Lemon Zucchini Bread

Lemon Zucchini Bread is the perfect way to utilize fresh zucchini. Ready in less than an hour and topped with a sweet lemon icing, this quick bread is delicious for breakfast or dessert. Makes 1 loaf.

Love quick breads? You’ve got to try Fresh Cherry Bread and Lemon Blueberry Bread!

Today’s the day—it’s Freaky Friday Summer 2021! And I’m thrilled to be sharing a recipe from Kathy from Lemon Blossoms.

I had my work cut out for me because Kathy has the best variety of summertime recipes. Breakfasts, grilled goods, desserts, drinks, entrees and side dishes, she’s got all the recipes we could ever want or need for this season.

However, I ended up choosing her Lemon Zucchini Bread recipe because our zucchini plant has been producing overtime. I wanted to find a recipe to highlight one of my favorite summer veggies.

And zucchini bread… well, we all know it’s a delight when done right. And this recipe from Kathy, which adds lemon zest and juice to add a wonderful tartness, is perfection.

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Why I love this recipe:

Zucchini bread is one of the best treats of summertime because it straddles the line between breakfast and dessert.

I love that the zucchini adds color to this bread and some moisture, too, without overwhelming it. Also, as I mentioned before, the lemon element paired with zucchini in this bread recipe is lovely.

Also, this recipe is naturally dairy free, in case that’s something that matters to you. 🙂

Whether you want to bake this for breakfast or serve it for dessert, you’re bound to find people who adore this. In fact, the first time I baked this bread, it was gone within the day.

More easy summer baked good recipes: Strawberry and Blueberry Hand Pies | Dairy Free Peach Cobbler | Easy Lemon Bars | No Bake Scotcheroo Cookies | Pineapple Blackberry Ice Cream Parfaits | Lemon Cooler Cookies

Does your sweet tooth need a pick-me-up? Head over to my Dessert Recipe Index for inspiration.

Let me tell you about Kathy and Lemon Blossoms

Kathy is a professionally trained chef who wants to be your chef BFF… and she’s a total foodie, too. After culinary school, she worked for The Food Network, then as a private chef in L.A. She started her site after moving away from California.

Kathy believes we can all be our own personal chefs and create restaurant-worthy meals at home. Her recipe index is truly droolworthy and has so many amazing ideas.

I waffled over what to choose to cook from Kathy’s site. Everything she shares looks and sounds ah-mazing.

Here are a few recipes I considered:

• Strawberry Lemonade Vodka Cocktail sounds absolutely refreshing and perfect for the hot weather we’ve been having.
• Berry Swirl Cheesecake Bars, in my opinion, are the perfect warm weather dessert. Fruit with dessert this season is the best.
• Carne Asada can be made on the grill and that sounded like a perfect entree for this exchange.

In the end, it felt right to choose this Lemon Zucchini Bread recipe since Kathy’s favorite ingredient is lemon!

So… What Is Freaky Friday?

It’s an old-fashioned blog hop. Basically, it’s a collaboration between bloggers where everyone has a post to share and you link to one another in your posts as they go live.

Our host and founder, Michaela from An Affair from the Heart, secretly assigns everyone another blogger, who we will make a recipe from. Once the recipe is made, we photograph it as if it were our own, then write a post. We add our own anecdotes to it, too.

Once everyone is ready, we share our posts on the same Friday.

We hope that this collaboration helps you discover some amazing new recipes, as well as find new bloggers to follow!

For previous Freaky Friday exchanges, I’ve made:

• Shortbread Brown Butter Cookies
• Boozy Bacon Pretzel Peanut Butter Bars
• Instant Pot Macaroni and Cheese
• Cherry Bourbon Slush
• Halloween Peanut Butter Chocolate White Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Valentine’s Day Dessert Board
• Chicken Pesto Pasta
• Pepperoni Dip
• Upside Down Cranberry Cake
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge
• Pretzel Cheese Dip
• Easy Lemon Bars

Check out all of our 2021 Freaky Friday Summer Recipe Exchange Recipes:

An Affair from the Heart – Simple Tiramisu

Aunt Bee’s Recipes –Roasted Tomatillo Salsa {Salsa Verde}

Devour Dinner – Pepperoni Bread

Fresh April Flours – Bananas Foster Cake

The Fresh Cooky – Old Fashioned Lemon Squares

Hostess at Heart – Kentucky Butter Cake

House of Nash Eats – Apple Pie Ice Cream

Lemon Blossoms – Strawberry Cake

Lemoine Family Kitchen – Grilled Peach Burrata Arugula Salad

Life, Love & Good Food – Bruschetta with Tomato

Off the Eaten Path – Fresh Garden Salsa

Sue Bee Homemaker – Jalapeño Popper Dip with Bacon

Take Two Tapas – Bacon Wrapped Jalapeño Poppers

What you’ll need to make Lemon Zucchini Bread

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• 8” loaf pan
• Nonstick baking spray
• Parchment paper—to make a sling to easily lift the bread out of the baking dish once it’s baked
• Box grater
• Large mixing bowl
• Rubber spatula
• Whisk

In addition to these tools, you’re going to need a few ingredients to make this lemony Zucchini Loaf:

• All-purpose flour—we keep unbleached AP flour at our house, but the regular ‘ol kind is perfect, too! I do not suggest making a flour substitution in this recipe
• Baking powder and baking soda—these are our leaveners! Make sure yours are fresh.
• Salt—a medium-grain kosher salt or a sea salt is good in this recipe. I do not suggest using table salt.
• Granulated sugar—also known as white sugar. This adds balance to the lemon juice, but it also adds sweetness to this breakfast bread.
• Unflavored oil—I used canola oil, but you could use any type of vegetable oil or a mild avocado oil, too. You could also replace half of this with unsweetened applesauce if that’s your jam, too. (I love using applesauce in quick breads to retain moisture in the bread, like Fresh Cherry Bread.)
• Lemons—We’re using both the juice and the zest. It’s really important to use freshly squeezed lemon juice because the shelf-stable lemon juice just doesn’t taste as good.
• Eggs—make sure to use large eggs in this recipe!
• Zucchini—the Italian variety is my favorite for baking, but you can use whatever zucchini you get your hands on. For this recipe, I needed about one medium-sized zucchini to get the cup of shredded zucchini.
• Powdered sugar—also known as confectioner’s sugar We need this for the icing to balance out the lemon juice.

Fun variations on this Zucchini Bread recipe:

You can twist this zucchini bread recipe by adding a different type of citrus for a little different flavor! Simply swap the lemon juice and zest for the juice and zest of another citrus to transform them.

Here are a few ideas I think would be delicious:

• Orange Zucchini Bread
• Lime Zucchini Bread

How do you make lemon zucchini bread from scratch?

Make the Zucchini Bread

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and spray your loaf pan with nonstick baking spray, and line it with parchment paper. You can also flour the pan if you don’t have parchment. Set it aside.

Grate the zucchini with a box grater, and set aside. If it looks wet, pat it dry with a kitchen towel or paper towel. You can also wring it out if it’s especially wet. We want the moisture from the zucchini, but we don’t want it to add extra liquid to the batter.

Whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder in a medium-sized  mixing bowl, and set ‘em aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the sugar, oil, eggs, lemon zest and lemon juice together. Next, pour the dry ingredients in slowly. Stir until just combined. Fold in the zucchini.

Pour the batter into the prepared bread pan, and transfer to the preheated oven.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. You may also test it with a butter knife or another instrument.

Cool the bread for 10 minutes. Remove it from the loaf pan and set it on a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the Glaze

In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar and lemon juice, and whisk until combined.

Drizzle on top of the completely cooled zucchini bread, then slice and enjoy!

Erin’s Easy Entertaining Tips

This zucchini bread is an excellent choice to serve if you’re hosting an at-home brunch, a bridal or baby shower.

Why? It packs a ton of flavor and holds its shape, so it won’t fall onto your guests clothing. (These are the little things that a hostess considers, right? Nobody wants a super messy dessert or bite to fall onto them.)

Here are a few ideas to making this recipe for a crowd:

• Make a double batch. Depending on how many people you’re serving, you might want to make extra. This bread is hard to stop eating once you start! I suggest making two batches instead of doubling the recipe to ensure everything ends up as it should be.
• Make it a day ahead of time. When the bread is cool, drizzle it with the icing, and cover. Leave it at room temperature and then slice before serving.
• Slice the bread into bite-sized pieces. Slice the bread like you normally would, then cut it into squares from those slices. You can put a fun cocktail skewer into each of them so they can easily be picked up. You could also place the bite-sized pieces of zucchini bread into colorful cupcake servers (???) and serve them that way!

Frequently Asked Questions

Quick tips and tricks to the best Lemon Zucchini Bread:

• Juice your own lemons! This fresh lemon juice makes a huge difference in the flavor of this bread, along with the zest. Take the time to do this or splurge for the cold pressed fresh lemon juice at the grocery. It’ll be in the refrigerated section.
• If your zucchini looks wet, dry it with paper towels or a kitchen towel. Place the shredded zucchini in the center of the towel and wrap it up. Then wring it to pull out extra moisture.
• Use room temperature lemons. Did you know that you get more juice from a room temperature lemon? If you keep lemons in the fridge, remove them and let them come to room temperature. You can also heat them in the microwave for 20-30 seconds to get their juices flowing.
• Store the zucchini bread on the countertop for 2-3 days. I placed mine on a plate, then covered it with plastic wrap. You can place it in an airtight container and store in the fridge for about a week, too.
• This bread freezes well—but it’s best to leave off the glaze and add that once you thaw it. Kathy suggests wrapping the whole loaf in plastic wrap, followed by aluminum foil. Keep frozen for up to 3 months, then let thaw in the refrigerator before drizzling with the icing and enjoying.

More zucchini recipes:

• Taco Zucchini Boats
• Parmigiano Reggiano Zucchini
• Grilled Zucchini Rollatini