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I’ve been developing whole-wheat baking recipes for more than 8 years. And over those years I’ve honed in on a few tried-and-true methods for creating tender, moist whole-wheat baked goods.
And this recipe uses one of those methods, which is whole-wheat pastry flour paired with a liquid sweetener and liquid fat. This combo makes the most delicious quick bread!
Lemon Zucchini Bread Ingredients
Just a few common ingredients are needed to make THE most moist and delicious lemon zucchini bread. Maybe the greatest thing about this bread is that it’s whole-wheat and still addictively delicious.
- Whole-wheat pastry flour: one of the easiest ways to create tender whole-wheat quick breads and muffins is to use whole-wheat pastry flour. It’s lighter and finer in texture than regular whole-wheat flour.
- Poppy seeds: totally optional!
- Baking Soda: important for creating a tall, tender crumb.
- Salt: I use kosher salt. Either heaping ¼ teaspoon of Morton kosher salt or a ½ teaspoon of Diamond Crystal.
- Honey: used in place of regular sugar, honey adds sweetness, moisture and a mild floral flavor that pairs well with honey.
- Eggs: use eggs labeled as large for this recipe.
- Olive Oil: keeps the loaf moist for days. Use a mild olive oil to allow the lemon and honey flavors to really to be front and center.
- Lemon: you’ll need fresh lemon juice and lemon zest for this loaf.
- Lemon extract: for the best quality, look for a pure extract. It adds a boost of flavor that can’t be added with lemon zest of juice alone. It also adds that quintessential flavor that you get in many bakery lemon breads.
- Zucchini: for this recipe you will need a small zucchini, or about half a pound.
How to Make Lemon Zucchini Bread
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, poppy seeds, baking soda, and salt.
- Whisk together the honey, eggs, oil, zest, juice, and extract in a separate bowl.
- Shred the zucchini on a large hole box grater. Squeeze shredded zucchini in a clean kitchen towel to absorb excess moisture.
- Add shredded and squeeze zucchini to the honey and oil mixture.
- Add the flour mixture to the honey-zucchini mixture and mix to combine.
TIP: whole-wheat flour doesn’t readily form gluten, so you don’t have to worry about over-mixing. Stir the batter until no dry pockets of flour remain.
- Scrape the batter into the parchment-lined loaf pan, smooth top, and bake until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, this will take about 55 minutes.
TIP: for the best results (i.e. a tall, domed loaf) use a 8½ × 4½-inch loaf pan. NOT a pound cake pan which is 9×5-inches.
- Let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove the bread and transfer it to a wire rack. Finish it with a simple glaze that adds flavor and moisture.
Simple Glaze
I love, love, love to finish this bread with a 2-ingredient lemon glaze. Yup, two ingredients is all you need for this glaze. The beauty of the glaze is that it’s made with ingredients you’re already using, which keeps things simple and streamlined. Just the way we like it!
The glaze is simple—whisk together 1 tablespoon each lemon juice and honey, zap quickly in the microwave then brush or drizzle over the baked bread. A simple sweet finish!
Storage
Store the zucchini bread wrapped in parchment paper (the paper used during baking works just fine) and foil, or in a zipper-lock bag at room temperature for up to 2 days. (It can keep for up to 3 days but I find 2 to be the best). If you need to store it longer, pop it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
If you do refrigerate the bread, I recommend giving individual slices a quick reheat in a nonstick skillet. And if you’re looking to treat yourself, add some unsalted butter to the skillet too.
FAQs
I find the texture of whole-wheat pastry flour to be ideal in quick breads and muffins. It’s lighter and more fine in texture than regular whole-wheat or white whole-wheat flour.
I have not tested this with all-purpose flour or regular whole-wheat flour. If you would like to use all-purpose flour, swap it in for the same cup amount called for in the recipe. If you would like to use regular whole-wheat flour, swap it in for the same weight called for in the recipe (this will be more accurate that swapping just by cup amount), and add one tablespoon cornstarch.
Lemon extract adds a boost of flavor that can’t be added with lemon zest of juice alone. It also adds that quintessential flavor that you get in many bakery lemon poppyseed breads.
Not necessary! Zucchini have such tender skins, and once grated they’re almost intractable. Plus, the skin adds gorgeous green flecks to the bread.
Since the zucchini used in this bread recipe is shredded, it gets evenly distributed and nearly melts into the bread. Zucchini add moisture and texture, not flavor. So you don’t have to worry that this bread will taste like squash!
Quick Bread Recipes to Love
- Honey Peanut Butter Bread (a must-try)
- Whole-Wheat ogurt Banana Bread (the perfect breakfast)
- Browned Butter Carrot Bread (nothing is better than browned buttah!)
- Whole-Wheat Sweet Potato Bread (featuring a sweet-and-salty topping)
Lemon Poppy Seed Bread Recipe (Whole-Wheat)
Description
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Ingredients
- 2 cups (204 grams) whole-wheat pastry flour
- 3 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- ⅔ cup honey
- 2 large eggs
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon minced lemon zest, packed
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon pure lemon extract
- 1 small zucchini (8 ounces), trimmed
Honey-Lemon Glaze
- 1 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F (177ºC) with rack set in middle position.
- Coat an 8½ × 4½-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray. Line pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides; coat paper with nonstick spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, poppy seeds, baking soda, and salt.
- Whisk together honey, eggs, oil, zest, juice, and extract in a separate bowl.
- Shred zucchini on a large hole box grater. Squeeze shredded zucchini between kitchen towels to absorb excess moisture. Add zucchini to honey mixture and mix to combine.
- Add flour mixture to honey and zucchini mixture and mix until combined and no pockets of dry flour remain.
- Scrape batter into prepared pan, smooth top, and bake until top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 52–57 minutes, rotating halfway through baking.
- Let bread cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes, then turn bread out on to wire rack to cool.
- Microwave 1 tablespoon each honey and lemon juice together in a microwave-safe bowl on medium power for 30 seconds; whisk to combine then brush glaze over top of bread.
- Let bread cool completely.
Hi. I’d really like to make this recipe today but I’m a bit confused about the recipe. You have said that buttermilk is a key ingredient but it’s not included in your ingredient list or in the method.
Hi Billy, gosh so sorry about that! The recipe is correct as written. I had tested it multiple times with buttermilk and in the end decided to remove the buttermilk altogether and increase the honey. Buttermilk is a key ingredient in most of my quick breads, but for this one I opted to remove it in favor of more sweetness. I will make that change to the article. So sorry for the confusion!
Thank you for the update. I can’t wait to make this today.
Hello, any chance you have tried to make your breads with almond meal.
Am keen to try.
Hi Anna,
I have not tried my breads with almond meal. If the flour is replaced completely with almond meal, I predict they would come out dense and gluey. Partially using almond meal might work out OK, but I can’t say for certain. I can add it to my test list! Are you looking to make these gluten-free? Would you be open to using a gluten-free flour blend? I can text that too!
Very flavorful quick bread. Definitely a keeper. Treasure trove of wonderful recipes! Thanks so much for this awesome blog.
Delicious