Cream Cheese Swirled Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

This is not your grandma’s zucchini bread recipe… It’s even better!

Alright loves, if you’ve been on a bit of a baking frenzy lately (like me) then you need to make this cream cheese swirled chocolate chip zucchini bread asap! It’s incredibly easy, made with only simple ingredients and the taste is out of this world amazing! (Plus it makes your house smell sooo good too!) Let’s just say, quite a few people got out of bed earlier than usual to sneak a bite of this bad boy. 😉

Ingredients

This bread is made with NO BUTTER, NO OIL and can easily be made gluten free too! Here are the main ingredients you’ll need below.

• Flour: I used regular all purpose flour for this recipe but you can replace it with gluten free flour too.
• Cinnamon & nutmeg: Adds flavor and gives your bread that sweet cozy fall aroma! 😉
• Egg: Helps to bind the bread together.
• Coconut sugar: Adds sweetness without using refined sugar. (It also gives the bread it’s darker brown color too.) You can replace it with regular brown sugar or even white sugar if needed.
• Unsweetened applesauce: Used in place of butter and oil. I love using applesauce in my baking recipes because it lowers the fat content and keeps your bread incredibly moist!
• Grated zucchini: Adds moisture and gives the bread the most amazing texture!
• Chocolate chips: I used semi sweet for this recipe but you can also use milk or dark chocolate too.
• Cream cheese filling: See below for ingredients and directions!

How to make the best cream cheese filling

Ok I’ll admit this was originally supposed to be more of a “stuffed” bread with the cream cheese filling in the middle, but I personally love that it ended up more like a swirl instead. (Not only does it still taste delicious but in my opinion, it looks 100x prettier too!) And this filling couldn’t be any easier! Here’s how you do:

• 6 oz. cream cheese (I used reduced fat but regular cream cheese would work too.)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 3 Tbsp powdered sugar

1. Add all of your ingredients to a bowl and beat them together with an electric mixer until smooth. (It’s ok if there’s still a few small cream cheese bits that don’t fully mix in.)
2. Set the filling aside while you make the zucchini bread batter.

Variations:

• Replace the chocolate chips for raisins or dried cranberries
• Take out the chocolate chips & leave it plain (This makes a great option for a breakfast bread!)
• Add chopped walnuts or pecans
• Gluten free version: Replace the all purpose flour with gluten free flour (My favorite gluten free flour is Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Flour.)

Tips for making cream cheese swirled chocolate chip zucchini bread

• Use softened cream cheese. This makes it so much easier to blend the cream cheese mixture together. I’ll usually pull the cream cheese out of the fridge first 30 minutes – 1 hour before I start making the bread.
• Use parchment paper to line the pan letting the excess hang over the sides. This way when the bread cools, you can simply lift the parchment paper and easily remove the bread from the pan.
• It’s ok if the top layer of batter doesn’t completely cover the cream cheese layer. Just dollop the remaining bread batter over the cream cheese and “swirl” it together as best you can with a spatula. This creates that pretty swirl effect!

More recipes like this:

• Cinnamon Peach Banana Bread
• Banana Bread Coffee Cake Muffins
• Banana Bread Brownies (One of my personal favorite recipes!)
• Gluten Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Blondies

[Made one of my recipes? Make sure to tag my social media @kalefornia_kravings – I love seeing what you create!]

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Cream Cheese Swirled Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

Cinnamon spiced zucchini bread loaded with chocolate chips and swirled with a decadent cream cheese filling! This is the best zucchini bread recipe you will ever make!

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time40 minutes mins

Total Time55 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American, No Butter, Oil Free, Quickbread

Keyword: bread, cheesecake, chocolate chip, cream cheese, gluten free, no butter, no oil, swirled, zucchini

Servings: 1 9×5 loaf tin

Author: Caitlin

Ingredients

For the bread:

• 1½ cups flour (can replace with gluten free flour if needed)
• 1½ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 egg
• ¾ cup coconut sugar
• ⅓ cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup grated zucchini
• ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

For the cream cheese filling:

• 6 oz. cream cheese, softened (I used reduced fat)
• 1 egg
• ½ tsp vanilla
• 3 Tbsp powdered sugar

Instructions

To make the cream cheese filling:

• Place all of your ingredients in a large bowl. Use an electric mixer and beat the ingredients together until smooth. Set it aside while you prepare the bread batter.

To make the zucchini bread:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9×5 loaf tin with parchment paper.
• Mix the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. Set it aside.
• In a separate larger bowl, whisk the egg, coconut sugar, applesauce and vanilla together. Add your dry ingredients and stir them together with a large spoon. Stir in your zucchini and chocolate chips.
• Pour half the batter into your prepared loaf tin. Then pour your cream cheese filling over the top. (Make sure to spread it out to all the edges.) Dollop your remaining batter over the cream cheese layer and swirl them together as best you can. (It's ok if the batter doesn't completely cover the cream cheese. This is what creates the "swirl" effect.)
• Bake the bread for 35-40 minutes. (Check the bread around 30 minutes. You might need to tent it with aluminum foil if it's browning too fast.)
• Once done, let the bread cool for 10-15 minutes before taking it out of the pan.