Honey Nut Zucchini Bread

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This honey nut zucchini bread is made with honey, sugar, and pure vanilla. It’s loaded with chopped walnuts and is the best way to use up your summer garden’s zucchini.

Front facing honey nut zucchini bread with slice taken out.

This is the best zucchini bread recipe I’ve made to date.  It is the perfect way to use up an overabundance of zucchini from the garden.

Zucchini grow so easily and abundantly in gardens – around mid-July every CSA share or backyard garden is bursting with more of the green veggie than anyone knows what to do with!

Me to the rescue! Have you tried my zucchini banana muffins, zucchini drop biscuits, or chocolate zucchini cupcakes? Zucchini doesn’t have a ton of flavor on its own, so in baked goods, it adds all the goodness of veggies and some moisture without an overpowering veggie taste.

The bread recipe is loaded with walnuts and sweetened with sugar and honey.  It actually reminds me a little of banana bread. Fans of my chocolate chip banana bread muffins, might want to make this recipe a little sweeter by adding chocolate chips to it too.

This honey nut zucchini bread is so moist and tender.  As it bakes the shredded zucchini will release loads of moisture into the bread. Mixing the shredded zucchini with the oil and eggs creates a moist and delicious texture.  It almost melts in your mouth; it’s that moist!

The zucchini doesn’t add much to the recipe in regards to flavor – so no worries if you have veggie-averse people in your house.  Instead, you taste the vanilla, honey, sugar, and walnuts.  Oh, it’s splendid!  

I know you will be impressed with this bread once you try it.  You won’t even realize you’re eating your vegetables. Serve it as you would banana bread – I like it sliced and toasted with a slab of salted butter, but it’s just as good on its own too.


Recipe Snapshot

  • TASTE: Sweet and comforting
  • TEXTURE: Super moist
  • EASE: Beginner friendly!
  • TIME: Just over an hour

What You’ll Need

Ingredients

  • Oil – I use canola oil but any neutral flavored oil will work
  • Eggs – Large brown eggs help make the recipe moist.
  • Sugar – This recipe calls for granulated sugar
  • Honey – Adds sweetness and richness to the bread.
  • Vanilla Extract – I always make my own but use pure extract, not artificial.
  • Shredded zucchini – Use a cheese grater to shred the zucchini.
  • All-purpose flour – Measure or weigh this carefully.
  • Leavening – This recipe calls for baking soda and baking powder for leavening.
  • Walnuts – Chopped walnuts add to the homey honey nut flavor of this bread, but omit if you need or prefer to.
  • Salt – Just to balance the flavors.

Recommended Tools

  • This recipe is made with a couple of bowls, wooden spoons, and a loaf pan. You’ll also need a box grater to shred the zucchini.
Overhead view of honey nut zucchini bread.

How to Make Honey Nut Zucchini Bread

This honey nut zucchini bread recipe could not be easier to make. To prepare, place the oven rack in the lower-third position in the oven so the top doesn’t overcook. Preheat the oven to 325°F, then grease and set aside a 9×5 loaf pan.

Be sure to check out the full recipe and ingredient list below

  1. Mix the wet ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, oil, sugar, honey, and vanilla together until well combined. Whisk in the zucchini.
  2. Mix the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together until well combined.
  3. Combine the two mixtures. Add the flour mixture to the zucchini mixture. Using a silicone spatula, gently stir just until there are visible streaks of dry flour. Gently fold in the walnuts.
  4. Bake. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
  5. Cool and enjoy! Cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Handy tip:

Shredding zucchini: Shred the zucchini with a box grater. This will yield the best results. Don’t shred it too far in advance or the water will start to drain from the grated zucchini. This excessive moisture in the zucchini helps to keep the bread nice and moist, so it’s better in the bread than on the plate!

Tips For Success

  • Make zucchini muffins
    • Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners and heat the oven to 375°F.
    • Make the batter as directed and divide it among the prepared muffin pan.
    • Bake for 20-25 minutes until browned and the centers bounce back when pressed lightly.
Overhead view of honey nut zucchini bread with slice taken off.

Storage & Freezing

  • Keep the bread covered tightly and store at room temperature for up to 4 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
  • The bread can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight and bring to room temperature before serving.

Honey Nut Zucchini Bread

Overhead view of honey nut zucchini bread with slice taken off.
This honey nut zucchini bread is made with honey, sugar, and pure vanilla. It's loaded with chopped walnuts and is the best way to use up those summer zucchini!
Jen Sobjack
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Serving Size 10

Ingredients

  • 2 eggs
  • ½ cup (120 ml) vegetable oil, canola oil or melted coconut oil can be used
  • ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup (80 g) honey
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 ¼ cup (181 g) shredded zucchini, see note
  • 1 ⅔ cups (216 g) all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (113 g) chopped walnuts

Instructions

  • Position the oven rack to the lower-third position. (Just below the center of the oven.) Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease a 9×5 loaf pan; set aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, oil, sugar, honey, and vanilla together until well combined. Whisk in the zucchini.
  • In a separate bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together until well combined.
  • Add the flour mixture to the zucchini mixture. Using a silicone spatula, gently stir just until there are visible streaks of dry flour. Gently fold in the walnuts.
  • Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
  • Cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Video

Notes

  • Shredding zucchini: Shred the zucchini with a box grater. This will yield the best results.
Make muffins
  1. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners and heat the oven to 375°F.
  2. Make the batter as directed and divide it among the prepared muffin pan.
  3. Bake for 20-25 minutes until browned and the centers bounce back when pressed lightly.
Make ahead tip
  1. Keep the bread covered tightly and store at room temperature for up to 4 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
  2. The bread can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight and bring to room temperature before serving.

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 233kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.003g | Cholesterol: 33mg | Sodium: 186mg | Potassium: 152mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 81IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 2mg
Course: Appetizer, Breakfast
Cuisine: American

3 Comments

  1. Erin @ The Speckled Palate says:

    5 stars
    I’m one of those people who currently has an overabundance of zucchini in my life… and I absolutely will be making this recipe soon because it sounds DELICIOUS. I also like that you can freeze it… so I might just have to whip up several loafs to get through some of this zucchini, which is getting out of control.

    Thanks for sharing!

    1. Wonderful! You must be lucky enough to have a garden. This bread is definitely a great way to make use of all the zucchini you have. I hope you enjoy it. Thank you for stopping by my site!

      1. Erin @ The Speckled Palate says:

        Yes, we’ve got a little garden, and we get a box full of produce from a local farmer weekly, too! It’s lovely… but there have been SO many zucchini that it’s been overwhelming trying to figure out to do. A good problem, I know. 😉

        I hope you have a great weekend!

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