Zucchini Bread recipe that lives up to the name, BEST EVER Zucchini Bread! Easy to make & you’ll love the blend of spices used. Read the reviews- it’s popular for a reason! It really is the perfect zucchini bread recipe.
Zucchini Bread is the perfect way to use up all that zucchini in the garden! My squash plants haven’t been as fruitful this year, but even so, I suddenly find myself with lots of zucchini! I don’t mind a bit. As a matter of fact, I look forward to it each year so that I can fill my freezer with loaves of this delicious zucchini bread.
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So if you’ve been wondering just how to make zucchini bread from scratch, read on! I can’t remember where the original recipe came from, but I’ve changed it over the years. This produces the Best Ever Zucchini Bread. Try it- you’ll love it.
See more of our favorite Zucchini Recipes here!
How to make zucchini bread
Grease two 8 x 4 inch bread pans or 6 mini loaf plans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Mix flour, salt, baking powder, soda, nutmeg and cinnamon together in a bowl. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add dry ingredients to the egg mixture and stir until combined. Grate zucchini. Squeeze out excess water, if you can. Stir into the mixture along with the nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
New to making zucchini bread? Here are a few tips and tricks I’ve learned over the years:
How long does it take to bake zucchini bread?
A regular 8-9″ loaf pan of zucchini bread will bake in about 55-60 minutes. If you like using mini loaf pans, they take 35-40 minutes to bake. If you’d like to adapt this recipe for muffins instead, bake those for 18-20 minutes. Always check for doneness either by measuring the temperature of the bread with a meat thermometer- it should read 200 degrees F- or by inserting a toothpick in the center and having it come out clean.
Do you have to peel zucchini to make zucchini bread?
No you do not have to peel zucchini before making zucchini bread. The peel on the outside of a zucchini is a lovely dark green and very tender. I just wash the zucchini, cut off the ends and then grate the entire vegetable. It’s very simple to do and I love seeing the tiny flecks of green in the bread after it’s baked.
Should I squeeze excess water out of my zucchini before making zucchini bread?
Yes, you should squeeze out excess water from grated zucchini before adding it to your batter. Zucchini naturally has a lot of water in it. that becomes quite clear after grating it, if you simply leave it to rest for 5-10 minutes, the water will begin accumulating in the bowl! I like to squeeze as much out as possible before making it into zucchini bread. Interestingly enough, each zucchini is a bit different when it comes to water content. I find zucchini straight from my garden has quite a bit more water in it than zucchini from the grocery store. Both work well in this recipe! I say use what you’ve got!
Can I use frozen grated zucchini to make zucchini bread?
Yes you can use frozen grated zucchini to make zucchini bread. Just defrost it, then squeeze out as much water as you can before mixing it in. Personally, I’m not a fan of how frozen zucchini tastes, so I like to bake several loaves of bread, then after cooling completely, I wrap them in plastic wrap and freeze them in a ziplock bag until we’re ready to eat it.
Did your zucchini bread sink in the middle?
Here’s how to help your zucchini bread not sink in the middle after it’s baked. This happens to me occasionally too! Often it’s because I’ve over mixed the batter. Quick bread (referring to a bread recipe that doesn’t use yeast) does not like to be stirred too much, so try to just barely mix all the ingredients together. Another culprit could be overfilling the pan. The bread pan should be only half full each time. The recipe below makes 2 loaves of bread, or you can make 1 loaf of bread and 3 mini loaves… or 6 mini loaves. As always, make sure your baking soda isn’t too old- it should only be on your shelf for 6-9 months before purchasing new.
How do you make Healthy Zucchini Bread?
It’s easy to make changes to a regular zucchini bread recipe to make it more healthy. If you’d like to make a few changes to my recipe to make a healthier version of zucchini bread, I’ve got great news- this recipe is incredibly versatile! I suggest leaving out the 1 cup of white sugar, replacing half or all of the oil with apple sauce and using half whole wheat flour in place of all-purpose. Then you’ll have a traditional healthy zucchini bread recipe!
Zucchini Bread recipe that lives up to the name, BEST EVER Zucchini Bread! Easy to make & you'll love the blend of spices used. Read the reviews- it's popular for a reason! It really is the perfect zucchini bread recipe.
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil you can substitute applesauce for 1/2 the oil
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups grated zucchini you can add a little more, I always do!
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- Grease two 8 x 4 inch pans or 6 mini loaf plans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Assemble your ingredients. Mix flour, salt, baking powder, soda, nutmeg and cinnamon together in a bowl.
- Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. {I always sneak in a few spoonfuls of flax!}
- Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and beat well.
- Grate zucchini. Stir into the mixture along with the nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. My mini-loaf pans take about 35-40 minutes. Large sized loaves take about 55 minutes. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool. Enjoy!
Best Ever Zucchini Bread
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil (you can substitute applesauce for ½ the oil)
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups grated zucchini (you can add a little more, I always do!)
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- Grease two 8 x 4 inch bread pans or 6 mini loaf plans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Assemble your ingredients. Mix flour, salt, baking powder, soda, nutmeg and cinnamon together in a bowl.
- Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. {I always sneak in a few spoonfuls of flax!}
- Add dry ingredients to the egg mixture and stir until combined.
- Grate zucchini. Stir into the mixture along with the nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
- Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. My mini-loaf pans take about 35-40 minutes. Large sized loaves take about 55 minutes.
- Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool. Enjoy!
Like this zucchini bread recipe? Try some of our other zucchini recipes here:
- Zucchini Sausage Soup
- Zucchini Cupcakes with Caramel Frosting
- Garden Zucchini Chowder
- Low Fat Zucchini Cookies
- Zucchini Spice Cake with Browned Butter Frosting
Have even more questions about zucchini bread? I’ve answered your most pressing questions here:
How many zucchini is in a cup?
I plan on 1 zucchini for each cup of grated zucchini needed in a recipe. Of course, this varies being as zucchini come in all sizes. Zucchini in the grocery store range from small to medium sized. When you grow your own zucchini it’s easy to grow them larger than normal! I once harvested a zucchini that yielded 10 cups of grated zucchini- and that was after I cut out the soft middle part with the seeds!
What to do with a big zucchini
You can use your large zucchini for most zucchini recipes, especially for zucchini bread! First wash the zucchini, then cut it into chucks. Cut out the middle portion of the zucchini as the seeds in big zucchinis are too big. They toughen up as the zucchini grows larger, so they change the consistency of zucchini bread. After you’ve removed the fleshy seed portion, just grate the zucchini and use it in our zucchini bread recipe!
Can zucchini bread be frozen?
I love freezing loaves of zucchini bread! How you prepare zucchini bread for freezing really depends on how long you intent to keep it frozen. If you just want to freeze it for a week or two, I’d wrap it in plastic wrap or foil and place the loaf in a large freezer ziplock bag. Most often, when I bake zucchini bread to freeze it, I’ll bake mini loaves so that they fit in the ziplock bag easier. If you want to freeze it for 2-6 months, I’d wrap it more securely, making sure it’s airtight and wrapping it in a double layer of foil or plastic wrap, then place it in a ziplock bag.
Can zucchini bread be made with yellow squash?
Yes, you can make zucchini bread with yellow squash! You do need to scrape the seeds out since the seeds in yellow squash are much larger. Also, I find the skin to be more tough on yellow squash, so you can either peel the outside to remove the skin, or you can just grate it with a finer cheese grater.
Can zucchini bread be made into muffins?
Zucchini bread muffins are our favorite muffins! Simply use my recipe above, then spoon 3 tablespoons of batter into each greased or lined muffin cup. Bake for 18-20 minutes.
There are several benefits of making zucchini bread into muffins. First, I like that they cook faster! Where a full loaf of zucchini bread bakes for up to an hour, zucchini muffins bake for only 20 minutes, which is a fraction of the time. There’s no need to slice zucchini muffins either and of course, they’re very portable, so it’s easy to take them to a party or get-together. They’re also easy to freeze! I like to bake a batch of zucchini muffins and then freeze them just in a layer in a large ziplock freezer bag. I pull them out one or two at a time for breakfast. You can let them thaw on the countertop, or you can microwave them or toast them to heat them up. Yum!
How to make zucchini bread with chocolate chips:
Adding chocolate is always a good idea! If you’re baking just normal loaves of zucchini bread, my favorite way to add chocolate chips is to add a combination of regular sized chocolate chips and mini chocolate chips. I like to add 1/4 cup of each. You can also just add 1/2 cup of regular sized chocolate chips if you’d like. If you’re making mini zucchini bread loaves or zucchini muffins, I recommend using the combination of smaller and regular sized chocolate chips.
How do you make zucchini cake?
I adore a good loaf of zucchini bread, but you can also use this recipe to make a zucchini cake as well. It’s sweet as is, so a light dusting of powdered sugar on top is a wonderful touch, as opposed to traditional frosting. Simply fill a 9×13 pan half full of the batter and bake for 40-45 minutes.
Patty says
Made 4 mini loaves and used mixed nuts. Smells wonderful. Waiting for them to cool to have with cream cheese. Timing took 60 min. for the minis, I use a toaster oven. Very easy to mix and will try it in a cake pan next time. MERRY XMAS!
Alison says
Patty, sounds lovely! Thanks for sharing and Merry Christmas to you too!