Lemon Zucchini Bread

Lemon Zucchini Bread is moist and sweet with a slightly tart flavor and a tangy lemon glaze. This bread is made with better-for-you ingredients and is so easy to make!

Looking for more ways to use your zucchini? Try these healthy zucchini muffins or this healthy zucchini bread next!

Lemon Zucchini Bread

Zucchini bread has always been one of my favorite treats. In fact, we served zucchini bread at our wedding reception because I love it so much! We made hundreds of miniature loaves and cut them into small slices to serve. The zucchini bread was a huge hit.

And you guys, I like this lemon zucchini bread EVEN BETTER than plain zucchini bread! It’s insanely good with so much flavor and the perfect texture. 

“Secret” ingredients

The secrets to the perfectly balanced lemon flavor without having a soggy loaf of lemon zucchini bread? Lemon Greek yogurt and Lemon extract. (If you can’t find lemon Greek yogurt, I also tested vanilla Greek yogurt and it works great. The loaf is a bit less lemony overall, but still delicious.)

For the lemon Greek yogurt, I tested this bread with Chobani® lemon Greek yogurt and lemon meringue flavor by Dannon Oikos® (not sponsored). They don’t sell a big tub of lemon Greek yogurt, but they have smaller containers that are 5.3 ounces each. One of those small containers (1/2 cup) yields the perfect amount for this bread.

And the other ingredient — lemon extract– is like vanilla extract or almond extract. You can find it by the flavored baking extracts in the grocery store and it’s relatively inexpensive — it’s cheaper than vanilla extract and most other baking extracts. For best results, do not use any substitute for the lemon extract in this bread. You can even make your own lemon extract.

Lemon Zucchini Bread relies on oat flour (ground up oats) for its health benefits and because it contributes to a better texture. Oat flour makes a baked good moister than wheat flour and it also adds flavor. And that’s exactly what we want in this recipe! Making oat flour at home is easy – below is a quick breakdown of how.

How to make oat flour

1. Place the oats (you can use quick oats or old-fashioned oats) into the bowl of your food processor or small blender jar.
2. Pulse the oats until they are ground into a powder-like consistency that resembles flour.
   • Depending on the speed and power of your food processor or blender, this takes 60 seconds or less.
3. Stir the oats around if needed, to ensure that all the oats have been finely and evenly ground. (See photo below)
4. Make sure to measure your oat flour measurement for Lemon Zucchini Bread AFTER it’s been turned to the flour and not in the whole-oat form. 

Lemon zucchini bread FAQs

Should I refrigerate zucchini bread?

• Yes. After one day of storing the bread at room temperature, refrigerate any leftovers and warm individual slices in the microwave for 5-10 seconds. While it’s not essential to refrigerate Lemon Zucchini Bread, it will keep it fresher for longer.
• This bread keeps for 2-3 days at room temperature (wrapped tightly/stored in an airtight container). After 3-4 days, this bread is prone to molding because of the Greek yogurt and overall moistness of the bread.

Does zucchini bread freeze well?

Yes, it does! More details below:

• Freeze the freshest bread you have. If you just baked it, allow the bread to cool completely before freezing to avoid soggy or bread.
• Cut the bread into thick slices and wrap each slice tightly in plastic wrap; then seal it completely in an airtight container or bag. Pieces can be frozen safely for 3 months.
• Defrost in the fridge or at room temperature until thawed.

More delicious baked goods

• Chocolate Muffins bakery-style muffins
• 7 Layer Bars with a graham cracker crust
• The BEST Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Apple Crumble reader favorite recipe!
• Monkey Bread or Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread

FOLLOW ALONG! Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for the latest updates, recipes and content.

Lemon Zucchini Bread

5 from 5 votes

- Review this recipe

Lemon Zucchini Bread is moist and sweet with a slightly tart flavor and a tangy lemon glaze. This bread is made with better-for-you ingredients, and is so easy to make!

SAVE TO RECIPE BOX

Print Recipe

Lemon Zucchini Bread

5 from 5 votes

- Review this recipe

SAVE TO RECIPE BOX

Print Recipe

Lemon Zucchini Bread is moist and sweet with a slightly tart flavor and a tangy lemon glaze. This bread is made with better-for-you ingredients, and is so easy to make!

Course Dessert, Side Dish, Snack, Vegetarian

Cuisine American

Keyword lemon zucchini bread

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes

Servings 12 slices

Chelsea Lords

Calories 186kcal

Author Chelsea Lords

Cost $4.63

Ingredients

Bread

• ▢ 1 cup (106g) zucchini grated and lightly packed
• ▢ 1/2 cup (116g) lemon-flavored Greek yogurt (Note 1)
• ▢ 2 tablespoons (8g) lemon zest
• ▢ 1 and 1/2 tablespoons (12g) lemon extract (Note 2)
• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ 1/3 cup (65g) coconut oil
• ▢ 2 tablespoons (40g) honey
• ▢ 1/2 cup (95g) sugar
• ▢ 1/2 cup (50g) oat flour blended-up regular oats
• ▢ 1 cup (200g) all-purpose flour or use white-whole wheat
• ▢ 1 teaspoon (4g) baking soda
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon (3g) salt

Glaze

• ▢ 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• ▢ 1/8 teaspoon lemon extract
• ▢ 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• ▢ Pinch of salt

US - Metric

USMetric

Instructions

• Make sure you have thoroughly dried the grated zucchini to keep it from being too wet/watery in the finished bread. I do this using paper towels and squeezing the zucchini shreds. (See video tutorial in the post).
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease and flour one bread pan, 8.5 x 4.5-inch size.
• In a bowl, whisk together the Greek yogurt, lemon zest, lemon extract, egg, coconut oil (measured when melted and cooled to room temperature), honey, and sugar. Stir in the zucchini.
• In a separate bowl, stir together the oat flour (measured after blending), white or white-whole wheat flour, baking soda, and salt. (How to make oat flour: pulse regular old-fashioned or quick oats in a blender or food processor until they resemble flour. Then measure and add to the bowl.)
• Add the dry to the wet and mix until just combined. Over-mixing will result in dense bread.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared pan.
• Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick when inserted into the center comes out clean and the bread has begun to slightly pull away from the sides.
• If needed, tent some tin foil over the top to keep the top from over-browning.
• Remove from the oven, allow to slightly cool, and then invert onto a plate.
• For the glaze: Whisk together all of the dry ingredients and add lemon juice until the glaze reaches the desired consistency. The glaze should be quite thick because it will melt over the hot bread.
• Pour the glaze over the bread while still warm from the oven.

Video

Recipe Notes

Note 1: I use a 5.3-ounce container of lemon Greek yogurt by Chobani® or a lemon meringue flavor by Oikos®. If you can't find lemon Greek yogurt, use vanilla or plain.

Note 2: Lemon extract (found in the grocery store by the vanilla extract and other baking extracts) has a strong concentrated flavor important for the bread. I don't recommend any substitutions.

Nutrition Facts

Calories: 186kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 151mg | Potassium: 74mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 43IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 19mg | Iron: 1mg

We do our best to provide accurate nutritional analysis for our recipes. Our nutritional data is calculated using a third-party algorithm and may vary, based on individual cooking styles, measurements, and ingredient sizes. Please use this information for comparison purposes and consult a health professional for nutrition guidance as needed.

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?

I love hearing from you when you've made one of my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @ChelseasMessyApron or leave me a comment below.