Bake up a loaf of classic gluten-free zucchini bread that's moist and delicious. Simple, easy recipe that makes the best breakfast treat or dessert!
Mid to late summer starts the harvest season, and usually that means a ton of zucchini coming straight out of the garden. Of course, that also means I gotta figure out a way to use up all of that zucchini.
Zucchini nut bread and gluten-free zucchini muffins are a great way to use it all up, and it's so delicious, you can't even tell there's zucchini in it at all. One of these days, I'll come up with a chocolate zucchini cake, but for now… It's all about the zucchini bread.
I love this zucchini bread with walnuts. It has a slightly crunchy top layer, a fluffy inside, and the wonderful flavors of cinnamon, brown sugar, and vanilla all rolled up into one loaf of bread.
And even though this recipe is gluten-free, don't worry… It's a very moist zucchini bread that's just as soft and good as regular zucchini bread.
It's all about the type of flour you use with gluten-free baking, and I'll share with you my favorite gluten-free flour as you read on.
WHERE CAN I FIND THE ACTUAL RECIPE CARD?
If you’d rather skip all of my baking tips, important baking info for this recipe, and similar recipe ideas – and get straight to the zucchini bread recipe – just scroll down to the bottom, where you’ll find a printable recipe card and how to video.
IS ZUCCHINI BREAD HEALTHY?
Even though we add more than a cup of zucchini to this bread, this recipe is not really meant to be healthy.
It calls for a whole cup of sugar, including brown sugar, making this bread recipe more of a sweet bread. It's a quick bread meant for a breakfast treat or dessert.
However, it is both a gluten-free and dairy free zucchini bread.
If it's a healthier zucchini bread you're after, though, you might try this bread recipe from The Stay at Home Chef.
HOW TO GRATE ZUCCHINI FOR BREAD
One question you may ask is, “Do you peel zucchini for bread?”
The answer is no. You don't have to because you're going to shred it up so small using a grater or food processor, that the peeling will really soften as it bakes.
And like I said, you can't even tell there's zucchini in it. Don't worry about texture because it will be so moist and delicious, it'll hardly be noticeable besides the green specks in your bread.
CAN I MAKE ZUCCHINI BREAD WITH YELLOW ZUCCHINI?
Yes, you can. Same process, just a different color.
LET'S TALK ABOUT THE FLOUR
To make the bread gluten-free, simply switch out the all-purpose flour for a “cup for cup” gluten-free flour. Cup for cup means you don't have to do any figuring or measuring to try and figure out how much flour to use because you use the same amount.
My favorite gluten-free flour blend right now is Cup4Cup Gluten-Free Flour. I've found that it's not grainy, like some other gluten-free flours I've tried.
And it makes a really soft zucchini bread, banana nut bread, and lemon pound cake. It even makes delicious chocolate chip cookies.
HOW TO MAKE ZUCCHINI BREAD
Your first step in making zucchini walnut bread is to grate the zucchini. You'll need a medium to large zucchini for this recipe.
Then you can start the process of mixing up the bread batter…
- In a large bowl, cream or mix the sugar, brown sugar, and canola oil.
- Add in the egg and vanilla, mixing well.
- Mix the dry ingredients (including flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon) together in a separate mixing bowl, and then mix them into the wet ingredients. At this point, your batter will be super dry and crumbly. No worries because we're about to add the moisture.
- Very Important: Do NOT squeeze the moisture out of the zucchini. Add it in as is and mix. You may need to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to ensure you're mixing everything together really well.
This step is optional, but if you want to make this a zucchini nut bread, gently fold the walnuts in by hand.
Then pour the batter into a greased loaf pan, and bake according to the instructions in the recipe card below.
When it's done, it will have baked to a golden brown color, and a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the middle will come out clean.
I usually let it cool in the pan for a good 10 to 15 minutes, then run a knife around the edge, and plop it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
It's so delicious sliced up and served with a little dollop of softened butter.
ALTERNATIVE RECIPE OPTIONS
There are a few things you can do to switch up this gf zucchini bread recipe.
- Instead of walnuts, add in pecans or almonds.
- Use applesauce in place of the egg.
- If you'd rather not make it gluten-free, switch out the gluten-free flour for regular all-purpose flour instead.
- Make it a zucchini bread with chocolate chips. I love doing this with banana bread too.
- Make your zucchini bread in mini loaf pans instead of one big loaf pan.
- Make zucchini muffins instead of bread. Just use a muffin tin instead of a loaf pan.
CAN YOU FREEZE ZUCCHINI BREAD?
Yes, you can. Just be sure to wrap it up really well in a freezer bag or aluminum foil. Or store it in an airtight container to prevent freezer burn.
HOW TO STORE ZUCCHINI BREAD
If you're not freezing it but rather eating it within a couple of days, you can just leave it out on the counter. You'll want some sort of airtight container or food storage bag to store it in, though.
MORE QUICK BREADS AND MUFFINS:
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Blackberry and Strawberry Muffins
- Gluten-Free Banana Bread Recipe
- Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffin Recipe
- Easy Pumpkin Muffins
SHOP KITCHEN TOOLS FOR THIS RECIPE:
Mixer and/or Large Mixing Bowl
GET THE PRINTABLE RECIPE
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Classic Gluten-Free Zucchini Bread
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup pure cane sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups gluten-free flour*
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 3/4 cups grated zucchini
- 1 cup chopped walnuts optional
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350°F.
- Cream or mix together the sugar, brown sugar, and canola oil.
- Add in the egg and vanilla, mixing well.
- In a separate mixing bowl, mix together the dry ingredients, including the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
- Then add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing well. At this point, your batter will be super dry and crumbly. No worries because we're about to add the moisture.
- Add the grated zucchini in as is and mix.** You may need to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to ensure you're mixing everything together really well.
- If you want nuts, gently fold the walnuts in by hand.
- Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan.
- Bake at 350°F for about 1 hour, or until the bread turns a deep brown color and a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven, and let cool in the pan for about 10 to 15 minutes. Then run a knife around the edge of the bread, and turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Slice the bread while warm or when cooled, and serve with softened butter.
Hi my cake when at 1 hr inserted half way it was not sticking but towards bottom half way it stuck to my testing stick it was not raw or liquidy but just like a cooked paste type sticked on it so I kept another 7 min with a lid on it it’s my turkey baking pan lid just to prevent the top part of the bread becoming too crusty…again it came out like that only towards bottom was still pastey but cooked top half was perfect I was thinking is it fully cooked shall I take out and allow it to rest in the bread pan for sometime.thank You
Devi, a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the middle of the bread must come out clean in order for it to be done baking. In other words, there may be a few crumbs or even some moisture from the bread itself, but there should be no raw batter. I hope this helps!
Hi your recipe looked best with least ingredients before starting I thought of asking is 1 egg enough can I use 2 since oil is also 3 tbsp only ….earlier I had made with 2 eggs 1/4 c oil 1/4 cup curd now my son is dairy free too so thought of skipping curd. Some recipe ask for 4 eggs I felt that was too much yours looked perfect with less ingredients.Thank You
Devi, for this recipe 1 large egg is plenty. Thanks for asking!
Love this recipe. It’s very moist with a nice texture. The second time I made it, I added pumpkin spice. Family loved it and didn’t know it was gluten free.
That’s great, Cathy! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe.