
Hemp hearts add a plant based source of omega-3 fats to this recipe and the walnuts in this zucchini bread add an extra dose of the same if you choose to use them. I experimented with the whole wheat flour: white flour ratio – this seemed to work best but by all means you can use all 100% whole wheat flour to add extra fibre!
Zucchini Bread Muffins
This recipe also makes great muffins. Simply adjust bake time to be 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle.
Can I Freeze Zucchini Bread
YES! I make large batches of this and muffins each summer with all my fresh zucchini and freeze it for later. This is the ultimate hack!
If chocolate isn’t your jam (WHY?? – kidding), check out this killer Apple Zucchini Loaf or this vegan version! Or why not spice up your morning pancake routine and go for these crowd-pleasing Zucchini Bread Pancakes?
Enjoy!
xo
Tori
Double Chocolate Omega-3 Zucchini Bread
Moist, packed with zucchini and so much healthier than the one we grew up with, this Double Chocolate Omega-3 Zucchini Bread is super delicious and freezes well!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/3 cup raw shelled hemp seeds
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
- 1/2 cup cocoa
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sugar or coconut sugar
- 3 eggs
- 3/4 cup oil (avocado, canola or olive oil)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3 packed cups grated unpeeled zucchini
- 2/3 cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips (mini ones are best)
Instructions
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Preheat oven at 350 F.
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Grease two small loaf tins and line with parchment paper. Alternately you can flour them after greasing to prevent the cake from sticking.
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In a large bowl, stir together flours, hemp seeds, walnuts, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt and sugar.
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In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with a fork. Add the oil, vanilla and zucchini. Add to the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated: fold in the chocolate chips. Stir just until combined, and divide between the loaf pans.
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Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until the tops are cracked a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle. Makes 2 loafs.
I’m excited to try this as it looks so good! Just wondering, if I can’t find the hemp seeds (I live on a small island) can something else be substituted or could they be omitted? Thanks!
Hi Kari! Great question. I would likely just leave them out. You could try substituting with chia seeds, but they work differently and require liquid to get soft which may alter the texture of your bread. Good luck and I would love to hear how it turns out!
Hi Tori, i also can’t get hemp seeds here, so i am going to try without and let you know how it turns out .-)
I tried this loaf with and without hemp seeds and its so delicious!! I bake it often and everyone loves it!
Great recipe! I substituted 1/2 cup of apple sauce and 1/4 cup of coconut oil for the vegetable oil, and 3/4 cup of honey for the sugar and it turned super moist and delicious. Thanks for sharing!
I loved this tip and used it! Recipe turned out perfect! Thrilled for hemp seeds in it, love that I didn’t need to squeeze out the zucchini, it’s so dark you can’t see either of them (sneaky mom, Thanks Tori!) I made one medium size loaf and 24 mini muffins <3
Thank you so much Heather! I am so pleased you loved this recipe xx
Hi Tori – I just wanted to let you know I made this over the wknd and it is fantastic! Also, I used coconut sugar over white sugar. Going to try more of your recipes!!
Thanks Jen I love the feedback!
hi – i made this last night and it is delicious. is it possible to get the nutritional info for it. thanks.
Do you need to squeeze out the zucchini juice?
Hi Coco not if it is freshly grated!
I just tried this recipe for the first time… OMG!!!! SO delicious… it will definitely be my new go to favorite.
Thank you Lorraine!!!! So happy you love it!
Can I substitute the whole wheat flour with all purpose flour?
Hey Joann! I like using both of them, but I think using just whole wheat will be fine, although I haven’t tried it myself!
Amazing recipe ! Just wondering if it’s possible to sub the white sugar with honey or maple syrup?
Hi Tania, it may be possible, I’m just not sure how it would affect the texture as you would be changing the ratios of the wet:dry ingredients. It would likely work, I just haven’t tried it! Please let me know if you give it a whirl, I would love to hear how it turns out! Happy Baking! xx
Hi Tori! I’ve got two loaves in the oven as we speak. This recipe is always a hit when I serve it to guests. Question for you today: I’ve searched high and low for the dark mini chips and can’t find them anywhere. We live in Calgary so I’ve tried various health food stores and supermarkets, where do you get yours?
Hi Mel! Thanks so much! I get mine at Nature’s Fare, but you can use any semi-sweet chocolate chips as well and they will work fine. OR you can chop up your own from bulk dark chocolate or a good quality chocolate bar. Take care!
For gluten free people can you skip the whole wheat flour and just use more gluten free flour instead?
Hi Debbie, I’m not totally sure as I haven’t tested the recipe with this variation. Please let me know if you try it out! Take care, Tori
In case anyone happens across this question, the answer is yes! I just subbed the total of both flours in the recipe for gf flour and they are delicious and fudgy!
That’s amazing thanks for sharing Becky!!
Hey there!! What flour did you use? And you used the same amounts? I want to try all these recipes but worried since gf flour can be tricky to work with!
Hi I used a standard all purpose and whole wheat flour but you can use a 1:1 GF flour blend like Bob’s Red Mill to replace it all!
Hi Tori!
Was thinking of trying this tomorrow, is there a egg substitute??
Hi Sylvie – many have asked that – I haven’t tested that yet so I can’t say for sure (must add that to the list!)! I would likely go with 2 flax eggs for the recipe as it tends to make things more dense in my experience or try Bob’s Red Mill egg replacer!
Hi Tori,
What would I need to do to make this recipe egg free?
Hi Sonia – I haven’t tested that yet so I can’t say for sure! I would likely go with 2 flax eggs for the recipe as it tends to make things more dense in my experience or try Bob’s Red Mill egg replacer!
Hi Tori!
I was wondering if I could substitute flax eggs for the eggs in this recipe? And if so, would it be the same ratio?
Hi Brittney, you can try … I haven’t tested that yet so I can’t say for sure! I would likely go with 2 flax eggs for the recipe as it tends to make things more dense in my experience or try Bob’s Red Mill egg replacer!
is there a way to swap out the flour for coconut or almond flour?
Hi Kate, I would probably try a 1:1 gluten free flour first if that is an option – almond flour would be too dense on its own. I’m not sure about coconut flour but would love to hear if you try!
Hi Tori,
Thank you so much for this recipe. Absolutely amazing!!!! Just wondering what size your small loaf pans are? I used foil containers 7.3 x 5.4 x 2.0 and was able to make three loafs. Perfect size for gifts!!! Unless I eat them first😉. Thanks again, Lou Ann
What kind of cocoa do you use? Can’t wait to try this recipe !
Hey Bonnie! I use Rodelle Organics Baking Cocoa! I really love it. Happy Baking
Hi Tory ! You are beautiful …. can I use put in a larger loaf pan ? 1.5 litre loaf pan
I made these today. I only had one loaf tin so I made one loaf and 12 muffins. I also made them gluten free by using Bobs Red Mill gluten free all purpose baking flour. They turned out great and my 4 year old has already asked for another one! Yay!!
Awesome!!! So glad your 4 year old enjoyed 🙂
Hi Tori!
If I am using zucchini that was already measured and then frozen, would you drain the liquid that is in the defrosted bag or use all of it in the recipe?
Thanks!
I haven’t tried it in this recipe specifically but yes I would!
Made this recipe but made muffins instead with my 3 year old daughter. She love mixing it and putting the cupcake holders out. The muffins turned out great not to sweet and very moist.
I made this yesterday and they turned out great. Weird question: when you use parchment paper, how do you get the paper flat so the loaves still look rectangular? Mine had curved edges because of the parchment paper.
Hi Mira! If you cut your parchment into a rectangle then cut slits in each corner it will help your parchment fit better!
When making this for kids lunch boxes, from frozen, do you just pop a slice into their lunch kits or do you have to defrost it/heat it first?
I would suggest defrosting it!
I made this today in preparation for back to school and my kids loved it! I told them it was chocolate bread, didn’t mention the zucchini and they are none the wiser.
Hello, 1) what size is your loaf pan?; 2) what is the cooking time if I switch to regular-sized muffin tins?
Thank you very much,
Hi Antoinette so sorry for the delay. Mine is 8.5″ x 4.5″ – the bake time is around 15 minutes for muffins (use a toothpick to test once they look set in the oven without opening the door). Thank you, Tori
OMG I made this loaf, it was to die for.It was moist and rose quite a bit. Everyone loved it and wanted to make sure they got a piece. So easy too. I love simple easy recipes.
So glad your crowd loved it Jesse!! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review!
Has anyone tried cutting down on the sugar? 1/2 per loaf seems reasonable but I’m always trying to cut it down as much as possible bc I’m hoping to feed this to my toddler.
CAN anyone tell me if they were successful using one larger loaf pan??
I placed it in two but it was such small amounts in both I combined to one larger one… here’s hoping it turns out
Hi Eve, how’d it turn out for you?
I made these loaves today without hemp seeds and just all purpose flour (didn’t have whole wheat), and I have to say, these are the best loaves I’ve ever made. Full stop. Made them at 11:30am, and our entire loaf was gone by 8pm in a two-person household. Gifted the other to my mother-in-law and she absolutely loved it! Thanks so much for this keeper! Can’t wait to make it again!!
Amazing! So glad you enjoyed it Shaz!
I halved the recipe (was running low on zucchini) and subbed raw sugar, spelt flour, and Bob’s Red Mill egg replacer… I didn’t have chocolate chips either, so I added 2 tbsp more cocoa and 2 tbsp oat milk to that mixture (fore extra chocolate flavour) and the texture turned out great and not too sweet! Love the recipe!
Hi Bernadette! That’s so awesome! Glad you like it thank you for leaving a review I appreciate it.
Amazing !! My husband says this is his new favorite. So good.
Just wondering if you need to peel the zucchini and remove the seeds before grating it?
No you don’t!
Absolutely love these!!
I would love to know what type of dark cocoa powder you use?? Also, not at all related to this recipe, but would also like to know the brand/type of nutritional yeast you use! Thanks!!
Hi Sabrina, I use a no-name one from Bulk Barn or Nature’s Fare – sorry there isn’t a brand on either! I like the Bob’s Red Mills nutritional yeast!
Absolutely decadent! I’m a chocolate lover and these absolutely hit the spot. And they’re packed full of zucchini so can’t be too bad for you, right?!
I made this today with the dark dark cocoa from bulk barn and ooohhhh man! I’ve eaten so much of it. Delicious!
Everyone of your recipes is a hit, but this might be my new favourite! No wonder they never make it to your freezer!
Hi Tori, love this recipe and so does my husband. I am celiac and made it with Cup4Cup flour and it works just perfectly fine in case anyone else is wondering. Have a wonderful day!
Thank you Kim that’s fabulous! Great to know – have a wonderful day too!
I am just pulling these out of the oven and have already eaten 2 of the muffins!! SOOO good!!! I used one loaf pan (baked for 60 minutes) and 12 muffins (baked for 30 minutes). I used gluten free flour and omitted the hemp and walnuts. The batter was super thick to mix; I would suggest a very big mixing bowl for the final mix, so as to pick up all the dry ingredients. These are so moist, tasty and moist!! Thank you, Tori!
Just made these for the first time with some of my garden zucchini surplus and they are delicious!
I replaced the eggs with 6Tbsp of aquafaba that I whipped by hand for about a minute till it was frothy throughout. The result was a moist, still fluffy loaf! Will make again soon for the freezer!
This looks amazing, I’ve been craving making this for a while but i can’t find my loaf pan! I’m looking forward to giving this a go! If I was to use a muffin tin how long would it need to bake for?
Amazing!! I tripled the recipe not realizing it already made two loaves!!! Oh well 🤷🏼♀️all the fam got a loaf!! Happy campers!! Fabulous recipe!!!
This recipe is amazing! Made it with carrot instead of zucchini as we have tons frozen from the summer. The loaves are moist, rich but not too sweet. Just perfect!!!
Thank you so much Cathy that is great! Zero pressure but if you ever have a moment to rate the recipe it would mean the world to me! Happy weekend, Tori
Of course – Done!
This was a gorgeous decandent loaf!! Didn’t last a day–my family inhaled it. Will be on repeat in our home–thanks for the recipe xo
Hi Amani! You are so welcome – and thank you for taking the time to review it means a lot. Happy to hear it’s a new family favourite. Tori
Once again another amazing recipe Tori! Love making your recipes with my kids, healthy and delicious. Can’t wait to try out the meal plan this week too!
Yay! So amazing to hear Ashley! Thanks so much.
Just made these this morning. Very delicious! Looking for new recipes that are heart healthy for my hubby who’s recovering from a recent heart attack and these fit the bill! Made a dozen regular and 8 mini muffins. I didn’t quite have 3 cups of zucchini so added a mashed banana. Cut back the sugar to 1/2 cup and I used extra dark cocoa powder as that’s what I had on hand. Added the walnuts for an extra heart healthy boost! A winner of a recipe and will be making more!
Hey Ruth! So happy you enjoyed and made some great modifications. Thank you for the lovely rating as well! xx Tori
Hi Tory!
Not that it will last long but what is the best way to store the loaf? In or out of the fridge?
Thanks for all your amazing recipes!
Jenn
Hey Jennifer! I store mine wrapped tightly or in an airtight container for a couple days on counter, anything longer than that consider popping it in the fridge. This also freezes great! xx Tori
Love this recipe!!! It is so perfectly moist, chocolatey and the right amount of sweetness which I love! Great way to use up garden zucchini. 🙂 Will be making this recipe again for sure.
Thanks Catherine!! So happy you loved this recipe. It is one of my favourites!
another hit in my household!! Love coming to your page for recipes. <3
Thanks so much! So lovely to hear! I really appreciate you taking the time to review as well. xx Tori
Made these this morning with my 2 year old using a muffin tin and loved it! It came out to 18 muffins for me. I didn’t have quite enough cocoa powder but it still came out delicious! We used coconut sugar and it was the perfect amount of sweetness without being overly sweet. Thanks for a great recipe!
Hi Kim! Thank you so much for sharing. I am thrilled you loved! xx Tori
Absolutely the best recipe. My girls loved the cake despite “hating” zucchini! Just the right texture and flavour. Will substitute honey for sugar next time to make it more nutritious. ❤️
Hi Michelle! I love to hear your girls enjoyed. I love this recipe and am glad you did too! xx Tori
this recipe is so good. The perfect sweetness and it’s so moist. Thank you ❤️
Love this recipe!