This delicious Lemon Zucchini Bread is topped with a homemade glaze making it irresistible! We love a simple no-yeast quick bread recipe!
If you love bread (especially quick bread recipes), you’ll love this sweet bread! It’s perfect for leftover zucchini in the garden and is as classic and delicious as our go-to Zucchini Bread and Chocolate Zucchini Cake.
The Perfect Sweet BREAD!
When it’s cold, I find myself wanting to bake ALL the time. It’s almost like I just love having something sweet and warm to eat on a cold day. This zucchini lemon bread makes the perfect dessert or even an afternoon snack.
This next recipe was one that my mom and I tried out years ago that we fell in love with. It was so delicious and one that we will be making again and adding to our favorite breads rotation.
The recipe turned out perfect with zucchini and lemon flavor combined into a fluffy bread. The glaze is my favorite part (how could it not be?) and was the perfect addition for this lemon zucchini bread recipe!
Using Zucchini in Bread
There is no need to peel the skin of a zucchini before using it in baking. Zucchini peels are already thin and soft enough that they won’t affect the texture of your bread.
You can use any cheese grater that you have on hand to grate your zucchini – a food processor with a grating attachment would also work well.
Dry the Zucchini: I mention below how important it is to DRY your zucchini. Since some zucchinis, like home grown garden zucchinis, have more moisture than others, I would suggest placing the grated zucchini in the center of a tea towel, fold up the towel, and wring out by twisting over the sink. This is a great way to prepare grated zucchini for most baked goods.
How to Make Lemon Zucchini Bread
BATTER. Begin by mixing the flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, beat eggs. Then add oil and sugar until well blended. Add lemon juice, buttermilk, and lemon zest to this mixture and blend all together.
ZUCCHINI. Fold in shredded zucchini (that is drained and dry) until it is mixed well. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and blend all together until well combined.
(*Note*: It is really really important to be sure you remove excess water from the zucchini. Zucchinis are over 90% water which is why they make a great addition to moisten up baked goods. However, too much water from the zucchini can alter the bread a great deal. Read more on this below in the tips.)
BAKE. Pour batter evenly into two greased 9×5 loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes. Let the bread cool a bit in the pan before removing to finish cooling on a wire rack.
GLAZE. Place bread on a cooling rack and while still warm, make lemon glaze and drizzle or spoon over the bread. Let the glaze set up before cutting and serving.
Dress it Up
I love this recipe as is, but sometimes it’s fun to add little something extra to dress up a dish. Here are a few ideas you can try:
- 1-2 tablespoons of poppy seeds
- add dried berries such as cranberries or blueberries
- add dark or white chocolate chips
- sprinkle lemon zest on top
TipS, TRICKS, + STORAGE
This recipe isn’t hard AT ALL, but we wanted to share our TOP tips for making sure it turns out perfect. 😉
To prevent your zucchini lemon bread from falling, pay attention to these 3 things:
- Make sure your oven is at the correct temperature. If it’s too hot it might get crispy on the outside but sink in the middle. If it isn’t hot enough it won’t rise as desired.
- Make sure you aren’t over mixing your ingredients. Use the lowest speed on your mixer or even mix by hand for this recipe.
- Make sure you are using the right size pan. If your pan is too small the bread will rise and then sink in the middle without enough support on the sides.
If your bread comes out of the oven with a crack in the middle, this isn’t a sign that something has gone wrong. It usually means your bread is well baked, has risen properly and steam has escaped from the center.
When STORING, this bread keeps at room temperature for 3-4 days, for about a week in the fridge, or up to 4 months in the freezer.
The best way to FREEZE this bread would be to wrap it in plastic wrap followed by aluminum foil. I recommend freezing it without the glaze, thawing, and then adding glaze just before eating.
Substitutions
Though I will occasionally add little extras to dress up a dish, I really try not to alter the main recipe. However, sometimes I get started on a recipe to find I don’t have a certain ingredient. In this case I use a substitution if I can. Here are a few for this recipe that might come in handy:
- Several readers commented that they have successfully used coconut oil, olive oil and even applesauce in lieu of canola oil. Substitute it at a 1:1 ratio.
- Make your own cake flour: To make your own cake flour all you need is cornstarch and all purpose flour. For every cup of all purpose flour remove 2 tablespoons, then add in 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Sift together.
- Lemon juice: You can use fresh lemon juice or store bought.
- Buttermilk: See our post on buttermilk substitutes.
Doesn’t it looks fabulous?? It’s an easy recipe to make, and I can’t wait to try it out again… it’s been too long!! And for me, breads that require no yeast are always the easiest!! 😉
For more great quick bread recipes, check out:
- White Chocolate Lemon Bread
- The Best Banana Bread
- Snickerdoodle Bread
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Glazed Almond Poppy Seed Bread
- Pumpkin Streusel Bread
- Pistachio Bread
Or, check out our full collection of Quick Bread Recipes!
Lemon Zucchini Bread Recipe
Ingredients
Bread
- 2 cups cake flour or all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup canola oil or vegetable oil
- 1⅓ cups sugar
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 cup grated zucchini
Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar sifted
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 5-x-9-inch loaf pans with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt together and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs with a an hand mixer. Then add oil and sugar and mix until well. Add lemon juice, buttermilk, lemon zest to this mixture and blend all together.
- Wring out zucchini to remove moisture. Fold the zucchini into wet ingredients.
- Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until well combined.
- Pour batter evenly into the prepared loaf pans and bake for 50–60 minutes.
- To make the glaze, stir all ingredients together in a small bowl. Spoon over the bread while still warm. Let the glaze set for at least 30 minutes before cutting and serving.
Video
Notes
Wringing Out Zucchini: For this recipe, it is important to remove excess water from the zucchini so the batter is not too runny. To do that, place grated zucchini on the center of a tea towel, fold up the towel, and wring out by twisting over the sink. This is a great way to prepare grated zucchini for most baked goods.
GLAZED LEMON ZUCCHINI MUFFINS
To make Lemon Zucchini Muffins, use the recipe above but divide the batter among the wells of a lined 12-cup muffin tin. Fill each well two-thirds full and bake at 350 degrees F for 17–19 minutes. Makes 12–14 large muffins.
This is so fresh tasting! My go to lemon treat!!
Excellent twist on the usual zucchini bread. My 92-y/o mother in law loves this. I make tiny loaves that she stores in her freezer.
I made this yesterday. My family of 6 liked it.
Because I have a big family, and I had a bag of frozen zucchini that was 2 cups, I doubled the recipe. I assumed that meant two loaf pans, but they were about 80% full and I was afraid it would spill over in the oven. I took some out of both to fill a third pan.
My loaves all sunk in the middle. I googled it, and it said there was likely too much moisture.. You did say to dry the zucchini. I squeezed it out, but I should have put it on a paper towel to dry it after that.
Your reipe says 40 min cook time at the top, but it says 50-60 down in the recipe instructions. Mine were done at 40.
Your website plays a recipe video and I don’t see a way to close that. It is very much in the way. Maybe that’s only on phones, though. Between that video, my keyboard, and the constant ads popping up, it’s hard to read your page. And I can only see one line of this comment box as I’m typing… so there will probably be typing errors I missed. I understand that the ads are so you can earn money for giving us free recipes. I appreciate the recipes! But I know a lot of people are turned off by too many ads and videos so they won’t stick around.
Thank you for the lemon zucchini bread recipe! It’s delicious! We didn’t like the glaze, surprisingly, but the bread is great!
Thanks for all of your feedback and for giving the recipe a try!
Can’t wait to try this recipe! I am able to close all ads and video. Thank you for sharing.
Hope you enjoy the bread!!
This sounds so good and I like quick bread recipes. Thanks. Do you send emails? Sure would like those.
Yes!! We do. If you go to our website http://www.lilluna.com, up in the top left of the page you’ll see an envelope icon that says subscribe. Click there and it’ll ask you to enter your email address and then you’ll get those newsletter emails! We’d love to have you there too. 🙂
Thanks for the recipe, this cake must be delicious. I had a doubt, in the recipe there is oil and butter, is that right? Not too much fat? Anxious for the answer. Thank you
The bread recipe calls for oil and buttermilk, but not butter. So it shouldn’t contain too much fat with just the oil. I hope this helps!
the glaze was so thick and hard to stir. I triple checked the recipe to make sure I didn’t read it wrong. Will use 1/2 powdered sugar next time. Otherwise the bread was good
Thanks for the feedback and for giving the recipe a try! I’m glad you enjoyed the bread.
I posted and tagged you. Please excuse my messy stove. I can’t wait to try the recipe.
This has become my favorite . I love it the lemon is so refreshing and the glaze is as they say the topping of it thank you thank you
You’re welcome! I’m so glad you love the bread!
how do you dry zuccinni? Never heard this before!
It just means to make sure you wring out all the extra water from the zucchini before adding it to the batter. Here’s the way I’d suggest doing it, but there are other methods too… I would suggest grating your zucchini about 30 minutes before making the recipe. This will allow it time to shed any excess water. Then, pat it dry before tossing it into the mix. Do not skip this step or the zucchini bread will be too watery and not bake well.
I have had great success with this recipe in the past. This time I am trying to make it as cupcakes/muffins, as my loaf pans are also full (bumper crop). I’ll let you know how it goes. The recipe yielded 12 very full cupcakes. I set the timer for 40 minutes, at 350 and will be checking on them.
The muffins worked great at 40 minutes of baking time @ 350 in my oven. The glaze makes an easy frosting. It took some pictures but don’t know how to attach them. Thanks for the great recipe!
Oh yay! I’m so happy to hear they turned out well. Thanks for sharing what you did. I’ll have to give this recipe a try like that!
Yes, I’d love to hear how they turn out as muffins/cupcakes!
Wonderful the whole family enjoyed it. Changes I made was I didn’t put milk in icing, since we were traveling I didn’t want it to go bad. We did try it after I cooked the bread, wiped the slice with milk and put icing on. The other was I used Artesian King Authur flour. Yummmy Also made it in a batch of 3.
Thanks so much for sharing what you did. I’m so glad to hear the family enjoyed the bread!
Sooooo good!
I actually use vanilla almond milk because my daughter has a milk allergy.
Oh that’s great! Glad the bread tastes great with the almond milk too.
This is SUCH a great recipe! Great for muffins or in a bundt cake pan. Always get asked for the recipe!
This has become a family favourite. So easy to make & delicious. Definitely a keeper!
The directions in this recipe say nothing about the buttermilk & lemon zest & juice. I’m pretty sure they are added into the wet ingredient. Or the the buttermilk can alternately be added with the flour.
Thank you! I’m shocked at this oversight, how it hasn’t been corrected, and it’s high rating. Also, it says it yields 2 loaves- the recipe is only for 1 loaf pan.
Thanks for noting this. Looks like some of the instructions got cut off on that recipe card. We’ll get it updated asap! For the time being, the instructions are written out fully up in the post or you can see them in the video.
Absolutely delicious.