Moist Zucchini Bread
- By Amy Dong
- Updated Aug. 22, 2024
This tried-and-true recipe for Moist Zucchini Bread is guaranteed to be tender and flavorful. Perfect for breakfast or snack, this zucchini bread can be made the day before.
In This Article
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Why This Recipe Stands Out
When I grew my first zucchini plant years ago, I didn’t quite bargain for the explosion of zucchini that emerged; this Moist Zucchini Bread recipe puts every zucchini to amazing use. Here’s why our family loves it:
- Lots of Zucchini: We’re all about recipes that sneak in veggies like this Chocolate Zucchini Bread. This recipe uses 3 whole zucchinis and is kid-approved!
- Super Moist: Zucchini is notoriously good at making baked goods tender. Add melted coconut oil, and you get the most tender, soft bread imaginable.
- Make Ahead: Moist Zucchini Bread is a great make ahead recipe. It stays fresh for days after baking.
- Healthier Bread: We use less sugar in this recipe and coconut oil, making it a totally guilt-free breakfast option, like this Healthy Blueberry Crumble.
Key Recipe Ingredients
- Zucchini – Fresh zucchini is the star here. Make sure to finely grate your zucchini and squeeze excess moisture out.
- Coconut Oil – Melted coconut oil makes this bread ultra-moist and delicious. It’s also chock-full of health benefits.
- Egg – Just 1 egg is all that’s needed to hold Moist Zucchini Bread together.
- Granulated Sugar – We use only 2/3 cup of sugar in this recipe – just enough to sweeten it, but less than most zucchini breads.
- Cinnamon – Cinnamon brings warm, comforting flavors to zucchini bread and makes the house smell amazing while baking.
- Vanilla – Of course, we can’t omit vanilla’s amazing flavor from this bread.
Substitutions And Variations
Here are a few of our favorite recipe variations for Moist Zucchini Bread:
- Add Chocolate: Mix some semi-sweet chocolate chips into zucchini bread like we do in this recipe for Superhero Apple Zucchini Muffins.
- Add Nuts and Seeds: We think chopped walnuts, pecans, pistachios, and sunflower seeds all go amazingly in this recipe.
- Add Grated Carrots: Want even more veggies in this bread? Try adding in some grated carrots too! Take a look at our recipe for One-Bowl Carrot Zucchini Bread for measurement suggestions.
- Serve with Ice Cream: Serve Moist Zucchini Bread with a scoop of Easy Vanilla Ice Cream for a scrumptious summer dessert.
Step-By-Step Recipe Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk sugar, egg, vanilla extract, and melted coconut oil.
- Squeeze excess moisture out of shredded zucchini; mix in with wet ingredients.
- In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda.
- Gently fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients until barely combined.
- Spread batter evenly into greased and floured baking dish, and bake at 350F for 45-55 minutes.
- Let bread cool to room temperature before slicing and serving. Enjoy!
For full list of ingredients and instructions, see recipe card below.
How To Prep Ahead
Take a look at these tips and tricks for making this zucchini bread even easier than it already is:
- Grate Zucchini: Grated zucchini will stay fresh in the fridge for up to 4 days. So, feel free to grate it in advance! Note that it will release water as it sits. We like to drain the excess water every day it’s in the fridge.
- Measure Dry Ingredients: As always, you can measure and mix the dry ingredients for this recipe several days in advance. Just store in an airtight container at room temperature until ready to bake.
- Refrigerate Bread: Baked and cooled zucchini bread will stay fresh in the fridge for up to 3 days, which is why we love baking this bread in advance.
- Freeze Bread: Moist Zucchini Bread also freezes very well. We like to slice cooled bread and wrap the slices individually, so it’s easy to take out and enjoy whenever!
Commonly Asked Questions
Happily, you do not have to remove any seeds, as long as your squash is small-medium in size, indicating that it’s a young squash. Once you finely shred the fresh zucchini, it can go right into the baked bread.
This can be due to under-baking, or it may have to do with mixing the ingredients too quickly/vigorously during the batter stage. Try mixing more gently and using a rubber spatula to fold wet and dry ingredients without over-mixing.
This is usually due to either not measuring ingredients carefully or over-baking the bread. Be sure to bake until toothpick inserted in center of bread comes out with just a few tiny, tender crumbs attached.
A common culprit is baking soda and baking powder that has been sitting in the pantry too long. Be sure yours are fresh.
It’s easy to make zucchini bread healthier than most other sweet treats. Our zucchini bread is on the healthy side, utilizing less sugar and using coconut oil instead of butter. We use 3 whole, fresh zucchinis per loaf. You can also sub out half of the white flour for whole wheat.
Did you make this?
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Moist Zucchini Bread
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup coconut oil, melted
- 1 ½ cups freshly shredded zucchini, packed (about 3 medium-small ones)
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F with oven rack on lower middle position. Grease and flour a 9×4 inch loaf pan. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, egg, vanilla extract, and oil.
- Place shredded zucchini in a fine mesh colander and press out all excess moisture (I use a spatula to firmly press.) Add zucchini to the egg mixture and stir until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and baking powder until well combined.
- Using a rubber spatula, gently fold wet mixture with dry mixture just until no white flour streaks remain; do not over work the batter. Use rubber spatula to transfer batter evenly into greased/floured pan.
- Bake 45-55 minutes uncovered, or just until a toothpick inserted in center comes out almost clean, with a few tiny, tender crumbs attached.
- Let bread cool in pan on wire rack. Gently loosen with a sharp knife and remove bread from pan. Once bread has cooled to room temperature, slice and serve.
Notes
- Bread can be made the night before and cooled at room temp overnight. Zucchini
- This bread also freezes well; wrap airtight and freeze for up to 2 months.
- For best results, use a fine grater for your zucchini so you don’t get any “big shreds” and be sure to squeeze as much moisture out of the zucchini as possible.
- Make sure not to over-mix. Just fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until it’s just combined – some small lumps are fine. Too much mixing will make the bread turn out tough.
- Serve Moist Zucchini Bread with a scoop of Easy Vanilla Ice Cream and a big dollop of Stabilized Whipped Cream.
Nutrition (per serving)
More To Bake And Eat
- Chocolate Zucchini Coconut Oil Bread – You won’t taste the coconut nor the zucchini, but you’ll feel great about serving up this chocolatey bread.
- Moist Lemon Zucchini Bread – Enjoy the bright flavors of lemons and zucchini all year long with this tender bread.
- One-Bowl Zucchini Carrot Bread – Get your veggies and enjoy it, too! This super moist bread is teeming with all the good stuff, and tastes amazing.
- Strawberry Banana Bread – Elevate your banana bread with fresh strawberries.
- Healthy Pumpkin Bread – Pumpkin bread can actually be health food, kind of.
- One-Bowl Healthy Banana Bread – Feel great about serving up this healthy banana bread for breakfast!