Zucchini Bread Recipe
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A healthy zucchini bread recipe? Yes, please!
It’s February. It’s cold out, and the garden is giving me anything but a surplus of zucchini right now. But as I made this clean eating zucchini bread, I thought back to this past summer to one particular day. I was sitting on the patio watching my son tumble and fumble his way through the garden.
I watched him as he inspected a ladybug sitting on a leaf. He got so close on his hands and knees, they nearly bumped noses. Not an easy thing to do with a ladybug.
He poked it in the behind, and it buzzed away angrily, upset to have its lunch disturbed in such a rude and unceremonious manner. He giggled and moved onto a spot in the ground next to a zucchini plant that was heavily weighed down with fruit just begging to be picked and rescued from the hot summer sun.
The earth was moist from a recent morning watering, so he happily settled in and began to dig. He wasn’t digging for anything in particular, but he ended up finding a worm. He pulled it up, took a close look, sniffed it, and looked back at me with an expression that seemed to say “I just bit into a really sour lemon, Mama”. Â All he could say as he held up that worm was, “dirty“.
He’s been dirty ever since.
Yep, my kid loves to be in the garden. He loves to help, loves to dig, loves to use the tools, and especially loves to pick the fruits and veggies. He takes his job very seriously. We had to check the zucchini nearly every morning to see if one was ready to bring in that day. It was a good summer.
I knew this would be a fantastic recipe the second I had all the ingredients mixed together. Even in its uncooked state, the batter smells absolutely divine!
More Healthy Sweet Bread Recipes
Healthy Zucchini Bread Recipe
Zucchini Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
- â…” cup honey
- 1 cup grated zucchini (about 1 large zucchini)
- 2 tbsp. apple sauce (unsweetened)
- 2 tbsp. oil (+ extra for oiling the pans)
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg white
- 1 tbsp. lemon zest
- ¾ cup plain yogurt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Oil 2 medium loaf pans with olive oil (use a mister if you have one), or 1 large loaf pan.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and nutmeg.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the honey, zucchini, apple sauce, egg and egg white, olive oil, lemon zest and yogurt. Mix well.
- Using a wooden spoon, stir the flour mixture into the wet mixture and blend well.
- Pour the batter into the loaf pan and place in the oven.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Note: You may need to cover this loosely with foil if the top starts to get to brown.
Notes
Nutrition
I'm Tiffany, a writer for MSN and the AP Newswire, a cookbook author, digital publisher, food lover, and mom. I create healthy, clean eating recipes for everyday living.
The flavor will be slightly different, but it should still be okay. You could try a tsp. of lemon extract too if you have that.
That’s awesome!! Yum!
Oh yum! Let me know how they turn out!
Oh, wow. This recipe was fantastic! I made mine into muffins and baked for 20 minutes. They were perfect. They were really light and fluffy.
Awesome! Glad you liked them!
Can’t wait to try this tonight!!
I hope you enjoy it!
Haha! Ya, sharing is definitely an issue for me. But I guess you have to feed the kiddos too. As Mini Chef always says, “That’s life!” LOL
It’s a pretty sweet bread in my opinion.
I don’t recommend it unless you know how to sub with gluten-free flours. The two you mention have no gluten.
Hi there,
I know this may sound strange but what can I substitute the applesauce for? My kids actually have an allergy to apples. Is it used in place of oil? If so, how much should I substitute?
Thanks in advance!
In this case, yes. You can sub with oil. I would just use equal amounts since the amount is small.
I’d love to try these as muffins. Any changes needed besides adjusting the cooking time to 20 mins?
I don’t think so. But I would use the foil wrappers. With paper, you might not get the wrappers off.
Oh yum! This is my first time making zucchini bread, and I’m feeling pretty proud especially since I also used homemade yoghurt and grounded my own flour! I slightly reduced the honey and found it sweet enough, and I enjoyed it with some Greek Yoghurt and it’s delicious! Thanks for the great recipe!
Mariam – My pleasure! Glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Hi, I wanted to know could you use oat flour instead the wheat flour?
Brandy – You could, but it would probably fall apart because of the lack of gluten.
Hello there –
I made your yummy bread earlier this week, and I added a 1/2 C of baking cocoa. I also used 1/2 honey and 1/2 agave. It’s so delicious! Thank you!
Laura – A 1/2 CUP baking soda????! Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Recipe says oil 2 pans but says also it only makes one loaf and only says to put in 1 loaf pan at the end?? Wanting to make it but kind of confused.
Michelle – The recipe says 2 medium OR 1 large pan. Totally up to you and what you’d like to make.
I am totally baking this as I type! It smells better than amazing! And I picked the giant zucchini right out of my garden. That is the best part!
Amy – Awesome!! I hope you enjoy it! 😀
I just made this, doubled the recipe so I could make muffins and breads- The loaves came out amazing!! Super moist, and so flavorful – the lemon was a great addition! The muffins totally overcooked. oops. Hubby still likes them but they are so dry- my fault! Great recipe!
Dawna – Glad you enjoyed the bread at least!! 🙂
I made this last night and to make it even healthier/heartier, I only used 1 cup of whole wheat flour and added 1 cup of almond flour. I also added extra cinnamon (1 TB) and 1 TB vanilla. I would probably add even more cinnamon and vanilla the next time I make this. It was delicious and made a full loaf, rising to the top of the pan. Delicious!
Michelle – That’s fabulous!! 😀 I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Forgot to comment last week, I made this as banana bread and we loved it! I’m glad I made 2 loaves because we killed the first one real quick! 🙂
Monica – Haha! So glad you enjoyed it! 😀
was wondering how much and what kind of chocolate are in these. I tried to read each of the comments but didnt see chocolate.
Gardengrammy – There is no chocolate in this. Are you thinking of the Chocolate Pumpkin Loaf?
Question:Could I swap the whole wheat flour with brown rice flour?
Yeukai – Sorry, no. Not unless you have a particular gluten free mix that makes a good sub. If you were to do that, it would probably fall apart from lack of gluten.
I love this! And so does my 18 month old! I made a few modifications you might like too. First I added grated carrots and chopped apples. Then I added about 1/3 c applesauce, only 1/4 c honey and a tsp of stevia. I also omitted the lemon zest. It’s not too sweet but all the applesauce and apple chunks make it both moist and yummy. Thanks again!!
Nikki – Sounds wonderful!!! 😀
Can I substitute coconut or almond flour for the wheat flour?
Teresa – Sorry, no. The entire recipe would need to be reformulated. Try the Urban Poser. She’s grain free and does a lot of baking.
Do you have the nutritional information for this recipe?
Angie – No, sorry. But MyFitnessPal.com has a super easy-to-use calculator.
How big is a “cup”?
Amy – I’m not sure what you mean. It’s a measured cup.