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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 one greased 9×5 loaf pan. 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 one 5-x-9-inch loaf pan 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 pan 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. SMALLER LOAVES: To make 2 smaller loaves, split the batter evenly into two 4 x 8 loaf pans and bake for 40 minutes. To make 3 mini-loaves, split the batter evenly into three 3 x 5 mini-loaf pans and bake for 30 minutes.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made this bread yesterday and can not thank you enough for your amazing recipe! It was absolutely fantastic! This will be my go to recipe for zucchini bread!
-K
Help!!! I checked my loaf at 20 minutes (using the oven light) and it was rising perfectly, but at 40 minutes I found the center had collapsed and was uncooked. What did I do wrong? I would like to try again, but need to correct whatever may have caused the problem.
I had the same thing happen to me… I have no idea what I did wrong. I removed 4 TBSP of flour and replaced with 4 TBSP of cornstarch. Used baking POWDER… Have no idea. Very disappointed.
This looks fabulous! I love anything lemon and have made zucchini bread for years, but never thought to put the two together. Shopped the ingredients this evening and will be making this before the weekend is up.
Help! My loaf collapsed in the center and was uncooked. How can I prevents this from happening again?
I have found that the moisture level in the zucchini can have this effect on breads. Some zucchini seem to be “wetter” than others. Be sure and pat dry the grated zucchini.
Yes, so true. It’s definitely important to pat dry the zucchini for this recipe. 😉
Anyone else having problems with the bake time. My oven is fine but I’ve had it in for 65 minutes and it’s still not cooked. Coukd it be I used a glass pan?
Same problem here. I too used glass. Took an hour and a half and the outside was way too browned.
Same thing happened to me! Have either of you tried it again? I wondered about putting it in an 8×8 cake pan or maybe turning down the heat and cooking it longer. Love the bread but wish I could figure it out!!
Glass ALWAYS requires extra baking time!
I am having the same problem – I put it into 3 small aluminum loaf pans (I always make my breads this way). After 55 minutes it’s still pale & liquid-y in the middle. My oven works fine for other breads & not high altitude… 🙁
I’m so sorry you had problems, Susannah. I’ve never made it in a glass pan, so I’m not sure if that is the problem. I would try in a regular metal bread pan next time and see if that makes the difference. Could you let me know if you do give it a try again? Thanks!
It sounds like an altitude problem.. any tips for high-altitude baking?
Add two TBSP of flour for high altitude.
I made two loafs at the same time one in a metal pan and one in a glass pan. They both turned really nice and moist and flavorful but the one in the glass pan took 25 min longer-they were both excellent. I really didn’t plan this to happen but I hope it has helped some of you.
Thanks for the note. I will be sure to add it to the recipe. 😉
I baked two loaves (doubled the recipe) and it took 63 minutes. I used metal pans and regular flour instead of cake flour and it was very good.
I also had trouble with bake time. I used a regular loaf pan, not glass and it took well over an hour to bake. It’s now far too dry on the edges, but just done in the center. The liquid ratio seems off in this recipe. :/
Sorry you had problems. Did you dry your zucchini and look at the notes part of the post?
I just made this today and I also had problems with the baking time. I’m not at a high altitude. I used a glass dish, so I added 20 minutes, but the sides, bottom and top came out dark brown and the inside a bit under-baked. It doesn’t look at all light and pretty like your pictures. Plus, all of the zucchini migrated to the middle, rather than being dispersed throughout.
I’m not sure what I did wrong, but the batter seemed very, very wet. I double and triple checked all of my measurements, but with only 2 cups of flour to all of that buttermilk, eggs, lemon juice and oil, plus the zucchini (even when dried) it was still so very wet. In future I might try splitting the batter into two loaf pans or maybe removing the zucchini entirely and making a “lemonade” cake.
Hi Jen! Thanks for stopping by. I’m so sorry you had problems with this recipe. I’d definitely try splitting in and seeing if that helps. It should not have been so wet, but I’m not sure where it went wrong. I’m SO sorry! 🙁
I had the same problem using a shiny aluminum bread pan. The top was slightly brown and the sides were not brown at all. I actually had it out of the pan before I realized it was like pudding inside. I ended up putting it on a cookie sheet and baking an additional 30 minutes. It was slightly more browned but not bad.
So sorry you had a problem with it, Jen! Wondering why it would be different to use a shiny aluminum pan… :/
I made it in a metal 9×5 loaf pan at 350, and I’m not at high altitude. Had to bake it for 65 minutes before it was done. I tested the middle with a toothpick and it was completely raw after 45 minutes. It’s a good bread though, when it’s cooked through.
Mine was in the oven a lot longer than 45 minutes as well – probably a good hour. I kept leaving it in longer & checking it (toothpick test). Normally, I don’t dry the zucchini for my bread recipes so maybe with this recipe it would help. This was mentioned beyond the recipe. I’m going to add it to my directions. The bread is very good — more lemon than zucchini taste. By baking so long, it got kind of well done around the edges etc.
Did you bake in a glass pan or did you dry the zucchini?
My batter was super watery. I, unfortunately, didn’t see the notes about drying the zucchini until now. I also used a glass loaf pan. I liked the licked the bowl before washing the dishes and I know it’s going to taste great! I would suggest adding the part about drying the zucchini to the recipe.
Unless I’m reading it wrong, but the recipe left out when to add the lemon zest. Making it now, so I’m gonna assume you add it when you add the zucchini.
Yeah, when do you add the lemon zest?
Sorry about that – add it in with the lemon juice and buttermilk. 🙂
For when to add the lemon zest – it is listed in item 2 of the instructions.
QuestioN on the glaze ingredients- is it 2 Tbsp lemon juice, or 2 tsp? On thr recipe- it days 2 tbp??
Tablespoons 🙂
Looks beautiful!
Thank you!!
I have this in the oven right now! I was wondering for the glaze if you could use buttermilk instead of regular milk. Have you tried it that way?
Hi Andrea. So sorry I’m just seeing this. I think buttermilk would work as well. Is that what you ended up using? How did it go?
I used buttermilk in my glaze only because I was too lazy to open another bag of milk and already had the carton of buttermilk open from making the recipe!
Worked just fine!
I love zucchini bread and make it often but this sounds even better and I will definitely be making this soon. Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome! You’ll have to let me know if you try it. 🙂
I recently read that you can make your own cake flour. For each cup of all purpose flour, remove 2 tbsp of the flour and replace it with 2 tbsp of cornstarch. 🙂
Can you use self rising flour and eliminate the baking powder…
I’ve never done it that way. I would say keep the baking powder. 😉
I just made this for a neighbor. Its delicious though i did modify it a bit.
I only had all purpose flour so simply added 2 tablespoons of Corn starch per one cup of flour used.
I also used coconut oil instead of canola…it added a wonderful flavor to the bread and complimented the lemon so nicely.
If you dont have butter milk, use regular milk and add a splash of white vinegar to it so the milk curdles a bit.
I did not make the glaze because i DIDN’T want the added sweetness. The bread was wonderful enough without it.
It took much longer to bake because i only had odd 5×8 loaf pans so it took over an hour…about an hour 15.
Fantastic recipe. DEFINITELY a keeper.
Thank you for sharing your changes. That sounds perfect! Glad you liked it!