Healthy Zucchini Bread
This amazing zucchini bread recipe is made healthy with whole grains, honey (or maple syrup) and coconut oil instead of butter. Easily vegan/gluten free.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 29, 2024
My dog, Cookie, is wild for zucchini. Also cauliflower, broccoli, kale, and cabbage. You could say that my pup has a healthy appetite. This morning, I left a slice of zucchini bread on my desk where I thought she couldn’t reach. Then I heard some scuffling, followed by some gobbling. She swiped that slice of bread and ate half before I could grab it.
This dog is my soulmate, I tell you. That was all to say that this zucchini bread recipe is Cookie and Kate approved. It’s fluffy and moist, lightly spiced, and full of confetti-like green flecks of zucchini.
If you’ve enjoyed zucchini bread before, let me point out a few differences between my recipe and standard recipes. Here are five reasons to love this healthier zucchini bread:
- I used one-half cup honey (or maple syrup) instead a full cup of white sugar. It’s not overtly sweet, but you could add another drizzle of honey or maple sweetener to individual slices, if desired.
- I also used white whole wheat flour instead of refined flour, so this bread is made with 100 percent whole grains.
- I used coconut oil instead of butter, which means this bread is easily made without any dairy at all.
- Most zucchini bread recipes call for one cup of grated zucchini, but I liked mine better with one-and-a-half cups. Even then, I can’t say there’s a pronounced zucchini flavor to it, because zucchini doesn’t have a ton of flavor in itself.
- It’s easily made vegan and/or gluten-free, too—just check my recipe notes.
Please let me know how this recipe turns out for you in the comments! Your feedback is so important to me.
If you love this zucchini bread, you’ll also enjoy my banana bread, apple muffins, carrot muffins or banana muffins, you’re going to love this one. Don’t miss the maple-sweetened blueberry muffins in my cookbook!
Watch How to Make Zucchini Bread
Healthy Zucchini Bread
This fluffy zucchini bread recipe is made healthier with whole grains, honey (or maple syrup) and coconut oil instead of butter. It is easily made vegan and/or gluten free (see notes). Recipe yields 1 loaf.
Ingredients
- Optional: ¾ cup roughly chopped raw walnuts or pecans
- ⅓ cup melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil*
- ½ cup honey or maple syrup
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup milk of choice or water
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon + more to swirl on top
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 ½ cups grated zucchini (you’ll need 1 small-to-medium zucchini, about 7 ounces—gently squeeze out excess moisture over the sink before stirring it into the batter)
- 1 ¾ cups white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9” x 5” loaf pan to prevent the bread from sticking. If you’ll be toasting the nuts, line a small, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper for easy cleanup.
- Toast the nuts: Once the oven has finished preheating, pour the chopped nuts onto your prepared baking sheet. Bake until the nuts are fragrant and toasted, about 5 minutes, stirring halfway.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the coconut oil and honey. Beat them with a whisk until they are combined. Add the eggs and beat well. (If your coconut oil solidifies on contact with cold ingredients, simply let the bowl rest in a warm place for a few minutes, like on top of your stove, or warm it for about 20 seconds in the microwave.)
- Add the milk, baking soda, cinnamon, vanilla, salt and nutmeg, and whisk to blend. Switch to a big spoon and stir in the zucchini (be sure to squeeze excess moisture out of the zucchini first). Add the flour and stir just until combined. Some lumps are ok! Gently fold in the toasted nuts now, if using.
- Pour the batter into your greased loaf pan and sprinkle lightly with additional cinnamon. If you’d like a pretty swirled effect, run the tip of a knife across the batter in a zig-zag pattern.
- Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the center of the loaf springs back to the touch. Let the bread cool in the pan on a wire rack. Use a serrated knife to cut individual slices.
- This bread is moist, so it will keep for just 2 to 3 days at room temperature. Store it in the refrigerator for 5 to 7 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months or so. I like to slice the bread before freezing and defrost individual slices, either by lightly toasting them or defrosting them in the microwave.
Notes
Recipe adapted from my banana bread and carrot muffins, with references to Once Upon a Chef and All Recipes.
*A note on oils: I love coconut oil here. I used unrefined coconut oil and can hardly taste it in the final product. Olive oil will lend an herbal note to the bread, if you’re into that. Vegetable oil has a neutral flavor, but the average vegetable/canola oil is highly processed, so I recommend using cold-pressed sunflower oil or grapeseed oil if possible.
Change it up: Use chocolate chips or small/chopped dried fruit instead of the nuts.
Make muffins: Follow this recipe!
Make it vegan: Use maple syrup instead of honey, replace the eggs with flax eggs and choose non-dairy milk (I used almond milk) or water.
Make it dairy free: Choose non-dairy milk (I used almond milk) or water.
Make it egg free: Replace the eggs with flax eggs.
Make it gluten free: I haven’t tried myself, but I have heard from a reader that Bob’s Red Mill’s all-purpose gluten-free mix worked well here.
Make it nut free: Just omit the nuts, and don’t use nut milk.
Make it lower in fat: I would argue that this bread contains a healthy amount of fat, but you can replace the oil with applesauce if you’re following a low-fat diet.
Recommended equipment: I am totally in love with my Fiesta Loaf Pan in turquoise (affiliate link).
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
This was really moist and pleasing. I used olive oil and maple syrup. I like a sweeter taste but I know that has to balance with the healthy version. I added a little glaze which won’t add to the calories much but I look forward to seeing how I like it.
This is the best bread I’ve made to date!!! Love all your recipe! I substituted agave for honey. Used 3/4 cup quinoa flour, half cup kamut flour and 1/2 cup white flour . Added hemp hearts and carob chips.
Hi Kate,
Thank so for sharing this absolutely delicious recipe! I made it for breakfast recently.
I was able to whip this up quickly with some zucchini my friend had given me from her garden. It is so delicious and I don’t feel guilty eating a big piece of it! I followed the recipe exactly as it states and had no issues. It has only a hint of sweet, which is nice. It has a cake texture and is moist but holds together well. I think this might be nice with raisins too. I really like the crunch of the walnuts. Thanks for this recipe!
tried these today as muffins
AMAZING!!! will be making more since I don’t know what else to do with all the zucchini in the garden haha
Thank you
This Healthy Zucchini Bread was soooo moist and delicious that I’m in the process of making it again. I can’t wait for it to come out of the oven…yum!
Awesome! Thanks, Karen!
This was a great recipe! I used almond flour instead of white whole wheat flour. I had to double the flour from 1 3/4 to 3 1/2 which is what I was told when using almond flour. I will add the pecans next time & I am gonna try adding crushed pineapple. It was slightly greasy so I might try a TBSP of chia seeds. I was given a zucchini that has yielded about 9 cup so so I’m gonna play around with the different variations.
Ooh, crushed pineapple sounds DELICIOUS in this, Alexandria! Let me know if you try that. Also– what a mega zucchini! Nine cups?! Holy moly.
How many calories per slice on the zucchini bread recipes
Hi, Ramona. The nutrition facts are right under the notes section of the recipe. If you click on it, the info will drop down. Looks like there are 262 calories per slice, with the recipe making 10 slices.
Hi Kate! Tried the healthy zucchini bread. It was a hit. Super moist, flavorful and I didn’t feel guilty having a slice. Thanks. I’ll post a pic on instagram.
Awesome! Remember to tag it with #cookieandkate, and I’ll definitely see it. :) Thanks, Lisa!
I love this recipe and have had so much fun making modifications based on what’s in the garden and my pantry. Today I swapped out the zucchini for summer squash and carrots. I added some chopped crystallized ginger too! The recipe also turns out well when I sub some of the wheat flour for a combination of almond flour, coconut flour, and oat bran. Thank you for creating a recipe I can play with and that my picky son loves!
I made four loaves of this bread a few weeks ago when I was like 37 weeks pregnant. We ate one, and pre-sliced and froze the other three for once baby came. Luckily I thought to tell my husband to throw a loaf into my hospital bag on our way out the door to have the baby. It was actually fine frozen, so we had some on the drive to the hospital (for some reason i was starving while i was in labor), and have been eating the rest to supplement the mediocre hospital meals. It’s even better after being frozen, nice and moist. So nice to be sitting here in the hospital with good home baked comfort food. I’ll definitely make it again…maybe as his birthday breakfast treat next year (but also before that!). Thanks!
I made one batch of this today in four mini loaf pans. It took about 30 minutes at 325. They turned out great! I picked this recipe because it called for ingredients I already had on hand, not because I have any dietary restrictions. So this is wonderful for everyone. Thanks!
Love, love, LOVE this recipe! So delicious, so moist, so yummy! I’ve never made zucchini bread before and was a bit discouraged when all I kept finding online were unhealthy recipes. This one is healthy and hits the spot! The only thing I changed was I made it egg free and submitted eggs with flax seed meal as recommended above. This will be made more than once for certain! A+
Great recipe! I added extra (wringed) zucchini and used spelt flour instead of wheat and it still turned out delishly moist without being too dense!
Thank you, Lucia! Thanks so much for your comment and star review.
I think its funny that your dog is named cookie, yet enjoys all of the healthy foods! I am going to try this recipe, it sounds delicious! :)
When I adopted her, that was her name already so it was pretty fitting :) Thanks so much, Emma! Let me know what you think.
I just made this and it turned out delicious!!! My family loves it, too :)
Thank you, Mirabelle for your review :) I appreciate it!
Hi! I’m so excited to try this recipe. Do you think I can substitute the whole wheat flour with spelt flour? Would that work the same? Thx!
Hi Jessica! I haven’t tried spelt flour with this recipe so I can’t speak to that. Sorry I can’t help with that question!
I took the chance and went for it! It was delicious!
Would u consider this a diabetic loaf since no sugar is used?
Sorry Dana, this is not my area of expertise so I don’t want to lead you in the wrong direction.
Just made this as a vegan loaf and ohh yum yum yum!! Thank you for another great recipe!!
Welcome!!
First of all, I need to say we love almost all your recipes – they have been a game changer for two athletes who need to eat healthy and stay full. That said…
I have made this bread, and the pumpkin bread, and had the same issue both times. The top center does not cook about 1″ down and almost the entire way across the length. Completely liquid. It is SO disappointing. Both times I tried to cook the bread a bit longer, but then the rest of the bread gets overcooked and dry and the whole thing is not edible. :*( I cook on the center rack, in the center, not on convection (regular bake).
I read through some of your replies, and yes my baking soda is fresh, and yes my oven is at the correct temperature. I can not figure out why I had this issue with the only two breads of yours I have made; my muffins from your recipes turn out fine. I use whole wheat, honey in the zucchini bread and maple syrup in the pumpkin, coconut oil, and a glass pyrex bread pan. My husband thinks something is separating in the mix and floating to the top center causing this. I would love to know what the issue is and how to remedy it. Help please and thank you.
Hi Deann, I’m so sorry to hear this and I’m sorry that I somehow missed your comment until now. I am really not sure what’s happening, although I do wonder if a different loaf pan might produce a better bread. I use a Fiesta stoneware pan.
You could also try, instead of the amount of baking soda given here, to use a combination of 1 teaspoon baking powder and ½ teaspoon baking soda instead. I’ve used that combination in similar muffin recipes to yield a lighter and fluffier texture with a higher rise.
Made this a few days ago, it’s absolutely delicious! Went with honey instead of maple syrup. It’s still as moist as it was on day 1! Now I want to adapt it — what do you think of making a chocolate version?
You can definitely add some chocolate chips! I know others have liked that variation.
Just love this bread for my little ones. It’s the perfect antime healthy snack!
I’m glad it’s enjoyed by all in the family, Alex!
This was fantastic! My whole family loves it. I love that it is a healthier recipe!
Wonderful to hear, Jennifer!
My fave zucchini bread recipe! I make this with coconut oil and instead of stirring in the nuts I sprinkle them over the top and gently press them down before baking! Yummy!!
I’m happy to hear it, Katie!
Best zucchini bread ever – I love the texture and the fact that it’s not too, too sweet. I really like the substitution suggestions at the end of the recipe, so I was able to make it with what I had on hand: cranberries (instead of the walnuts), olive oil (instead of the coconut oil), and maple syrup as the sweetener. Will definitely be making this again and trying more of the substitution variations!
Best ever!? Thank you! I appreciate you sharing how you made it your own, Jill.
I made this and it came out wonderful. Replacing sugar with real maple syrup made the bread enjoyable and not too sweet. I still wish it was less calories as I want to have 2 or more pieces. Yummy!
Hard to not want more! That’s for sure. I appreciate the review.
I have made this cake many times and my family love it, my son has it toasted with butter, my husband has it toasted with no butter and my daughter and I have it just how it is. It only lasts one day and then I get asked when I’m making it again. I have one in the oven now. Thank you for this fantastic recipe. ❤️❤️
Can’t wait to try your other recipes.
I love that! Yes, one that doesn’t last very long because it is so good. I would love to hear what you think about my other recipes too!
I just noticed in the comments that I’m not alone– I followed the recipe to (I used baking soda and regular whole wheat flour!) and I simply can’t get it to cook through! The baked parts are yummy and I have the ingredients to make 2 more loaves, but I’m feeling really nervous they’ll turn out the same. Any other tricks that you do that might not be explicit in the directions? Thanks!
Hi Holly, I’m very sorry to hear that. That’s strange. Have you checked the expiration date on your baking soda? You could also try, instead of the amount of baking soda given here, to use a combination of 1 teaspoon baking powder and ½ teaspoon baking soda instead. I used those amounts for my zucchini bread muffins just because they produced taller, lighter muffins. Hope that does the trick.
It’s also important to measure flour correctly—I spoon it into my measuring cups and level them off with a knife.
I just got this in the oven. So I don’t know how it will taste yet. I did the vegan version with flax eggs, hemp milk and maple syrup. I also added slivered almonds and dried cranberries. I thought it a little different not keeping the dry and wet ingredients separate. But I did incorporate it all together successfully. Can’t wait to taste this and share with my ministry car group tomorrow morning. Thanks for the recipe.
How did it turn out?
the bread is a complete whole meal on itself,very much appreciated.
You’re welcome!
Love this recipe. We had some giant zucchini from a local farm delivery bag and this was an obvious choice. I came here because we love your banana bread and we were not disappointed! In fact, I made two loaves in one week because the first was so good.
But I actually come with a question: Could I sub summer squash? I searched your site for a summer squash bread and didn’t find one. There’s quite a few recipes out there for summer-squash and lemon poppyseed bread, but they’re loaded with sugar. I might just adapt this and wing it, but wondered if you had any experience. Thanks for great recipes!
Sorry, I guess I meant yellow squash!
Like, yellow squash? Any summer squash with a zucchini-like texture should work well here!
This was the second zucchini bread recipe I tried this weekend. This one turned out AMAZING! My new favorite. Thank you!!
Happy to hear that, Michaela! Thank you, for your review.
This recipe is missing baking powder. It came out heavy
Deliciously simple. Made vegan option and will definitely make it again!
Wonderful! Thanks for your review.
BEST ZUCHINNI BREAD EVER! I used maple syrup, almond milk, coconut oil and extra walnuts.
I’m so glad you think so. Thanks for sharing and for your review, Anne!
This is a definite repeat. Probably will become my go-to zucchini bread recipe! I used agave instead of maple syrup, 2 flax eggs, the olive oil, and Bob’s Red Mill gluten free flour. This isn’t super sweet like a regular “unhealthy” zucchini bread but I love it.
Wonderful! Thank you, Julia for sharing.
I may have already commented on this recipe because I have made it a bunch of times, and I felt the urge to tell you (again) how much I love it. My friends go wild over it too. We are big fans. Thanks!
I love it! Thank you, Joanne.
I made this AGAIN! I love this recipe so much. I tried it with almond flour this time, and used a zucchini I grew in the garden! The bread came out absolutely fabulous – it didn’t even make it a full 2 days before it was gone. This recipe is certainly going to be a keeper in my family. Thank you, Kate!
I love that, Jill! Thank you for your star review.
This recipe is incredible! I’m on a diet, so to have a guilt free sweet treat was great. I added cocoa powder and a few coconut flakes to make it more fun, and was really happy with it!
Thanks for sharing, Lily! I appreciate the review.
First, let me start with the fact that I’ve never posted a review/comment for a recipe. I felt compelled to write one here for the sheer fact that this recipe is not only detailed and thorough, but well planned out and easy to navigate. I followed your recipe to the T. Your details throughout the recipe were more useful than any other blog or PIN I’ve come across. I could not be more happy about the finished product. Perfect in texture, flavor, and finish.
Thank you for the time and effort you put into your recipes, Kate!
(P.s. your dog makes this extra special. He obviously has good tastes )
I’m so glad you did, Ellie! Thanks so much for your kind words. I’m happy you thought the recipe instructions and recipe were great.
Delicious. Love that it is not super sweet like so many quick breads. Just perfect.
Wonderful to hear, Julie! Thanks for your review.
Hello Kate,
I was wondering if I can use coconut flour in your zucchini bread recipe, instead of whole wheat flour?
Thank you!
Unfortunately, coconut flour is not a 1:1 substitute. It will soak up too much of the moisture and not hold together the same.
Delicious- even if I reduce amount of honey to about 1/4 cup. Kids loved it too. Thank you!!
Great! Thank you, Shawna.
I make this recipe ALL OF THE TIME! I do prefer it with maple syrup instead of honey. The whole family loves it!
Thank you, Chantel for sharing!
Thank you for this recipe. And thank you for all the alternative ways to prepare it. It is in the oven as I write this Skylar and Spencer (my mutts) are patiently waiting for crumbs.
I recently got this honey from a local fruit stand and it is a bit to overpowering for my tea so I used it in the loaf. Its a very intense Buckwheat honey. So intense I put half blackberry honey and half buckwheat. I think its going to turn out great. The batter was delicious so here goes nothing 25 more minutes to go!
You’re welcome, Kitty! Your pup names are so cute. Thanks for the review!
So good!! I made it with coconut oil, Bobs Red Mill Organic Stone Ground Wheat flour and added a handful of mini semi sweet chocolate chips. It was super yummy!!
Thanks for sharing, Kim!
Loved it. Not overly sweet. I used coconut oil, organic stone ground wheat flour, honey, and a handful of mini semi sweet chocolate chips.
Thank you, Kim for sharing!
I made this recipe with maple syrup, and used some ancient einkhorn wheat by Jovial that was past the optimal use-by date; nevertheless, the zucchini bread was wonderful, so moist and tasty, and just right for a couple of slices in my husband’s lunch bag for treats with his coffee breaks. Thank you.
Thanks for your review, Joy!
I made this zucchini bread last night, and it tastes wonderful!
Great to hear!
This bread is 100% yum and super filling. I used mixed nuts with cashews, almonds, and walnuts and it adds a lot of texture. Thanks for the recipe, Kate!
You’re welcome, Quinn!