Healthy Zucchini Bread – Eat Lean

This healthy zucchini bread is moist, fluffy, and healthier with whole wheat flour, Greek yogurt, shredded zucchini, and zero butter or refined sugar. Perfect for breakfast or an easy snack!

Note: This post first appeared on March 17, 2016. It’s been updated with shiny new photos, but it’s still the same delicious recipe you love!

With summer just around the corner, making bread or muffins is a great way to use up all the leftover zucchini from your garden! You’ll love baking with zucchini because not only does it make this quick bread so moist and flavorful, but it’s a great way to sneak in veggies for picky eaters because you can’t taste the zucchini. You can also mix in other fun additions like chocolate chips, chopped pecans, chopped walnuts, and fresh or dried berries. This recipe also makes delicious muffins or even mini loaves to share with friends!

Enjoy this delicious healthy zucchini bread recipe for breakfast with your morning coffee or serve it to your kids as a great after school snack! You can also easily adjust this recipe and make Zucchini Banana Bread by replacing the Greek yogurt with banana puree or even Zucchini Pumpkin Bread using pumpkin puree. This recipe can be easily customized with so many variations, but I promise you’ll get a moist and delicious loaf every time!

Ingredients you will need

• Wholemeal pastry flour – I love baking with whole wheat pastry flour as it has all the nutritional benefits of whole wheat flour while giving this bread a light and fluffy texture. I recommend using this, but if you don’t have any on hand, you can use white wholemeal or regular all-purpose flour.
• Bicarbonate of sodium – acts as a leavening agent to help the bread rise, you can also use yeast
• Courgette – You will need a medium zucchini and this not only adds nutritional benefits but also makes this quick bread nice and moist, just make sure you really squeeze the water out of the zucchini after grating.
• eggs – adds protein and gives this bread its structure and height
• maple syrup – sweeten this bread without using refined sugar, but you can also use honey or regular sugar
• coconut oil – for extra moisture and fluffiness! Feel free to replace it with another type of oil if you prefer or even butter
• greek yogurt – This helps reduce the amount of oil we have to use and helps keep the bread moist. You can also use applesauce, banana puree or pumpkin puree
• milk – I used almond milk, but any kind of milk will work in this recipe
• Warm flavors – a delicious combination of cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla extract

How to make a healthy zucchini bread

This particular recipe makes a standard loaf of bread, but you can also make 3 mini loaves (your neighbors will thank you!) or even muffins! See below for different cooking times depending on how you choose to do it.

1. Grate the zucchini. Using a box grater, mash the zucchini and remove all moisture with a cheesecloth or paper towel, squeezing out all the liquid in the sink.
2. Mix the ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the whole wheat pasta flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt, then set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, maple syrup, Greek yogurt, milk, melted coconut oil, vanilla, and shredded zucchini, mixing until combined.
3. Make the dough. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula until just combined, being very careful not to over mix the batter. Pour batter into a 9×5-inch pan sprayed with nonstick spray.
4. BAKE! Bake the zucchini bread in the oven at 350 degrees F for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Leave the bread in the pan for 10 minutes before carefully inverting onto a wire rack to cool. Slice and enjoy!

Tips, tricks and substitutions

• Make sure NOT to over mix the batter. This results in a super dense bread that we don’t want. Go for fluffy and soft!
• It is important to squeeze as much water as you can from the shredded zucchini. No need to peel the zucchini.
• Feel free to dip the whole wheat pastry flour with 1:1 gluten-free baking flour or even all-purpose flour. I do not recommend using almond flour or coconut flour in this recipe.
• You can easily swap out the Greek yogurt for pumpkin puree, banana puree or applesauce.
• Mix in other fun additions like chocolate chips, chopped nuts like walnuts or pecans, coconut flakes, dried fruit or fresh berries!

Other cooking methods

• If making three mini loaves, bake at 350 degrees F for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. When I make for friends and family, I like to double this recipe and make 6 mini loaves!
• This recipe also makes delicious zucchini muffins. Simply spread the batter into 12 muffin cups sprayed with nonstick spray (or muffin liners) and bake at 350 degrees F for 18 to 22 minutes.
• Alternatively, you can make 24 mini muffins! Just bake these at 350 degrees F for about 15 to 17 minutes.

Preparation and storage

To save: This zucchini bread can be stored in an airtight container or wrapped in plastic at room temperature for up to 3 days, but be sure to refrigerate after that to keep it longer. This bread will last up to a week in the fridge.

To freeze: This bread also freezes great! You can wrap the entire loaf in plastic wrap, foil, or a freezer-safe bag, or freeze individual slices. When ready to serve, thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before slicing. This bread will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.

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