Combine the best of both quick-bread worlds with this easy Zucchini Banana Bread. It’s delicious chilled or warm, as breakfast or a snack, and is a perfect use for ripe banana and zucchini.
Zucchini Banana Bread
I love an easy quick bread recipe to take care of breakfast and snack for the coming week and this one is a new favorite to add to the mix. It’s the best of both Banana Bread and Zucchini Bread, with flavors from both, and is still just as easy to make.
It’s less sweet than traditional banana bread too, but is perfectly sweet enough from the ripe fruit in the mix. This is delicious warm or cold, with butter or cream cheese, and you can add chopped walnuts or chocolate chips if you like, too.
(You may also like my Lower Sugar Banana Bread, my Protein Banana Bread, and my Easy Zucchini Muffins.)
Ingredients You Need
Here’s a look at the ingredients you need to make this easy quick bread recipe.
- Bananas: Very ripe bananas with brown spots are the best option here as they will have the most banana flavor and natural sweetness.
- Zucchini: I’m using classic green zucchini, but heirloom varieties will also work if that’s what you see.
- Butter: I typically bake with unsalted butter so I can control the salt level myself. We melt it and add it to the batter to add moisture and richness.
- Eggs: Eggs help add texture to the batter and help it hold together. I use large eggs. If you can’t use eggs, you can use a store bought egg replacer like the one from Bob’s Red Mill.
- Vanilla extract: Vanilla helps balance the flavors in the quick bread. Either pure or imitation will both work so use the one that fits your budget.
- Whole-wheat flour: I use whole wheat flour here since it can stand up to the high moisture content in the bananas and the zucchini to make a moist, yet hearty bread. It also has more fiber and complex carbohydrates than all-purpose flour. If you want to use all-purpose, you can. Just know you may need to bake a little longer.
- Sugar: I use a modest amount of regular sugar here (and it’s about half as much as a classic bread recipe like this) because I like the texture it creates. You can sub ⅓ cup honey or maple syrup if you prefer. It may not taste as sweet.
- Baking soda: Fresh, active baking soda ensures that the bread rises and bakes through properly.
- Cinnamon: You can add a little cinnamon to enhance the flavors of the bread.
- Feel free to stir in some chopped walnuts or chocolate chips, too, if you want.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Below is an overview of how to make the recipe so you know what to expect from the process. Scroll down to the end of the post for the full recipe, including the amounts and timing.
- Preheat the oven and grease a loaf pan with nonstick spray.
- Add the wet ingredients to a large bowl. Stir to combine.
- Stir in the dry ingredients. Stir gently to combine fully.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula so it’s even. Bake until golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out cleanly.
Optional Add-Ins
Once you have the batter all stirred together, you can add a handful of chocolate chips, chopped walnuts, or even blueberries to the batter to add additional flavor and texture.
How to Store
Let the bread loaf cool fully on a wire rack and then slice using a serrated knife. Then you can store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, in the fridge for up to 5 days, or you can freeze in a freezer bag with as much air removed as possible for up to 6 months.
You can serve this bread at room temperature, cold, or warmed up.
Frequently Asked Questions
I prefer to grate the zucchini over/into a mesh produce bag, then squeeze out the liquid. The bag holds the grated zucchini but easily lets out the liquid. You can then measure out the zucchini really easily and wash the bag. This makes much less of a mess.
You can top it with butter or cream cheese, with fruit along side or a simple smoothie. It’s very versatile!
You can omit the sugar if you prefer, but know that it won’t be quite as sweet and the texture may be a little more crumbly.
Best Tips for Success
- Serve chilled or slightly warmed or toasted. (If it’s been a few days and the bread is getting a little dried out, toast it!)
- Use all all-purpose flour if desired. You may need to cover with foil and bake for 5-10 more minutes to bake through completely in the center. Test with a cake tester to be sure it’s baked.
- Add ½ cup chocolate chips to the batter if desired.
- Mash the bananas very smooth with a fork or a potato masher.
Related Recipes
I’d love to hear your feedback on this post, so please rate and comment below!
Zucchini Banana Bread (Lower Sugar)
Ingredients
- 1½ cups mashed very ripe bananas (about 3 large)
- 1 cup shredded zucchini (squeezed very dry)
- ½ cup unsalted butter (melted and slightly cooled; 1 stick)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups whole-wheat flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9×5-inch pan with nonstick spray.
- Add the bananas, zucchini, butter, eggs, and vanilla to a large bowl. Stir to combine.
- Stir in the flours, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir gently to combine fully.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula so it’s even. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out cleanly.
- Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove from pan (carefully) and let cool on a wire rack completely.
- Slice and serve.
Notes
- Store any leftovers, once fully cooled, wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days, in the fridge for 5 days, or freeze slices, once cooled, and freeze in a zip top storage bag with as much air removed as possible for up to 6 months. Thaw in the fridge or at room temperature.
- Serve chilled or slightly warmed or toasted. (If it’s been a few days and the bread is getting a little dried out, toast it!)
- Use all all-purpose flour if desired. You may need to cover with foil and bake for 5-10 more minutes to bake through completely in the center. Test with a cake tester to be sure it’s baked.
- Add ½ cup chocolate chips to the batter if desired.
- Mash the bananas very smooth with a fork or a potato masher.
I used half the butter, and totally left out the sugar. Added some chopped nuts and a large handful of dried currants, still turned out wonderfully!
My one-year-old picky eater demolished this bread, and it was so easy to send to daycare as a snack. And my husband and I loved eating it for breakfast. I made it with the sugar, but I’m going to try subbing in the maple syrup or honey next time to experiment just because. Oh also, I ended up baking it for less than 50 minutes, maybe around 47-48 minutes and it was perfect.
Hi – do you have a suggestion for egg free?
Delicious!!! Omgsh you never let us down. I have made so many recipes from your site. Just amazing! We made this tonight looove it. Thank you for sharing your recipes – they are always sooo tasty and super simple to follow.
Great recipe! Easy to follow and healthiesh:) We made this into muffins instead and my girls and husband loved them. Thank you!
If I use the all purpose flour and cover with the tin foil do you leave it on the whole time?
Hi! Can you sub carrots equally for the zucchini in this recipe?
Hi, sure, I bet that would work very similarly. Enjoy!
Absolutely delicioussssss!!!!
I love that you offer
Metric equivalents for your recipes. They’ve always worked well for me as a baker who loves to use a scale.
In this case using ml for the dry ingredients has led to some errors as 473 ml of flour weighed out is much more like 3.75 cups!
Once I realized you’d listed the dry ingredients as ml I switched to the US customary measurements and ended up with 2 cups of flour which is 250 grams.
It’s in the oven now and the texture seems ok so I think I’m safe but perhaps consider looking at the conversion to avoid anyone else’s confusion.
Ah, thank you for the heads up. I fixed it. I’m not sure why it sometimes converts it incorrectly and I appreciate you letting me know!
Ahh I accidentally used mistook the ml for gram and ended up using 473.18g of flour.
Made this today and it was a hit for me and my toddler. I added chocolate chips. My toddler ate two pieces immediately. It’s moist and flavorful and was super easy to make.
Could you make this as mini muffins? What do you think the bake time would be for that?
I made mini muffins. They came out great. I filled them most of the way and baked at the same temp for 11-12ish minutes.
I also only used 1/3 C of sugar