Gluten Free Zucchini Bread

I’ve been on a quick bread and muffins kick lately, and today I’ve got another fantastic gluten free quick bread recipe to share - my gluten-free zucchini bread recipe!

Zucchini season is coming, after all. I don’t know about you, but I tend to find myself with an abundance of zucchini .. And a dearth of gluten-free zucchini recipes.

This is a great recipe to use up some of that harvest, quickly and easily!

An earlier version of this gf zucchini bread recipe was first published in one of my gluten-free cookbooks - I think it was Beyond Flour 2.

In the last year or so, I’ve been working on upgrading those recipes, and the new recipes are all FANTASTIC!

This was a great recipe before the update, but now I can confidently say that this is the best zucchini bread I’ve ever had - gluten free or otherwise.

We love zucchini bread as something different - you don’t really see it in stores, so it feels like a treat.

This one is an easy recipe that turns out a gluten-free bread with a great, soft texture, and a really nice taste.

Due to the choice of flours - and the other ingredients used - this zucchini bread doesn’t fall into some of the texture issues that gluten free baking tends to.

Notably, this bread is great even straight from the fridge!

While - like even non-GF quick breads - it definitely benefits from being heated up, it’s not necessary.

Not only does it have a great texture - soft, rather than crumbly or gummy - it manages to taste BETTER than wheat flour breads.

My husband isn’t even gluten free, and I have to fight him for the last slice of this bread, whenever I make it. SO good!

Some day, I’m going to try making gluten-free zucchini muffins from this batter, but for now... I’m going to take the lazy way out, and just dump it in a pan 🙂

Anyway, on to the recipe...

Ingredients

This recipe uses some fairly simple ingredients, most of which should either be pantry staples, or easy to find in any larger grocery store. A few notes for you:

Flour Mixture

As with all of my gluten-free baking, I use a gluten-free flour blend measured from individual flours, which I design for each recipe, specifically.

I’m not a fan of premade gluten free “all purpose flour” mixes - they tend to use the cheapest flours and starches possible, and don’t mimic the use of wheat flour at all.

All that rice flour and starch tends to lead to undesirable textures, and it doesn’t really taste like much.

The gluten free flours I use for making gluten-free quick breads taste much better than regular flour, and produce a nice, soft bread without much fuss, wait time, etc.

It also ends up to be FAR cheaper than using the pre-mixes.

I use:

Light Buckwheat Flour
Sorghum Flour
Coconut Flour
Xanthan Gum

If you like baking muffins and quick breads, know that this is my go-to blend for these kinds of recipes, so you can definitely get some use out of them! They’re great to have on hand.

Fresh Zucchini

Everyone is different as far as how they treat the grated zucchini in zucchini bread - or zucchini muffins.

As zucchinis naturally have a lot of moisture, some people recommend squeezing out or toweling off any excess moisture - I do NOT.

Grate your zucchinis using the finer shred option on your box grater or food processor, and use it as-is. That’s it!

Vegetable Oil

While I usually use melted unsalted butter in a lot of my regular baking, I like to use oil for baking gluten-free quick breads and muffins.

I find it retains a nicer texture, even straight from the fridge - butter tends to lead to a more dry texture at cooler temperatures.

I use just basic vegetable oil, but you can use any neutral flavoured oil - canola oil and avocado oil are great options.

Olive oil has a bit too robust of a flavour for this recipe, IMHO, and melted coconut oil tends to run into the same temperature issue as using butter, so I generally avoid it for this.

Vanilla Yogurt

I use a bit of vanilla yogurt to bring - and retain - a bit of extra moisture to the recipe, as well as contribute a subtle bit of tang.

I don’t recommend skipping it, but you can use plain yogurt or sour cream, if you prefer.

Nuts... or Not

I like to use nuts when making this gluten-free zucchini bread - usually either Chopped Walnuts or Chopped Pecans.

If you’re not into nuts, you can leave them out entirely, or use the same amount of Chocolate Chips, instead.

Everything Else

Rounding out this recipe, you will need:

Granulated sugar
Cinnamon
Ground Cloves
Ground Nutmeg
Pure Vanilla Extract
Large eggs
Baking powder
Baking soda
Salt

... I just don’t really have anything to add, when it comes to these ingredients. Pretty straightforward!

How to Make Gluten-Free Zucchini Bread

The full recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post, here is the pictorial walk through.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease 1 regular/large bread pan, or line with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, spices, xanthan gum, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a separate bowl (I use a small bowl), whisk together sugar, vegetable oil, yogurt, eggs, and vanilla until smooth and well combined. Stir in the shredded zucchini.

Add the wet ingredients mixture to the large mixing bowl of dry ingredients, along with the nuts.

Use a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to stir just until combined.

Pour zucchini bread batter into greased loaf pan.

Bake for about 1 hour, or until crust is a rich golden brown, and knife inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Note: For best results, be sure to not OVER bake it, or it may end up dry. Take it out of the oven as soon as it passes the clean knife test!

Once fully cooked, remove from oven and allow to cool for at least 15-20 minutes before cutting - if you’ve got that kind of patience!

You can use a cooling rack if you like, I’ll usually just lift the loaf out - using the parchment paper to do so - and let it cool out in the open.

Leftovers can be cooled to room temperature, wrapped in plastic wrap - or put in an airtight container - and stored in the fridge for 5 days or so.

Best served at room temperature or warmer.

More Gluten-Free Breakfast & Brunch Recipes

Looking for more breakfast food recipes for the whole family? Here are some fun gluten free recipes to try:

Gluten-Free Apple Pancakes with Caramel Apple Topping
Gluten Free Bagels
Gluten-Free Banana Bread
Gluten-Free Banana Muffins
Gluten Free Banana Nutella Ebelskivers
Gluten-Free Blackberry Muffins
Gluten-Free Blueberry Banana Bread
Gluten Free Blueberry Muffins
Breakfast Meatloaf
Gluten-Free Cranberry Orange Bread
Gluten Free Cranberry Walnut Muffins
Gluten Free Crepes
Gluten-Free French Onion Soup Tart
Gluten-Free Lemon Drizzle Cake
Gluten Free Lemon Mascarpone Ebelskivers
Gluten-Free Mushroom Soup & Eggs on Toast
Gluten Free Paska [Easter Bread]
Gluten-Free Pop-Tarts
Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread
Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins
Gluten-Free Sourdough Waffles

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