Easy Zucchini Bread Recipe with Almonds

How to make theย best zucchini bread with a lightly spiced, perfectly sweetened batter andย a whole pound of grated zucchini mixed in.ย If anything can coax us to turn on our oven in the middle of summer, it’s this recipe. Jump to the Easy Zucchini Bread Recipeย or read on to see how we make it.

Easy Zucchini Bread Recipe with Almonds

The bread is very moist, tender and perfect sliced and enjoyed plain, with a little butter or, for somethingย more substantial, topped with cream cheese or nut butter.

Easy Vegetable Lasagna RecipeMore Ways to Use Up Zucchini:ย Try our Fresh Vegetable Lasagna recipe with lots of zucchini, yellow squash and a light tomato sauce. This lasagna is so good, you won’t miss the meat.ย Or, use zucchiniย up byย baking it alongside fish in parchment,ย grilling it, adding it to a stir fry or tossing it with pasta.

How to Make The Bestย Zucchini Bread

Thanks to a whole pound of zucchini, thisย bread is very moist. After making a few batches, we were bothered by the occasional soggy patch in the baked bread. To prevent this, we added an extra (but still simple) step.

How to Make The Best Zucchini Bread

Before preparing the batter, grate the zucchini and add it to a colander with a tablespoon of sugar. The sugar helps draw excess moisture from the zucchini and an extra squeeze just before adding to the batter helps even more.ย The zucchini bread isย still very moist, but by getting rid of thatย excess liquid, we prevent it from turning soggy.

A+J’s Tip: In the photos below, we’ve used a combination of greenย and yellowย zucchini. You can also replace one or all of the zucchini with yellow squash.

Squeezing the Zucchini

Mixing the Batter

The batter comes together really quickly and doesn’t need any fancyย equipment. Aย whisk and spatula work perfectly fine. Since zucchini bread isย a quick bread, you want to treat it just as you would muffins or pancakes. Stay away from over mixing — it will only make the bread heavy.

Mixing the batter

We love adding sliced almonds and a dash of almond extract to the batter.ย You can easily leave them out or, swap the almonds for another kind of nut. Chocolate chips wouldn’t be a bad idea, either.

We shared this Chocolate Zucchini Bread Recipe years ago, if addingย chocolate to the batter got you excited, you should definitely check it out!

By the way, we use melted butter in our recipe since we love the flavor it adds. If you want to experiment on your own, try aย fruity olive oil or coconut oil. We call forย granulated sugar, not brown. The granulated sugar keepsย the bread a little lighterย than brown sugar does.ย That’s not to say brown sugar is a bad idea — it adds a caramel sweetness that’s quite delicious. Use our recipe as a base, there are so many variations you can try — another reason we love this recipe so much. Happy Baking!

How to Make The Best Zucchini Bread

If you have any zucchini leftover, you might want to take a look at this healthy zucchini noodles salad or these easy baked zucchini chips. So good!

Recipe updated, originally posted Augustย 2015. Since posting this in 2015, we have tweaked the recipe to be more clear. โ€“ Adam and Joanne

Easy Zucchini Bread Recipe with Almonds

  • PREP
  • COOK
  • TOTAL

Use green zucchini, yellow zucchini or summer squash for this. Wringing the zucchini of excess moisture keeps the texture from being soggy. Serve slices plain, buttered or with a swipe of cream cheese or peanut butter for a more substantial breakfast or snack.

Makes 1 loaf or 10 slices

You Will Need

1 pound zucchini (2 medium zucchini)

2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (145 grams) granulated sugar

8 tablespoons (115 grams) unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon almond extract, optional

2/3 cup (65 grams) sliced almonds, optional

Directions

  • Prepare Zucchini
  • 1Center a rack in the oven and heat to 375ยบ F. Butter a 8-inch by 4-inch loaf pan then dust it with a bit of flour. Alternatively, you can line a lightly buttered pan with a sheet of parchment paper. If you leave an inch or two hanging over two sides, it makes for easy removal after baking.

    2Trim stem ends of the zucchini then grate using the largest holes on a box grater or the largest grating disk from a food processor. Transfer the grated zucchini to a colander and toss with 1 tablespoon of the sugar. Rest the colander over a bowl to catch excess liquid that drains from the zucchini. Set aside for 20 minutes.Step 1

  • Make Batter
  • 1Melt the butter then add to a medium bowl and let cool for 5 minutes. Whisk the sugar into the butter. Add eggs, one at a time, whisking well after each egg. Stir in the vanilla and almond extracts.

    2Squeeze the zucchini by hand to thoroughly wring out any excess moisture then fluff it up a little so it is not in big clumps. (Discard the liquid). Stir zucchini into the wet ingredients.

    3In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add these dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in two batches, stirring between each addition. Stir in almonds. Save a handful of almonds to sprinkle on the tops of the zucchini loaf before baking.

  • To Finish
  • 1Spoon batter into the loaf pan and smooth the top. Scatter the reserved almonds over the top then bake 50 to 65 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. Keep in mind that the loaf will continue to bake after it is removed from the oven as it is cooling. After 35 minutes in the oven, check the bread and almonds for color. If it looks like things are browning too quickly, loosely cover with aluminum foil.

    2When the bread is done, cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn out the loaf onto the rack to finish cooling.

Adam and Joanne's Tips

  • Baking Tip: Place the pan on an insulated baking sheet or on top of two regular baking sheets stacked one on top of the other. This helps even baking and makes getting the loaf pan into and out of the oven easy.
  • Make Banana Zucchini Bread: Add 1 very ripe banana to the wet ingredients before mixing with the dry ingredients. Heavily speckled or even black bananas are best.
  • Nutrition Facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA Supertracker recipe calculator to calculate approximate values.

If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste โ€” We love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste

Nutrition Per Serving Serving Size 1 slice / Calories 259 / Protein 5 g / Carbohydrate 31 g / Dietary Fiber 2 g / Total Sugars 15 g / Total Fat 13 g / Saturated Fat 6 g / Cholesterol 62 mg
AUTHOR:  Adam and Joanne Gallagher
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11 comments… Leave a Review
  • Jay September 20, 2022, 9:49 am

    Baked this bread last night. It is delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe!

    Reply
  • Jess August 14, 2020, 10:12 pm

    I always prefer muffins over loaves! Would they still turn out ok? If so what would be the baking time. Thanks!

    Reply
  • Fran February 24, 2020, 4:05 pm

    Just made your zucchini spaghetti with sauce. The recipe was fast,easy and delicious. thank you

    Reply
  • Irene M August 24, 2019, 5:09 pm

    This is absolutely the best zucchini bread I’ve ever had. Loved the almond flavor. It’s not very sweet, though I might reduce the sugar a bit more. Thank you for sharing this with the world. =)

    Reply
  • Catherine October 1, 2017, 10:58 am

    Hi Joanne, Possible to add a video to this fabulous recipe.

    Reply
    • Joanne November 16, 2017, 3:37 pm

      Hi Catherine, It’s on our list! Thanks so much for your support.

      Reply
  • Megan May 14, 2017, 10:42 am

    This bread is amazing! It was my first time making zucchini bread, and I followed the recipe exact, except I added some chocolate chips. Amazing! My kids love it too. Thank you!

    Reply
  • Chris April 13, 2017, 2:43 pm

    I have this in my oven now, and it looks and smells fantastic! I put a few tbsp of chia seeds in with my zucchini after I wrung it out. The chia absorbs liquid and then gels, so I think it’ll help if my arthritic hands didn’t get enough liquid out. A few chocolate chips added for the grandkids, and I’m looking forward to enjoying this with them. Thank you for the recipe!

    Reply
    • Irene M August 24, 2019, 5:06 pm

      Chia seeds sound like a wonderful idea. Will try it next time.

      Reply
  • Andrea October 12, 2015, 6:50 am

    Do you think i can use another kind of flour to make this zucchini bread gluten free?

    Reply
    • Joanne October 16, 2015, 12:39 pm

      Hi Andrea, While we have not tried it ourselves, you could try a gluten-free mix (I know King Arthur Flour has one).

      Reply

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