I’m entering baking mode for recipe testing since it has cooled down in the Seattle area. I’m trying save the good stuff for the book, but since it’s raining zucchinis, this recipe seems timely.
Here’s a moist, subtly sweet bread recipe that will take some of those extra zucchinis sitting on your counter, or garden floor, and put them to good use.
Zucchini is one of those standard summer fruits (even though it’s treated like a vegetable), that is taken for granted. No matter though, since it has proven that it is highly versatile. I’m finding it quite useful in several grain-free recipes.
The array of shapes and vibrant colors is what really attracts me to summer squash. There are long ones, round ones, crooked-necked ones, patty pans, rondelles, and the undefined shapes. They are yellow and green, striped, and in-between. Most summer squash have been cultivated in the Americas, however zucchini was originally cultivated in Italy and elsewhere in Europe and then brought to North America in the early 1900s.
While zucchini can grow quite large, the flavor is sweetest when it is picked young, when the seeds are soft, and squash isn’t fibrous. You can tell when they’re ready by their large yellow flowers beginning to bloom, and their delicate spongy flesh. Zucchinis can be stored in the refrigerator in a perforated bag for a week or so. I’ll save stuffed zucchini flowers for another time.
I’m finding this recipe to be the perfect balance of sweetness and moisture. And if you’re interested, try adding some toasted walnuts and dried cranberries (about 1/4 cup) for additional flavors and textures.
Zucchini Bread (using almond flour)
Ingredients
For the loaf you see in the picture I used a Magic line pan, which is on the small size, so the loaf was bigger than the pan. But it can also fill a 5 inch x 8 inch pan as well. If you want to remove the entire loaf from the pan, I would line it with parchment paper, otherwise, grease or oil the loaf pan. If you’re finding this recipe a bit too moist, reduce the amount of grated zucchini to 1 cup.- 2 cups of blanched almond flour
- 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoons of dried ground ginger
- 1/4 cup of olive oil (or melted ghee or butter)
- 1/2 cup of honey
- 2 large eggs
1 1/2cups of grated zucchini (with green peel; not packed; if wet, dry off with a paper or cloth towel)
Method
- Preheat your oven to 350°F/190°C.
- Grease your baking pan or line it with parchment paper.
- Combine the almond flour, salt, baking soda, and spices and blend well.
- Add the remaining ingredients and blend well.
- Pour the batter into your baking pan, and bake for about 60 minutes (or 50 minutes at a convection setting), or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.
- Cool and slice. Store covered at room temperature for a few days, or the refrigerator for a week or so. I haven’t done so yet, but you can probably seal it and freeze it for a few months.
Makes 1 loaf
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Sounds super yummy, almond flour breads are great
I love the simplicity of the recipe, but I have yet to buy almond flour. Oh the joys of living on a college budget…
I hear you. I don’t know if I would have invested in almond flour while in college.
I just did some quick math: 2 cups of almond flour is about 7.2 ounces. A 5 pound bag of almond flour is about $30. So, the cost of almond flour to make this loaf of bread is $2.70. Not that bad. But shelling out $30 seems like a lot. It’s not as bad as I thought it would be though.
I like to make my own almond flour, its really simple and costs a lot less. You can get a pound of raw almonds for about 4 bucks. Blanch them, dry and then grind them up in a processor. I prefer doing this because I don’t know how long that almond flour has been sitting on a shelf and chances are its already starting to go rancid.
It’s the blanching part that stops me in my tracks.
Erica,
the blanching is so easy! it takes literally one minute having them in the hot water then transfer to ice water. The skins come right off.
This sounds so delicious and easy! Part of me wants to jump into fall recipes, but another part of me can’t give up my summer produce quite yet!
I know how you feel. I’m not ready to give up berries
. It is a “summer squash” 
Excellent! I’ve been craving a nice slice of zucchini bread lately.
oh good
. I just gave a loaf to an elderly neighbor, who was in heaven. I never knew it but she said she has always been grain-free! And she has 14 grandchildren and has baked with almond flour for 30 years!
I love all of your recipes, but I had trouble with this one!
I made the loaf last night, and after an hour in the over the loaf was still pretty much raw on the inside
Any ideas why this may have happened??
Thanks!
I knew this might be tricky depending on how you measure stuff and your oven setting. For the zucchini, I don’t pack it down – it’s a “light” 2 cups, but try going down to 1 1/2 cups. And dry the zucchini off with a paper towel to get rid of some moisture. Also, I use the convection setting in my oven a lot to speed things up. So it might take a bit longer to bake at a regular oven setting. but it should be longer than another 10 minutes.
Hi Erica,
I just made this bread this weekend and used coconut oil instead of olive or butter. It is amazing. I will agree that it took a lot longer than the recipe says in the regular oven. At 40 minutes, it was still very loose in the middle. I took it out and put it into my convection toaster oven and 20 minutes later it was done. I would perhaps try it again in a regular oven and see how long it actually takes. I have had several of the baking recipes take longer in a regular oven. Fantastic recipe, very yummy!
Thanks Dani! Yes, I just adjusted the time (I tend to use the convection setting).
Made this and it was great! Not too zucchini-y for the kids. Great texture for a gluten-free bread. Thanks for posting!
This was amazing! Very moist and the spices were great. I’m thinking of swapping out the zucchini next time for carrots. Seems like it would be a good fit with these spices as well.
Thanks! Carrots, interesting. Let us know how it turns out.
I made this today and it was so delicious!! I think I will cut the oil in half next time or use applesauce instead. It did take about 1 hour 20 min in my oven…
wow, 1 hour 20 minutes. You may be able to bake at a slightly higher temperature (depending on your oven). Was it burnt on the outside? If you try this without oil, let us know how it turns out. I’m tempted but I don’t have zuchinis at the moment. One more thought: it’s possible that the applesauce is providing too much moisture.
I love this recipe!
Do you happen to know of the carbohydrate count per serving or an easy way to figure that out?
Thank you!
thanks. I don’t but try http://www.ehow.com/how_8281977_calculate-nutritionals.html, or http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp
Can this be made without sweeteners like honey? i”m diabetic and don’t want to use the sweetener.
I haven’t tried it (yet) but I bet it could because it’s very moist. You’ll need to account for most of the lost liquid if you use Stevia. Another option is to replace with dates; 1/4 cup of honey is about 1/4 cup of chopped dates.
How many servings would you estimate in a loaf (the sparkpeople calculator requires # of servings when you put in the recipe.
Help! this calculator insists on having the almond flour in grams! And other ingredients maybe too.
I made this yesterday, my first try using almond flour, but I didnt get the “rise”. Your picture looks nothing like mine. Though it cane out delicious and moist, it was kinda dense. Any ideas on what I did wrong?
It’s not a light bread if that’s what you’re looking for. It should rise though. Did you leave out baking soda?
Hi Erica, I did use the amount of baking soda that the recipe called for, (I remember useing the 1/2 teaspoon for both the sea salt and baking soda) I even went back and checked the expiration date on the box (2016)..it was a new box. I wasnt expecting a “fluffy” bread…but I did expect it to rise higher than the height of the poured batter before it went into the oven! It’s not too soggy, the zucchini was drained/patted dry after grating. I used a 5×8 pan and added some chopped nuts, that is the only difference that I can see.
hmmm. it shouldn’t be too dense, just moist and a bit heavier than a cake – sort of like the banana bread. If it’s just low, then that would explain it’s appearance, but other than that I’m not sure. sorry!
Has anyone tried making this without the eggs? Would flax meal work? I have egg replacers mix but am nervous about using it. I tried using it when making the Simple Yellow Cake recipe and it was a disaster! lol!
Erica, this is absolutely amazing! I actually made two versions of the recipe (my son has dozens of food allergies, so his version had a combo of buckwheat-quinoa-brown-rice flour; and then a batch for my hubs and me with almond and quinoa flour, as well as coconut oil). My husband and I devoured most of our batch last night, and now we’re finishing the last two pieces for breakfast.
This is marvelously moist and perfectly sweet. Thank you for such a keeper!!!
Wow, glad this recipe can stand up to multiple variations!
This looks devine! Wondering if I could sub the almond flour with coconut flour and add some coconut flakes for more of a zucchini “cake”? Thanks for the recipe, definitely going to try it out! !
The ratios using coconut flour would be different, so it would most likely not work out.
Ah, thanks for the heads up! I will stick to the original recipe then. Thanks.
Hi Erica,
I did make and have now eaten this zucchini bread. I followed your recipe to a T and it was perfect, delicious and I am so excited to keep making it! Oh, I ran out of honey and used some agave to make up.. The spice ratio is also perfect for me, I wasn’t looking for a spice cake taste and this combo / amount was perfect to add flavor without overpowering. I did use 11/2 loose packed cups of zucchini that I laid between paper towels and even pressed a bit before mixing in – I cook a lot and recall how you need the moisture to come out of things like eggplant for recipes to work.. Lastly I baked at 350 in regular oven for 60 minutes exactly, came out golden brown all around. Look forward to using more of your recipes!! Thanks again!!
I wonder would this freeze well? Wanting to make a double batch
probably but I haven’t tried. Wrap/seal it well.