Anyone with a garden knows how prolific zucchini are. Before you can say “grow,” that small plant has yielded armfuls of squash. While zucchini does make a yummy side dish, we think it’s at its most delicious when baked into bread. With a bit of sugar, spices and even nuts, this abundant summer veggie becomes a treat to savor: zucchini bread.
Adding chopped walnuts or pecans gives the bread a more interesting texture, but you can leave them out if you’re baking for someone with nut allergies.
What is zucchini bread?
Zucchini bread is a type of quick bread. Despite being made with a vegetable, zucchini bread is sweet. The grated zucchini softens as it cooks, leaving the peel’s green flecks as the only evidence of its presence. Grated zucchini also adds moisture. The addition of warming spices like cinnamon, bright citrus zest and crunchy nuts give zucchini bread a complex flavor that’s hard to beat.
Zucchini Bread Ingredients
- Sugar
- Canola oil
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Baking soda
- Grated lemon zest
- Ground cinnamon
- Baking powder
- Shredded zucchini
- Chopped walnuts or pecans, optional
Directions
Step 1: Make the batter
In a large bowl, beat the sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla until the mixture is well blended.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients—the flour, salt, baking soda, lemon zest, cinnamon and baking powder.
Gradually beat the dry ingredients into the sugar mixture, stirring it until the mixture is just moistened. You don’t want to overmix, so it’s okay if there are some tiny clumps of flour remaining.
Editor’s Tip: Don’t have a zester at home? Use the finest side of your box grater to zest lemon for this recipe. And if you’re out of lemons, feel free to sub in orange zest. It’ll be just as tasty.
Step 2: Grate the zucchini
You can use a food processor with a grating attachment to grate your zucchini, but an old-fashioned box grater works just as well here. Grate washed zucchini against the side with the largest holes. And nope—you don’t even have to peel the zucchini. The exterior is tender enough to eat and will create nice flecks of color in the bread.
Zucchini does contain a lot of water, especially the very large ones (we’ve all found a few of those hiding in our garden). To keep the batter from becoming too liquid, extract some of the moisture from the zucchini. You can do this by putting the zucchini in a mesh sieve and pressing on the squash shreds; the excess liquid will run through the mesh. You can also place the shredded zucchini in a clean tea towel, bundle it up and squeeze over the sink. This removes a bit of extra moisture.
Step 3: Add in any extras
Once the zucchini has been rid of extra liquid, fold it into the batter. Finish off by adding any additional mix-ins like pecans or walnuts.
For maximum flavor, be sure to toast the nuts before adding to the batter.
Step 4: Bake to perfection
Transfer the batter to two greased 8×4-inch loaf pans and bake for 55 to 65 minutes at 350ºF, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the zucchini bread cool for about 10 minutes in the pans.
Gently run a butter knife along the side of the loaf pan to release the zucchini bread. Carefully remove the bread from the pan and let it cool completely on wire racks before slicing.
Editor’s Tip: Zucchini bread batter contains a ton of moisture, and it takes a long time to bake through to the middle. If the bread isn’t finished after the allotted baking time, tent the loaf pan with a piece of aluminum foil to keep the top from over-browning and bake it for an additional 10 to 30 minutes.
Zucchini Bread Variations
Because the squash in zucchini bread is more about adding moisture than a powerful flavor, you’ll find all kinds of zucchini bread variations, including savory and sweet options. These are a few of our favorites:
- Chocolate zucchini bread: This is a quick bread that tastes like dessert, complete with cocoa powder and a touch of cinnamon.
- Parmesan zucchini bread: You bet you can use zucchini in a savory bread! This cheese-filled loaf is perfect for serving with supper.
- Pineapple zucchini bread:Pineapple and zucchini pair surprisingly well together. Try a simple take on the pineapple-zucchini combo or level up with this pina colada-inspired bread.
How to Store Zucchini Bread
Like most bakes, zucchini bread is best when eaten within the first few days. When you’re not nibbling, stash it in an airtight container or zip-top bag. It’ll keep on the counter for about four days and in the fridge for a week. If you’re nearing the end of the loaf and find it’s a bit stale, don’t toss it! It makes delicious toast slathered with butter.
If you want to store zucchini bread for later, you can freeze it. Make sure the bread is cooled completely, then wrap (either an entire loaf or slices) tightly in plastic wrap or foil and store in a zip-top bag or airtight container. You’ll want two layers of protection to prevent any freezer burn. Once frozen, zucchini bread is good for about three months.
When you’re ready to eat, just unwrap the bread and let it thaw on the countertop.
Zucchini Bread Tips
How do you prevent zucchini bread from falling apart?
If your zucchini bread is falling apart, it most likely was too warm when you sliced it. The high moisture content can cause the hot bread to crumble when sliced. Let cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Exercising patience can be hard if you’ve got delicious bread on the counter, but the perfect slices will be worth it.
How do you prevent zucchini bread from collapsing?
Your zucchini bread looks picture-perfect when it comes out of the oven, but what causes it to fall as it cools? You might have overmixed the batter when you combined the dry and wet ingredients. Try using a gentler hand next time and mix just until the flour is incorporated. You don’t want any large clumps of flour, but a few small ones are okay.
Also, be sure you’re measuring ingredients correctly. Too much or too little baking powder and baking soda can cause a collapse.
How to make sure zucchini bread is baked
Because there is a lot of moisture inside of zucchini bread, it does take longer to bake—sometimes an hour or more. Be patient and don’t peek on your bread until the end of the baking time.
To check if the loaf is done, you can use a toothpick, just like you would with cake. If the toothpick comes away clean, the bread is done and ready to cool on a wire rack. If the skewer comes out gooey, bake your bread a bit longer; start with an extra 5 minutes and go from there.
If the center of your bread is still underbaked but the outside is getting pretty brown, tent the top with a piece of aluminum foil. Your bread will continue to cook, but the crust won’t burn.
How do you choose zucchini for zucchini bread?
When it comes to zucchini, bigger isn’t always better. Large zucchinis have lots of water inside, meaning you have to squeeze those shreds more. Opt for a few small zucchini in lieu of a jumbo one if possible.
If you only have extra-large squash in your garden, that’s fine. Just be sure to give the shredded zucchini an extra squeeze.
How do you make zucchini bread moist?
Don’t worry about this for one second! Zucchini is full of moisture and ensures that your bread will never come out dry.
