Zucchini Bread Recipe
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”. 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
- ⅔ 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.
Oh YUMMY!!!! I loved waking up to this recipe in my inbox 🙂 Zucchini bread if one of my FAVORITES! Can’t wait to try this–thank you thank you!
Ali – Glad I could make your day a little brighter! Enjoy!
Is there anything you recommend for a substitute for the yogurt? Looks delish!
Brooke – That depends on what kind of substitute you need. Do you need something completely dairy free, or just a different type of dairy?
Just a tip I learned – zucchini can be really moist and full of water. The first time I made a zucchini loaf (one from CE Mag – with zuc and apples) it turned out to be a soggy mess. the other day I made chocolate cupcakes with a HUGE marrow from a friends garden but squeezed out lots of the water and the brownies turned out perfect. I literally just put a big handful of grated zuc in my hands and squeeze but I am sure the better way is with cheesecloth 🙂
Mandy – What an excellent suggestion!! Thank you!
Just made this bread—oh, so yummy!! I didn’t have plain yogurt, so I used vanilla–still came out just as good. I used one loaf pan and didn’t realize that my oven is a little on the hot size so the top got a bit darker than I wanted, but didn’t ruin the taste. Thanks, as I was wondering what to do with one lonely zuchhini!!
Laurie – Fabulous! Mine got a little brown on top too, but it was still really tasty! Glad you got to use that one little zucchini!! 😉
what about banana bread? Could you substitute banana for zucchini?!
Libby – Hmmm. That’s a good question! I haven’t tried it, but I don’t see why not. Try it with equal amounts of banana. Should be good!
umm..im confused..it says that it makes one loaf but you say to oil two med loaf pans…lolz
Desiree – Oops! All fixed. Thanks!
Looking forward to trying this. We are always given zucchinies from our friends’ gardens in the Summer & I love zucchini bread.
Jen – I hope you enjoy it!
Oooh, I cannot wait to try this. I heart zucchini bread!!!
On a side note, I enjoy looking through your blog. I am a frequent visitor, first time commenter.
Can I make a request for a lemon poppy seed muffin??? My son loves them, but I have not found a clean version!!!
Jenn – Most definitely!!! In fact, I have a lemon muffin recipe here: https://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-lemon-muffins/. All you would have to do is add 1-2 tbsp. poppy seeds!
My bad, I just did a search here and you have lemon muffins. I will just add poppy seeds!!! So excited!!!
Jenn – lol. No problem! Let me know how you like them!
Any non-dairy sub for the yogurt?
Erin – I haven’t tried. Maybe if you did 1 more tbsp. of oil and an extra 1/2 cup apple sauce? But I’m not sure how that would turn out.
Erin – I found this on the web – Make the coconut yogurt yourself out of coconut milk, tapioca starch (to thicken) and non-dairy, non-soy starter (from GIPro).
What about adding 1/2 cup pecans? Would that throw out the balance? I have a large pecan tree in front yard, always looking for ways to use those nuts! LOL.
Shannon – I’m sure that would work just fine! Enjoy!
I just tried this recipe last night. Had a huge zucchini from a friend’s garden and used half of it to make TWO loaves! This loaf is extra good the next day — thank you for the recipe! Any suggestions on swapping out the zucchini for pumpkin?
Backtomobay – Glad you enjoyed it! With the pumpkin, you’d have to play around with it. Now that you know what the batter is like, use use enough pumpkin to achieve that same consistency. The concern is the liquid content. But zucchini has water in it too so you may be able to sub in equal amounts, give or take. Sorry! Wish I could be more specific. I’ll have to work on a pumpkin bread recipe next!
My garden is producing gigantic zucchini… mostly b/c I forget to check for them often. Could you give an estimated zucchini measurement so I know how about how much of a zucchini to use?
Sorry, bad question! The measurement is there. I read it too fast the first time around.
CPA – No worries! Let me know how you like it!
Adesomer – It’s worth a shot. The main thing is getting it to bake fully. But in a shallower pan, it might still work. Let me know how it turns out!
Eliz – I never peel my zucchini for any recipe. But I suppose it’s a matter of personal preference.
Missie – That’s fantastic! I’m so happy you enjoyed it!
Could you substitute greek yogurt or soy yogurt for the plain non-fat yogurt? Thanks
Sidney – Sure!
Just made this and it was Delish! I added walnuts on top for a little crunch….Thanks so much for the recipe!
Glad you enjoyed it!
can you sub anything for the honey??
Maple syrup?
Agave, too.
Agave isn’t clean though.