A friend of mine from Books Through Bars tipped me off to this delicious recipe back in 2008. Actually, let me rephrase: she taunted me with slice after slice of this zucchini bread on multiple occasions until I broke down and begged for the recipe.
If you have a glut of zucchini this summer, this is a great way to use some up, but it’s also the kind of recipe I feel like eating year-round. It’s spicy — there’s a whole lotta nutmeg and cinnamon — and it just has a great, warm flavor. I love the texture, too; it’s fluffy and moist with a nice crumb.
I’ve tweaked the recipe a bit from the original and the ingredients are pretty darn wholesome, so if you’re looking to sneak in a few extra veggies onto a picky eater’s plate, this might be just what you’re looking for. If that’s the case, you should probably just call it “Spicy Awesome Bread.” Or if you’re looking to instill fear, Midwestern grandma-style, call it “Spicy Surprise Bread.” While you’re at it, you might as well “sneak in” some chocolate chips, too — they pair awesomely with the flavors in this bread.
- 6 tbsp ground flax seeds
- ½ c warm water
- 2 c turbinado sugar (or light brown sugar)
- ½ c oil
- ½ c applesauce
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 to 2½ c grated zucchini (~3 medium-sized ones)
- 2 c all-purpose flour
- 1 c whole wheat flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 c chocolate chips or raisins, optional
- Grease two loaf pans.
- Mix together flax seeds and warm water.
- Add sugar, oil, applesauce, and vanilla; beat well.
- Add grated zucchini; stir til combined.
- In a separate bowl, sift together remaining dry ingredients.
- Add dry mixture to wet and stir just until dry ingredients are moistened and everything is incorporated evenly; some lumps are fine. If adding additional mix-ins, fold them in now. Divide batter between prepared pans.
- Bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes, or until knife inserted in center of loaf comes out clean. Let cool a few minutes before slicing.
93 comments
Faye says:
Jul 29, 2013
This was excellent! I fearfully watched my mom ( a huge critic of vegan baked goods) take a bite, and she loved it! Only thing I did differently was omit the nutmeg, increased the vanilla to 1T, and I used half white and half brown sugar. Thanks again!
tinajoan says:
Aug 6, 2013
This bread is delicious! I made it with zucchinis from my garden, and I added raisins, walnuts, and pecans (I like my bread loaded with add-ins!). Great recipe
DeDeNYC says:
Aug 10, 2013
This is a luscious recipe! I subbed a chia-flax seed blend for the flax seeds, and it came out quite nice. A lot of vegan z-breads come out either way too dry and hard, or way too “pudding-y” (i.e., wet and dense, with no solid core) but this recipe comes out just right–a solid loaf of bread that is moist yet with a good crumb. A hit with all!
Pam says:
Aug 24, 2013
My first vegan baking experiment was a hit thanks to this recipe! I used coconut oil, subbed in a little barley flour for some of the white flour, and added almonds and dried cranberries. I think I will dial the sugar back a bit next time, and there definitely will be a next time.
Mairead says:
Sep 16, 2013
This looks great. Will be trying it later today with my super sized courgette! Just one thing, what size are your loaf tins? Standard here in Ireland is a 2lb tin, but the pics above look like they might be a 1lb tin… I’m a novice baker so need to check, thanks!
claryn says:
Sep 16, 2013
I typically use a 8.5×4.5×2.5″ loaf pan, which I think corresponds with a 1lb pan. You might want to double-check my math, though!
Leigh says:
Oct 2, 2013
Instead of applesauce, I used mashed up banana and whirled all the wet ingredients (except zucchini) in the vitamix (too lazy to stir). The bread came out real even and is yummy! I just had trouble with it sticking to the pain for some reason (I didn’t coat with enough oil?).
Courgette (zucchini) and carrot muffins | That Hummus Life says:
Nov 4, 2013
[...] adapted from Hell Yeah It’s Vegan * feel free to double the recipe if you have a hungry/large family * I will try adapting the recipe [...]
Candice says:
Dec 20, 2013
Damn it’s delicious! I baked this today and subbed unbleached white whole wheat flour and coconut oil. After 45 min. it was ready to come out of the oven. I took the loaves out and cooled them on the rack then went shopping. When I came home I put a slice in the toaster added a bit of coconut oil to the toast and Bam, Delicious! Thank you!
Hilary says:
Jan 22, 2014
Fantastic recipe!
Julie says:
Feb 9, 2014
Excellent!
Here are the changes I made to make it a little healthier:
-Half the sugar (I used brown sugar).
-For the 3 cups of flour: 1 cup Oatsl, 1+1/3 cup Whole wheat flour, 2/3 cup white flour.
-I replaced the nutmeg for “pumpkin pie spices”…I think this spice mix complements every baked goods!
-I used 1 cup of raisins.
It was sweet enough with only half the sugar! The texture was perfect!
Thank you for this great recipe!
Rebekah says:
Mar 11, 2014
Yum!!! Just made this, my toddler and I loved it. Halfway through I realized we were out of all purpose flour, so instead I used two cups of whole wheat flour and one cup of brown rice flour. I added extra coconut oil and applesauce because of the density. To my surprise it worked out well, even with that substitution. Thanks for another awesome recipe!
Bridget says:
Jun 2, 2014
Yum! This is great. I only had 1 loaf pan, so I made the rest into a dozen muffins, which took about 25 minutes to cook.
claryn says:
Jul 10, 2014
Sweet. Thanks for the tip, Bridget!
Danielle says:
Jun 14, 2014
Are you sure 6 TBSP of flax seed is right? That would be the equivalent of 6 eggs, which is twice the number of what most non-vegan recipes call for. I followed this exactly, but mine would not cook through in the center, no matter how much extra time I left it in the oven. It was soupy even after 90 minutes. I had to throw it out. I think it might work better with 3T of flax instead of 6 but am afraid to waste ingredients trying it again.
claryn says:
Jul 10, 2014
Yep, 6 Tbsp between the two loaves. In other words, the relative equivalent of 3 eggs per loaf. I’m confident you could make it with less flax if needed. You divided it between two standard loaf pans, right? Zucchini also vary in moisture content, so if you used the larger amount, the loaves might need a longer baking time. Even then, there’s no reason this batter would turn into an uncookable soup.