You're going to love this old fashioned zucchini bread. Made with fresh zucchini and cinnamon, this classic zucchini bread is one recipe you'll keep handy for years to come.
Recipe: $3.87 | Per Serving: $0.39 | Servings: 10 slices
Whether you have a garden full of fresh zucchini outside or just caught a few good sales at the grocery store, this is a summer favorite perfect for using up fresh zucchini.
Finding savory dishes like Zucchini Penne Pasta, Instant Pot Zucchini, and Instant Pot Taco Zucchini Boats are great, but when I think about fresh zucchini, I think about bread.
This is the best old fashioned zucchini bread recipe. Made with simple ingredients and steps, this bread turns out well spiced, tender, and moist. Perfect for snacking.
For more zucchini bread recipes, be sure to check out my Snickerdoodle Zucchini Bread and Amish Zucchini Bread.
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🍯 Why This Recipe Works
- Simple ingredients. One of the best reasons to make this zucchini bread recipe is that it uses basic ingredients to make a delicious slice of bread. You may find most of the ingredients needed in your pantry right now because they're Frugal Pantry Staples to Keep on Hand.
- Easy to follow steps. We don't need any fancy ingredients or steps to make this bread. A cheese grater, a mixing bowl, a whisk, and loaf pans are pretty much it!
- Perfect for garden zucchini. One of the easiest things to grow in abundance is your own backyard zucchini. With this recipe, you can easily turn them into something tasty. Now you'll want to grow zucchini every year. Note that if you have an abundance of zucchini you should check out these Delicious Summer Squash Recipes.
🥘 Ingredients
Ingredient Notes:
Zucchini- To get the bread batter consistency just right, you'll need zucchini that has been shredded on a cheese grater. You do not need to peel the zucchini first as the green skin will be soft and add nice color to the bread.
Leavening agents- To help the bread rise up nicely, you'll need to use a combination of baking soda and baking powder.
Cinnamon- Adding ground cinnamon to this bread is what gives it such a wonderful spice and warm flavor.
Vegetable oil- For added fats, use vegetable oil. This will keep the bread soft, moist, and tender in texture.
For specific ingredients and measurements, please see the recipe card below.
🧾 Substitutions
Vegetable oil. You can use melted (cooled) butter in place of the vegetable oil, but the bread will be a little denser as a result.
🍞 Mini Loaves Instructions
Prepare the bread batter as directed and portion it out into 5 mini loaf pans. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted and come out clean.
🔪 Instructions for Old Fashioned Zucchini Bread
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Step 2: Shred your zucchini and place it onto a paper towel to allow some of the moisture to be absorbed. Set aside.
Step 3: Grease your 9x5 bread loaf pan and set it aside.
Step 4: Add the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon to a large mixing bowl.
Step 5: Whisk well to combine. Set aside.
Step 6: In another large mixing bowl, add the eggs, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and sugar.
Step 7: Whisk well until combined.
Step 8: Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ones until no flour streaks remain.
The batter will be very thick at this point.
Step 9: Add in the shredded zucchini.
Step 10: Stir until the zucchini is well distributed. You will notice that the batter doesn't seem as thick anymore, thanks to the moisture in the zucchini.
Step 11: Add the batter to your prepared bread loaf pan.
Step 12: Bake at 325 degrees F for 80-90 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted into the center and come out clean.
Step 13: Let cool for about 20 minutes in the pan before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.
Slice, serve, and enjoy!
🍴 Recipe Tips
- Here's a helpful tip. You can adjust the recipe by increasing the shredded zucchini amount to 4 cups or using just 2 cups. Check out some Delicious Summer Squash Recipes for extra inspiration!
- Baking time may vary. Keep in mind that baking time may vary due to differences in zucchini moisture content.
- How to tell if your bread is done. Underbaked zucchini bread loaves may sink in the middle as they release moisture when baked. Always use a toothpick to check the center before removing from the oven. If it comes out with dough, bake for an additional 5-10 minutes.
- Wait before slicing. For best results, wait at least 1 hour before slicing into your loaf after it been removed from the oven. Almost all bread recipes, from sourdough bread to No Knead White Bread say to wait at least an hour before slicing into them. This is to allow the moisture to settle and give a great crumb.
👩🏻🍳 Storage
Freezing Instructions: Wrap or cover your cooled zucchini bread loaf tightly in plastic wrap, ensuring it's well-sealed. Then, place the wrapped loaf in an airtight container before transferring it to the freezer. It can be frozen for up to 3 months.
Thawing: When you're ready to enjoy your frozen zucchini bread, thaw it on the counter until it becomes soft again.
Room Temperature Storage: If stored properly in an airtight container, zucchini bread can last up to 4 days at room temperature.
💭 Recipe FAQs
You do not need to peel the zucchini for your zucchini bead. This is because the skin of zucchini is soft enough that it's virtually unnoticeable in texture once shredded and baked in the batter.
This depends upon the zucchini used. Regular green zucchini usually contain soft small seeds that are fine when left alone, while large gray zucchini have thicker larger seeds that should be removed. Sometimes you may get a regular zucchini with firmer or larger seeds, in which case they should be removed.
You will need roughly 1 large or 2 medium sized zucchini to get 2 cups worth of shredded zucchini from them.
Squeezing zucchini may remove moisture, leading to lighter, drier bread. For denser, moister bread, leave it as is.
Common mistakes causing bread collapse include over-mixing, overfilling pans, stale leavening, excessive leaveners, and high-altitude baking adjustments.
❤️ More Delicious Quick Bread Recipes
If you tried this old fashioned zucchini bread, please leave a ⭐️ star rating and share your feedback in the 📝 comments section below. I would truly appreciate it!
📖 Recipe
Old Fashioned Zucchini Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups zucchini, shredded (about 2 medium) ($1.78)
- 2 cups all purpose flour ($0.26)
- 1 teaspoon salt ($0.01)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda ($0.01)
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder ($0.01)
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon ($0.16)
- 3 large eggs ($0.45)
- 1 cup vegetable oil ($0.70)
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract ($0.09)
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar ($0.40)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
- Shred your zucchini and place it onto a paper towel to allow some of the moisture to be absorbed. Set aside.
- Grease your 9x5 bread loaf pan and set it aside.
- Add the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon to a large mixing bowl.
- Whisk well to combine. Set aside.
- In another large mixing bowl, add the eggs, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and sugar.
- Whisk well until combined.
- Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ones until no flour streaks remain.
- The batter will be very thick at this point.
- Add in the shredded zucchini.
- Stir until the zucchini is well distributed. You will notice that the batter doesn't seem as thick anymore, thanks to the moisture in the zucchini.
- Add the batter to your prepared bread loaf pan.
- Bake at 325 degrees F for 80-90 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted into the center and come out clean.
- Let cool for about 20 minutes in the pan before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.
- Slice, serve, and enjoy!
Notes
- Divide batter into 5 mini loaf pans and bake for 35-40 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Adjust zucchini to 3 cups if needed.
- Baking time may vary; use a toothpick to check doneness and extend if necessary.
- Swap vegetable oil with melted (cooled) butter for a denser texture.
- Freeze cooled loaf wrapped in plastic for up to 3 months.
- Thaw and enjoy once softened. If stored airtight at room temperature, zucchini bread lasts up to 5 days.
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