Zucchini Banana Bread Recipe is a healthy treat everyone will love! Add chocolate chips or turn into muffins with this versatile dessert! Zucchini Bread & Banana Bread come together in this perfectly moist bread.
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Zucchini and banana come together for the perfect delicious treat: Zucchini Banana Bread!
Our Healthy Zucchini Bread, Healthy Zucchini Muffins, and Healthy Banana Bread are some of our favorite desserts so it only made sense to combine the two for a yummy bread.
Zucchini Banana Bread
Zucchini and banana are the perfect combination for a dessert because they add both sweetness and moisture – leaving you with a lightly sweet, perfectly moist, cake-like bread.
This healthy banana zucchini bread is super easy to make with only a few ingredients. Here’s why we love it:
Why we love this zucchini bread recipe:
We love this recipe for many reasons! Here are a few:
- Whole wheat flour– I used whole wheat flour in this recipe rather than bleached white flour. Whole wheat flour is a great source of whole grains and much better for you than regular white flour! This is the whole wheat flour I like
- Low in sugar – This recipe is sweetened only by ripe bananas and a touch of honey (and some optional chocolate chips) Many banana bread recipes are loaded with sugar, but this has only 11g of all natural sugar per slice.
- Low fat – Instead of using a ton of butter or canola oil, this recipe uses a tiny bit of olive oil to keep it moist. The zucchini and banana also help keep the bread moist, which makes it pretty low fat (only 3g of fat per slice)
- Veggies! This recipe has a whole cup of zucchini in it. Sneaky veggies for the win!
If you’ve got bananas to use up, this is the perfect recipe! Banana Overnight Oats, Healthy Banana Breakfast Cookies or Air Fryer Bananas are also good options!
Ingredients for Healthy Banana Zucchini Bread
To make Banana Zucchini Bread you’ll need:
- olive oil
- egg
- vanilla extract
- honey
- banana
- zucchini
- whole wheat flour
- cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger
- baking powder, baking soda
- mini chocolate chips (optional)
You can find substitutions for all of these ingredients below in the green shaded substitutions box.
How Do You Make Zucchini Banana Bread?
Making Zucchini Banana Bread is easy!
- Preheat oven to 350 + prepare a greased 8×4 loaf pan.
- In a large bowl mix together olive oil, egg, vanilla extract, honey, and zucchini.
- Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients (oat flour, spices, baking powder/baking soda)
- Pour batter into greased loaf pan + top with additional chocolate chips if desired
- Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes, or until top of bread is golden and cake tester comes out clean. Allow bread to cool completely for at least 20 minutes, remove from pan + enjoy!
Zucchini Banana Bread Recipe Variations
These cookies are pretty versatile. Here are a few ways you can customize them!
Olive Oil: You can substitute olive oil with canola oil or coconut oil.
Vanilla Extract: You can omit vanilla extract from the recipe and it will still turn out fine.
Honey: I haven’t tried subbing honey for maple syrup but I think it would work.
To make lower in sugar: omit chocolate chips
Spices: You can omit the ground ginger and nutmeg if you don’t have any. Add a little bit more cinnamon to compensate!
Nuts: You can add in chopped pecans or walnuts. Raisins would also be a nice add in!
Whole Wheat Flour: I have not tried this recipe with other flours. Gluten free flour might work, but I can’t be sure without testing it. Our Healthy Zucchini Bread recipe is made with oat flour and can be made with gluten free oat flour. You can’t substitute almond or coconut flour in this recipe. It will not work.
Weight Watchers: The points for this recipe were calculated for the blue plan as follows: Olive Oil (3SP), Honey (12SP), Whole Wheat Flour (18SP) Chocolate Chips are optional and not included in the points. 33/8 = 4
Gluten Free: I haven’t tried making this recipe gluten free. I don’t know if gluten free flour would work in this recipe. You could try this Gluten Free Vegan Zucchini Cake if you’re looking for a gluten free option!
Healthy Zucchini Banana Bread Muffins: Pour the batter into greased or lined muffin tins. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center of the muffin.
Mini Loaves – I haven’t tried making this recipe into mini loaves, but I think it would work! Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center of the loaf pan.
How to store zucchini bread:
Storing Zucchini Banana Bread: You can store this bread covered on your counter for a few days, but I recommend keeping it in the refrigerator for freshness!
It will last up to a week in the refrigerator – but will lose its freshness after about 3 days on the counter.
How to freeze Zucchini Banana Bread: You can slice this bread and individually wrap it or freeze it whole. To defrost a whole loaf – take it out the night before you’d like to enjoy it and set it in the refrigerator. When you’re ready to serve – pop in the microwave.
If you’re defrosting a single slice, you can put it directly in the microwave or toaster oven until it is warm.
Zucchini Banana Bread FAQ
Yes, you need to squeeze water out of zucchini for bread. If you don’t squeeze the water out of zucchini for this bread you’ll wind up with a soggy, mushy loaf of zucchini bread
Zucchini Bread does taste like banana bread and has a similar texture. This recipe has bananas in it too, so it’s the perfect combo of zucchini and banana.
Your zucchini bread may get gummy if you don’t properly squeeze out the zucchini before baking. You have to squeeze the water out of the zucchini before adding it to the batter to ensure it bakes correctly. Your zucchini bread also might be gummy if you used a different flour or made substitutions in the recipe.
Most banana bread recipes are loaded with sugar, fat, and carbs. It’s a highly palatable food which makes it easy to overeat. This Zucchini Banana Bread recipe is made with less sugar and fat, so it’s a better option for you.
Other healthy breakfast recipes:
We love healthy bread and dessert recipes. Here are some of our favorites:
Zucchini Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 egg room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup honey
- 3/4 cup mashed banana about 1.5 bananas
- 1 cup grated zucchini *squeezed to remove water about 1 medium zucchini
- 1.5 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 + prepare a greased 8×4 loaf pan.
- In a large bowl mix together olive oil, egg, vanilla extract, honey, banana and zucchini.
- Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients (whole wheat flour, spices, baking powder/baking soda)
- Fold in mini chocolate chips if using.
- Pour batter into greased loaf pan + top with additional chocolate chips if desired
- Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes, or until top of bread is golden and cake tester comes out clean. Allow the bread to cool completely for at least 20 minutes, remove from pan + enjoy!
Ashley J Eberle says
Could you use almond flour in this recipe?
The Clean Eating Couple says
No you can’t substitute almond or coconut flour in this recipe. It will not work. Sorry! This is noted under the substitutions section in the post.
Sophia says
Could you substitute a flax egg in this recipe?
The Clean Eating Couple says
I haven’t tried it so I can’t be sure!
Molly says
Sooo good!! Made on Sunday and now having it for the kids’ afternoon snacks for the week! I didn’t have whole-wheat flour so I used oat flour and it’s great. Just sweet enough that my kids think it’s a treat 🙂
The Clean Eating Couple says
So glad that you liked it, Molly! Thank you!
Traci M Starkweather says
Hello! I have never made anything with zucchini before. For the recipe without bananas, how do I cut the zucchini? And also what is the right way to remove the water please?
The other thing I’m curious about is, my Dad is now on a low sodium, low phosphate diet. Is there anyway to know these numbers in home-made recipes?
Thank you very, very much!
Traci Starkweather
The Clean Eating Couple says
Hi Traci – I’m not sure what you mean for the recipe without bananas. This recipe needs bananas, so don’t skip them. Here’s a if you don’t like banana try this. You grate the zucchini with a cheesegrater. Here’s a tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbWXuRtU2IU. Unfortunately I can’t give you exact numbers on salt/phosphates. Nutrition facts vary depending on the ingredients you use. You could try using an app like MyFitness Pal.
Katie says
Turned out super delicious and so moist! I used apple sauce and a half of one mashed banana. I also used 1 cup of gluten free and 1/2 cup of oat flour. So happy with how it tasted. I had to go back for a second slice. I didn’t even wait until it was cooled. It smelled too good not to taste right out of the oven. I will definitely make this recipe again. 😊
The Clean Eating Couple says
So glad you liked it, Katie! Thank you so much!
Lori says
Hi… I’m making this now and noticed in the video it says almond milk. I do not see almond milk in the recipe. Since I’m almost done making it I guess I’ll just skip the almond milk?
The Clean Eating Couple says
There is no milk or almond milk in this recipe!
Iva Smith says
All looks good