Looking for a tasty way to use up your garden zucchini? This lemon zucchini bread recipe is easy to make and bursting with flavor. Give it a try today. This easy, quick bread recipe is full of flavor and moisture from zucchini, fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, and a two-ingredient lemon glaze.
We enjoy this lightly sweetened quick-bread zucchini loaf with fresh lemon for dessert or a light breakfast. It reheats to just baked goodness in the microwave at reduced power or in the toaster oven.
Whether it grows in your garden or is available at the farmers’ market, zucchini adds texture, color, flavor, and moisture to baked goods. You should try my zucchini cake, zucchini muffins, and zucchini bread.
What’s In This Post
Ingredients Needed
- All-purpose flour
- Leaveners: baking powder and baking soda
- Salt: just a bit as a flavor enhancer
- Granulated sugar
- Vegetable oil: or canola oil
- Lemons: for lemon juice and lemon zest
- Vanilla extract: the pure stuff
- Zucchini: look for firm zucchini free of blemishes
- Egg: large
How to make Lemon Zucchini Bread
Mix the dry ingredients – whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Mix the rest of the ingredients – In a separate large mixing bowl, stir together the sugar, vegetable oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla, grated zucchini, and egg with a spoon.
Add the dry ingredients – Mix the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients. Mixing just until combined.
Bake the bread – Pour the mixture into a greased loaf pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan.
Make the glaze – Heat the lemon juice and sugar over medium heat, stirring just until the sugar dissolves. Brush or drizzle over the warm loaf. Fully cool on a cooling rack before slicing.
Recipe Tips
- This loaf is best made in an 8×4-inch pan. It can also be made in a 9×5-inch pan, but it will not be as tall.
- Grease the loaf pan well. I use shortening to grease my pans, and it works very well.
- Finely grate the zucchini using a box cutter. The appearance is better, and the texture is better with fine little bits of zucchini.
- Let the bread cool in the pan on a cooling rack for about 10-12 minutes before inverting it. If it tries to stick, use a thin knife to run the rim and loosen the loaf carefully.
- When making the glaze, heat the lemon juice and sugar to a low boil to dissolve the sugar. Stir frequently to dissolve the sugar, and don’t step away; it takes just a couple of minutes.
Storage and Freezing
Store this bread in an airtight container on the counter at room temperature for 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
First, cool the bread completely. Then freeze it in an airtight freezer-safe container or wrap it in 2 layers of plastic wrap followed by a layer of aluminum foil and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the airtight container in the fridge overnight. Freeze the bread as a single loaf or slice it so you can remove as many slices as you want at a time.
More Lemon Recipes
Lemon Zucchini Bread
Ingredients
Lemon Zucchini Bread
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup vegetable oil or canola oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups shredded zucchini unpeeled
- 1 egg
Lemon Glaze
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 ½ tablespoons sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8×4 inch loaf pan.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a separate larger bowl, using a spoon, mix together the sugar, vegetable oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla, grated zucchini, and egg. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients mixing just until combined.
- Bake for 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing from the pan.
- Heat the lemon juice and sugar over medium heat just until the sugar dissolves, stirring several times. Brush over the warm loaf.
Notes
- This loaf is best made in an 8×4-inch pan. It can also be made in a 9×5-inch pan, but it will not be as tall.
- Grease the loaf pan well. I use shortening to grease my pans, and it works very well.
- Finely grate the zucchini using a box cutter. The appearance is better, and the texture is better with fine little bits of zucchini.
- Let the bread cool in the pan on a cooling rack for about 10-12 minutes before inverting it. If it tries to stick, use a thin knife to run the rim and loosen the loaf carefully.
- When making the glaze, heat the lemon juice and sugar to a low boil to dissolve the sugar. Stir frequently to dissolve the sugar, and don’t step away; it takes just a couple of minutes.
Nutrition
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https://www.smalltownwoman.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Beth-1.pdf
Elizabeth Ervin
It’s the lemon for me. So good! This is the perfect recipe for this time of year. It’s my favorite zucchini time!
Heather
We were just trying to figure out what to do with all of the zucchini we have in the house! This is perfect! Can’t wait to try it.
Tammy
What a delicious combo. It was so moist and delicious…I wish I had a slice right now but my family devoured it. The balance of lemon and zucchini was perfect to me.
jen schreiner
Two of my favorite ingredients, lemon, and zucchini. I can’t wait to try this recipe. In the summer months I end up with a lot of zucchini. My kids get tired of it. So this will be a new to us recipe.
Beth Pierce
Thanks Jen! Enjoy!
Victoria
Thanks for including the nutrition facts. I will have to try this bread. It’s definitely making my mouth water just reading about it and seeing the photos!
Luna S
Yum! This was a really good flavor combination! The bread was flavorful and moist. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Dan Rey
Thanks for the great recipe. The whole family loved it! Next time I am going to try it with whole wheat flour.
Talya Stone
Oh hello! I have three zucchinis in the fridge which are just waiting to jump in this recipe. Guess what I’ll be baking next…
Samantha Donnelly
I love trying new recipes and ideas, I love aything with lemon, but never thought of adding zucchini before. I will have to give this a go and also hide vegetables from my family
Catalina
Mmmm…. This is my favorite way to eat vegetables. Who can resist it?!
Allyson Zea
2 of my favorite flavors combined! I can’t wait!
Sandra
This is such an amazing recipe! Everyone loved it!
Erik
Such a huge fan of lemon! Love the flavor twist in this recipe. 🙂
Beti
This was so moist and delicious! The flavors were amazing!
katerina
Oh my, this lemon zucchini bread is amazing! I will make it again. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Kimberly
The addition of lemon is a must – so delicious!