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!
This recipe would be a lot healthier if you substitute whole wheat for the “all purpose” flour, eliminate the refined sugar (add more flour or ground flax, or add some xylitol), and use coconut oil instead of canola (which is usually GMO).
Accidentally forgot to add the sugar. The recipe came out very good. Had I added just a little bit of water or an extra 1/4 cup shredded squash, it would have been perfect.
Made this the other day as muffins and used more banana instead of applesauce cause I didn’t have any. I also made it with whole whet flour and flax meal and they were a huge hit!! Even with my five year old stp-son who hates everything! Thanksso much for posting this.
Made this today-WOW! So easy and delicious- as are all your recipes! Thanks for making vegan easy and tasty 🙂
This is so delicious and easy! I’ve made it twice this week, once with raisins and once with chocolate chips.
We just made this; the sweet smell is wafting through the house! Super delicious and so easy! Would recommend it to anyone, except don’t make it when you’re hungry ’cause you’ll want to eat it all :p <3
I made this and my husband and his friends ate the whole loaf. Well, I did get one piece. I was glad that they liked it. I used mashed beets instead of applesauce because I had some to use up. Worked great. Plan to make it again and again! Thank you for a great recipe!
Yummy! I doubled the zucchini, trippled the recipe, made them into muffins. Thank you!
Deeelicious! Just made these into muffins. I had to reduce the baking time to 25 minutes rather than 50 minutes, though. Don’t know if that’s just my oven, or if it sounds about right for a muffin pan. Either way: wonderful stuff! Thanks so much for a great recipe that uses up some of the excess zucchini from the garden. 🙂
Just tried this – I often screw around with ingredients and it’s usually not bad, but I’m not ‘good enough’ to adjust cooking times, etc. so I do sometimes screw it up. Anyways, I left this as is and HOLY CRAP, it’s perfect! Very yummy and perfectly moist. I do like to replace oil, so I will try your suggestion below for 1/2 almond butter and 1/2 applesauce and see how that turns out.
I made a double batch and did one loaf and 12 muffins, the loaf being for a friend, so I spread this goodness 🙂
Would it work to use a mild tasting olive oil?
I made these into mini loaves and they rose beautifully! I was so happy. Thank you!
Out of applesauce! Can I just puree apples? Any other suggestions?
Cook them down first. Use any well-reviewed unsweetened apple sauce recipe you find online.
I tried it, but messed it up with the cup thing and took 3/4 cups of flower instead of 3/2, buuuut, after little less than 1.5h in the oven, I suddenly had a delicious flan!
Definetly worth trying!
(ow, and I replaced the mysterious applesauce by a grated apple)
Hi! I want to make these for my 1 year old to eat so I need to omit the raisins and nuts. Will this affect the the ratio of ingredients in the rest of the recipe?
You’ll be ok, just a little less batter. No biggy.
Okay, I’ll have you know it’s pushing 90 degrees here in the Bay Area but I went ahead and made this. I’ll tell you what, it was entirely worth heating up my kitchen!!!! I followed the directions and it is delicious!!! A definite keeper 🙂
I made this gluten free and it turned out amazing! I added chocolate chips and cocoa powder to it as well.
Mine turned out best as mini-muffins; 25 min in the oven. Thanks!!
Used a combo of spelt, oat and ww pastry flour instead of AP, and coconut oil instead of canola. Turned out fantastic!!! YAY!
I’m on my 4th batch of these beauties!!!! Just perfect to whip up when I’ve got so many zucchinis staring at me from every counter top. Love it both as the fat loaf or little muff muffs. My 88 year old mother who takes medical marijuana for her arthritis loves these with her medicine baked inside. She lovingly chomps them and relaxes into vegan bliss while watching her nightly Telenovelas. Thanks Isa…we love you!!!!
You are amazing. I am so super happy to have found this website and all the yumminess it contains! Just to clarify, is Baking Soda the same as Baking Powder? Because I also have Bicarb Soda… It shouldn’t really matter either way, should it?
can I use melted coconut oil in place of canola oil in your recipes (quick breads, cookies, apple crisp etc.)? Thanks!
I doubled the recipe but added and substituted some things to make it healthier still.
I added 2 eggs, used coconut oil instead of the applesauce and canola, traded one 1/2 of the flour for gluten free baking mix, and added some cardamon.
Really nice texture and fantastic flavor.
I make these with coconut oil instead of canola and use buckwheat and rice flour instead of white flour to make them gluten friendly as well, They turn out awesome and they are a favourite in our family!
Do I have to change the recipe for high altitude baking?
Wholly amazing. I just received a metric ton of zucchini from a friend’s CSA that she can’t use as she’s going away for the holidays. I remembered this recipe and had yet to try it. It’s perfect! I just made a loaf for myself, six mini loaves for to freeze for said friend and others upon their return, and another loaf (because it is THAT good and simple to throw together!) for the vet office who just helped us and our kitty recently. I don’t know the last time I was so excited to gift others a baked good! The only changes I made were: I have unsweetened organic applesauce cups for my daughter and one of those has just over 1/4 cup so I used 1/4 cup applesauce then filled the 1/4 cup measuring cup with the remaining apple sauce and enough unrefined organic coconut oil to make the measurement. I also nixed the nuts (I only have cashews and almonds on hand) and went with 1/3 cup cherry juice infused dried cranberries and 1/3 cup vegan chocolate chips. THANK YOU for this one! It’s my new go-to. Highly recommend!
I haven’t made this yet but have been wanting a zucchini banana muffin that is not too heavy on the oil for ages. I just don’t think I knew it yet, but here it is! Post Xmas recipe here we come!
This recipe has become my gold standard for banana bread. It is moist, delicious, and so easy to make. I often take it to parties, and so far every single time I’ve made this bread/cake for a party, I get asked for the recipe. Of course, I take them straight to the source and give them the Post Punk Kitchen website. Thanks, Isa!
I just made this tonight and it’s amazing. I don’t ever have applesauce so I just used two bananas instead. I think next time I might replace the canola oil with silken tofu to see how the crumb turns out. I used a glass 9 X 5 pan but baked it at 325 instead and my bread rose just fine. This is awesome!!
this recipe looks wonderful Isa! I don’t have any zucchini on hand at the moment, but I do have 2 large ripe bananas. Could I omit the zucchini and just double the banana? Thanks
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this recipe! It’s my “go to” for when I want to bake something sweet but more substantial (and better for me!) than cookies, etc. I usually put craisins and dark chocolate chips in it instead of raisins and walnuts. Trader Joes has these awesome orange-flavored craisins that are awesome in this bread. I’m planning on making it tonight and using dark chocolate covered raisins…yum!
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It’s yummy
Could this be made savory as well? Do you have suggestions for spices/herbs to use?
PPK, I love your recipes! I made several batches of the muffins and I was wondering, would the muffins freeze well?
I never thought of yellow squash as a sub. Interesting idea!
This is the best bread ever. I think I made it about 10 times last summer. It is currently in my oven with my first zuke from the garden and I am giddy to dig in! I sub chocolate chips for the raisins. I do have to bake it for the extra time but after that it is perfect!
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I subbed 1/4 cup cocoa for the same amount of flour and used chocolate chips instead of nuts and raisins. Mighty tasty, I must say. I made muffins because I do not have the proper size loaf pan and I don’t dig on those wide, flat loaves. It’s odd that 9×5 seems to be the standard size pan for sale in most stores, yet most recipes are for 8×4.
Oh my goodness ! This is FABULOUS!!! I didn’t have raisins or walnuts…I used some chopped dates. Thank you so much for the recipe!
Just made this with my own edits, turned out amazing!
I doubled the recipe to make 2 loaves. I used 3 bananas in the beginning, then added one at the very end so it wasn’t as blended in as the rest (I love those moist banana spots in the bread). Also, I used a little less cinnamon, and added about 4 teaspoons of cocoa powder. Used sunflower oil instead of canola. Also, didn’t do raisins.
Turned out really moist and heavy, it was delicious.
I have two 9×5 (approximate) pans and no 8×4 pans so I did a quick calculation and discovered that the volume of THREE 8×4 pans is almost exactly the volume of TWO 9×5 pans (assuming an depth of 3 inches in both types of pans); 288 cu inches for the 3 8×4 pans versus 270 cu inches for the 9×5 pans. Accordingly, I TRIPLED the recipe below (thereby using even more of the overabundance of over-ripe bananas and zucchini I had on hand) and ending up with two beautiful loaves. I did need to bake them both quite a bit longer, however–about 30 mins although I checked them every 5-8 minutes after the initial 50 minutes, and I lowered the oven temperature to 325 degrees after the first 50 minutes. GREAT recipe! Everyone here at the office is very appreciative!