This moist, delicious Zucchini Bread with walnuts, cinnamon, and vanilla, is made healthy and light with applesauce – a great way to use up that summer zucchini!

Zucchini Bread

This easy zucchini bread recipe was modified from my Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread with lots of cinnamon, walnuts, and vanilla. I love how this came out!! It’s a classic zucchini bread recipe made lighter, not overly sweet – just enough to be perfect for enjoying with your morning coffee for breakfast or as an afternoon snack. To make it healthier I used half whole wheat flour with the all purpose flour which turned out great. Some zucchini recipes you can bake this summer, try this Chocolate Zucchini Bread, Banana Zucchini Cake, and Pineapple Zucchini Cupcakes.

Ingredients

• Shredded Zucchini: from about 1 1/4 large zucchini, not packed, not squeezed as the moisture from the zucchini helps keep the bread moist.
• Flour: I utilized a mixture of all-purpose flour and white whole-wheat flour. However, ordinary whole-wheat flour would be a suitable alternative, or you could opt to use solely all-purpose flour.
• Sweetener: Light brown or dark brown sugar, not packed.
• Spices: Vanilla, ground cinnamon and salt
• Leavening agents: baking soda and baking powder, to make the bread rise (make sure they’re not expired)
• Nuts: Chopped walnuts or pecans. You can also omit.
• Egg: 1 large egg, added for texture and taste
• Fat: melted unsalted butter, or dairy-free butter for moisture and helps with leavening
• Apple sauce: This helps reduce the calories and replaces some of the butter.

How To Make Zucchini Bread

1. Prepare pan: Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray a 9×5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
2. Combine dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Mix well.
3. Add nuts: Add 1/2 cup walnuts and gently mix to combine.
4. Wet Ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk egg, vanilla, melted butter, apple sauce then mix in the grated zucchini.
5. Combine: Add to the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stir until just blended.
6. Add batter to pan: Pour batter into the prepared 9×5-inch loaf pan and top with remaining nuts.
7. Bake: Bake the bread 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
8. Let cool: Cool the bread for about 10 minutes in the pan. Remove loaf from pan and let it cool further before slicing.

Variations

• Sweetener: If you want to use monk fruit brown sugar sweetener instead of brown sugar, it will work fine.
• No applesauce? Swap it for banana but know it will change the flavor.
• Nuts: Sub pecans for walnuts or omit them.
• Spices: Add some nutmeg with the cinnamon for a variation.
• Muffins: Make zucchini muffins instead of a loaf – bake for about 25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
• Dairy-free: Swap butter for coconut oil
• Yellow Squash: You can use yellow squash in place of zucchini if you prefer. Avoid using the seeds.

How to Shred Zucchini for Bread

You can grate the zucchini with a box grater or in a food processor using the shredding attachment. Grating zucchini by hand gives you a finer texture, whereas shredding results in long strands.

How to Store

To store, slice and wrap each piece in plastic wrap. Store bread in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. See directions below to freeze.

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