Glazed Zucchini Lemon Bread Recipe (Whole Grain, Dairy Free)

An easy glazed zucchini lemon bread recipe with a light cake-like texture that is melt-in-your-mouth good and makes a refreshingly different zucchini bread. Made healthier with whole wheat flour and less sugar than many zucchini breads. You can find more recipes like this on AOC's Best Bread Recipes page!

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When you grow zucchini there's always that time of the harvest where you are wondering what else you can make with it - right? You've sautéed it (hopefully with corn and tomatoes like this yummy side dish), made fritters with it, probably grilled and zoodled it, and maybe even made an amazing cake with it.

To help you in your quest of using it up, I present you with a glazed zucchini lemon bread - another delicious way to use your zucchini that you can eat right away or freeze for later when the zucchini aren't as plentiful.

This has been one of our favorite zucchini bread recipes for awhile so whenever there are a couple of fresh zucchini from the garden waiting to be used, these find their way on our menu (and in the freezer). And I hope they will for you, too!

Because zucchini + lemon? That may just be a match made in heaven.

When we want a really good regular zucchini bread, I make my favorite basic no-fail zucchini bread. When we'd like something a little more decadent, it's all about this dark chocolate zucchini bread (though it's honey sweetened, so still better for you!).

And this recipe adds a tangy lemon flavored bread into the mix (well, I also have this good-for-you orange zucchini bread, too - can you see zucchini bread is kind of a big thing in our family?).

So, why a lemon zucchini bread?

Because it's a little special and different with its light and lemony flavor. It's really kind of like a tea cake with it's tender crumb and drizzle of glaze, which makes it just as good for an afternoon snack as for a dessert.

Whatever you call it - bread, cake, or even loaf - what it boils down to is this:

It is GOOD. Like, so good you won't believe it. Trust me.

Glazed Zucchini Lemon Bread Recipe

Zucchini Lemon Bread Ingredients

This really is a simple recipe, using mostly pantry staple ingredients:

• whole wheat pastry flour
• baking powder, soda, and salt
• lemon zest and juice
• eggs
• sugar
• oil
• zucchini
• powdered sugar for glaze

I've adapted the recipe to use whole wheat pastry flour and less sugar so it's a bit healthier - and also lets the lemon flavor shine.

You can also use your choice of oil - I prefer a good quality refined coconut oil, expeller pressed sunflower oil, or light olive oil.

Tools You'll Need:

• 8.5 x 4.5 inch loaf pans (I prefer glass pans like these to monitor browning) AND/OR a mini loaf pan like this to make the size loaves pictured (I made one regular loaf and the other half of the batter fit into the 8 mini-loaf pan).
• Food processor for grating zucchini (or hand-held grater).
• Microplane for zesting lemon
• Measuring cups, spoons, etc. - you can see all my favorite tools for baking here!

Zucchini Bread Mixing Tip:

The recipe calls for both baking powder and soda - and when they are mixed together they start reacting right away (it's one of the reasons the texture is so light).

This means, however, that you should have the pans buttered and the wet and dry ingredients all measured and ready to go before mixing so that you can mix, pour, and get them into the oven as soon as possible.

Glazing Lemon Zucchini Bread

After baking, turn the loaves out onto a baking rack. While they're still warm, drizzle with a mixture of lemon juice and powdered sugar. I like to keep the glaze thin so that the lemon juice flavor shines through and the bread is just lightly coated.

The tops of mine weren't really raised much, so I left them upside down when glazing and ended up really liking the presentation that way. It's totally up to you if you want to glaze the tops or bottoms.

Can you freeze lemon zucchini bread?

Yes! Stored in an airtight ziplock baggie, this bread freezes just as well as all zucchini bread recipes.

In fact, during the gardening season when the zucchini is plentiful I usually make a number of our favorite loaves to keep in the freezer, instead of grating and freezing zucchini on its own.

Freezing Tip: I use to grate and freeze zucchini to make bread in winter, but I found I just didn't use it much. Plus, there's the whole "do you drain or not?" when baking with it. When I found that zucchini bread froze beautifully for at least six months, I started tripling the recipes we wanted to have enough to freeze. Now we love having loaves waiting for us in the freezer!

So, what's the verdict on this light, tangy lemon zucchini bread?

Everyone who tried this loves it - and I'm sure you will too! So get your hands on some zucchini (isn't it funny how it's feast-or-famine with zucchini?) and make these soon - I know you won't be sorry.

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5 from 1 vote

Glazed Zucchini Lemon Bread

Try a different kind of zucchini bread - a melt-in-your-mouth lemon zucchini bread with a tart lemon glaze.

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time35 minutes mins

Total Time55 minutes mins

Course: Bread

Cuisine: American

Yield: 2  loaves (8"x4") or 1 loaf plus eight 2 1/2" x 4" small loaves

Author: Jami Boys

Ingredients

• 3 ¼ cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 to 4 teaspoons lemon zest or zest from 1 large lemon
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sugar*
• 3/4 cup sunflower oil refined coconut oil (melted) or light olive oil
• 2/3 cup lemon juice
• 2 cups shredded zucchini

Glaze:

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

• Heat oven to 350 degrees; butter and flour two 8.5 x 4.5 inch loaf pans (see note for options).
• In a medium bowl mix together the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, soda, salt, and zest.
• In a large mixing bowl beat the eggs and sugar for about 2 minutes, then add the oil, lemon juice and zucchini and mix well.
• Mix the dry ingredients into the egg mixture and stir just until all the flour is incorporated. Do not over mix.
• Immediately pour the batter into the prepared pans, dividing evenly.
• Bake for 35 to 40 minutes for loaf pans (18-22 minutes if using an 8-loaf pan) or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Cool 10 minutes in pans before turning out onto a cooling rack set over a baking sheet or waxed paper (to catch glaze drips).

Make Glaze:

• Whisk 2 tablespoons of lemon juice with a cup of powdered sugar (or as much needed to get a light glaze) until smooth.
• Drizzle over the warm loaves, spreading as needed to drip down sides.
• Serve warm or let cool completely before storing in airtight containers 1-2 days at room temperature or freezing for up to six months.

Notes

*I've been using just 3/4 cup of cane sugar (less than 1/2 cup in each loaf) and don't mind the difference. Try it both ways and see which you prefer!

Pan Options: In the photos you'll see this recipe made one loaf pan with the rest of the batter going into a mini loaf pan with eight 4" x 2 1/2" wells. You can also make this into 24 muffins (or one loaf and 12 muffins). Bake muffins just 15-18 minutes.

Nutrition

Serving: 1piece | Calories: 184kcal | Carbohydrates: 25.9g | Protein: 2.7g | Fat: 7.9g | Saturated Fat: 1.2g | Cholesterol: 27mg | Sodium: 189mg | Fiber: 1.8g | Sugar: 13.6g

Did you make this recipe?Mention @anoregoncottage or tag #anoregoncottage!

This recipe has been updated - it was originally published November 2012.

Other Zucchini Recipes To Try:

Healthy No Fail Zucchini Bread

White Zucchini Cake with caramel-nut frosting

Zucchini Cinnamon Muffins (from frozen dough!)

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