Who has an abundance of zucchini growing in their garden? Here’s the perfect quick bread recipe to use up those fresh garden zucchini! Every time I make this recipe for someone they are pleasantly surprised at how much they love this bread (and surprised that it’s made with zucchini!). This homemade zucchini bread has a moist texture that pairs perfectly with a slight crunch of walnuts and has warm notes of cinnamon.
My garden this year is starting to overflow with an abundance of beautiful veggies and herbs. I have pots full of herbs and lettuce, tall vines and bushes of tomatoes, beans, peas, cucumbers, and zucchini. The zucchini plant, in particular, is huge and is creeping in two different directions, towards my neighbour’s property and across my lawn. And like any zucchini plant I’ve ever had the amount of zucchinis is hard to keep up with.
So when I have a garden overflowing with food I just have to come up with a way to deal with all of the extras. You can only give so much away before people have had enough of your zucchinis! I’m not sure but I think my friends will appreciate receiving this yummy zucchini bread rather than being presented/gifted with another foot long zuc!
Ingredients
The brown sugar gives richness to this zucchini bread and helps balance it from savoury to sweet. You’ll find the bread is super moist from the zucchinis as they hold a lot of extra moisture in them. It’s a simple recipe with simple ingredients!
- All-purpose flour
- Brown sugar
- Walnuts
- Zucchini
- Unsalted butter
- Milk
- Eggs
- Baking powder & baking soda
- Ground cinnamon
- Salt
Zucchini Bread Variations
You can easily add a little pizazz to your bread by adding your favourite additions. I added walnuts to mine but you can switch them out for whatever you please. Here’s a list for some inspiration.
- Pecans
- Chocolate chips
- Orange zest
- Lemon zest
- Add a glaze or icing
- Pineapple
- Coconut
Tips For The Perfect Zucchini Bread
- Zucchini: Grate the zucchini and then lightly squeeze out excess moisture using paper towels or a cheesecloth. This prevents the bread from becoming too soggy during baking and helps maintain a nice texture. If the zucchini isn’t very wet you can skip this step, as all zucchinis are not the same in moisture. Be careful not to squeeze the zucchini bone dry either!
- Mixing: Mix your batter just until incorporated. Overmixing can lead to a tough and dense bread.
- Ingredients: Use room temperature ingredients, like eggs and dairy. This helps with mixing the batter evenly and helps with the overall texture of the bread.
- Cooling: Allow the zucchini bread to cool in the pan for approx. 15 minutes before transferring it to a wire rack to cool completely. The bread needs time to cool or else it will be mushy on the inside.
How To Make a Zucchini Loaf
Step One: Set out a loaf pan lined with parchment paper. In a large bowl mix your dry ingredients; flour, brown sugar, baking powder, soda, cinnamon, salt and chopped walnuts, and set aside.
Step Two: In a separate bowl mix your wet ingredients; grated zucchini, melted butter, milk, and eggs.
Step Three: Add the wet ingredients to the dry and lightly mix until just combined. Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Let the loaf cool in the pan for another 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.
Zucchini Bread
This zucchini bread is a simple and easy recipe that makes up a moist, nutty flavoured bread; perfect for a morning snack!
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 1 loaf 1x
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cups packed brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 2 cups packed grated zucchini (about 1 large zucchini or 2 small ones)
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup milk, at room temperature
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a bowl whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, soda, cinnamon, salt and chopped walnuts, set aside.
- In a separate bowl mix together, grated zucchini, melted butter, milk, and eggs.
- Add your wet ingredients to your dry and lightly mix until just combined (do not overmix).
- Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake in the centre of the oven for approx. 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
- Let the loaf cool in the pan for another 15 minutes.
Notes
Add chocolate chips, orange zest, lemon or icing for extra pizazz!
Bread freezes well, when stored in an airtight container.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving of 12
- Calories: 259
- Sugar: 8.9g
- Sodium: 229mg
- Fat: 15g
- Saturated Fat: 5.6g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 26.6g
- Fiber: 1.6g
- Protein: 6.2g
- Cholesterol: 48mg
Keywords: Zucchini Bread, Zucchini Loaf, Snack, Breakfast, Quick Bread
FAQ’s
The best way to tell if your zucchini bread is done is by sticking a toothpick into the centre of the bread. If it comes out clean then the bread is done. If the batter is still clinging to the toothpick it needs to go back in the oven. Zucchini bread can differ in bake time as not all zucchinis have the same moisture level.
This depends on how juicy your zucchinis are. Some recipes will specify to use a cheesecloth and squeeze out excess water from the zucchinis and some pass right by it. I like to leave the extra water as it creates more moisture within the bread. But if the zucchinis are really wet a little squeeze can’t hurt.
Yes, zucchini bread freezes well. Place the bread in an airtight container or wrap it in plastic wrap and place in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 2 months. Let bread come to room temperature before serving or reheat individual slices in the microwave.
The best way to grate a zucchini is with a box grater using the larger holes. You can also use a food processor to quickly grate a zucchini.
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Amazing texture!! I’m usually a fan of banana bread but wanted to give zucchini bread a try. It was super soft lasted only 2 days!
★★★★★
I was given some zucchini’s from my pa from his garden and since my boyfriend doesn’t like the texture of cooked zucchini I figured I’d try to hide it in zucchini bread. It worked! He liked it, but instead of nuts I put in chocolate chips. The very centre of it was kind of doughy still (my oven is a hard perfect baking) I would 100% use this recipe again but I would maybe try a lower temp at longer time to make sure the centre was done enough.
★★★★★
Haha, love how you sneaked that by your boyfriend Alexandra! I’d recommend keeping the temperature the same, just add on more baking time to get that centre cooked all the way through (the zucchini adds a lot of moisture). If you stick a toothpick in the middle of the bread and it comes out clean than your bread is done, if it’s sticky than you need to bake it a little longer. Also if you are having troubles with your oven temperature you can buy a temperature reader/gauge that goes in the oven to check if the temperatures are correct.
Great to hear Alexandra! It’s definitely a great change up from the classic banana bread 🙂