Lemon Zucchini Bread is a moist, flavorful quick bread topped with a sweet lemon glaze. It’s a summertime favorite that’s delicious for breakfast, snack time, or even dessert!
I have to say… I’m a huge fan of quick breads. From Strawberry Bread to Zucchini Bread and everything in between, I’ve never met a quick bread I didn’t adore. And really, what’s not to love!? It’s as easy as measuring, mixing, and baking, and the end result is always perfection.
This Lemon Zucchini Loaf is one of the BEST… and not just because it’s so incredibly easy. It’s also absolutely delicious! Between the fresh zucchini, the fresh lemon, and the sweet lemon glaze, it really is the best of both worlds.
We especially enjoy this bread in summer, but truth be told, we make it all year round. And once you try it… I have a feeling you will, too!
what you’ll need for this recipe
Flour, baking soda, baking powder & salt – This recipe starts with all the usual suspects: 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt.
Granulated sugar – I added 3/4 cup granulated sugar for sweetness. For a sweeter bread, add more.
Zucchini – I added 1 cup of finely grated zucchini. I left it unpeeled for color and texture, but you can peel it if you prefer. *Do not squeeze excess water from zucchini.
Oil & egg – I added 1/4 cup canola oil and 1 large egg for moisture. Substitute vegetable oil or any other mild cooking oil.
Lemon – I added 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice and 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon zest to the bread batter for delicious lemon flavor. *For more intense lemon flavor, add 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract.
Powdered sugar – I used 1/2 cup powdered sugar in the lemon glaze. For the lemon flavor, I added 1 Tablespoon lemon juice and 1 teaspoon lemon zest.
how to make lemon zucchini bread
Combine the dry ingredients. In a large bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
Combine the wet ingredients. In a separate mixing bowl combine sugar, shredded zucchini, cooking oil, egg, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Stir to combine.
Combine them together. Add dry ingredients to the zucchini mixture; stir just until combined.
Bake. Spray an 8×4 inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Pour the batter into the pan; bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool. Remove from oven. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 min, then remove from pan and cool completely.
Glaze. Once cool, whisk together the glaze ingredients and drizzle over the bread.
Recipe Variations
- Add 1/2 – 1 teaspoon lemon extract for more intense lemon flavor
- Add 1/2 – 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add ground cinnamon or nutmeg
- Add 1 cup granulated sugar for a sweeter bread
- Double the glaze for more sweetness OR omit the glaze for less sweetness
- Use a muffin pan and make lemon zucchini muffins
storing & freezing tips
Zucchini Lemon Bread can be stored at room temperature, wrapped in aluminum foil. It will last up to 1 week at room temperature or longer in the fridge. To freeze this bread, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, then aluminum foil, and store it in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Lemon Zucchini Bread
Ingredients
Bread
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup finely shredded unpeeled zucchini (do not squeeze or dry shredded zucchini)
- 1/4 cup cooking oil
- 1 egg
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 Tablespoons lemon zest
Glaze
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
- In a separate mixing bowl combine sugar, zucchini, cooking oil, egg, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Stir to combine.
- Add dry ingredients to zucchini mixture; stir just until combined.
- Spoon batter into greased 8×4 inch loaf pan.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
- Cool in pan on a wire rack 15 min, then remove from pan and cool completely.
- Once cool, combine ingredients for glaze and drizzle over bread.
Aneeta says
May I replace the egg with a flax egg?
Forma says
What is a flax egg?
Lou says
I made this yesterday, I squeezed out the liquid from the zuchini’s, I baked it for 55 min in a loaf pan, I used parchment paper, I didn’t change anything, I did find that it was dry for my liking, flavours were there, I will make this again but this time I will not wring out the liquid, keep checking the cake while cooking because everyone’s ovens are different.
I will keep you posted on my next bake.
Joan says
Why does everyone have to change a recipe. Make it as written. The author didn’t say to wring out the zucchini an I never do for cinnamon zucchini bread. I will make this as written and thank the author for posting it. Those who want gluten free ought to try a gluten free cookbook or website. Please don’t criticize those who kindly offer up their ideas for us. Thank you.
Forma says
I agree 100%.
Debbie says
I wonder if I can make this low carb?
Yvonne says
The taste is great! But the bread is a little dry…, but I squeezed the zucchini juice out. So that was something I shouldn’t have done 🙁 I hadn’t read all the comments before, ha, ha!
I’ll definitely make this recipe again soon, very soon (this week? 🙂 My dad has so many zucchini’s in his garden…
Yvonne says
I made it again, without squeezing the juice out: AMAZING!!
This is a great recipe: thanx!
Geri says
Thanks, I was on the fence to wring or not lol!
A.M. says
not sure if it was brought to your attention but on the video it liste BAKING POWDER as the 1st ingredient of the glaze instead of POWDERED SUGAR….
Andrea says
Can you substitute with wheat flour?
Debbie Singh-Bhatti says
I have three enormous zucchini (courgettes in England!) in the fridge that someone has given me and was wondering what to do with them. Now I know! This recipe looks amazing and I’ll let you know how I get on 🙂
Cindy says
This was awesome! Substituted plain Greek yogurt for the pill for a little healthier option and it came out perfect!
Melissa says
Anyone know how many calories per loaf?
Sandra D says
Melissa, I have a recipe program that shows you the nutritional value, etc. of your recipe, once you input the ingredients.
Here is what came up for the value per serving (depends on how many slices you slice your bread into)
Total Value before sliced for serving (excluding unknown items): 2082 Calories; 61g Fat (26.0% calories from fat); 27g Protein; 363g Carbohydrate; 9g Dietary Fiber; 187 mg Cholesterol; 1350 mg Sodium.
Exchanges: 9 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 1/2 Fruit; 11 1/2 Fat; 14 Other Carbohydrates.
the unknown item was the egg, it had no calculation value per egg.
Hope this helps
Annie says
wow. Thanks. Can you share the exchange calculator?
Forma says
I have two loaves in the oven right now. If you are going to make this, make sure you have about 6 medium lemons if you are going to use the amount of zest called for in the recipe. This is for just 1 loaf! A paycheck of lemons for 2 loaves. lol
Georgeann says
Can’t wait to make this,it’s different and the written recipe is what you copy, the video is just a fast way to look at it. Always copy the written one. Thankyou
joanna martinsen says
What size bread pan? Smaller or larger one?
Bonnie says
This was a very moist and tasty bread. My disappointment was for a quick bread it did not rise, end product was an inch. I had used a yellow zucchini so there were no out standing specks.
Robin says
I made this today – it was excellent. Moist and very lemony. No issues like the previous poster had with it not rising. Glaze was a bit on the runny side, but probably because I kept fooling with the amounts 😉
Bev says
I think it looks beautiful with the peel in it. I always make zucchini bread with peel. I am getting ready to make this right now. I bet with the lemon, it smells as good as it looks.
Rebecca Cox says
What’s the difference between peel and zest? Thanks.
Sue Landers says
Love this recipe. Thank you for sharing.
Jenny says
Was delicious, everyone loved it! Will definitely be making it again. Thanks for the great recipe.
sandy tattrie says
I made this recipe and everyone raved about it. One person said to perhaps add an extra Tbsp. of lemon juice to bread. I will try that next time.
joanne kyvetos says
Just took the loaf out of the oven, it’s cooling. I could smell it all the way outside.
I was reading comments and thought I would ask a question.
I squeezed the water out of the zuchinni,
I will be cutting the loaf only tomorrow, but it seems fine.
did anyone else squeez the water ……….. or should I have left it in?
Yvonne says
In the first bread I made, I squeezed the juice out: big mistake 🙂 The bread had a great taste, but was a little dry.
I made another bread yesterday and left al the zucchini juice in and that bread came out excellent!
Let me know how your bread turned out!
Greetings from the Netherlands 🙂
Cammie Annis says
Made this a couple weeks ago and loved it so much made a double batch later. Put in various size loaf pans and froze some. I followed the recipe and was so moist and tasty. I did double the glaze as we love the lemon flavor.
Just came home from the Farmers Market with more zucchini so will be making again this week.
Thanks for sharing this recipe
Wendy says
Hi Cathy, your bread looks really good, but I’m having difficulty reading it because of all your social media buttons that cover the left side of the page. They cover the amounts of the ingredients. Would you consider putting them on the right side so they cover up something less important to the recipe? Thank you!
Suzanne says
I had the same problem.
Cathy Trochelman says
Good to know….I will move them!
Joanne says
This bread was delicious as written. Didn’t need to double the glaze, it was perfect.
Kathy says
My family loved this recipe! I doubled the amounts and baked for 40 minutes in a bundt pan. It was delicious and easy to do. Thank you for sharing!
Gale says
Made this last night (doubled the recipe for 2 loaves). It turned out just like the pictures — beautiful color and perfectly shaped loaves. Bread was moist and tender – great texture. However, we also thought it needed more flavor. Most of the flavor was in the icing. We’ll definitely keep the recipe, but will experiment with the flavors (different fruit or a little more lemon in the bread).
Jana says
I made this loaf and it is amazing and yummy!! I did use 2 full lemons and zest. Next time I’m doubling the recipe.
Sarah says
This recipe is so easy to make and it turned out beutifully moist. Was a real hit at work.
Cindy says
Looks delicious! Do you think you could use Almond flour or coconut flour and also stevia or honey for a sugar replacement?
connie says
Can someone tell me if the finished product really looks as yellow as in the pics, and from where is all that color coming?? A little bit of lemon and lemon peel doesn’t seem like it’d yield something that looks like cornbread.
Helen Bernard says
Made this last week. Turned out Great. Making 2 more today.
joanne kyvetos says
Hi,
I made this cake last weekend, it was really good.
One thing I did was squeeze all the water out of the zuchinni. I found it made the cake not dry, but not moist either.
Should I have left the water in?
There are no instructions about this.
Cathy Trochelman says
Yes. No need to squeeze the water out!
Nell Hamilton says
I’ve made it three time now. It is very popular. I find it a bit crumbly so the next time I will add an extra egg, or a little cornflour.
Rebecca Cox says
The bread recipe calls for lemon peel. The glaze recipe calls for lemon zest. What is the difference between peel and zest ? Thank you.
Cathy Trochelman says
There is no difference. I changed the recipe now so both say the same thing. I used a lemon zester for both!
Laura Dekker says
2.nd time I have made this!!!!! One loaf was not enough so I doubled everything and put it in a cake pan…turned out wonderful and you can poke some holes in the Bread/cake when you put your glaze on for additional lemony goodness. I used both yellow and zucchini squash… thank you for this recipe
BarbT says
This was very yummy! I did add a few drops of lemon oil to both the cake and the glaze, and reduced the sugar in the cake to 1/2 C, and it was still plenty sweet. I baked mine for 45 min and thought it was a bit overbaked, so would probably check it at 40 min next time. I used an 8″ x 4″ loaf pan, and it definitely didn’t fill the pan. Maybe next time I’ll double the recipe and put it in one larger loaf pan and one very small pan. I will definitely be making this again!
Susie says
What is the nutrition break down?
Sharon says
Just made this bread today and it is delicious! However, my bread did not have this neon yellow color and I used the exact amount of lemon juice and peel.
Lila says
I followed the recipe as written – the glaze was enough for the bread without needing to double. It was delicious! The bread was moist and flavorful without being too dense. The lemon brightened the flavor without being too overpowering. I used fresh lemon juice instead of bottled. The zucchini bread itself was delicious on it’s own, the glaze added an extra layer of flavor. I will be making another one tomorrow since this was devoured right away
Darlene says
It says cooking oil, is canola oil ok? And can I substitute coconut sugar for regular?
Cathy Trochelman says
Yes and yes!
Lee says
How long would you bake for if you did muffins instead? I doubled the recipe and did half as muffins.
Cathy Trochelman says
My guess would be 35-40 minutes for muffins, but I have never tried them this way!
V says
It was so delicious and I actually made something yummy as I suck at cooking. This was easy and I felt like a chef and it tasted as though it came straight from a bakery! Yum yum yum
Cathy Trochelman says
So happy you enjoyed it!
Vonnie Bury says
This looks wonderful! That being said, your recipe calls for powdered sugar in the glaze, but your video post on facebook says ‘baking powder’ instead. GAH! I will try it with the sugar!
Cathy Trochelman says
Yes, I know. It was a typo! The correct ingredient is (obviously) powdered sugar 🙂
Bridgette Urbano says
Made this tonight and loved it! Only thing I added was 1/2 cup of roasted walnuts. Definitely a great recipe.
Lauralee says
I never reply on blogs, but this bread is so fabulous I had to! I doubled the recipe, and I’m wishing now I’d made even more. I followed the recipe, packing in plenty of zucchini to make sure it was very moist, and packing in the lemon zest for lots of lemony flavor. Thank you for sharing!
Cathy Trochelman says
Thank YOU for letting me know!
Kim says
Do you squeeze the water out of the zucchini?
Cathy Trochelman says
No, not necessary!
Barb S says
Absolutely delicious! I used a small loaf pan instead of the usual big bread pan. And baked for 30 min before checking for doneness. Today I quadrupled the recipe and divided between 3 regular loaf pans and baked for 55 minutes. This recipe is one of my favorites. Even bought myself a lemon zester since this will be one of my go-to recipes!!
Cathy Trochelman says
Awesome, Barb! Thanks for letting me know!
Pam L. says
I made this bread this afternoon—WINNER!!WINNER!!! Very simple to put together. I used my food processor shredder blade for the zucchin; also used an 8 x 4 loaf pan which seemed to be the right size. I had a homemade cream cheese frosting to which I added a bit of fresh squeezed lemon. This bread was moist and delicious. I only made a couple of small changes; instead of 3/4 cup sugar, I used 1/2 cup regular granulated sugar and 1/4 cup 0 calorie granulated sugar substitute and I used the zest of part of one lemon. You should probably specify using an 8 x 4 loaf pan as a 9 x 5 would probably produce a cookie instead of a loaf.
janet says
This is a really good recipe. I did make a couple of changes. I only have olive oil and didn’t want to use it so i used a small banana(the muffins don’t taste like banana) as a replacement. I also baked the recipe as muffins, which turned out 10 of them. I baked them for about 20 minutes. They turned out moist and delicious
Diane says
Excellent à refaire.
Becky says
I made this a couple nights ago and followed the recipe exactly. It was too dry for our liking. I made it again last night and added an extra egg and doubled the oil. It turned out perfect. It was very moist and delicious. I took some to work and got a thumbs up from my co-workers as well. Thank you for this recipe. 5 stars with the addition of extra oil and egg.
Tina says
Hello !! WE (my family) LOVED THIS BREAD!!!! My son is 5 and w his birthday coming up at the end of the wk asked me to make this in cake form w blueberries !!?? Is that even possible ? Of course I would love to make this birthday wish come true but I am a follow the recipe kind of baker! Help ??
Cathy Trochelman says
Hi Tina! So happy you enjoyed it! You can absolutely add blueberries (if frozen, toss them in flour before adding) and bake it in a different style pan. The baking time will need to be altered.