Lemon Zucchini Bread

This lemon zucchini bread recipe wonderfully moist and super quick to throw together. It’s great recipe to use up all that summer zucchini and you can freeze for later!

If you told me as an adult that I would be eating slice after slice of a bread made of vegetables. No wait. A zucchini bread, that’s also made with lemon I definitely would laughed at you.

Ok I was a polite kid. I would have smiled and laughed later as I listened to my N’Sync CD’s. Please don’t judge me. 

And although I’m a sucker for the classic zucchini bread recipe, and some super easy Zucchini Bread Muffins, this time I decided to put a twist on things. Literally. A lemon twist! As I’ve gotten older I have grown quite a fondness for all things lemon. So I figured why not stir some fresh lemon zest and lemon juice into my zucchini bread. This lemon zucchini bread recipe is actually a fun twist on my zucchini bread recipe from my cookbook, Beginner’s Baking Bible.

I’m so glad my tastebuds grew up. My taste in music? Not so much. Still love me N’Sync. 

Why You Will Love This Lemon Zucchini Bread

• Quick To Throw Together. You have to love a good quick bread recipe. No mixer is required. And they come together quickly. 
• Delicious Way To Use Up Zucchini. Let’s face it if it’s summertime then zucchini reigns supreme. 
• Can Make All Year Long. Ok, yes I love baking with zucchini in the summer. But this lemon zucchini bread is wonderful to make any time of year. 
• Freezes Well. I love freezing my desserts. I love it so much I actually put together a handy dandy freezer guide for you. 

Ingredients Needed For The Bread

For the glaze:

• Confectioners sugar
• Lemon juice
• Vanilla

How To Make This Lemon Zucchini Bread Recipe

Step One: Preheat and prepare pan.

Preheat oven to 350oF. Spray a 9×5” loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray or grease with butter and set aside. Or line with parchment paper. I prefer parchment paper so I can easily lift the bread out of the pan. 

Step Two: Shred Your Zucchini.

I use a box grater but if you need to you can use a food processor. No need to wring it out. We want all that moisture!

Step 3: Combine dry ingredients.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. No need to sift her, just give it all a quick whisk. 

Step 4: Combine wet ingredients.

In a second mixing bowl, whisk together  eggs, oil, sugars, lemon juice, zest, and vanilla extract. 

Step 5: Combine wet and dry ingredients.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix together with a spatula until just combined.

Step 6: Fold in shredded zucchini. 

Just a couple quick stirs. You don’t want to overmix!

Note: I accidentally threw the zucchini into the wet ingredients in the video – oops but quick breads are forgiving! But otherwise, the zucchini is best to be mixed in at the end.

Step 7: Bake. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 60-65 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool completely in the pan set on a wire cooling rack. 

Step 8: Make The Glaze.

In a small mixing bowl, combine the glaze ingredients and pour over the bread.

Recipe Tips

• Measure your flour accurately. I use the spoon and level method. You can learn how to measure your flour in this post.
• Careful to not over mix. I like to use a spatula and fold in the dry ingredients by hand. You want to stop mixing once they have been incorporated. Too much mixing = too much gluten forming. Gluten is what will give a bread its chew, but for a banana bread you want less gluten to form. So we can accomplish that by making sure we don’t overmix!
• Do not wring out the zucchini. Zucchini has a lot of moisture. But if you squeeze it out then it will result in a dry quick bread. That extra moisture is going to make for one moist bread!

Lemon Zucchini Bread FAQ’s

More Recipes

• Lemon Buttercream Frosting
• Toasted Coconut Lemon Bars
• Easy Lemon Bars (+Video!)
• Lemon Cookies Recipe
• Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Tools Needed To Make This Lemon Zucchini Bread Recipe:

• Loaf Pan
• Dry measuring cups  (or use a kitchen scale <– highly recommend for better accuracy!)
• Measuring spoons – My new favorite measuring spoons!! 
• Liquid measuring cup
• Mixing bowls