Lemon Zucchini Bread
- By Amy Dong
- Updated Feb. 22, 2023
The perfect balance of whole, nutritious ingredients create the ultimate lemon zucchini bread. Enjoy it any time of day.
In This Article
This post may contain affiliate links, at no additional cost to you.
Articles may contain affiliate links, for which we earn a very small amount, at no cost to you.
What Is Lemon Zucchini Bread?
This is a refreshing twist on classic zucchini bread! A sweet quick bread that is so light that it melts in your mouth. Each bite is filled with bright lemon flavors and the classic zucchini taste you love. This lemon zucchini bread recipe is an incredibly delicious way to use garden zucchini.
Zucchini bread is classified as a standard quick bread. It’s called quick bread because it doesn’t contain yeast. It’s basically the same batter that you use for muffins, but you bake it in a loaf pan.
When it comes to quick bread, you don’t have to knead it or let it rise. Instead, you just pour the batter into the pan and let it bake. Low effort, high reward.
What You’ll Love About Lemon Zucchini Bread
- The ingredients are pantry staples that you probably already have on hand.
- You can make it gluten-free with an easy flour swap.
- It looks fancy enough to share at a brunch or celebratory party.
- This bread freezes well, so you can make it ahead of time and store it for up to six months.
- It’s easy to turn this lemon zucchini bread into lovely single-serve muffins too.
Pantry Ingredients For Lemon Zucchini Bread
Though amounts can vary a bit depending on taste, the basic ingredients are items you may already have in your pantry and fridge. Here they are:
- Granulated sugar: This dissolves perfectly into the batter and sweetens the bread.
- Egg: This is a natural emulsifier, helping everything blend and bind together.
- Largest lemons you can find. They will have more juice, and you’ll have plenty of fresh zest to add to the bread.
- Vegetable oil: Use your favorite kind of oil to add moisture to the bread.
- Fresh zucchini: here’s how to pick the best quality zucchini at the grocery store or farmer’s market.
- Flour: We use all purpose flour for this recipe, but you can make it gluten-free with 1:1 gluten-free baking flour.
- Both baking soda and baking powder are essential because they make the bread light and fluffy. Be sure yours are super fresh, for the best rise.
- Add another layer of flavor with a bit of ground cinnamon.
- Salt enhances all the other flavors in this bread.
- For the icing, you’ll need some powdered sugar and lemon juice. That’s it!
Lemon Zucchini Bread
Commonly Asked Questions
No, you don’t have to peel your squash before you grate it for the lemon zucchini bread. Use the finest side of grater, for finely grated zucchini that melts right into the texture of the bread.
There is no need to remove zucchini seeds, as they tend to get grated right along with the rest of the zucchini.
Your bread might be too moist because you left too much liquid in the shredded zucchini. After you grate the zucchini, use a cheesecloth to wring out as much liquid as you can from the zucchini.
More To Cook And Eat
- Banana Bread – another quick and sweet bread that makes great use of overripe fruit.
- Pumpkin Bread – this bread has the same cinnamon flavors as zucchini bread and is perfect for baking in the fall.
- Blueberry Lemon Bread – this one is a beautiful and sweet bread that looks gorgeous on your dessert (or breakfast) table.
- Strawberry Banana Bread -this is one of our readers’ favorites, as it incorporates the classic combination of strawberries and bananas into one luscious bread.
- Avocado Chocolate Bread – indulge your sweet tooth and make a bread that is surprisingly good for you. No, they won’t taste the avocado!
Did you make this?
Please give us a rating and comment below. We love hearing from you!
Lemon Zucchini Bread
Ingredients
For the Bread:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp lemon extract
- ½ cup canola or vegetable oil
- 1 ½ cups freshly shredded zucchini
- zest of one extra-large lemon
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp table salt
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp baking powder
For the Icing:
- 1 cup powder sugar
- 1 TB freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Optional: extra lemon zest for topping
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, lemon extract, and oil. Stir in zucchini and lemon zest until 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. Pour batter into greased/floured pan.
- Bake 45 minutes or just until a toothpick inserted in center comes out almost clean, with a few tender crumbs attached (not fully clean.) Allow bread to cool in pan on a wire rack 15-30 min.
- To make the icing, combine the powder sugar with lemon juice and whisk until incorporated. Add more powdered sugar if it's too runny. Add a bit more lemon juice if it's too thick. Once it's to your desired consistency, place in a Ziploc bag and cut off a tiny bit of the corner to make a drizzle-pouch. Carefully remove warm bread from pan and place on serving platter. Drizzle icing over the bread, allowing it to soak into warm bread. If desired, sprinkle top with extra lemon zest. Wait until bread is completely cool before slicing.
Equipment
- Loaf Pan, glass preferred
- Pure Lemon Extract, culinary grade