Easy Zucchini Bread Recipe
The perfect zucchini bread base for all the zucchini treats. You can leave her plain, flavor her with different spices, add a cinnamon swirl, chocolate chips, nuts, lemon, sub in some cocoa powder or even bake it as muffins.
There’s a first time for everything and this is the first zucchini recipe on my site! I was given about a thousand pounds of zucchini so I figured I would bake as many zucchini recipes as I could with them. However, I couldn’t decide on ONE zucchini bread so I made a base recipe and from there, I’m going to flavor them differently – aka, chocolate chip, double chocolate, lemon, banana, etc.
I also made *one* zucchini salad lol.
My family was all skeptical of zucchini bread but just like bananas, zucchini brings insane moisture to baked goods. This bread is simple, full of zucchini and flavored with a little cinnamon, just like my Classic Banana Bread.
I made this recipe as a base zucchini bread, however ALL of these zucchini bread recipes also work as muffins! I just follow the exact baking instructions from my vanilla muffins, so rest the batter for 30-60 minutes, scoop into a lined muffin pan and bake 12 very large muffins at 425F for 5 minutes and then 375F for 10-15 minutes, until it springs back when you press on the top.
How To Make Zucchini Bread
It really is quite simple, all the wet ingredients get mixed together, followed by the dry ingredients and the shredded zucchini. Just like Carrot Cake, the most tedious part is just getting the zucchini shredded so I recommend using the Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer Shredding Attachment. It’s fairly inexpensive and so useful for so many recipes!
I added a little cinnamon swirl to this one, that’s totally optional but delicious. I also forgot to top it with granulated sugar, like I do all my breads and muffins, but I definitely recommend that cuz it makes such a lovely crisp crust!
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Zucchini: I had very large zucchini, which tend to be drier than small ones but if you weigh the amount, this shouldn’t matter.
- Flour: I use all purpose flour in most of my recipes and I HIGHLY recommend using a digital scale, as flour is so often over measured.
- 1:1 Gluten-free flour substitutes should also work fine.
- Baking Powder/Soda: I use both baking powder and baking soda to get a nice rise on the heavy batter.
- Sugar: I use granulated sugar, brown sugar also works fine but I don’t recommend reducing it by more than 25g.
- Oil/butter: I tested this both ways, oil and melted butter both work just fine. Butter gives it a more, melt in your mouth texture while oil gives it a spongier/squishier texture. Use olive oil for a healthy option.
- Eggs: I use room temperature, large eggs. Place them in hot water for a few minutes if they’re cold.
- Greek yogurt: I like to add greek yogurt as a healthier option but sour cream and plain yogurt also work. Make sure the yogurt is unsweetened. I’ve also skipped this and replaced it with more zucchini and it works fine as well.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Shred the zucchinis (with the peel is fine). Small seeds are fine but I discard the large ones.
- Whisk together the sugar and the oil (or butter), until they’re well combined.
- Whisk in the eggs. For extra fluffy bread, add one egg at a time, whisking until each one is completely combined. Then add the other egg, etc.
- Add the greek yogurt and vanilla and whisk until it’s completely smooth.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients and then add them into the wet ingredients, whisking just until they’re completely combined.
- Fold in the shredded zucchini and mix just until it’s combined.
- Spread half of the batter in the prepared pan and top with a layer of cinnamon sugar followed by the rest of the batter.
- *optional* top with granulated sugar and pipe a line of butter down the center.
- Bake for about 60 minutes, until you insert a knife in the center and no wet batter comes out.
Pro Tips for baking with Zucchini:
- Make sure to use the right pan for this zucchini bread. I recommend a 9×5” metal loaf pan. Don’t use a glass pan or it won’t bake properly.
- Don’t swap or reduce any of the ingredients if I didn’t mention them in the ingredient section above.
- Use a digital scale to measure your ingredients for the most accurate measurements. If your zucchini doesn’t add up to the exact weight, you can add a little water or yogurt to make up the difference.
Frequently Asked Questions
I stick a knife all the way down the center (the tallest part) and if it comes out with moist crumbs instead of gummy batter it’s done baking.
You can also check the temperature with a digital thermometer – you want it around 200F (93C).
Absolutely, I made this zucchini bread into like 5 flavors and tested them all as muffins – I won’t double post the recipe as muffins lol but they work perfectly if you follow the baking instructions of my vanilla muffin recipe (rest for about an hour, bake 12 large muffins at 425F and then 375F).
How to store zucchini bread
I place the bread under a cake dome or in an airtight container or baggy at room temperature for 2-3 days. If it’s longer you can refrigerate it for a couple of days but it may dry out quicker in the fridge, so I recommend freezing instead.
You can freeze the whole thing or each individual slice with plastic wrap and then place them in a freezer bag. Bring back to room temperature before serving.
Thanks so much for reading today’s post, if you have any questions just comment down below.
If you like my Zucchini Bread recipe, I would appreciate it if you left a 5-star rating or a review below.
As always, have a blessed day and happy baking!
Love, B
