A deliciously thick swirl of cream cheese inside the best ever zucchini bread. This “secret” family recipe is one you’ll want to use over and over again!
It’s about time I shared this recipe!! I’ve only alluded to my mom’s famous zucchini bread about a dozen times on the blog. And I did promise the recipe way back when. Sorry it has taken me so long!
Part of the reason is, as earth-shattering good as this bread is, I didn’t want to post “just another zucchini bread.” Because there are about a million other recipes on the web and how can you trust me that mine is the best?
There’s only one way – I need to mail every single one of you a slice. If only… 🙂 So, I decided to make the bread a little unique. Don’t worry – I didn’t mess with any of the magic in the regular bread ingredients, I just added to them. In the form of a delicious cream-cheese swirl. I’ve been seeing zucchini cakes pop up everywhere with cream cheese frosting’s and I thought – why not put that in the bread? Sooo — I did!
And the swirl couldn’t be easier – cream cheese, some sugar, vanilla, and an egg. The ingredients just get beaten together and then alternate between the bread batter. I barely covered the bottom of the pans (this recipe makes 2 loaves – and trust me – you’ll want them!!) with the bread batter and then pour some cream cheese mixture down the middle. Then more bread batter and finish it off with a thicker coating of the cream cheese. Finally, one last layer of bread batter and these loaves are ready to go into the oven!
I also experimented with making muffins and they turned out great! I just sprayed a muffin tin and filled the cavities slightly higher than half way. Then I poured in some of the cream cheese mixture and swirled it around with a toothpick. About 15 minutes later some awesome muffins were also ready to be eaten.
So, if desired, you could make one loaf and some muffins. Or just two loaves with this recipe. And feel free to cut the recipe in half if you just want one loaf, but I’m telling you, you’re going to want both!
- 2 (7 and 1/2 x 3 and 1/2) bread pans
- 2 cups white sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 3 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2-3 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 cups shredded zucchini (shredded on the small side of the grater)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup white sugar
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Lightly grease and flour two bread pans and set aside.
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Beat the sugar and eggs until well incorporated. Add in the oil and mix well.
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In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add cinnamon to taste preference - if you are a big fan do 3 teaspoons and less if you like it less.
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Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat until just combined. Over-beating or over stirring will result in a denser bread.
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Stir in the shredded zucchini (no need to wring it of excess liquid) and vanilla.
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In a separate bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the cream cheese swirl. Beat until smooth and creamy.
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Pour enough batter just to cover the bottom of both pans. Then pour about 1/4 of the cream cheese mixture into each pan so you will use 1/2 of the cream cheese mixture.
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Cover with a little more batter, then the remaining cream cheese into each bread pan. Use the remaining batter to cover the cream cheese mixture.
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Both bread pans should be about 3/4ths the way full.
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Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center.
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Allow to cool for about 5-10 minutes and then remove from the pan and allow to continue to cool or eat it while it's hot!
More Zucchini Recipes:
Healthier Lemon Greek Yogurt Bread
ONE PAN Parmesan Garlic Chicken with Zucchini
It looks amazing. Especially that swirl!
I love anything with cream cheese swirl. I also happen to want to eat ALL the zucchini…so, together? I am drooling! Pinned!
Holy yum, that looks amazing! Like zucchini bread but fancy! 🙂
Mmm, I love zucchini bread! It’s my husband’s fave so I should probably make some and send it to him! It looks awesome!
I just can’t get enough of all the zucchini recipes I’ve seen this summer. And this bread looks amazing, Chelsea! I absolutely love that you swirled cream cheese in here. Sounds delish! Pinned!
Chelsea this looks awesome… looks like a perfect breakfast slice 🙂 Pinned!
Adding a cream cheese swirl is ALWAYS a good idea! And I’ll be emailing you my address for my slice 😉
Another delish way to enjoy zucchini bread. Love it! Pinning (of course).
Happy Monday Chelsea!
Thanks for sharing a secret family recipe! I can understand why this bread is so popular. That cream cheese swirl is calling my name!
Ouhhh I love family recipes!! Love what you did with this zucchini bread…cream cheese is always a favorite to many! The swirl adds enough change, but also holds that special taste of the bread I can imagine! I have never made zucchini bread! Clearly I need to change that. Also, the muffins sound great for a breakfast or snack on the go 😉 Thanks Chelsea!
Great idea swirling cream cheese in zucchini bread to make it extra indulgent! This looks delicious, Chelsea!
What an awesome way to jazz up zucchini bread!
You can’t go wrong with anything that involves a cream cheese swirl! Yum!
Ooh…this looks SO good! I love the pretty swirl of cream cheese. As it happens, I do not have a go-to zucchini bread recipe, so I’m more than happy to give this a try! Thanks for sharing the recipe 🙂
I’ve been seeing tons of zucchini bread recipes but none have convinced me to make them like this one! I love cream cheese and cannot wait to try this recipe. Thanks, Chelsea.
You’re right, this is no ordinary zucchini bread recipe. Oh nah, this is epic. Love your new digs, girl.
Oh my Chelsea! This is absolutely over the top. I am so loving it! Pinned!
Love a good zucchini bread! And that swirl?? That’s an addition I have yet to try! Pinned!
I will be waiting very excitedly for my hunk of this zucchini bread in the mail. 😉 For reals though, Chelsea, that cream cheese swirl takes this bread to a whole new level! I’m just so excited for fall (even though it’s still august) and the idea of making a nice comforting loaf of this zucchini bread on a cool autumn day has me EXTREMELY excited to try it out!
I’m hosting a brunch for some of my husband’s work colleagues later this month – I wanted something sweet and fancy-ish and you have NAILED it. I cannot wait to make this for everyone!!!
Absolutely amazing! I bake a lot especially zucchini bread this time of year and this is by far the best bread I have ever had! Made it GF also and it turned out fantastic. Thank you for such a great recipe!
It is delicious but I would like to know if you can freeze it. I would like to make some ahead of time and freeze for the holidays.
Hi Debbie! I actually made tons before my wedding and froze it. It thawed out great! What a great idea for the holidays!