This easy and delicious Zucchini Bread is made extra moist by a secret ingredient!
This easy and delicious Zucchini Bread is made extra moist from a secret ingredient!
Trigger warning – I’ll be using the word “moist” throughout this post 😊
I live in an apartment, so gardening isn’t an option for me on a large scale. On top of that, I don’t really have a green thumb. I start every summer with the best of intentions, but generally by July I have a sad looking container of various herbs and a tomato plant that’s never seen a single tomato actually grow.
Luckily, I have a few friends who garden, and that leads me to a glut of gifted zucchini by the end of summer, and clearly the best thing to do with zucchini is to turn it into zucchini bread!
This recipe came to me via my grandmother’s shoebox full of recipes, and I’m so glad it did. This was super easy to make and tasted great!
The original recipe calls for enough to make two full loaves or 7 mini loaves, so I cut the recipe in half because having that much zucchini bread around is a dangerous proposition for me. I’ll include instructions at the end for the original full recipe.
Shopping List for Zucchini Bread
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Eggs
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Sugar
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Vegetable oil
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Vanilla Extract
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Cream Cheese (secret ingredient 😊)
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All Purpose Flour
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Baking soda
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Baking Powder
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Cinnamon
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Salt
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Nutmeg
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Walnuts (or pecans)
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Zucchini
Let’s Talk about Zucchini Bread
The secret ingredient in this bread is the cream cheese. It really just elevates the flavor and makes the bread so moist and delicious. It also adds just a bit of tang to offset the sweetness of the bread.
Recipe Highlights
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Easy to make
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Easily doubled for making as gifts for friends and family
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Super moist and tender
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Delicious spicy fall flavors
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Customizable
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Mini size is great for bake sales.
FAQ’s
What is quick bread? quick breads are breads such as zucchini bread or banana bread that get their lift from baking powder or baking soda, and not from yeast.
Can I use just baking soda or just baking powder? Honestly, no. You need the baking soda to counter the acidity of the cream cheese, and you need the baking powder for the extra lift.
How do I store the bread? The bread will store in the fridge for up to a week (if it lasts that long). If you make the full recipe and two loaves, you can freeze one by double wrapping the cooled loaf in plastic wrap and then placing the whole loaf in a gallon size freezer bag. Loaf will last up to six months in the freezer. Defrost by letting the loaf sit at room temp for 3-4 hours, but be prepared to eat within a day or two.
But I don’t like nutmeg or walnuts! You can leave the nutmeg out completely if you want. You can either switch the walnuts for pecans, or you could leave the nuts out.
Tips and Tricks for making the best zucchini bread
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Don’t overmix the batter – you’ll end up with a tougher end product if you do. Mix until just combined.
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Use parchment paper to line the pan. No matter how much you prepare the pan, something always sticks. It’s easier to just line the pan.
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Use the right sized pan. If I’m being super honest with you guys, I used the wrong sized pan when I made this bread to photograph it. I used a 9x5 loaf pan, and I always think these breads are way more pretty when made in an 8x4 loaf pan. You just get all that height that’s so impressive!
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Start testing for doneness about 10 minutes before the timer goes off. Different ovens bake differently. Use a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake – if the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is done. If not, let it bake the remaining 10 minutes.
Let me know what your favorite kind of zucchini bread is in the comments below, and don’t forget to subscribe so that you never miss a recipe!
OTHER DELICIOUS BREADS AND BARS

1 Loaf
Sara Rauckhorst
15 Min
60 Min
1 H & 15 M
Super Moist Zucchini Bread
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
- 1 cup chopped walnuts(or pecans)
- 1 cup shredded zucchini, (wring as much water as you can out of the zucchini by placing it into a clean dishtowel, and then squeezing as hard as you can.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 and line a 8x4 or 9x5 inch loaf pan with parchment paper and then spray the paper with non stick spray.
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla until smooth.
- Beat in the cream cheese (the batter may look a little lumpy - that's okay)
- In a different bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
- On low speed, add the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and stir just until no streaks of flour remain.
- Fold in the nuts and zucchini and pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes, checking for doneness after 40 - 50 mintues.
- Remove from the oven, and allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then finish cooling on a wire rack.
Notes:
If you want to double the recipe to either have extra bread for gifts or to freeze, just double all the ingredients, but only use three eggs.
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