If you want to have your cake and eat your vegetables too, this Chocolate Courgette Loaf Cake is a great solution! Before you ask, no you cannot taste the courgette at all, I promise! My partner hates courgette and he happily ate a slice of this yummy cake. If you are in the US you will know this as Chocolate Zucchini Cake or Zucchini Bread.
What the courgette does is make the cake super moist, and add some hidden nutrition. I’ve also made this cake with coconut sugar and wholemeal flour for some extra goodness. This Chocolate Courgette Loaf Cake is still a bit of a treat of course, as it’s got tasty dark chocolate chips throughout, plus a drizzle of dark chocolate on top.
How to make Chocolate Courgette Loaf Cake…
In a bowl I stirred together self raising flour, wholemeal flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, coconut sugar and cocoa powder. I added the grated courgette and dark chocolate chips, and stirred them in.
In another bowl I whisked together the eggs, yoghurt and vegetable oil, then added it to the flour and courgette mix. I combined everything together.
I put the mixture into a lined loaf tin and baked it for 1 hour and 10 minutes.
What is the best way to grate the courgette?
You don’t need to peel courgette before you grate it. I used a box grater and grated it by hand. You can also grate the courgette using a food processor with a grating attachment.
How should the cake be stored and can it be frozen?
The cake should be stored in an airtight container in a cool place, and eaten within 3 days. If you would like to freeze it, you can freeze the whole cake or freeze it in slices. Once it has fully cooled, wrap the cake or slices well in cling film (plastic wrap) and freeze for up to 3 months.
Tips for making the Chocolate Courgette Loaf Cake:
- I used coconut sugar to make this cake, however you can use light brown sugar or caster sugar if you prefer.
- I also tested this recipe with 150g sugar, I have a big sweet tooth so I preferred the slighter higher amount, but you can use the lesser amount if you want to reduce the sugar.
- If you want to use all wholemeal flour, you will need to add an extra 1/2 tsp baking powder. If you want to use all self raising flour, you should omit the baking powder.
- You can use milk or white chocolate chips if you like instead.
Recommended equipment & ingredients*
| Loaf cake tin | Mixing bowls | Cooling rack |
| Kitchen scales | Loaf cake tin liners | Piping bags |
| Loaf cake storage box | Food processor | Box grater |
*I earn a small amount of money if you buy the products after clicking on the links. You will not be charged anything extra for this. Thank you for supporting The Baking Explorer!
More low sugar recipes…
Chocolate Courgette Loaf Cake
Ingredients
For the cake
- 65 g Self raising flour
- 100 g Wholemeal flour
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 175 g Coconut sugar
- 1/4 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
- 35 g Cocoa powder
- 200 g Courgette grated, one large courgette
- 100 g Dark chocolate chips
- 3 Eggs large
- 100 ml Vegetable oil
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 40 g Natural yoghurt
For decoration (optional)
- 35 g Dark chocolate optional
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 160C Fan/180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 and grease and line a 2lb loaf tin
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the self raising flour, wholemeal flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cocoa powder and coconut sugar until well combined
- Grate the courgette and squeeze it over the sink to release any extra liquid, then add it to the bowl along with the dark chocolate chips, stir everything together
- In another bowl or large jug, whisk together the eggs, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and yoghurt
- Pour the egg mixture into the bowl of flour/courgette etc and stir everything together until well combined
- Pour the mixture into the loaf tin and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean (I would suggest checking it after 1 hour). Leave to cool fully
- To decorate, melt the dark chocolate in the microwave. To do this, blast it for 30 seconds, stir, then blast in 10 second bursts stirring in between each one until melted. Drizzle it over the cake
- Store leftovers in an airtight continer in a cool place and eat within 3 days
Nutrition
If you like this, check out more of my Loaf Cake recipes!
Pin it for later!
I’m linking this recipe up with Cook Blog Share.
Excellent recipe. First time baking with courgettes for me, but it really worked and the cake is beautifully moist and not too sweet. Keeps really well too!
Thanks so much for your lovely feedback Dawn! I’m so pleased you enjoyed the cake!
Thanks Kat for adding this luscious cake to #CookBlogShare this week – it looks absolutely delicious! Karen
Oh yummy! If only I’d come across this recipe during the summer, when I had a surplus of home-grown courgettes from the garden! This looks like a really indulgent chocolate loaf cake.
I love courgette in baking! This looks so moist and rich and I love a loaf cake!
Yum! I love courgette cake but never tried it with chocolate before. This looks amazing!
What a gorgeous dark chocolate cake with added health benefits 😉
I love how courgette makes chocolate bakes so moist. This loaf cake looks delicious and I’ll be giving it a go soon #CookBlogShare
Lovely cake! I love veggies in cake
Yum
Cx #cookblogshare
YUM! This looks so squidgy 😀 And I love how you’ve managed to sneak a portion of veg in here… so basically eating this cake counts as one of my 5 a day, no? 😉
I love a good loaf cake recipe, this one looks devine
Love a cake with hidden veggies in it…shall I tell you something funny, I was scrolling through and reading the recipe and suddenly explained I CAN SEE GREEN, up until that point I’d been impressed there were no green flecks … my kids spot them three miles off … imagine my giggles when I realised it was my cursor hovering over your picture hahahahahahaaaaaa