Makes one 8 x 4 loaf (10 slices)
Total time: 90 minutes || Active time: 20 minutes
This bread answers so many questions. Like, “What am I going to do with all this zucchini?” And “What am I going to do with this overripe banana?” And before you know it, the gentle scent of cinnamon is wafting through the house and you pull this beauty from the oven.
Zucchini bread as it should be, at least in my world. A toothsome crust and tender moist crumb. Studded through and through with raisins and walnuts and laced with delicate spice. Sweet, but not too sweet, and sturdy enough to dunk into a mug of coffee if the need arises.
And don’t worry, I’m not gonna say that thing that people ALWAYS say when discussing zucchini bread. You know the thing I mean. Don’t make me say it!
Fine, I’ll say it: and there’s a vegetable in it so it’s good for you! Har har. ::the sounds of the entire internet groaning::
Anyway, I know it’s hot and you don’t want to turn on your oven. But just bake this when the sun has gone down and then you’ll have a perfect morning treat when you wake up.
Notes
~Many zucchini breads call for you to drain the zucchini prior to baking. I say “YEAH RIGHT NO WAY!” Instead, this recipe uses the moisture from the zucchini in the bread, instead of adding any additional liquid, saving you a very annoying step. You’re welcome!
~Obviously, you can play around with the add-ins in the recipe. Choose pecans or hazelnuts instead of walnuts, dried currants or chopped dates instead of raisins. Have a blast with the ingredients you have on hand!
~Sometimes on my quickbread recipe posts, people report that theirs came out flat. It’s ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS because they’ve used a different sized bread pan than I do. I use an 8×4 metal bread pan for all of my quickbread recipes. Many people have a 9×5. You can use that, but yes, it will be wider and flatter than mine is, and it will bake a bit faster.
~If you don’t have the correct sized pan, I would just suggest making muffins. Bake for only 22 minutes or so.
Ingredients
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup grated zucchini1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins
Directions
Sift in 1 cup of the flour, the cinnamon, allspice, baking soda and salt. Mix to combine. Add the walnuts, raisins and final 1/2 cup of flour, and mix just until no visible flour is left.
Transfer batter to the prepared pan and bake for 50 to 55 minutes. Test for doneness with a toothpick or knife. If it needs more time, turn heat down to 325 F and bake an additional 10 to 15 minutes.
Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Slice and serve!
Perfect idea!
Would you mind approximating the amount of mashed banana, so I can stop wondering if the bananas I have are medium or large?
1/3 to half a cup.
If I wanted to make these oil free woudl you suggest i UP the banana or Up the applesauce?
Replace the oil with almond butter or half almond butter/half applesauce?
It’s been so long since I’ve had zucchini bread or banana bread!!!!
This sounds fantastic, and I have the ingredients on hand, yeay!
I’m assuming it needs 3/4 teaspoon baking soda, yes? It just says 3/4, and I’m assuming it wouldn’t be 3/4 tablespoon. But it doesn’t hurt to ask, right?
Oops, yes, teaspoons! I will fix post haste.
Zucchini bread and banana bread rolled into one?! I love them both so I’m sure I’d love them together. I haven’t made a quick-bread in ages either….
A friend just gave me several yellow squash. Would substituting yellow squash for the zucchini work? I thought I read this somewhere. Thanks for sharing another yummy recipe.
Yep, that’ll work just fine!
I notice there isn’t much extra liquid added here. Do you need to squeeze the heck out of the zucchini to get the water out or not worry about it? I only have about 50% good luck with making zucchini bread and i think it’s because sometimes I don’t squeeze the heck out of it. It doesn’t bake all the way through and is soggy.
My bread pan is too big! No wonder! While I find a suitable sized pan, how long will the muffins take to bake? 25?
well I guess I should read the notes section, in which you answered my earlier question about draining the zucchini.
I try to anticipate all questions in the notes section 🙂
very nice. I just tried it with 1/2 cup applesauce, leaving out the oil, and it turned out fantastic!
I love banana bread and I love zucchini bread but never thought to combine the two. I have a zucchini in the fridge ready to be bread!
Just made it – super delicious!
You just provided me with my weekend bake- thanks 🙂
Two of my favourite breads in one! A brilliant idea!
This sounds perfect! I have all the ingredients except I used my last zucchini last night. I do have a small yellow summer squash. Do you think that would make a fine replacement?
Yep!
it smells delicious while I’m baking it and the batter was quite tasty, however, the top of mine is burning while the middle is raw. 🙁 so sad about this. I’m still going to eat it. I will slice the top off, but I’m wondering what happened. I even tried lowering the temp to 325
Made this today and it is delicious!! Now, how to stop myself from eating it all…..
I made this last night for my vegan son. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it looks fantastic and tastes fantastic as well (I had the right sized pan!) I was surprised that it didn’t need the chia or flax egg substitute that is used sometime….
Would it be ok to substitute more banana for the applesauce? I make my own applesauce when I need it but it would be great to eliminate an extra step.
I made muffins last night and they are so good! I used half white whole wheat and half all-purpose flour. The 6 oz zucchini and 1/2 cup banana measurements were spot on. The food processor tip was also very helpful. I don’t have a major sweet tooth so I’d probably reduce the sugar a bit next time as I think the raisins provide a nice sweetness and flavor.
I think so!
Just made this and it’s fabulous! Subbed in a yellow squash for the zucchini and used coconut oil instead of canola. Turned out perfectly. In fact, me and my husband polished off almost half the loaf before it even had a chance to cool down.
Do you think pumpkin or oats would work as a banana sub for an allergy?
Definitely pumpkin!
This bread is simply gorgeous. Even better than he banana, date and walnut loaf i usually bake for a brunch with friends. thx for the recipe! With the second one, I replaced the sugar with agave syrup and it tasted even better. YUMYUMYUM!
I just made it with dried cherries instead of raisins. Looks amazing.
This was delicious. Only change–subbed vegan chocolate chips for the raisins! I will definitely be making this again and again.
Any recommendations for a wheat flour substitute? Doesn’t have to be gluten free, just not wheat.
Perfect for this time of year! And here in Boston it’s finally cooled off from the 100 heatwave, so I’m going to be turning on the stove once again!
This was heaven sent—My in laws were over and I was in crunch time to make a dessert….I had just put zucchini in the oven to roast, and there was a bit left over that didn’t fit in the first batch. I had two overripe bananas, so I figured I would make your banana bread…and then this was right on the front page! My zucchini and bananas were already sitting together on the counter 🙂
Delicious!
I just made this into muffins and they were epic. I got 9 large muffins out of the recipe. I used all banana puree (out of applesauce) and whole wheat pastry flour, and added a handful of chopped dates, too (plus the raisins and nuts). Fantastic recipe, thank you, Isa!
Looking forward to trying this! If you have a toaster oven, especially one with a convection setting, it would save a lot of heat accumulating in your kitchen. You might have to adjust the cook time, but it’s a lifesaver in the dead of summer.
Any suggestions for a healthy sugar replacement? I can’t wait to try this recipe, but will make it with gluten free oat flour (intolerance 🙁 )
People seem to like date or coconut sugar.
My Husband HATES raisins with a fiery burning passion. What other dried fruits would you suggest? Possibly chopping up some dates?
It’s made much better when watching metalocalypse
Made this a few days ago with chopped almonds and dates, absolutely wonderful! All my relatives and guests loved it. (: Didn’t have applesauce so I just finely grated an apple into the batter and it worked like a charm. Thank you Isa for another delicious recipe.
I hate chunks of anything in my zuke bread, so I made a batch without nuts/raisins/etc. It was pretty good. Then I felt sorry for the lonely chocolate chips in the pantry. Amazing!!!
I made little chunks of zucchini by chunking it and dumping it in the chute of my food processor. It was perfect!
This recipe is delicious. I grated up a small carrot & used Craisins instead of raisins. This recipe is a keeper.
Just made these for our family road trip to the beach. Since we leave before the sun comes up and without breakfast, I like to take something nutritious for the kids (and mom and dad) when we get hungry. This is perfect! I subbed cranberries for raisins and added shredded coconut. Also, I was out of applesauce, but had apple butter so I cut the sugar back a touch. It’s going to be hard to wait for tomorrow!
P.S. I love your book Appetite for Reduction!
Thank you Isa– these provide the perfect blissful moment (with afternoon tea) in an otherwise ridiculously tedious workday (hospital administration– need I say more??). I used the final zucchini from our garden, and made muffins since I don’t have the right size pan. They took about 30 minutes to bake completely, although this might have been because I switched up the flour (used 1 c spelt and 1/2 c barley). And since I can’t go a day without chocolate I used chocolate chips in place of the walnuts.
Great recipe! I’ve made it several times substituting maple syrup for sugar, and occasionally adding some chocolate chips. Then I make my American friends guess the recipe. Thanks!
(I’m Canadian)
This is GREAT! I added a couple eggs, used apple butter (because I had some that needed to be used up, olive oil instead of Canola, and pecans instead of walnuts. Very moist, not too sweet- just perfect! Thanks so much for sharing!!!!
sounds awesome, any chance you could put up your fabulous recipe’s in metric as well as imperial for those of us that live in country’s not still in the dark ages. xxx
I made muffins instead of bread, and they were some of the best I have ever had! Nice, crispy top and moist interior. Thanks for another amazing recipe!
I did a little experiment – for the banana, which I didn’t have, I subbed a dozen deglet noor dates blended with 1/2 cup hot water. I reduced the sugar to 1/2 cup due to the extra sweetness of the dates and left out the raisins. It turned out great – quite sweet still, I probably could have used only 1/3 cup sugar. Oh, and I used all applesauce in place of the oil. I ate two pieces before it was even cool enough to cut properly! Thanks for this simple and delicious way to use up zucchini.
I’m new to being vegan and love your recipes…I’ve read that sugar isn’t always vegan because of the use of charred animal bones in the cleaning process. Gross. Do you use regular white sugar or a different kind? Thanks!