This moist and delicious Zucchini Bread is blended with sweet brown sugar, cinnamon spice, and vanilla. It’s a great way to use summer zucchini fresh from your garden. Slice it up and, I promise, it will melt in your mouth! Add in chocolate chips or make into zucchini muffins too!
Homemade Zucchini Bread
One of my favorite things that my grandma would make when I was a young girl was her famous zucchini bread. I can remember being a kid and wondering how a vegetable like zucchini could be hidden inside a delicious bread like that. Now I know, it was the secret ingredient that kept the bread super moist.
My Zucchini Bread recipe tastes just like I remember my grandma’s tasting, and it’s incredibly easy to make. It’s the perfect option for a quick snack or simple breakfast item and a great way to use those fresh zucchinis from your summer garden!
Why We Love This Zucchini Bread Recipe
- Your kids won’t even know they are eating their veggies
- The perfect way to use up zucchinis from your summer garden
- Super moist and flavorful bread recipe
- Quick bread – this means you don’t have to wait for it to rise
- 15 minutes to prep!
- Can be frozen for up to 3 months
Ingredients / Shopping List
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Cinnamon
- Salted butter
- Granulated sugar
- Light brown sugar
- Vanilla
- Eggs
- Buttermilk: If you don’t have buttermilk you can make your own buttermilk using whole or 2% milk and lemon juice or distilled vinegar. For every 1 cup of milk, stir in 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar.
- Zucchini -2 cups, grated and loosely packed
Substitutions and Additions
- CHOCOLATE CHIPS: Sometimes I like to add semi-sweet chocolate chips to this bread, and my kids absolutely love it this way!
Tips
- Pro Tip: If you have an abundance of zucchini, you can use the grating attachment on your food processor to process large batches quickly. Freeze any extra in 2 cup portions and use it for more zucchini bread in the future.
Recommended Tools to Make this Recipe
SEE FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD BELOW
How to Make Zucchini Bread
This recipe will come together quickly in just 15 minutes prep time! Then, pop it in the oven for an hour and enjoy the delicious scent that will fill your kitchen as it bakes.
- Sift together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.
- Beat together butter, sugar, and brown sugar.
- Add eggs and vanilla, then mix in the buttermilk.
- Add grated zucchini.
- Combine dry and wet ingredients and mix.
- Spread batter into prepared loaf pan.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes.
Storage Tips
- To Store: Wrap just the cut end of the bread and return it to the baking pan to store on the counter (this will keep the bread from getting soggy!) Keep at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- To Freeze: Freeze up to 3 months, wrapped in plastic wrap and inside a freezer Ziploc bag. For thawing, place on the countertop. Lightly toast for best results.
Frequently Asked Questions
So zucchini bread doesn’t taste like eating a zucchini! The zucchini adds a wonderful moisture to the bread, but the flavors are going to come out from the vanilla, cinnamon and brown sugar.
There is no need to drain excess water from the zucchini. 1½-2 cups loosely packed makes a dense, very moist loaf. However, using more zucchini than 2 cups may add too much liquid to the batter and prevent the bread from baking fully.
There is no need to peel the zucchini before grating it and adding it to the bread. It’s an extra step that simply isn’t necessary because you won’t notice it in the final product. Plus, the skin adds so much nutrients!
Zucchini bread can be a bit tricky to tell when it’s done. You want it to be golden brown on the outside, but not gooey and raw on the inside. The best way to test it is the toothpick test. Insert a toothpick into the center of the bread, it should come out clean.
To make this recipe into zucchini bread muffins, just follow the instructions above and spoon the batter into a muffin pan. Fill the tins all the way and bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes. Test with a toothpick to make sure the center of the muffins is completely cooked (the toothpick should come out clean). When you press on the top of the muffin it should bounce back. Let cool.
A sinking quick bread is usually due to over mixing the batter. You really just want to mix it enough so all of the ingredients are well incorporated.
Other Easy Quick Bread Recipes
Reese’s Peanut Butter Banana Bread | Cream Cheese Banana Bread | Cloud Bread | Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread | Lemon Blueberry Bread with Lemon Zest Drizzle | Ice Cream Bread | Cheesy Pull-Apart Garlic Bread | Cinnamon Swirl Bread | Cinnamon Donut Bread
Zucchini Bread
Video
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ cup salted butter softened
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 2 cups grated zucchini loosely packed (about 2 medium or 1 large zucchini)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9×5 loaf pan with parchment paper and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
- Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat or whisk together the softened butter, sugar, and brown sugar.
- Add in the eggs and vanilla extract, then mix in the buttermilk and grated zucchini.
- Dump the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir gently until combined. Do not overmix.
- Spread batter into prepared loaf pan.
- Bake for 55-60 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
- Cool loaf for about 10 minutes before removing it from the pan and cooling the rest of the way on a cooling rack.
- Return zucchini bread to a loaf pan, wrapped in plastic wrap to store.
Jenn’s Notes
- To Store: Store wrapped in plastic wrap or an airtight container, refrigerated or on the counter, for 1 week.
- To Freeze: Freeze up to 3 months, wrapped in plastic wrap and inside a freezer Ziploc bag. For thawing, place on the countertop.
Very moist and delicious. I enjoy with a cup of tea or a glass of milk. I also crumple in a bowl in chili.
How many chocolate chips do I add to this recipe? Awaiting answer it is 7:30 am in NS AND want to start my mornings baking.
How many chocolate chips do I add to this recipe? Awaiting answer it is 7:30 am in NS AND want to start my mornings baking. Reason for 1 star as don’t know the amount of chocolate chips, grrrr
Susie. This is not a recipe for chocolate chip zucchini bread. Yes, you can add chocolate chips, but that is an option. Typically I would add anywhere from half a cup to a cup depending on your preference. To give this recipe 1 star because you want to know an ingredient that is not part of the recipe (before you even tried it) is not very nice or helpful to other readers. This answer was given at 7:34 EST.