Vegan Zucchini Bread
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Published Jul 10, 2024
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This healthy vegan zucchini bread is made with almond flour and oat flour and uses avocado and banana to replace the oil. It’s easy to make and absolutely delicious!
Summer = zucchini season! It seems like everyone I know with a garden has zucchini coming out of their ears! I usually start to hoard zucchini around this time thanks to my father-in-law’s garden.
Some of my favorite recipes to make with my abundance of zucchini every summer are my zucchini bread overnight oats, healthy zucchini muffins, turkey zucchini boats and of course this vegan zucchini bread!
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Bread
- Dietary and allergen friendly – This bread is vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, oil-free and only sweetened with 1/4 cup of maple syrup.
- Healthy – This bread is packed with healthy fats, fiber and lots of nutrients thanks to the almond flour, oat flour, banana, avocado and flax egg. It’s a baked good recipe you can feel good about eating!
- Easy – This recipe requires simple, pantry staple ingredients that you likely already have on hand! And it only takes about 10 minutes to prep.
Ingredients Needed
- almond flour & oat flour – the combination of these flours makes the perfect texture of bread with golden brown edges.
- grated zucchini – can’t have zucchini bread without zucchini! I love the texture, moisture and slight taste zucchini adds to baked goods.
- flax egg – mix ground flaxseed and water to make a flaxseed egg which binds the bread together while keeping it vegan.
- mashed avocado & banana – in place of oil, I used mashed avocado and banana. The end result is a loaf that is not too moist and not too dry… just right if you ask me!
- maple syrup – to sweeten this bread just a touch!
- baking powder & baking soda – to help the loaf rise.
- vegan chocolate chips – I love Lily’s Chocolate or Enjoy Life chocolate chips. You can omit the chocolate chips if you don’t want your bread to be as sweet.
Find the printable recipe with measurements below.
Recipe Notes & Substitutions
- Flour: This vegan zucchini bread recipe was tested only with almond and oat flour, so I don’t recommend substituting the flours with something else.
- Flax egg: Don’t need this bread to be vegan? You can use a regular egg instead. Or try my healthy zucchini bread, which is made with whole wheat flour.
- Less sugar: The bread’s sweetness comes from the banana and a little bit of maple syrup, which is one of my favorite natural sweeteners. If you’re looking for a bread with lower sugar content, you can omit the maple syrup and chocolate chips!
- Mix-in’s: Feel free to swap the chocolate chips with your favorite mix-in. Some ideas would be dried fruit or chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans or almonds would be my top choice).
How to Make Vegan Zucchini Bread
Step 1: In a large bowl add the dry ingredients. Stir to combine.
Step 2: In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients until combined.
Step 3: Add the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir until everything is combined.
Step 4: Add the chocolate chips to the bowl and gently stir to evenly distribute the chips.
Step 5: Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan. Top with additional chocolate chips, if desired.
Step 6: Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean. Let the loaf cool completely, slice and enjoy.
Brittany’s Tips!
- Squeeze the zucchini: For the best texture and flavor, make sure to squeeze out as much liquid as possible from the grated zucchini before adding it to the batter. This helps the bread bake evenly and prevents it from becoming too wet. Use a clean dish towel or paper towels to press and wring out the zucchini thoroughly.
- Test for doneness: Insert a toothpick into the center of the bread to check if it’s done. If it comes out clean or with just a few crumbs, it’s ready to come out.
- Cool properly: Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes before transferring it to a cooling rack to cool completely. You don’t want to let the bread cool completely in the loaf pan because it could continue to bake and dry out.
How to Store
Allow your zucchini bread to cool completely before storing. I recommend storing in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week. You can also freeze zucchini bread for up to three months. If you have more zucchini than you know what to do with, I highly recommend making this bread in bulk and freezing for future enjoyment!
When you’re ready to eat it, you can eat cold, but I prefer to heat it up in the toaster oven.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, there is no need to peel the zucchini before grating. The skin is thin and provides additional nutrients and color to the bread.
Since this bread is vegan and gluten-free it’s not going to rise as much as a recipe made with eggs and regular flour.
More Zucchini Recipes
- Zucchini Bread Overnight Oats
- Zucchini Banana Bread
- Roasted Summer Squash and Zucchini
- Spicy Shrimp over Zucchini Noodle Pasta
- Zucchini Brownies
- Healthy Zucchini Muffins
- Turkey Zucchini Boats
- Chocolate Zucchini Bread
If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider leaving a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below.
Vegan Zucchini Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups packed almond flour
- ¼ cup oat flour
- 1 cup grated zucchini, squeezed firmly to release water
- 1 flax egg, 1 Tablespoon ground flaxseed + 2 ½ Tablespoons water
- ¼ cup mashed avocado, about ½ an avocado
- 1 medium banana, mashed, about ⅓ cup
- ¼ cup maple syrup or honey
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ cup vegan chocolate chips, plus more for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a standard loaf pan with parchment paper or grease with oil.
- Grate zucchini, wrap in paper towels or a dish towel and squeeze hard to release as much liquid as possible. Set aside.
- Whisk together ground flaxseed and water in a small bowl to make the flax egg. Set aside.
- In a large bowl add dry ingredients (almond flour, oat flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and sea salt) and stir to combine.
- In another bowl, combine wet ingredients (zucchini, flax egg, avocado, banana, maple syrup and vanilla).
- Add wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir until everything is combined.
- Gently stir in chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and top with additional chocolate chips for decoration (this step is optional, but I like to make it look pretty.)
- Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean. Edges and top of the loaf will be a dark, golden brown color. Let cool completely, slice and enjoy.
Notes
- Flour: This recipe was tested only with almond and oat flour, so I don’t recommend substituting the flours with something else.
- Flax egg: Don’t need this bread to be vegan? You can use a regular egg instead. Or try my healthy zucchini bread, which is made with whole wheat flour.
- Less sugar: The bread’s sweetness comes from the banana and a little bit of maple syrup, which is one of my favorite natural sweeteners. If you’re looking for a bread with lower sugar content, you can omit the maple syrup and chocolate chips!
- Mix-in’s: Feel free to swap the chocolate chips with your favorite mix-in. Some ideas would be dried fruit or chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans or almonds would be my top choice).
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
How ripe does the avocado need to be?
Hey Ann – As long as your avocado gives slightly when you gently press on it then it’s ripe enough! You just want it to feel soft, but not mushy to the touch.
I’m obsessed with this recipe! An all time favourite.
That’s so great, Tania! I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for leaving me a comment and review as well, I appreciate it!
Love all of your recipes! Would I be able to replace almond flour with coconut flour or regular? Also, I don’t have flax but can I replace with applesauce?
Hi, Ashley. I don’t recommend swapping coconut flour as it’s not a 1-for-1 swap. I haven’t tried it with regular flour but you could give it a try. As for replacing the flax, you can just use a regular egg or try a chia egg but I don’t recommend swapping the flax egg with applesauce.
it needed a little more time baking but delicious!!!!!
Baking temps vary depending on your oven! I’m glad you loved this bread though, Donna! Thanks for making it and for the review. 🙂
So yummy and moist! I made half of it without chocolate chips for my toddler and she loves it. And I love that she’s eating zucchini without realizing it 😊.
So pumped this zucchini bread was ah it, Kristin! Thanks for trying it out and coming back to leave a review. I really appreciate it!
Turned out great! It cooked perfectly in the middle but still moist and perfectly gooey when you reheat it. It tastes even better on day 2 and 3!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this vegan zucchini bread, Molly! Thanks so much for making it and coming back to leave a review. I so appreciate it!