Lemon Zucchini Bread

Lemon zucchini bread is perfect for those times when you bought too much zucchini or harvested way more than you expected from plants in your garden. It’s tender and full of flavor, and it freezes very well. Bake a bunch of loaves to give away to friends and co-workers, too, if you know they love lemon.

These loaves not only use up zucchini, but the zucchini itself makes the loaves better. It adds moisture without adding a lot of fat, and also adds bulk to each loaf. Best of all, the zucchini doesn’t really add intense flavor, instead letting the lemon shine through.

Lemon Zucchini Bread Ingredients

• Lemon juice: Use fresh for adding bright lemon flavor to these loaves.
• Canola oil: Instead of using butter, you’ll use oil to provide the fat in the recipe. Oil also has less flavor than butter, so it won’t compete with the taste of the lemon.
• Unsweetened applesauce: Applesauce helps make the batter tender without adding fat.
• Lemon zest: Step 2 in adding lemon flavor to the loaves.
• Beaten eggs: These bind the ingredients together and provide strength to the batter as it bakes.
• Vanilla extract: This adds a little background flavor that supports the lemon nicely.
• All-purpose flour: This type of flour has the right amount of protein to produce a loaf with good, stable structure that isn’t chewy.
• Sugar: This gives the loaves a more cakey texture in addition to sweetening them.
• Ground cinnamon: A little cinnamon goes well with the lemon.
• Baking powder and baking soda: Baking powder is your rising agent. The extra baking soda is necessary because there are other acidic ingredients in the recipe (the lemon) that could affect the ability of the baking powder to work well.
• Shredded zucchini: Self-explanatory. Just don’t add more than the recipe calls for because that will change the texture of the bread.

Directions

Step 1: Mix the batter

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Preheat the oven to 350°F. Mix the lemon juice, canola oil, applesauce, zest, eggs and vanilla extract in a bowl. In a larger bowl, thoroughly mix the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the lemon juice mixture to the dry mixture and stir until everything is just combined. Finally, fold in the shredded zucchini.

Step 2: Bake the loaves

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Coat two 8×4-inch loaf pans with cooking spray and divide the batter between the two. Bake the loaves for 60 to 65 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center of each loaf should come out clean.

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Lemon Zucchini Bread Variations

• Add poppy seeds: Throw a couple of teaspoons of poppy seeds into the batter. As an example, see this lemon poppy seed bread recipe or this lemony zucchini bread recipe.
• Glaze the baked loaves: Add a glaze made with confectioners’ sugar to the loaves after baking. Try the lemon glaze in this glazed lemon cake recipe, or try the orange glaze in this poppy seed bread with orange glaze recipe.

How to Store Lemon Zucchini Bread

Store leftover lemon zucchini bread in the refrigerator in an airtight container; eat it within three days. The zucchini adds a lot of moisture and is best left refrigerated. You can also freeze the bread. Slice the loaves first, wrap each slice in foil and stack the slices in a freezer-safe container or bag. Eat within three months.

Can you make lemon zucchini bread ahead of time?

If you want to make the bread for an event or even just for the week, bake the loaves and wrap them in foil. Store them in the refrigerator. Try to make them no more than a couple of days before you need them.

Lemon Zucchini Bread Tips

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How do you avoid watery zucchini?

Look for younger, smaller, firm zucchini. While quick bread is a good way to use up older, bigger zucchini, that can result in more watery zucchini ending up in your batter. (Squeezing out the moisture could result in you getting rid of too much of it.)

Do you need to peel the zucchini?

No. You can if you want, but the peel adds colorful green flecks all throughout the bread. Plus, the peel adds texture and nutrition. Cut off the stem end, of course, and wash the zucchini well before shredding them.

Can you make muffins with this recipe?

Yes! If you prefer muffins to loaves, grease muffin tins or add oven-safe muffin cups to the tins. Fill each cup about 3/4 full with batter. Bake the muffins for about 30 minutes at the same temperature. Check each with a toothpick or cake tester. These should come out clean when the muffins are ready. You can try this with other quick bread loaves, too.