Gluten Free Chocolate Zucchini Cake

One of the best things about summer — to me — is that I can grab tons of fresh zucchini at farmer’s markets for recipes like this gluten free chocolate zucchini cake! I’ll look for any excuse to hide, er, I mean to use, fresh veggies and fruits in my baking, and this “hidden treasure” recipe for gluten free Chocolate Zucchini Cake is one of our favorites!

While you might not think that zucchini and chocolate could marry so well, just wait until you taste this amazing gluten free chocolate zucchini cake!

Besides being delectably moist and delicious, this chocolate cake contains health benefits you can’t taste — talk about having your cake and eating it too!

The glaze on top is a delicious alternative to traditional frosting, but is totally optional. At times, I’ve shaved some dark chocolate on top (also optional) for decoration, and on other occasions, I’ve baked this yummy cake as a sheet pan and used cookie cutters to cut out shapes.

The recipe is so versatile, I’m sure you’ll come up with even more ways of using it or feeling smug about sneaking veggies into your family without their ever suspecting it.

I mean, do you see any zucchini in this luscious cake?

My kids (and my parents) sure haven’t. Or that it hasn’t stopped them if they have!

This light, subtly sweet cake is sure to be a hit for you this summer and fall. In fact, when I first made this cake years ago (many years ago), my young son and his friend spied the green ingredient before I could secret it away. They were good sports — or maybe they just really love chocolate — and surprisingly wanted to try the cake anyway.

In the words of my son’s playdate pointing to this cake, “I don’t know if there’s gluten in that or not, but that chocolate cake is GOOD!” And here I was worried about the zucchini!!

For other gluten free chocolate zucchini combos, try my gluten free Coffee Chocolate Zucchini Bread or my gluten free Zucchini Brownies! Or even my gluten free chocolate zucchini donuts! I think you’ll agree it’s truly a great combination.

Note: although this recipe was originally published in my cookbook, Free for All Cooking, since then I’ve experimented more with Coconut Palm Sugar – a low glycemic, granulated, raw and nutrient rich alternative to processed sugar. I’m happy to report that this recipe worked beautifully using coconut palm sugar, so consider that an option if you’re looking to feel even better about eating chocolate cake!

And while I give you and easy and delicious glaze recipe, there’s no need to glaze this yummy cake. A light dusting — or dotting, as it were — of confectioner’s sugar is just as yummy!

Especially if you’re not serving this cake right away, I’d recommend not glazing it. Just serve it au natural. It’s so light and tasty on its own. But you be the judge. Maybe try a piece both ways and decide for yourself!

So hit your local farm stand or even the grocery store and start shredding!

You’ll wind up with 2 1/2 cups of zucchini, which should look like this (it’s approximately 1 1/2 average sized zucchini)

No need to drain it for this recipe, just shred and add. Couldn’t be easier!

You can even use my new Nada Flour to make this cake GRAIN-FREE! It turns out fantastic — no one would ever know it was anything other than just a delicious chocolate cake — I promise!

Enjoy sneaking greens into your chocolate cake. I hope you feel as smug about it as I do!

Gluten Free Chocolate Zucchini Cake

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Gluten Free Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Yield: serves 12-16

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

As if we needed another reason to love zucchini, this gluten free Chocolate Zucchini Cake makes zucchini impossible to resist!

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Ingredients

Cake:

• 2 1/2 cups (337 grams) gfJules® Gluten Free All Purpose Flour OR (275 grams) Nada Flour*
• 1/2 cup (54 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder (natural, not Dutch processed)
• 3 teaspoons (9 grams) baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons (8 grams) baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon (3 grams) salt
• 2 teaspoons (4 grams) ground cinnamon (optional)
• 3/4 cup (6 ounces) butter or vegan alternative Earth Balance® Buttery Sticks OR neutral oil like avocado oil or extra virgin olive oil (See Notes)
• 1 2/3 cups granulated cane sugar OR coconut palm sugar
• 3 eggs (or egg subs of choice – see my article**
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons agave nectar, honey OR raw coconut nectar
• 1 tablespoon orange juice or apple cider or other juice of choice
• 2 1/2 cups coarsely shredded zucchini (approx. 1 1/2 ave. zucchini, not drained unless particularly wet)
• 1/2 cup milk or non-dairy milk

Glaze (optional):

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons milk or non-dairy milk
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• shaved milk chocolate or dark chocolate or chocolate chips (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
2. Prepare a 10-inch tube or bundt pan by lightly oiling and dusting with gfJules Flour. Or, prepare a 9 x 13 baking pan the same way, and bake as a sheet pan.
3. Wash and grate zucchini with skins on. If you have extra grated zucchini, measure it and bag it, then refrigerate or freeze for your next yummy zucchini recipe! If the zucchini is particularly wet, press lightly between paper towels, but do not squeeze all liquids out.
4. Whisk together gfJules Flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; set aside.
5. Using an electric mixer (preferred), cream butter/Buttery Sticks and sugar until smooth and light,* at least 3-4 minutes. Add eggs or substitute to the butter and sugar mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla, agave/coconut nectar, and juice. Lastly, stir in zucchini.
6. Add the mixed dry ingredients and the milk alternately into the zucchini mixture until fully incorporated.
7. Pour into prepared pan and bake in the preheated oven for about 50 minutes (test at 45 minutes) or until a skewer or cake tester inserted into center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 15 minutes; gently turn out onto a wire rack to cool thoroughly.
8. Sprinkle confectioner's sugar over the cake to serve, or to make glaze, whisk together all the ingredients until smooth. Drizzle glaze over cake only after it has fully cooled.

Notes

*1 cup Nada Flour = 110 grams, so 2 1/2 cups Nada Flour = 275 grams

If using oil instead of butter/vegan butter, skip the creaming step and add oil together with sugar, eggs/sub, vanilla, agave and juice, mixing until combined. Then continue with recipe.

**For egg-free/vegan, reader Joanne S. used 3 TBS flaxseed meal mixed with 6 TBS hot water (steeped for 10 minutes) and 1 recipe Ener-G egg Replacer. Another option is to use 9 Tbs aquafaba.

Recommended Products

I may earn a small amount from qualifying affiliate purchases; this amount goes to fund this blog and does not cost you anything additional.

• 
  gfJules Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
• 
  Big Tree Farms Organic Brown Coconut Sugar, Vegan, Paleo, Gluten-Free, Non-GMO, Low Glycemic, Unrefined and Fair Trade, Natural Sweetener, 2 Pound (Packaging May Vary)
• 
  Earth Balance Buttery Sticks
• 
  Big Tree Organic Coconut Nectar - Unrefined Sweetener 11.5oz Bottle (Pack of 2) Select Flavor Below (Amber)

Nutrition Information

Yield 16 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 257Total Fat 7gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 4gCholesterol 39mgSodium 62mgCarbohydrates 47gFiber 1gSugar 45gProtein 4g

Please keep in mind that nutrition information provided is per serving, which may vary. While we have taken care to provide you with the most accurate nutritional values possible, please note that this information may differ significantly depending on the exact ingredients and brands that you choose to use to make this recipe. Additionally, where options are given for ingredients, the resulting calculation may include all ingredient options instead of only one per line, skewing the totals significantly.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment (and maybe even a picture!) below or share a photo on Instagram! Be sure to tag me! @gfJules

I hope you love this recipe as much as we do!

Pin it for when those chocolate cravings hit!