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My lightly sweet gluten free zucchini bread recipe is made with tons of shredded zucchini and oil instead of butter for the most tender crumb that stays fresh for days, even when chilled.
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. So yummy!”
Why this recipe works
This bread is 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 liquid.
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.
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. My favorite blends are Better Batter's original all purpose blend and Nicole's Best with added xanthan gum. If you're using Bob's Red Mill, even though it already has gum, it doesn't have enough so try adding an extra 1/4 teaspoon.
- Salt – balances out and complements all the other ingredients
- Baking powder – adds rise for a light crumb
- Baking soda – helps browning in the oven
- Cinnamon – adds a lovely, warm spicy but subtle taste to your bread; optional
- Chocolate chips – adds rich chocolate flavor to every bite, plus some more sweetness
- 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 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
- Eggs – add structure and bind the bread together and help it hold its shape as it cools
- Vanilla – adds depth of flavor
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
Try two “chia eggs” (2 tablespoons ground white chia seeds + 2 to 3 tablespoons lukewarm water, mixed and allowed to gel). A “flax egg” might also work, but tends to add unwelcome flavor.
Step by step instructions
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. We'll walk through the steps here, but please scroll down to the recipe card for exact ingredient amounts:
Prepare the zucchini
Grate the zucchini on a standard size box grater or in a food processor fitted with the shredder blade. Wrap it in a tea towel or paper towels and wring out as much moisture as possible. This is how we standardize the amount of liquid in your zucchini
Combine dry ingredients
Whisk all the dry ingredients (gluten free flour blend including xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, if using, and sugars) in a large mixing bowl so there are no unwanted pockets of leavening.
Coat the chips
Toss the chocolate chips in a bit of the dry ingredients and set them aside to add later. This helps keep the chips from sinking to the bottom of the bread during baking.
Add half the zucchini
Mix half of the shredded and drained zucchini into the dry ingredients. This keeps the zucchini from making the bread too green overall, adds some green flecks to the baked bread, and allows the zucchini to release some moisture during baking to keep the bread moist.
Blend the wet ingredients
Blend the rest of the zucchini with the eggs, oil, and vanilla to create an emulsion. This ensures full distribution throughout the bread of the fat in the egg yolks and oil for a moist, even crumb.
Add wet to dry
Pour the pureed wet ingredients into the bowl of combined dry ingredients. This makes it easy to create a uniform mixture. Don't worry about overmixing the batter here, though, since there's no gluten to overwork which could result in a tough texture.
Finish the batter
Mix the wet and dry ingredients until you have a smooth, uniform batter. It will be very soft and thickly pourable, but shouldn't be runny. Add in most of the chocolate chips with the reserved dry ingredients, then mix until they're evenly distributed throughout the batter. The few reserved chips will go on top for a pretty presentation.
Transfer the raw batter
Scrape the final batter into a greased loaf pan that you've lined with parchment, which will help the bread bake evenly and make it easy to lift it out of the pan. Since the batter is soft, it's easy to spread into a smooth layer for even baking.
Top with chips
Scatter the remaining chips across the top of the loaf. They'll hold their shape best after baking and ensure that every bite has some chocolate.
Bake and cool
Bake at 325°F until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. Allow it to cool briefly in the pan so the bread is stable enough to move without cracking. Lift the bread carefully by the overhung parchment paper to transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.
Expert tips
Prep zucchini properly
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 ingredients accurately
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.
Storage instructions
Short term
Wrap the bread (or slices) plastic wrap and a zip-top bag and the bread should last about 3 days on the counter.
Longer term
Wrap leftovers 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.
Prep ahead
Grate and drain fresh zucchini, and freeze it to use another time. Just let it defrost at room temperature, gently squeeze out any remaining moisture you didn't remove the first time, and then proceed with the recipe as written.
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
My favorite gluten free flour blends are Better Batter's original blend gluten free flour and Nicole's Best multipurpose blend. Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour should work if you add 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum. Cup4Cup changed its formula and doesn't seem to work as well as it has in the past, so I don't recommend it. To make your own blend using one of my “mock” recipes, please see the all purpose gluten free flour blends page.
Grate at least one large or two smaller zucchini. Placing it in in the center of a tea towel (just a kitchen towel with a flat weave that doesn't shed), wrap the cloth tightly, and squeeze until there's almost no liquid left. The shredded and drained zucchini will clump and not feel wet, only damp, to the touch. Now, measure it on your digital kitchen scale. Grate and drain more zucchini as necessary to reach the proper amount of zucchini for this recipe. If you have any left over, freeze it in a freezer-safe bag or other container and defrost as needed.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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 in place of the chocolate chips, by weight.
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. If your oven runs hot, the outside will bake too quickly and the inside will remain raw. 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 gummy texture.
Was very good!! Too sweet for me (I normally cut part of the sugar in recipes – I did cut the brown sugar in this recipe but it was still too sweet. Other than that it was so good, great texture and held together!! Thank you
This is said to be DAIRY FREE, but you have added 2 eggs! (out of shell?) Please explai .
thanks
Melody, eggs are not dairy. Dairy is from a cow, and eggs are from chickens, which are not mammals.
Super good! Replaced the white sugar with monk fruit sweetener to cut down on the sugar. It was perfect!I also made a batch without chocolate chips and that was tasty too! Great way to use up the bountiful Zucchini. Thanks!
That’s really good to know that using monkfruit sweetener worked well, Meeechele. Thank you for sharing that, and I’m so glad you enjoyed the zucchini bread!
I made a massive batch of zucchini bread using your recipe as a base point, using king Arthur 1 for 1 all purpose flour. Using the automated calculator I made enough batter for 48 slices of bread. I had a lack of chocolate chips and the right sugars so I substituted with 2 cups of light corn syrup, 1 cup of Molasses, 3 cups of white sugar. The batter was used to make 2 loaves, 6 mini bundts and 32 muffins. All of these items came out super spongy and moist with the loaves taking approximately 30 minutes longer. Thank you for giving us a great adaptable recipe!
I made this with King Arthur gluten-free measure for measure flour. I also cut out 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Otherwise, I followed the directions and quantities exactly. It turned out fantastic. I really like the large amount of zucchini in this recipe compared to others I looked at. We are at high altitude – 5300 feet – so I was a bit surprised it wasn’t more dry and crumbly. I think the oil and the zucchini really help to keep it moist. Thank you for another great recipe! This one’s a keeper!
My large eggs only total 86g. Do I need to add extra moisture to compensate?
You should be fine, but if you’d like to be certain, you’ll have to beat another whole egg and add another 16 grams
I was in a hurry and mixed all the dry ingredients. I then dumped in all the wet ingredients including zucchini. Mixed well. Added Bailey’s Irish Cream chocolate chips.
This was the Best and most moist bread I have ever had. Everyone who tried this, loves it. Thank you
This worked perfect in my bread machine. Usually I put the wet ingredients in first, but the way this recipe works, I thought it easier to put all the dry ingredients, sugars, and part of zucchini in first and just start the mixer to blend those. I put the wet ingredients in a blender in order to fully emulsify, then added to the machine in process. Other mods: I used melted coconut oil, 1/2 each of the sugars, and only half a cup of frozen chocolate chips. I’ve learned to freeze the chocolate chips before adding to the bread machine at the last minute, just before final rise. That way they still remain chocolate chips, rather than mixing in and melting with the bread.
After searching several recipes online, I chose this one because it used the most zucchini for the loaf size. Moisture was perfect, tastes fantastic, and I’ll be keeping this recipe!
Delicious! I used King Arthur Measure for Measure and skipped the chocolate chips. I was initially hesitant because I am lazy and didn’t want to squeeze the zucchini and get out my blender, but I did and it came out perfectly. Thanks for the recipe!
5 stars