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    Home » Recipes » Quick Bread

    Mix & Match Zucchini Bread

    Published: Jun 20, 2022 by Tiffany Dahle · This post may contain affiliate links.

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    Easy zucchini bread on top with a photo of the mixing bowl on the bottom.

    This classic zucchini bread recipe is the perfect base for mixing in a wide variety of combinations of nuts and dried fruits. From chocolate chip zucchini bread to lemon blueberry zucchini bread, all the zucchini bread variations start right here:

    A platter of sliced zucchini bread sits next to a blue napkin.

    Zucchini bread is always the first recipe to look for when that classic summertime green veggie is popping up all over farmer's market stands or even in your own backyard garden.

    This popular quick bread recipe is an annual tradition because the tender grated zucchini practically melts into the spiced bread batter.

    This banana zucchini bread has been one of my favorite ways to sneak in a little veggie to my kids for years and years.

    But my mother-in-law's version is loaded with chocolate chips and is so tasty it could easily pass as dessert!

    Start with this classic zucchini bread recipe and then take your pick from the long list of easy mix-in's including dried fruits like raisins or dried blueberries and chopped nuts.

    Mix together an easy quick bread recipe for a delicious breakfast treat this week or freeze one for later!

    Or if you're swimming in zucchini from your garden, don't miss my favorite 30 zucchini recipes!!

    Jump to:
    • Why This is the Best Recipe
    • Ingredients
    • How to Prep the Zucchini
    • Make the Quick Bread Batter
    • Baking Instructions
    • Best Mix-In Options
    • Zucchini Bread Variations
    • Storage Tips
    • Freezing Instructions
    • Reheating Instructions
    • More Quick Bread Recipes
    • 📖 Recipe

    Why This is the Best Recipe

    This moist zucchini bread is the best recipe because:

    1. Quick to Make: Measure a few easy ingredients and stir them together. The hardest part is grating the zucchini and it just happens to be one of the most easily grated veggies ever!
    2. Moist but Easy to Slice: Quick breads can sometimes be a little tricky to slice neatly, but this zucchini bread cuts into beautiful slices while also being perfectly moist and delicious in every bite.
    3. Not Too Sweet: Compared to so many breakfast bread recipes out there, this recipe is just delicately sweet. This leaves plenty of room for big flavor from the mix-ins you choose.
    4. Blank Palette: With a mild vanilla flavor, the classic recipe is just a blank palette waiting for you to play. How about baking up a loaf with one of these awesome pairings:
      - pecans and dried cherries
      - chocolate chips and chopped walnuts
      - dried blueberries and candied lemon

    Ingredients

    All the ingredients to make homemade zucchini bread are on the counter.

    The entire recipe is made with mostly pantry ingredients plus fresh zucchini! All you need to bake it is:

    • Flour
    • Brown Sugar
    • Baking Powder and Baking Soda
    • Vegetable Oil
    • Eggs
    • Orange Juice: If you don't want to use orange juice or don't have any on hand, you can substitute milk.
    • Vanilla
    • Cinnamon
    • Fresh Zucchini

    How to Prep the Zucchini

    A box grater shows how to prepare the grated zucchini on a plate.

    I love how easy it is to grate fresh zucchini. You don't even need to peel it!

    Simply scrub the vegetable in cold water. Slice off one end and grate the zucchini on a box grater on the medium grate side.

    I place the box grater over a clean plate to collect all the shredded zucchini and any liquids. This makes it easy to measure what I need and keep my workspace clean.

    Make the Quick Bread Batter

    Mix the wet ingredients together in a large mixing bowl and the dry ingredients in a separate mixing bowl. This helps to ensure that the cinnamon is well blended all throughout the batter.

    Step by step photos show how to mix the zucchini bread batter.

    The quick bread batter is very thick before you add the shredded zucchini. The juices from the grated vegetable will help to loosen things up as you fold it in.

    Baking Instructions

    The zucchini bread batter has been smoothed into a quick bread pan.

    Spray an 8-inch bread pan with cooking spray. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

    Spread the zucchini bread batter evenly in the pan. Bake for 60 - 70 minutes or until a wooden skewer or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

    NOTE: This quick bread batter is very thick and dense. It can easily be baked perfectly towards the top but still be underdone at the base.

    I prefer to use a long wooden skewer, like for making kabobs to grill, to check the doneness all the way through to the bottom.

    Let the bread cool for 10 minutes in the pan before turning it out. Let cool completely before slicing.

    Best Mix-In Options

    This classic zucchini bread is the perfect base for mixing in a wide variety of delicious ingredients.

    Mix and match just 1 or 2 from the following list:

    • ¾ cup chopped nuts: walnuts or pecans would work best
    • ¾ cup dried fruit: golden or traditional raisins, currants, dried cranberries, chopped dried cherries, dried blueberries, etc.
    • ¾ cup baking chips: chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips
    • 2 tablespoons candied fruit peel: lemon or orange zest

    If you try to add more than a total of 1 ½ cups of mix-ins, you may need a larger bread pan and you might have trouble neatly slicing pieces so I recommend just one or two of the options from the list above.

    Zucchini Bread Variations

    One of the reasons moist zucchini bread is so popular is that it takes on the flavors of whatever you mix into the batter!

    Want to play with a new variety altogether? Try one of these fun variations:

    Applesauce Zucchini Bread

    To make a lighter quick bread without all the oil, you can make an applesauce zucchini bread by substituting a 1:1 ratio of applesauce for the canola oil.

    Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread

    To make a double chocolate zucchini bread that has a chocolate bread crumb and chocolate chips, simply add ⅓ unsweetened cocoa powder to the dry ingredients and stir in ¾ cup chocolate chips before spreading the batter in the pan.

    Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

    This is the easiest variation! To make a chocolate chip zucchini bread, simply stir in ¾ cup chocolate chips to the prepared batter.

    Lemon Zucchini Bread

    To make a lemon zucchini bread, simply add the zest of one lemon and 2 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice to the batter. You could drizzle this vanilla glaze over the top or even add more lemon zest to the glaze.

    Blueberry Lemon Zucchini Bread

    Fresh blueberries can be a little tricky to bake with. If you're not careful, they'll turn your whole recipe purple.

    It is much easier to bake with dried blueberries. Mix ¾ cup of dried blueberries with the zest of 1 lemon and 2 teaspoon of lemon juice for a delicious blueberry lemon zucchini bread.

    Banana Zucchini Bread

    This has been one of my favorite zucchini bread variations since my oldest was just an itty-bitty. I'm not usually a fan of banana bread, but I absolutely love this banana zucchini bread recipe:

    • Homemade banana zucchini bread has been sliced to show the inside and sits in a white ceramic bread basket with a grey striped napkin.
      Banana Zucchini Bread

    Storage Tips

    The baked zucchini bread will keep, covered in foil at room temperature, for several days.

    You could also wrap it in foil and store in the fridge.

    Slice it as you serve it, individual slices will dry out much more quickly than the covered loaf will.

    Freezing Instructions

    Let the zucchini bread cool completely before wrapping tightly in aluminum foil.

    Label your quick bread with the date and freeze it for up to 6 months.

    You can easily thaw the quick bread in the fridge overnight.

    Reheating Instructions

    Since the quick bread slices so neatly, it makes a great option for toasting in your toaster.

    We love to gently toast a slice and then spread a little bit of butter over it. YUM.

    A sliced loaf of zucchini bread is served on a white plate next to a blue napkin.

    More Quick Bread Recipes

    Love how easy quick breads are to bake? You won't want to miss some of my other favorite recipes:

    • The baked peach bread with almond glaze and toasted almond slivers has been sliced so you can see the fresh peaches inside.
      Peach Bread
    • A sliced loaf of almond poppy seed bread is ready for serving on a white platter.
      Almond Poppy Seed Bread
    • 3 pans of homemade pumpkin bread cool on a stove top.
      Big Batch Pumpkin Bread Recipe

    📖 Recipe

    A platter of sliced zucchini bread sits next to a blue napkin.

    Zucchini Bread

    5 from 1 vote
    This classic zucchini bread recipe is the perfect base for mixing in a wide variety of combinations of dried fruit and nuts to create your own perfect breakfast bread. Sample the original recipe or mix together your own custom creation!
    TOTAL TIME 1 hour 10 minutes
    PREP TIME 10 minutes
    COOK TIME 1 hour
    YIELD 1 loaf
    PIN RECIPE FOR LATER PRINT RECIPE NOW

    Ingredients
      

    • ¾ cup brown sugar
    • 2 tablespoons orange juice
    • ½ cup vegetable oil
    • 2 eggs
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla
    • ¼ teaspoon baking powder
    • ½ teaspoon baking soda
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
    • 1 ¾ cup flour
    • 2 cups grated zucchini

    Instructions

    • Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray an 8 ½-inch quick bread pan with cooking spray and set aside.
    • In a medium sized mixing bowl, use a hand mixer or whisk to beat together the brown sugar and liquid ingredients: orange juice, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla.
    • In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, baking soda.
    • Use a box grater over a clean plate to grate the fresh zucchini on the medium grate.
    • Add the dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ingredients and stir them until combined. The mixture will be very thick. Add the grated zucchini and fold it in. The liquid from the zucchini will help thin out the batter a bit, but it will still be fairly thick.
    • Spread the batter evenly into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 60 - 70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. A longer wooden skewer stick would reach the bottom of the bread and helps to ensure the zucchini bread is baked properly all the way through.

    Recipe Notes

    Fun Flavor Mix In's

    For easy ways to change up the quick bread flavor, you could mix in 1 or 2 of the following:
    • ¾ cup chopped nuts: walnuts or pecans would work best
    • ¾ cup dried fruit: golden or traditional raisins, currants, dried cranberries, chopped dried cherries, dried blueberries, etc.
    • ¾ cup chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips
    • 2 tablespoons candied fruit peel: lemon or orange zest
    See the blog post above for several additional easy flavor variations.
    COURSEQuick Bread
    CUISINEAmerican
    AUTHORTiffany Dahle

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    Easy zucchini bread on top with a photo of the mixing bowl on the bottom.

    More Easy Quick Bread Recipes

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      Homemade Cornbread Croutons
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    Hi, I'm Tiffany!
    I believe a great family recipe is one that makes everyone at the table happy, not just the kids. I'm the author of two bestselling cookbooks for kids that are chock full of recipes everyone in your family will love. I'm also the hostess of the best online book club for moms.

    More about me →

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