This post is sponsored by Save-A-Lot, all opinions are my own.
Easy Zucchini Bread: This is the only zucchini bread recipe you will ever need. It is quick, easy, delicious, uses pantry ingredients you already have, and turns out every time. The perfect way to use your summer zucchini harvest.
A good zucchini bread recipe is a staple in your recipe collection. One that is reliable, works every time, is moist, soft and tender on the inside with some heft to the crust, and that most importantly tastes good. Well your search can stop because you just found it. This easy zucchini bread recipe has been tested by me hundreds of times, as I honed the right ratios of things like flour, sugar, and zucchini. And I can’t wait for you to try it! Be sure to check out the tips at the bottom for how to get a moist zucchini bread.
Easy Zucchini Bread Recipe
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As a mother with one child who is a pick eater I have to say whomever decided it was a good idea to add fruits and vegetables to bread was a genius. My love affair with zucchini bread started back when my youngest son would not eat anything beyond bread, potatoes, and chicken nuggets.
I had to get creative with how I would get his fruits and vegetables into him, as the face-off at the dinner table each night usually resulted in a stale-mate of him refusing to eat, and me having no clue what to do. Adding zucchini to breads, pancakes, etc. meant getting a few bites of something nutritious into him, which felt like a huge mom-win.
Fortunately times have changed, and now he eats much more variety, including fruits and vegetables. But my love for zucchini bread has remained constant, and now I just have fun with new mix-ins, etc.
I love eating zucchini bread year round. So in the summers I will harvest my own zucchini from my little kitchen garden, or wait for neighbors and friends to offer me their bumper crop garden excess, but in the winters I will shop at Save-A-Lot for zucchini to make into quick bread.
Save-A-Lot has the best produce. I love how fresh it is, and how great prices are.
How to Make Zucchini Bread:
Step one: Grate the zucchini
For this recipe you need 3 tamped down cups worth, or 4 lovely packed cups. To decide how many zucchini you need, keep in mind, 1 medium zucchini makes about 2/3 cups of grated zucchini after it is squeezed and tamped down into a measuring cup.
When you are ready to bake, you want to grate your zucchini right away, and get it into some kind of sieve or colander. I use a mesh colander, and let the zucchini strain for a bit so excess liquid will run off. While this is happening I start mixing my other ingredients together. Then I use the back of a measuring cup to press on the zucchini and reduce the liquid in it even more, wringing out that excess moisture.
THIS IS ESSENTIAL.
Do not skip the step of squeezing or wringing out the excess water out, or your batter will be too wet, and not turn out nearly as good.
Do I need to peel zucchini for zucchini bread?
Nope! Zucchini does not need to be peeled, so leave that exterior skin on, and enjoy the health benefits, and the time saver.
However, don’t try to chop it, even finely, you should grate it. Grating it will make it small enough to be there, but not be so super obvious it is in the bread, it allows for a good texture.
Additionally, when grating zucchini it takes more zucchini to make up a cup, so keep that in mind, and measure for the recipe AFTER grating the zucchini, not before.
Can I use Frozen Grated Zucchini?
The answer is Yes! However, the caveat is you need to let it defrost so you can squeeze all the excess liquid out. There will be a lot of it. Do not skip that step.
I know when I buy too much, or when my zucchini bumper crop goes crazy, or my neighbors share too much, I like to grate it all, and freeze it in 1 cup portions for later use. It is great added into soups, quick breads, and even cookies.
Step Two: Mix Wet and Dry Zucchini Bread Ingredients Separately, Then Combine
Like all quick breads, zucchini bread does not use yeast, but instead using baking soda as the leavening agent. Therefore it needs to be well distributed, so it is best to mix together the wet and dry ingredients separately so the baking soda will be throughout the flour mixture. I just put all the dry stuff in one bowl and the wet in another, mix them both separately, then mix them both together.
Tip: When mixing the eggs, beat them slightly with a fork before adding them to the wet ingredients to ensure they get mixed in properly.
Also, combine the two by adding the dry to the wet, as this will help you avoid a big dry clump of ingredients at the bottom of the bowl, and keep you from over mixing the batter.
Do not overmix, just mix until well combined. After it is all mixed up, then fold in the pecans, if you opt to use them. Or get creative and add something else to your batter.
Favorite mix-ins:
- Pecans
- Walnuts
- Pistachios
- Cranberries
- Raisins
Step Three: Bake Zucchini Bread
I have included baking time in the recipe card, but please keep in mind that every oven is different. Every zucchini is different. And every baker/preference is different. The best rule of thumb is to bake until a knife interred in the center pulls out clean. In my oven this took 55 minutes.
Check at around 50 minutes to determine if your zucchini bread has finished baking. If you like a darker exterior, bake longer. If you want it to be a little doughy in the middle, cook less.
Let the zucchini bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer the bread onto a cooling rack. This will keep the bottom from going soggy, and the edges from overcooking. Let it cool completely.
Note: I always like a warm slice, where the butter melts right in. If you are like me and don’t want to exercise the patience for your easy zucchini bread to finish cooling, just keep in mind it may fall apart more readily when warm.
Step Four: Devour Zucchini Bread
Once your bread is fully cooled, it should be easy to slice. The outside crust should have some heft to it, while the interior should be fluffy and soft.
Tip for Moist Zucchini Bread:
- Grate Zucchini – and wring out excess water, trust me it is so much better than chunks, it will melt right into that bread for a perfect texture.
- Don’t over-mix- Already covered it, but in a nutshell, stirring activates gluten, which leads to that tougher, chewier bread, so just mix until moistened, then be done.
- Swaps– With this quick bread you can easily use some wheat flour if you want, if you chose to swap half or more, add some applesauce or oil to help keep it light, fluffy, and moist, as wheat flour will result in a denser bread.
- Good Ingredients– Want a moist, tender, delicious zucchini bread, start with great zucchini, like the ones you find at Save-A-Lot. The fresher the better. I like the younger, more tender ones as opposed to those giant ones.
- Remove from pan– Follow those instructions and let it cool a few minutes in the pan, but if you want moist and tender bread, you have to help it stop cooking. Leaving it in a hot pan won’t do that. 10 minutes in pan, then cool the rest on a rack.
Easy Zucchini Bread – The Only Zucchini Bread Recipe You Will Ever Need
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsps baking soda
- 2 tsps cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 3 cups grated fresh zucchini strained of excess water, and packed tight
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsps vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup butter melted
- 1 cup roughly chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Grate zucchini (3-4 medium sized), and place grated zucchini into a mesh strainer.
- Use the back of a measuring cup, or your hands to press the zucchini and squeeze out any excess liquid.
- In a large mixing bowl combine all of the dry ingredients except pecan pieces (all-purpose flour, kosher salt, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, white and brown sugar), and whisk together.
- In a separate, large mixing bowl, Melt you butter, and add in other wet ingredients, zucchini, eggs, vanilla. Stir to combine.
- Dump the dry ingredients into the wet, and stir to combine, stop stirring once combined.
- Fold in chopped pecan pieces.
- Spray 2 -5 x 9 inch loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray, and divide batter between the two. It is a thick batter.
- Bake in preheated oven for 50-55 minutes, until knife inserted comes out clean.
- Cool in pans for 8-10 minutes, then flip out onto cooling rack to let cool completely.
Nutrition
Our recipe card software calculates these nutrition facts based on averages for the above ingredients, different brands, and quality of produce/meats may have different nutritional information, always calculate your own based on the specific products you use in order to achieve accurate macros for this recipe.
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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Save-A-Lot. The opinions and text are all mine.
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