This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
This lightly sweet gluten free zucchini bread is made with tons of shredded zucchini and oil instead of butter for the most tender crumb that stays fresh for days.
The secret to bread that comes out with the right texture every time is squeezing the extra moisture out of shredded zucchini, then measuring the right amount. No more spongy bread because your vegetables were too big!
“We’ve made more loaves of this zucchini bread than I can count. Friends and family delight in the rich, moist treat. We like to toss a slice or two in the toaster oven to warm and gently crisp the bread, and eat it as it is, with peanut butter, ghee, or even extra chocolate chips. So yummy!”
My take
Nicole's Recipe Notes
This recipe is so special that no one really ever makes it just once. It's always full of flavor, never mushy, and browns beautifully in the oven.
The secret is in the preparation. Use whatever zucchini or squash you have, since it will always have the same amount of moisture as mine after you get rid of the excess.
Plus, we puree some of the zucchini with oil and eggs. That traps enough moisture in an emulsion to create a tender crumb that still has tons of flavor.
what's in it
Recipe ingredients
- Gluten free flour blend – Any high quality gluten free flour blend with finely ground rice flour should work here. Be sure to add xanthan gum if your blend doesn't contain it.
- Salt – balances out and complements all the other ingredients
- Baking powder – adds rise
- Baking soda – helps browning in the oven
- Cinnamon – adds a lovely, warm spicy but subtle taste to your bread; optional
- Chocolate chips – optional, but adds some extra flavor
- Sugars – add sweetness, tenderness, and depth of flavor from the molasses in the brown sugar
- Oil – We use a neutral oil (options include canola, vegetable, grapeseed, peanut, safflower, peanut, or avocado oil) to blend with some of the grated, drained zucchini to create an emulsion that adds tons of moisture and tenderizes the bread
- Zucchini – after being squeezed of excess water, it adds the right amount of moisture so the bread stays tender but bakes fully and has different textures
- Eggs – add structure and bind the bread together
- Vanilla – adds depth of flavor
substitutions
Ingredient substitutions
Dairy free
Since the bread made with oil instead of butter, it's naturally dairy free. If you're dairy free, though, make sure your chocolate chips are, too.
Egg free
Since there are two eggs in this recipe, you may be able to successfully replace each of them with a “chia egg” (1 tablespoon ground white chia seeds + 1 tablespoon lukewarm water, mixed and allowed to gel). A “flax egg” might also work, but tends to add a truly unwelcome flavor.
How to make gluten free zucchini bread
This is a simple recipe that is mixed together beginning with dry ingredients, then adding wet ingredients. But the wet ingredients are prepared a bit differently. Let's walk through the recipe:
Prepare the zucchini
Grate the zucchini on a standard size box grater or in a food processor fitted with the shredder blade. Then, wring out as much moisture as possible.
Whisk dry ingredients, blend wet
Mix all the dry ingredients (gluten free flour blend including xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, salt, the optional ground cinnamon, and the sugars) in a large mixing bowl.
Toss the chocolate chips in a bit of the dry ingredients and set them aside. Add half the zucchini to the dry ingredients and mix throughout.
Blend the rest of the zucchini with the eggs, oil, and vanilla, and mix the puree into the dry ingredients.
Transfer the raw batter to a loaf pan and bake
Mix in the chocolate chips and transfer the raw zucchini bread batter to a greased loaf pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean, maybe with a few moist crumbs attached. Allow it to cool for a bit in the pan and then transfer the bread to a wire rack to cool completely.
My Pro Tip
Expert tips
Zucchini prep
You can drain the grated zucchini by placing it in in the center of a tea towel (just a kitchen towel with a flat weave that doesn't shed) or an old clean t-shirt, and squeezing it until no more liquid drains.
A strong mesh bag called a nut milk bag also works great. This is my favorite nut milk bag because it's strong and durable.
Measure by weight
Measure your dry ingredients with a simple digital kitchen scale whenever possible, and ignore the volume measurements. And be sure to measure the shredded zucchini after you've drained it, not before.
Gluten Free Zucchini Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (210 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend, (See Recipe Notes)
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum, omit if your blend already contains it
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, (optional)
- ⅔ cup (4 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips, (dairy free, if necessary)(can omit or replace with chopped nuts)
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (109 g) packed light brown sugar
- 2 ⅛ cups (215 g) drained grated zucchini, (weight is zucchini as drained of liquid; See Recipe Notes)
- 2 (100 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs, at room temperature
- ¼ cup (56 g) neutral oil, (like grapeseed, canola or vegetable oil)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325°F. Grease a standard 9-inch x 5-inch loaf pan and set it aside.
- In a large bowl, place flour, xanthan gum, salt, baking soda, baking powder and optional cinnamon, and whisk to combine well.
- Place the chocolate chips in a small bowl, add about 1 teaspoon of the dry ingredients to the chips and toss to combine. Set the chips aside.
- To the flour mixture, add the granulated sugar and light brown sugar, and whisk to combine (working out any lumps in the brown sugar).
- Add 1 1/4 cups (125 g) of the grated zucchini to the dry ingredients, and mix gently to combine. Set aside the dry ingredients.
- Place the remaining 7/8 cup (88 g) of grated zucchini, the eggs, oil and vanilla in a blender, and pulse until well-blended and beginning to emulsify.
- Create a well in the center of the bowl of dry ingredients, and add the wet ingredient mixture. The batter will be very wet.
- Add about 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips and reserved dry ingredients to the batter and mix until the chips are evenly distributed throughout the batter.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan, and smooth the top with a wet spatula. Scatter the remaining chocolate chips on top and press down lightly to adhere.
- Place the loaf pan in the center of the preheated oven.
- Bake, rotating once, until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of each loaf comes out with a few moist crumbs attached (about 50 minutes).
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes in the loaf pan before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing and serving.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
make ahead/leftovers
Storage instructions
Wrap the bread (or slices) plastic wrap and a zip-top bag and the bread should last about 3 days on the counter.
For longer storage, wrap it tightly in freezer safe wrap and store in the freezer for about 3 months. Defrost at room temperature. To refresh, sprinkle lightly with lukewarm water and place in a 300°F toaster oven for about 5 minutes.
You can also prep the zucchini ahead of time. Just grate and drain extra zucchini and then freeze it to use another time. Just let it defrost, gently squeeze out any remaining moisture you didn't remove the first time, and then proceed with the recipe as written.
FAQs
No! The taste of zucchini does not come through at all, even though you can see the green flecks of the vegetable that wasn't pureed.
Yes. Feel free to add walnuts, raisins, shredded coconut, and other dry mix-ins to your zucchini bread.
You can use frozen grated zucchini—but only if you had removed most of its moisture before freezing it. Otherwise, frozen zucchini with all its moisture would become mushy as it defrosted.
I don't like this recipe as muffins, instead of a quick bread. Instead, use this recipe for gluten free zucchini muffins instead.
If your bread sank in the middle as it cooled, it wasn't baked all the way through. That may have been because your oven runs hot (most ovens do, including mine), which is why I always recommend baking with a standalone oven thermometer that you replace often. In addition, if you didn't wring enough moisture out of your zucchini, the extra moisture won't be able to bake all the way out, leaving you with a sunken middle and most likely a gummy texture.
We’ve made more loaves of this zucchini bread than I can count. Friends and family delight in the rich, moist treat. We like to toss a slice or two in the toaster oven to warm and gently crisp the bread, and eat it as it is, with peanut butter, ghee, or even extra chocolate chips. So yummy
So glad to hear that this is such a favorite, Sam! Thanks for sharing that.