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This homemade Zucchini Bread is super moist and topped with an irresistible cinnamon-sugar topping. Enjoy now or freeze a loaf for later!
Best Ever Zucchini Bread Recipe
My first zucchini bread experience wasn’t a good one. We graciously thanked them at the door with my mom and ran to the kitchen to slice off a piece. Obviously I was going to love it, it looked just like banana bread.
We hated it.
The thickest CHUNKS of zucchini all scattered throughout the bread. I wanted to gag. It was like a nightmare. Round two came years later, and while it wasn’t chunks it was thick, thick shreds. That was it, zucchini bread was NOT like Banana Bread and I vowed to never eat it again.
I’ve now eaten more zucchini bread than I will ever admit to you and not only is zucchini bread totally amazing, but I’ve created the absolute most perfect recipe ever. Read on while I go eat some humble pie.
Actually, I love pie so I’m still winning. 😉
I’ve been thinking about my past a lot lately. Do you know the song by Macklemore, Good Ol’ Days? While I can’t relate to every word of the song I do feel this stirring inside of me.
Those were the good old days. I do miss them. Or at least pieces of them. I’m trying harder to recognize that right now is also going to one day be the good ol’ days as well.
“I wish somebody would have told me babe
Some day, these will be the good old days
All the love you won’t forget
And all these reckless nights you won’t regret
Someday soon, your whole life’s gonna change
You’ll miss the magic of these good old days”
When I was little, we spent most of our summer outside. Running and playing, watching the clouds on our backs on that trampoline and watching the garden grow. And by watching, I mean working our pants off to keep it weeded and growing.
I remember waking up and the house was quiet. I’d go searching for Mom only to finally see her out there in the garden, bent over weeding or checking on the plants. The zucchini flowers were a sign that the harvest was going to be a good one.
I just prayed she would let me eat the acorn squash because remember, I wasn’t interested in zucchini anymore. All those wasted years.
A few years ago, someone brought zucchini bread to our house and then insisted I try it right then.
Sheer panic.
I slowly sliced into it, all smiles of course. Fake it ’til you make it. The first thing I noticed was that there wasn’t a single strand of zucchini. What is this sorcery? I was a little more intrigued. I broke a piece off in my fingers and took a bite, talking through the whole thing just to distract them from any grimace I might make.
IT. WAS. SO. GOOD!!!! I immediately asked for the recipe, which wound up being the inspiration for the one I’m sharing today.
Classic Zucchini Bread Ingredients
The ingredients for this moist zucchini bread recipe are simple:
- Shredded zucchini
- Eggs
- Sour cream
- Canola oil
- Granulated sugar
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda and baking powder
- Salt
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Cinnamon sugar
How to Make Zucchini Bread From Scratch
- Whisk together the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet in another.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet, then stir to combine.
- Turn the batter into two greased 9×5-inch loaf pans.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Try to let the zucchini bread loaves cool slightly before cutting into them (good luck with that!).
Why Does My Zucchini Bread Come Out Flat on Top?
Do your banana and zucchini bread recipes ever turn out flat? You could be using the wrong sized bread pan, over or under filling it or missing one important step:
Take a paper towel and wipe the top inch of any cooking spray all the way around the bread pan. The bread will stop and cling right there, forcing the rest of the bread to rise up in the middle.
How to Store Zucchini Bread
When you’re ready to store your moist zucchini bread, make sure it has cooled completely. Any warm quick bread that is wrapped will gain too much moisture and create a soggy bread later. Wrap the homemade zucchini bread in plastic wrap or place in a large ziploc bag and store in a cool place.
How Long Does Zucchini Bread Last?
I mean, if we are talking about my house, zucchini bread doesn’t keep at all! Day one and the entire loaf is gone. Maybe two days if Cade and I are trying to not have sugar until the weekend. Maybe…
All joking aside, there is a real answer. This easy zucchini bread will keep for about 3 days.
Can You Freeze Zucchini Bread?
Yes, this easy zucchini bread freezes very well. You can pop it into your freezer a month ahead of time and then deliver little loaves to friends and families over the holidays, or pull one out for a quick treat any time.
To freeze a loaf of zucchini bread, cool completely, then wrap tightly in aluminum foil or plastic or place in a sealable freezer bag and freeze.
Tips for the Best Ever Zucchini Bread
There are a few tricks to making the best homemade zucchini bread recipe, so I highly encourage you to follow each one:
Finely Shred the Zucchini —We aren’t just talking the small shreds here, I mean buy this CHEESE GRATER and use that small grate side (not the zester). This will make the zucchini so tender it will completely melt into the bread and you won’t have any random strings.
Use Sour Cream — Sour cream is a thick and creamy fat that will bring a great moisture and texture to the bread. You can use any sour cream from full-fat to fat-free. Obviously, the more fat the better the bread, but the difference isn’t enough to go buy one if you already have low fat or fat free.
Never Use an Electric Mixer — It’s not often that we tell you to ditch the hand mixer or KitchenAid, but please, stick with a whisk for the liquids and wooden spoon or rubber spatula for the batter.
Spices are a Must — Banana bread is a pretty pure flavor, but zucchini bread tastes even better with cinnamon and nutmeg. It screams fall and you will absolutely miss out if you don’t add them.
Add a Cinnamon Sugar Topping — This part is totally up to you, but we’ve found that a generous sprinkling of cinnamon sugar over the batter right before it goes in the oven is a game changer. It creates this yummy, crackly top that is irresistible.
More Quick Bread Recipes:
Looking for more quick bread recipes? We love when you can find a yummy and quick bread recipe, so make sure you try these out!
- The Best Banana Bread Recipe EVER
- Snickerdoodle Zucchini Bread
- Glazed Poppy Seed Bread
- Pumpkin Banana Bread
- Peanut Butter Banana Bread
- Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
- Orange Cranberry Glazed Poppy Seed Bread
- Chocolate Chip Zucchini Banana Bread
- Double Chocolate Banana Bread
- ALL OF OUR BREAD RECIPES!
The Perfect Zucchini Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 1/4 Cup All-Purpose Flour
- 2 teaspoons Baking Soda
- 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 2 teaspoons Cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
- 1 Cup Canola Oil
- 2 Cups Granulated Sugar
- 3 Eggs, large
- 1/2 Cup Sour Cream
- 4 Cups Zucchini, shredded
- 2 Tablespoons Cinnamon Sugar, or to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Spray two 9×5-inch loaf pans with nonstick spray.
- Wipe down the top 1-inch edge all the way around the pan.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices. Set aside.3 1/4 Cup All-Purpose Flour, 2 teaspoons Baking Soda, 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder, 1/2 teaspoon Salt, 2 teaspoons Cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
- In another bowl, whisk together the oil and sugar. Add in the eggs, sour cream and whisk.1 Cup Canola Oil, 2 Cups Granulated Sugar, 3 Eggs, 1/2 Cup Sour Cream
- Dump in the zucchini shreds and switch to a wooden spoon, stirring again, but be sure to not over mix.4 Cups Zucchini
- Dump the dry ingredients in the wet ingredients and using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon gently fold the ingredients together just until a few streaks of flour remain.
- Pour into a bread pan.
- Cover the top with cinnamon sugar and bake for 50 minutes. At this point, barely open the oven and slide a piece of tinfoil over the bread, close the door and bake for the remaining 10 minutes2 Tablespoons Cinnamon Sugar
- Once the bread is done, open the oven door, turn off the oven and let the bread rest for 2-3 minutes, no longer, before carefully setting it on the counter for a few more minutes.
- At this point, slide a knife around the inside of the pan and carefully turn the bread out into your other hand or onto the cooling rack directly if you are gentle. Place it right side up and allow to cool or be like us and dig in because warm bread is the best! See note**
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I wanted to rate & comment b/c I read thru the previous comments and several said they didn’t like the recipe or that it didn’t turn out right, it was too moist etc – So 1st off this recipe worked great for me and it is super delicious! I made it yesterday around 4pm and I’ve already eaten 3 slices since… and that’s exhibiting self-control! I did wonder a couple of things as I was preparing, which is why I scanned the comments – the directions didn’t mention squeezing moisture from the zucchini and the ingredients didn’t list vanilla; both of these are typical in zucchini bread recipes, IME. There were just a few changes I made to the recipe: I used 3 cups of zucchini finely chopped(b/c that’s all I had & it was left over noodles, so I couldn’t shred it); I squeezed the moisture out of the zucchini (put it in a thin dish towel and squeeze the heck out of it until it releases most of the liquid); I added more spices (probably double the amount) & added 2 tsp of vanilla. The spices and vanilla changes were simply because I know my family’s taste buds and that’s what they like. You should adjust for your taste. After filling one baking pan, I added mini chocolate chips to the 2nd loaf to mix it up a bit! Baked for 5o minutes, then 10 minutes covered and it was perfect for the one w/out choc chips; the one with choc chips needed 5 minutes extra. All in all – I think 4 cups of zucchini will work, especially if you squeeze the liquid out 1st; I also think the spices would have been fine as well. Thank you for posting this recipe, I appreciate bakers who do the hard work so all I have to do is google/pinterest search!
Thank you so much for the feedback Dawn! We do not squeeze the moisture out of the zucchini for this recipe, but you can if you feel like your zucchini is extra moist. We also didn’t include vanilla in the ingredients because we didn’t feel like it needed it. Vanilla can definitely be added if you want it! Thank you so much for the support!
I was wondering why it didn’t call for vanilla?
No reason really other than I didn’t feel like it needed it. You can totally add it if you like that flavor in your zucchini bread! I’d do a teaspoon.
Made this GF-Yum!
Yay! Did you just swap the flour?
Can you sub melted butter for the oil??? It looks delicious!!
Yes, melt the butter on the stove top or microwave and then let it cool until it is just warm to the touch. Enjoy!
Thank you for a delicious recipe. I had been on the hunt for a yummy zucchini bread recipe and you came through for me.
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it Joey!
Something is not right with this one! Been baking all my life and this thing came out of oven baking with 50 mins plus 10 and it was not done at all! And if ya notice the list of ingredients calls for baking powder but does not have it in the instructions! No where in the instructions does it tell you to add the baking powder! I got done and seen my baking powder was still setting there and thought I have missed it in the instructions! But nope, went through the recipe and it definitely does not tell ya to add it! I would recommend another one!
Hi Tina! Thank you so much for letting us know about the baking powder! I have added it to the instructions. We just made this last week and it came out perfectly. I’m so sorry it didn’t turn out for you.
I baked the loaves for the total time specified and they weren’t done in the middle. Followed the instructions correctly.
Hi Sherry! Every oven bakes a little differently, so it may need more time. You can cover the loaves with foil if they start to get too brown.
Do you squeeze the moisture out of the zucchini? I followed this perfectly (didn’t squeeze but poured off the zucchini juice after grating) and it is waaaayy moist/dense. Tasty but not cake/bread-like at all. Bread pudding maybe.
No the moisture shouldn’t need to be squeezed out of the zucchini unless it seem like an extra wet zucchini.
I followed this recipe exactly as printed and I have done a lot of baking in my 50+ years of marriage. The product of this recipe is a total disaster. 4 cups of shredded zucchini contains way too much moisture. It didn’t rise and Required baking almost two hours to deal with all the moisture. Also needs way more cinnamon, etc. Compared to other recipes, this one’s ingreatient amounts are way off. Find another recipe to use your zucchini in.
Hi Sally! We double checked this recipe over the weekend with 4 cups of zucchini and 2 cups of zucchini. The 4 cups of zucchini loaves (like the recipe calls for) came out very moist, spongy and dense…almost like cake. The flavor was very good. The 2 cups of zucchini loaves were more of a bread-like texture and not as moist. The flavor was really about the same. You could totally cut it down to two cups if you want, but four cups is right. I suppose if you had really juicy zucchini, it could be a problem, you’d need to drain it a little so it’s not too watery. Did you split the batter across two bread pans? I hope this helps! Sorry it didn’t turn out the way you were hoping, but the recipe is correct.
How far do you fill the pans when you’re using mini pans?
Hi Maureen! Fill them about 2/3 full. Enjoy!
Went to a farm here in Alaska and cut our zucchini straight off the plants and made this bread. Oh yum, and because we’re smart, we cut into it only minutes out of the oven!! Great recipe—
I had to yell at my husband to finally stop eating it too. You would be amazed at the size of the zucchini that grows here with our midnight sun— lots of them were 7-10 lbs!!!
You are SO smart slicing into that thing while it’s still warm! So glad you enjoyed this recipe! Those are some huge zucchinis!
I just made the zucchini bread recipe and it’s moist and flavorful and beautiful all at the same time. IT IS PERFECT!
Yay!! Thank you Nancy!
Can you use mini loaf pans for this recipe, and if so, how does it change the cooking time?
Yes, absolutely! Start with baking them for 30 minutes. They shouldn’t need much more time than that, but test them for doneness.