Healthy Vegan Zucchini Bread

With freshly grated zucchini, apple sauce, vanilla, and allspice, this deliciously easy-to-make healthy vegan zucchini bread can be enjoyed for breakfast, snack, or even dessert. It’s moist and satisfying without being overly sweet.

Zucchini is usually pretty easy to find all year around here in North Carolina, so I love being able to make this healthy zucchini bread any time we get a hankering for it.

We love this healthy zucchini bread because it’s…

• Fresh
• Packed with wholesome ingredients
• Bursting with flavor
• Vegan
• Oil-free
• Perfectly sweet
• Simply delicious

I love this recipe because it is only lightly sweet, yet bursting with flavor. It is sweetened with apple sauce, apple juice concentrate, and maple syrup. No eggs are required at all.

I often hear people say they need ideas for quick and easy breakfasts because they don’t have time to make anything in the mornings on their way out the door for work or school. This zucchini bread is a great option. Another great loaf is my Vegan Banana Bread recipe.

Serve as breakfast, snack, or dessert. I really like this healthy vegan zucchini bread served warm with a little herbal coffee or hot tea.

How to make vegan zucchini bread

If you are new to cooking healthy, this is a great recipe to start with because it’s so easy to make

Begin by preheating the oven to 350°F.

Wash your zucchini well. I like to leave the peelings on and highly recommend it because grated zucchini can get pretty mushy if you don’t. It also adds lots of fiber.

After washing the zucchini well, grate it whole on a cutting board or in a bowl. You’ll notice that it is full of water which will be great for keeping this bread moist.

In a large mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients–flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and allspice and whisk together.

In a separate bowl, whisk together apple sauce, apple juice concentrate, maple syrup, and vanilla.

Pour the well-blended wet ingredients into the larger bowl with the dry ingredients. Add walnuts, if using. Mix well.

Add the grated zucchini to the bowl and blend thoroughly. You’ll notice this is a nice thick batter. Make sure to combine so that there are no dry places left.

Pour the batter into a baking loaf pan that is lined with parchment paper to prevent sticking, or use a silicone baking pan that requires no oil.

Place in the preheated oven and bake at 350°F for approximately 50 minutes. Remember that oven temperatures vary.

About 40 minutes into cooking, test for doneness. To do this, insert a toothpick into the center point. If the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is done, otherwise place back into the oven and test again in 5-10 minutes.

Remove from oven when done, allow to cool, and serve warm.

Tips for making vegan zucchini bread

Check the bread after about 40 minutes by inserting a toothpick into the thickest center part. When the toothpick comes out clean, the bread is ready.

Baking with zucchini is the perfect way to use up all that zucchini in the garden during the summer.  It’s so exciting to be able to fill my freezer with loaves of this delicious zucchini bread.

We have neighbors that usually have boat-loads of zucchini in the summer, and they love to share the bounty, which I am very thankful for!

Even if you don’t have a garden, zucchini is relatively inexpensive all year round.

Recipe adapted from  Breaking the Food Seduction by Dr. Neal Barnard, President of Physicians Committee.

Vegan zucchini bread recipe Q & A

Can this zucchini loaf be made gluten-free? Though I haven’t tried it, I’m sure it can. Minimalist Baker has a gluten-free baking guide that can help with that.

Can this recipe be made into muffins? Absolutely! Simply use a muffin pan instead of a loaf pan and reduce the cooking time to about 25 minutes. Remember to check around the 20-minute mark for doneness using the tips above.

What if I don’t have apple juice concentrate? To replace the concentrate, you can use apple juice undiluted. The bread won’t be quite as sweet, because apple juice concentrate is much sweeter, but it still will be good.

How long does it keep? I like to keep my cooked loaves in an airtight container in the refrigerator, and it lasts for up to a week.

Can I freeze it? Yes. This recipe freezes well.

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