This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure and privacy policy.
Zucchini bread is one of my very favorite varieties of “quick bread.”
Lightly sweetened, with a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg, it’s a tasty way to use up any extra zucchini you may have on hand and will appeal to even your pickiest eaters! In fact, my husband (who tends to be a picky eater when it comes to “healthy” stuff) has been enjoying this bread all week, and has already requested that I make it again. It’s perfectly moist and delicious!
What I love about coconut flour is that just a little bit goes a long way, making it more economical using than blanched almond flour. Treats made with coconut flour also tend to be higher in protein, as you need quite a few eggs to provide structure! While we’re on the subject of eggs, I don’t recommend using flax or chia “eggs” in this recipe, as the result tends to be gooey and under-baked. They just don’t rise and fluff-up the way that real eggs do. However, I do have a vegan recipe in the works, so stay tuned.
In the meantime, you may want to try my Vegan Pumpkin Bread as an alternative gluten-free and egg-free option.
I made this Zucchini Bread several times to get it just right, both as muffins and as a loaf. I actually prefer the muffin version, since they bake faster and are automatically portioned, but both ways taste delicious. (I’ve included instructions for both below.) Enjoy!
—
Paleo Coconut Flour Zucchini Bread
Makes 1 standard loaf (or 12 muffins)
Ingredients:
3/4 cup coconut flour
6 eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini, tightly packed
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350F and line a standard (9-inch by 5-inch) loaf pan with parchment paper. (If you’re making muffins, line a standard muffin tin with 12 baking cups.)
In a large bowl, combine the coconut flour, eggs, maple syrup, oil, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and baking soda and use a whisk to stir well, breaking up any lumps as you go. The batter will most likely be thicker than the cake-like-batter you’ve come to expect when making quick breads. Stir in the shredded zucchini then scoop the batter into the loaf pan, smoothing the top with a spatula. (Or divide the batter into the 12 lined muffin cups.)
Bake the loaf at 350F for 45 to 50 minutes, until the top is golden and firm. If baking muffins, bake them at 350F for 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Because this bread is very moist, I recommend storing it in the fridge for best shelf life. It should keep in an airtight container for up to a week– if you don’t eat it all before then!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup coconut flour
- 6 eggs at room temperature
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini , tightly packed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F and line a standard (9-inch by 5-inch) loaf pan with parchment paper. (If you're making muffins, line a standard muffin tin with 12 baking cups.)
- In a large bowl, combine the coconut flour, eggs, maple syrup, oil, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and baking soda and use a whisk to stir well, breaking up any lumps as you go. The batter will most likely be thicker than the cake-like-batter you've come to expect when making quick breads. Stir in the shredded zucchini then scoop the batter into the loaf pan, smoothing the top with a spatula. (Or divide the batter into the 12 lined muffin cups.)
- Bake the loaf at 350F for 45 to 50 minutes, until the top is golden and firm. If baking muffins, bake them at 350F for 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Because this bread is very moist, I recommend storing it in the fridge for best shelf life. It should keep in an airtight container for up to a week-- if you don't eat it all before then!
Nutrition
Nutrition Info (per 1 slice out of 12): Calories: 142, Fat: 7g, Carbohydrates: 14g, Fiber: 2g, Protein: 4g
*Note: I tried baking this loaf with simply a greased baking pan and it stuck like crazy– I couldn’t remove the loaf without destroying the bottom of the bread. This is why I recommend using parchment paper or silicone baking cups. These silicone muffin cups work like magic!
As I mentioned above, I don’t think flax or chia “eggs” would work well as a substitute in this recipe, but please let me know if you have any success with other substitutions in the comments below!
—
Reader Feedback: What’s your favorite quick bread?
Do I need to squeeze moisture out of the shredded zucchini ?
That was going to be my question too! I guess I’ll know in a few minutes as its baking right now. 🙂
I used silicone baking cups and they came out wet on the bottom and hard to remove, so yes I would squeeze the moisture out. My zucchinis were extremely watery though so maybe you won’t have the same problem. The rest of the muffin was perfect.
I’ve made this recipe with freshly shredded Zuchinni, with just a bit of moisture removed, and with frozen that had a lot of moisture come out after thawing. I prefer the end result when using Frozen Zuchinni (I find it almost too moist w/ fresh) so probably best to remove as much water as possible.
Hi! I love your recipes. I do not have coconut flour and was hoping to use some bob red mill all purpose gluten free flour. Would that work?
No.
Baking with coconut flour requires a lot of eggs and liquid(such as a Liquid sweetener because the flour (actually, it’s mostly fiber since it’s finely dried and defatted coconut meat) absorbs a lot of liquid.
So you would need to rework the recipe by cutting the number of eggs and using a non liquid sweetener such as brown sugar/ coconut sugar / palm sugar.
This sounds great! I’d like to add cocoa powder, do you have any suggestions for how I should alter the other ingredients to complement the extra dry ingredient? Thank you!
Also, my most favorite quick breads are banana & apple, but I enjoy every kind I’ve had, so far :0).
I live almost 9,000ft above sea level- any thoughts on how to adapt this for a high altitude recipe? Was thinking of upping the coconut flour to 1c and decreasing the baking soda to 1/4 or 1/2 tsp?
I wish I could help, but I don’t have much experience with adapting recipes for high altitude. If you have any success, please do share it with us all!
I live at 8,200 Ft above sea level in the Eastern Mountains of California. I made this today and didn’t change one thing in the recipe and it came out perfectly. Thank you for the recipe!
Looks great! Can’t wait to try these
Hello! And thank you for sharing your work with us. I was wondering if there might be an alternative to the maple syrup as I follow Wheat Belly’s diet and this isn’t allowed
Honey would probably work, but I’d use less of it, since it’s sweeter than maple syrup. Maybe try 1/3 cup?
Would applesauce work as a substitute? If so, any guesses to how much? I want my baby to enjoy it but don’t want the syrup:)
I used a half cup of Swerve. It came out great. You could try erythritol or stevia in place of the syrup. Good luck.
It’s pretty awesome these are paleo. My wife freezes zucchini from the summer and saves it to make zucchini bread now when it’s not in season. But even she admits that hers is super loaded in flour and sugar and butter and we both end of looking like the Pillsbury DoughBoy when we’ve eaten it all. Not good!
I totally agree! My recipe has 3 cups flour, a cup each white & brown sugar, & a cup of oil. I am just starting paleo, so was very happy to find this!
I would love to make this without any added sweetener. Any ideas how i could make this work? do i need to replace that 1/2 cup sweetener with another liquid? more coconut oil?
Ill just start experimenting but thought i would ask for suggestions here first.
what about using some applesauce from apples that are naturally sweet. Chop up some peeled and cored sweet apples and cook them down. fill a pot with chopped apples and some water to keep apples from burning to pan. add water as needed to keep from scorching. it is hard to determine amt of water as some apples are jucier than others. store bought applesauce usually has added sugar or corn syrup. just a thought. perhaps add some agave nectar as an alternative to the maple syrup.
You could also use Agave Nectar for sweetness. Agave does not raise your blood glucose.
Agave absolutely raises blood glucose just FYI. Only natural non-spiking sweeteners I’d recommend are erythritol (a sugar alcohol), bochasweet (kabocha squash extract, monk fruit (lo han hip), or stevia.
I buy no sugar applesauce in small individual cups to bake with. You can go to the baby food aisle and pick up a veggies-fruit mixture without sugar too. You can also take 2 large medjool dates, put them in some warm water and melt them down a bit and cool. Then I put the eggs and dates in a small food processor to get them incorporated well.
Dates do not process in our bodies like other sugars, a good source of fiber, and they are delicious. Agave is worse than sugar in our livers not raising blood sugar, but making more fat cells. It is not healthy… remember marketing money is what we hear. There is monk fruit, lucema, Xylitol, and coconut sugar alternatives, too.
I have used 2 small envelopes of stevia in recipes like this. A bit of sweetness brings up the flavors. You can always up your spices, too.
DR OZ SAID When you eat fructose-rich agave, your body does not release nearly as much insulin as it does when you eat regular sugar. This can affect how your body releases a hormone called leptin, which helps to control appetite. At the same time, experts believe that fructose is converted into fat more rapidly than glucose is. This can lead to several alarming consequences. The first is that people who eat a lot of agave are at risk for weight gain, especially belly fat. The second is that agave may actually increase insulin resistance for both diabetics and non-diabetics.
Apple sauce
OMG I am making these today – they look so good! I may just add some lime into the mix and boom they will be fabulous!
Ohh I’ve been craving zucchini bread lately and this looks delicious! Love the idea of making muffins with it for a quick on-the-go snack!