I can’t believe it’s that time of year again: the kids are headed back to school, the mornings and evenings are cooler, and the zucchini in the garden is overflowing!
So what to do with all that zucchini? Well, you could make my healthy and delicious Chocolate Zucchini Brownies. Or, you could also make this equally healthy and delicious Chocolate Zucchini Cake. I suggest you do both! Make the brownies for your kid’s lunches and the cake for your weekend family dessert.
That’s an order.
For my wedding shower, my mom gave me a binder of our family’s favorite recipes, and this cake was in there. I remember enjoying it as a kid, but the original recipe has 1/2 cup of oil and a lot of sugar, so I wanted to make it with less sugar and replace the oil with healthier fat.
Even though this cake uses healthy ingredients, it still turned out nice and moist. I decided to add a dark chocolate glaze by mixing 1/3 cup of melted dark chocolate chips with a tablespoon of melted butter for some extra chocolaty taste, plus my kids love any dessert with “icing!” But please note, I did not include the glaze in the nutritional information as it’s optional.
And FYI…if you plan on sprinkling icing sugar on top, do it BEFORE you put the glaze on…just sayin’.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup virgin coconut oil, melted
- 1/2 cup fat-free plain or vanilla Greek yogurt
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup low-fat buttermilk
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 2 small zucchini, grated (with skin)
- 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325F. Spray a Bundt pan with olive oil and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together coconut oil, yogurt, honey, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk.
Add dry ingredients and stir together until moistened. Fold in zucchini and chocolate chips.
Pour batter into prepared Bundt pan and bake in oven for approximately 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Remove from oven and cool on wire rack for 10 minutes. Invert pan and remove cake. Serve warm.
Notes
Cal: 168 Fat: 6g Protein: 4g Sodium: 181mg Fiber: 2g Sugar: 14g
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Yum! I love chocolate zucchini cake
It always reminds me of my gramma, but I’m loving this healthy version!
Heidi @ Food Doodles recently posted..Cheesy Tomato Soup
Love recipes that remind me of when I was a kid! Brings back good memories
I am SO excited. A friend is giving me big fresh zucchini from her garden tomorrow and THIS is what I’m gonna make!!!
Tiffany recently posted..Sole Karaoke Bar
Nice! Enjoy
This was very tasty. I substituted the whole wheat for whole wheat pastry flour and regular for spelt. Added toasted walnuts and sprinkled it with confectioner’s sugar since I did not have ingredients for icing. thanks for this…..brought back memories but healthier than original.
So glad you enjoyed this cake…love your substitutions!
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