This zucchini banana bread uses up two foods we are always looking to bake into something else: bananas and zucchinis! The best of both worlds, this delicious quick bread recipe makes two loaves, one for now and one for later!
If you are looking for another unique recipe for either of those, try my pumpkin banana bread or my lemon zucchini bread! Both are great!
Grated Zucchini and Mashed Banana for the Perfect Loaf
This quick bread recipe is perfect for when you want to use zucchini and some of those overripe bananas from your freezer. This came about because I have a zucchini that was too scrungy to roast in the oven, as I had originally intended, so what is a girl do? She bakes that zucchini into a banana bread of course! Zucchini bread is always a good idea, just like banana bread!
And in the style that is completely true to me, this recipe yields two loaves, because why make a mess in the kitchen for one loaf only? This zucchini banana bread will freeze perfectly if you have a little leftover, but we rarely do with four of us in the family. I usually bake up two loaves on Thursday for the weekend and by the time the weekend is over everyone has snacked on the loaves for three breakfasts and three snacks and it is finished!
Ingredients for Zucchini Banana Bread
If you have bananas and you have the zucchini you already have the most complicated parts of this recipe! The rest is just your basics.
- grated zucchini
- overripe bananas
- eggs
- white and brown sugars
- vanilla extract
- vegetable oil or applesauce
- flour, baking soda, baking powder, ground cinnamon, nutmeg and salt
How to Make Zucchini Banana Bread
This is one of those quick bread recipes where you combine all the wet ingredients in one bowl with the sugars to dissolve them, and then you whisk together the dry ingredients in another bowl then combine the two until they are just mixed together. Those are my favorite kinds of quick bread, it may be two different bowls to clean this way, but by combining the wet ingredients with the sugar always seems to make the best bread ever.
- First combine your eggs, mashed bananas, brown and white sugars, vanilla extract, and vegetable oil.
- Whisk together all of your dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
- Mix together the wet ingredients and the dry ingredients until just combined then stir in the zucchini.
- Divide between two greased loaf pans.
- Bake in the oven until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven, let cool in the pans for five minutes and then transfer to a wire baking rack to cool completely.
Tips and Tricks for Zucchini Banana Bread
- I used zucchini where patches on the peel were just starting to go, I simply removed the wrinkly patches of the peel that weren’t any good and used the rest of the zucchini by shredding it. This was a great way to prevent waste, the zucchini wasn’t good enough to roast but it definitely was still good enough to grate into banana bread!
- You can definitely replace the oil with applesauce in this recipe.
- Feel free to play around with the sugars if you have really ripe bananas that are super sweet.
Freezing Shredded Zucchini
I had another two cups of shredded zucchini leftover from that zucchini, so all you have to do to freeze it is place it in a Ziploc and lay it flat, pushing most of the air out and then sealing it up. Place it in the freezer for future recipes, just simply defrost it and use it! You can use it in my zucchini chocolate chip cookies or my chocolate zucchini bread!
Happy baking everyone! I hope that you enjoy this recipe, this is another one that I’m going to keep in my back pocket when I have those freezer bananas to use up!
Love,
Karlynn
Zucchini Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup mashed bananas
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1-1/2 cups shredded zucchini do not blot the moisture away with paper towels
Optional Add-Ins – you can add up to two cups
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350° °F. Grease two standard 9×5 loaf pans and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
- In another large bowl, whisk together the eggs, bananas, white and brown sugar, vanilla, and oil.
- Make a well in the dry ingredients, then pour the banana mixture into the flour mixture.
- Mix until just combined.
- Stir in the zucchini and a cup of your chosen addition until the zucchini is mixed throughout.
- Using a spatula, divide the batter between the prepared loaf pans. Tap each loaf pan on the counter gently to remove any bubbles and make sure to flatten the top of the batter evenly with a spatula.
- Bake until a toothpick or a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean 55-60 minutes. If the tops of the loaves start browning too quickly, cover with aluminum foil.
- Remove from the oven and cool until you are able to touch the pans safely.
- Turn the loaves out onto a wire baking rack to finish cooling completely.
- These will last for 3-5 days at room temperature in a sealed container, and you can wrap them up and freeze them as well.
Notes
- Calories are PER LOAF
- These freeze perfectly, simply wrap really well and place in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Do not blot the moisture from the shredded zucchini, you need it in the batter
Nutrition
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Wendy Grafe says
Super moist
Thank you
M says
I have an old favorite banana bread that I would never substitute for another one….except this recipe! Delicious, even doubled the recipe and it came out perfect. Thank you for my new favorite!