You’re either going to love me or hate me for this post. Why? Because this grain-free chocolate cake which just so happens to have zucchini in it is AMAZING. You will love how rich and chocolaty it is, how moist and tender. You will be utterly amazed that this cake has no flour of any kind and that there is zucchini in it. Zucchini! It is sweetened with maple syrup and that’s all. After your first bite, you might exclaim, “Three cheers for Pamela!”
Orrrrrrr, you will find this cake, which is more like a cross between a brownie and cake, completely irresistible and TOO amazing. You will walk by it on the countertop and find the uncontrollable need to even out all the edges until you are left with a mere crumb. But you’ll convince yourself it’s healthful! It contains almond butter and zucchini. Zucchini! And you will not be able to stop eating it. The next time you make it you will freeze most of it so that you are not tempted by its chocolaty goodness and inhale three-fourths of it before the kids get home. But you cannot stop dreaming about this cake so you find out it even taste good FROZEN because there is no waiting when it comes to this cake. And after you eat all of the frozen cake, you might exclaim, “I curse the day I met Pamela! Darn this chocolate amazingness!”
And that’s what I’m talking about.
Even Mr. Picky himself went crazy for this cake. I actually came clean and told him there was zucchini in here and he didn’t care!! If you are nut-free, don’t sweat. Substitute sunflower butter in an equal amount and it will work perfectly. Sunflower butter does have a slightly nuttier flavor, almost like peanut butter. But I when I made the cake with sunflower butter for some nut-free people, they couldn’t detect it. Make it. Devour it. Love it. Share it. Tell me all about it.
Grain-free Chocolate Zucchini Cake Recipe and VIDEO
Ingredients
- coconut oil or butter for greasing pan
- 1 cup creamy, unsweetened, unsalted almond butter, raw or roasted, or sunflower butter for a nut-free cake
- 1/3 cup pure Grade A maple syrup or raw honey
- ¼ cup raw cacao or cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine ground sea salt
- 1 teaspoon instant coffee powder, optional
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups of shredded zucchini, about 2 small
- 1 cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 x 8 or 9 x 9-inch pan. If you want to remove the cake from the pan in one piece, line it with unbleached parchment paper as well.
- In a large bowl combine the almond butter, maple syrup, cacao powder, salt, coffee powder, egg, vanilla, and baking soda until smooth.
- Stir in zucchini and chocolate chips.
- Pour into prepared pan and bake until just set and a toothpick comes out clean or with dry crumbs. Do not overbake. A 9 x 9 pan will take 35-45 minutes. An 8 x 8 pan will take 40-50 minutes. Allow to cool before serving.
Notes
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!
What brand of chocolate chips do you prefer for this recipe? Trying to avoid refined sugar when possible but do not want to sacrifice the taste of these! Thanks!
Why don’t you try Lily’s? It is sweetened partly with stevia. Check them out!
From my Mr. Picky: “This is the best brownie I’ve ever had!” Thank you!!
Ha! So great! Thanks, Jenny 🙂
Scrumptious!!! And so easy to make! I used half a stick of butter, honey, chopped walnuts. To be repeated! Thank you Pamela. Can’t wait to try some other recipes on your blog.
All good substitutions! Let me know what other recipes you end up trying!
These are OOC (out of control!)!. In 1 week I made these 3 times for various people and the reactions after they eat them are the best – how on earth can they taste SO bad for you yet filled with zucchini! Thank you for a such a superb recipe!
Haha! Great comment, thank you! They are a favorite in our house, too. 🙂
I’m new to the ” family” ….I made this today because I have so much zucchini in my fridge and it sounded so good. My husband, who has wheat sensitivities and not a big fan of sweet cakes, went bananas over it! He kept calling it “pudding cake” – a child hood favorite of his! Thanks to him, we had instant coffee, which gave the cake recipe a nice depth. I just shared the recipe with my mom, sisters and a couple of friends! Hooray for Pamela!
( I hope it freezes well, so I can take some on a car trip in a couple of weeks).
What a lovely comment, Enlise. Thank you. And yes, the cake freezes very, very well. 🙂
If I double this recipe should I bake it in a 13 x 9 dish or bake it in two 8 x 8 dishes?
I think it would do fine in a 13 x 9, although I haven’t tried it. The only thing that gives me a little pause is that the base of this cake is almond butter (which can burn easily) and you would have to bake it slightly longer in a larger dish. I do think it would work, but I can’t say 100%.
Thanks so much for your quick response. I ended up baking the cake in two 8×8 Pyrex dishes, side by side and they came out beautifully.
Fantastic!
Omg! I made this with the zucchini fries! It was a zucchini night! I really don’t know how this recipe is possible. It tasted just like a brownie cake!!! The flavor was super choclolatey and it cooked perfectly! I’m obsessed! Thank you so much for this!!!!
This is amazingly delicious! When I read the ingredients I was skeptical it would taste like cake, but I am happy to report I was wrong. I do cut it up & freeze it, so I am not tempted to sit down with the pan & a fork.
Great recipe – it’s so fun to see the surprise on someone’s face when I tell them what’s in it (and what’s not in it).
Also love the pizza zucchini boats – my 2 new go to recipes for my zucchini harvest. Keep them coming!
This cake is probably one of the best chocolate cakes I have ever had. We had some guests come over that were in a specific diet with no grains or dairy allowed so I made it using dairy free chocolate chips by enjoy life.
No one knew what was in it and the ate the entire thing because it was so moist, chocolatey, fudgy, just AMAZING !!!
Thank you for this recipe!!!!
How great is that?! Thanks, Niloo!
Can anyone recommend a substitute for the egg in this recipe? Trying to make it vegan. Thanks in advance!
I would try a flax egg and see if that would work. One “flax egg” is 1 Tbs. ground flax meal mixed with 3 Tbs. warm water. Allow the mixture to sit for 15 minutes until it starts to gel.
This worked alright – I think the only thing to make sure is that the flaxseed meal is really fine. I used a store-bought one which wasn’t all that fine and later flaxseed bits were pretty evident in the cake. But still it was a big hit! 🙂
Interesting. Thanks for your feedback. Really info to know!