Vegan Zucchini Bread
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Published Jul 10, 2024
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This healthy vegan zucchini bread is made with almond flour and oat flour and uses avocado and banana to replace the oil. It’s easy to make and absolutely delicious!
Summer = zucchini season! It seems like everyone I know with a garden has zucchini coming out of their ears! I usually start to hoard zucchini around this time thanks to my father-in-law’s garden.
Some of my favorite recipes to make with my abundance of zucchini every summer are my zucchini bread overnight oats, healthy zucchini muffins, turkey zucchini boats and of course this vegan zucchini bread!
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Bread
- Dietary and allergen friendly – This bread is vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, oil-free and only sweetened with 1/4 cup of maple syrup.
- Healthy – This bread is packed with healthy fats, fiber and lots of nutrients thanks to the almond flour, oat flour, banana, avocado and flax egg. It’s a baked good recipe you can feel good about eating!
- Easy – This recipe requires simple, pantry staple ingredients that you likely already have on hand! And it only takes about 10 minutes to prep.
Ingredients Needed
- almond flour & oat flour – the combination of these flours makes the perfect texture of bread with golden brown edges.
- grated zucchini – can’t have zucchini bread without zucchini! I love the texture, moisture and slight taste zucchini adds to baked goods.
- flax egg – mix ground flaxseed and water to make a flaxseed egg which binds the bread together while keeping it vegan.
- mashed avocado & banana – in place of oil, I used mashed avocado and banana. The end result is a loaf that is not too moist and not too dry… just right if you ask me!
- maple syrup – to sweeten this bread just a touch!
- baking powder & baking soda – to help the loaf rise.
- vegan chocolate chips – I love Lily’s Chocolate or Enjoy Life chocolate chips. You can omit the chocolate chips if you don’t want your bread to be as sweet.
Find the printable recipe with measurements below.
Recipe Notes & Substitutions
- Flour: This vegan zucchini bread recipe was tested only with almond and oat flour, so I don’t recommend substituting the flours with something else.
- Flax egg: Don’t need this bread to be vegan? You can use a regular egg instead. Or try my healthy zucchini bread, which is made with whole wheat flour.
- Less sugar: The bread’s sweetness comes from the banana and a little bit of maple syrup, which is one of my favorite natural sweeteners. If you’re looking for a bread with lower sugar content, you can omit the maple syrup and chocolate chips!
- Mix-in’s: Feel free to swap the chocolate chips with your favorite mix-in. Some ideas would be dried fruit or chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans or almonds would be my top choice).
How to Make Vegan Zucchini Bread
Step 1: In a large bowl add the dry ingredients. Stir to combine.
Step 2: In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients until combined.
Step 3: Add the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir until everything is combined.
Step 4: Add the chocolate chips to the bowl and gently stir to evenly distribute the chips.
Step 5: Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan. Top with additional chocolate chips, if desired.
Step 6: Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean. Let the loaf cool completely, slice and enjoy.
Brittany’s Tips!
- Squeeze the zucchini: For the best texture and flavor, make sure to squeeze out as much liquid as possible from the grated zucchini before adding it to the batter. This helps the bread bake evenly and prevents it from becoming too wet. Use a clean dish towel or paper towels to press and wring out the zucchini thoroughly.
- Test for doneness: Insert a toothpick into the center of the bread to check if it’s done. If it comes out clean or with just a few crumbs, it’s ready to come out.
- Cool properly: Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes before transferring it to a cooling rack to cool completely. You don’t want to let the bread cool completely in the loaf pan because it could continue to bake and dry out.
How to Store
Allow your zucchini bread to cool completely before storing. I recommend storing in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week. You can also freeze zucchini bread for up to three months. If you have more zucchini than you know what to do with, I highly recommend making this bread in bulk and freezing for future enjoyment!
When you’re ready to eat it, you can eat cold, but I prefer to heat it up in the toaster oven.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, there is no need to peel the zucchini before grating. The skin is thin and provides additional nutrients and color to the bread.
Since this bread is vegan and gluten-free it’s not going to rise as much as a recipe made with eggs and regular flour.
More Zucchini Recipes
- Zucchini Bread Overnight Oats
- Zucchini Banana Bread
- Roasted Summer Squash and Zucchini
- Spicy Shrimp over Zucchini Noodle Pasta
- Zucchini Brownies
- Healthy Zucchini Muffins
- Turkey Zucchini Boats
- Chocolate Zucchini Bread
If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider leaving a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below.
Vegan Zucchini Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups packed almond flour
- ¼ cup oat flour
- 1 cup grated zucchini, squeezed firmly to release water
- 1 flax egg, 1 Tablespoon ground flaxseed + 2 ½ Tablespoons water
- ¼ cup mashed avocado, about ½ an avocado
- 1 medium banana, mashed, about ⅓ cup
- ¼ cup maple syrup or honey
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ cup vegan chocolate chips, plus more for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a standard loaf pan with parchment paper or grease with oil.
- Grate zucchini, wrap in paper towels or a dish towel and squeeze hard to release as much liquid as possible. Set aside.
- Whisk together ground flaxseed and water in a small bowl to make the flax egg. Set aside.
- In a large bowl add dry ingredients (almond flour, oat flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and sea salt) and stir to combine.
- In another bowl, combine wet ingredients (zucchini, flax egg, avocado, banana, maple syrup and vanilla).
- Add wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir until everything is combined.
- Gently stir in chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and top with additional chocolate chips for decoration (this step is optional, but I like to make it look pretty.)
- Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean. Edges and top of the loaf will be a dark, golden brown color. Let cool completely, slice and enjoy.
Notes
- Flour: This recipe was tested only with almond and oat flour, so I don’t recommend substituting the flours with something else.
- Flax egg: Don’t need this bread to be vegan? You can use a regular egg instead. Or try my healthy zucchini bread, which is made with whole wheat flour.
- Less sugar: The bread’s sweetness comes from the banana and a little bit of maple syrup, which is one of my favorite natural sweeteners. If you’re looking for a bread with lower sugar content, you can omit the maple syrup and chocolate chips!
- Mix-in’s: Feel free to swap the chocolate chips with your favorite mix-in. Some ideas would be dried fruit or chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans or almonds would be my top choice).
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
How ripe does the avocado need to be?
Hey Ann – As long as your avocado gives slightly when you gently press on it then it’s ripe enough! You just want it to feel soft, but not mushy to the touch.
I’m obsessed with this recipe! An all time favourite.
That’s so great, Tania! I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for leaving me a comment and review as well, I appreciate it!
Love all of your recipes! Would I be able to replace almond flour with coconut flour or regular? Also, I don’t have flax but can I replace with applesauce?
Hi, Ashley. I don’t recommend swapping coconut flour as it’s not a 1-for-1 swap. I haven’t tried it with regular flour but you could give it a try. As for replacing the flax, you can just use a regular egg or try a chia egg but I don’t recommend swapping the flax egg with applesauce.
it needed a little more time baking but delicious!!!!!
Baking temps vary depending on your oven! I’m glad you loved this bread though, Donna! Thanks for making it and for the review. 🙂
So yummy and moist! I made half of it without chocolate chips for my toddler and she loves it. And I love that she’s eating zucchini without realizing it 😊.
So pumped this zucchini bread was ah it, Kristin! Thanks for trying it out and coming back to leave a review. I really appreciate it!
Turned out great! It cooked perfectly in the middle but still moist and perfectly gooey when you reheat it. It tastes even better on day 2 and 3!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this vegan zucchini bread, Molly! Thanks so much for making it and coming back to leave a review. I so appreciate it!
I have made this a bunch of times now! I make for my toddlers breakfast sans chocolate chips. He loves it! We used to eat your oatmeal chia cookie every am for breakfast (well, I still do!) but this has been a nice change since my son stopped wanting those. Thanks for the great recipe!
Woo!! So glad you’ve been enjoying this recipe, Kelcie! Thanks for making it and coming back to leave a review. I so appreciate it!
This bread is amazing… so moist and delicious.. I really enjoy all of your recipes!
Yay!! So glad you loved this zucchini bread, Joyce! Thanks so much for the review. I really appreciate it!
Hi! I want to make this for my nephews first birthday cake. Would it hold up as a 6inch 3 layer cake?
Hey Kaitlin – I’m not sure as I haven’t tried it. The layers might be too soft to hold up as a cake. I’m not sure if you saw, but I do have this smash cake recipe 🙂
I followed the recipe and used all almond flour. It came out cooked in the middle and moist. I added some walnuts. It was good!
So glad you loved this recipe, Sherry! Thanks for making it and for the review. I so appreciate it!
Had some zucchini in the freezer I needed to use and this bread did not disappoint. Great texture and delicious. Made it in mini loaves half with chocolate chips for my big kids and half without for my twins. They both went just as fast.
So glad this recipe was a hit, Danielle! Thanks for coming back to leave a review. I so appreciate it!
This was amazing! We ate almost the entire thing in one day. Out of curiosity, if we were to use oil instead of banana/avocado, how much would you recommend? Thank you!
So glad you loved this bread, Deanna!! Would you be looking to swap both the banana and avocado with oil or just one of the ingredients? If you wanted to swap the avocado with oil you could do 1/4 cup. And same with the mashed banana, you could try swapping it with 1/4 cup. I’m not sure how the bread would turn out if you left both those ingredients out though as I haven’t tried it.
LOVE that its VEGAN! However, I made this yesterday but x1.5 the recipe since I had 1.5 cups of shredded zucchini. I put in a 9x5in loaf pan (coated it with coconut oil) and baked it for 55m. It came out golden brown and a clean toothpick, however, its pretty mushy, but still soooo delicious. Maybe I should have baked it longer. Any suggestions?
Hey Aileen – Did you squeeze the excess liquid out of the zucchini before mixing the ingredients together. That could have been the issue.
EBF DID IT AGAIN. SO SO DELICIOUS! HADN’T HAD/MADE ZUCCHINI BREAD BEFORE THIS AND COULDN’T HAVE IMAGINED IT TURNING OUT ANY BETTER. PERFECT BALANCE OF CRUST AND MOISTURE! PERFECT AMOUNT OF SWEETNESS **I did substitute almond butter for the avocado because that’s what I had on hand.
Ahh this makes me so happy to hear, Brennan!! I’m so glad you loved this bread. Thanks for making it and for coming back to leave a comment + star rating and for sharing the sub you made. It’s super helpful for other readers, so I appreciate it!
Absolutely amazing! I have never made or had Zucchini bread and am so pleasantly surprised! ❤
Ahh that makes me so happy to hear, Tara!! So pumped you loved this recipe. Thanks for making it and for coming back to leave a comment + star rating. It means the world to me. 🙂
This is very yummy! Great way to use up some zucchini!
Made this yesterday and it was AMAZING!
So moist so full of taste and energy.
Love love love!
Thank U
Ahh yay!! That makes me so happy to hear, Chaya. I’m so glad you enjoyed this bread! Thanks for making it. 🙂
This Zucchini Bread is AMAZING!!! My family has enjoyed the bread so much that I’ve already made three loafs just this week! It’s so gooey on the inside and is just perfect to fix my sugar cravings. I add more chocolate chips because I’m a dessert person, but this is my favorite sweet treat at the moment. I’m obsessed!
Ahh yay!! So glad this zucchini bread is a hit, EllaRose. 🙂 That makes me so happy to hear! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment + star rating. The reviews are super helpful for other readers, so I appreciate it.
I know this defeats the vegan ess of the recipe, but I don’t have flax seeds. Is 1 egg a correct substitution?
Cheers. X
Yes!! Let me know how it turns out. 🙂
I subbed creamy peanut butter for the avocado because my avocado was bad, and it turned out great! Otherwise I followed the recipe exactly. Will definitely make this again!
Good to know! I’m so glad this bread turned out for you, Kristen. Thanks for coming back to share and for leaving a star rating. The reviews are super helpful for other readers. 🙂
I absolutely love your blog! I look forward to your emails. I added extra cinnamon to this recipe because some comments said they could taste the baking Soda. It tastes like a cinnamon coffee cake! So good! My whole family ate it up
Hey Sarah! So glad you enjoyed this recipe. The original recipe had 2 tsp of baking soda, but I updated the post to be 1 tsp of baking soda and 1 tsp of baking powder because some said it tasted too much like baking soda. 🙂
Okay great, yes it was delicious, I get so many good recipes from you, thanks!
This recipe is looking fantastic 👌 and tasty..i will try to bake.
Hi,
You may want to change your recipe to decrease the baking soda. I made the bread and was disappointed to taste the baking soda. This would help future bakers looking for this type of recipe.
Thanks so much for the comment, Christine. I’m sorry the baking soda taste was disappointing. I’m going to retest and update the recipe.
Hi,
Do you know if this would work without the bananas or if they can be subbed??
Hey Hana – You could sub the bananas with applesauce if you have it.
Hi!
Can I use all applesauce instead of the banana and avocado? All how much applesauce would I need in order to replace the banana?
Hey Annie – That should work just fine! I’d use 1/2 cup of applesauce for 1 mashed banana. Let me know how it turns out for you if you try it!!
Hi! I’m excited to make your almond flour chocolate chip almond flour cookies. I’m staying away from sugar. May I use sugar free syrup or munk fruit as the sweeteners? If so, how much for your recipe?
Thank you so much! I’m very exited!!
Hey Marci – You should be fine with 1/4 cup. Let me know how this bread turns out for you if you end up trying it!
I also had issues with baking soda. It came out too strong taste of baking soda. Is that the correct portion – two teaspoons?
Oh no! I haven’t tested the recipe with less baking soda, but I bet it’d be better with 1 teaspoon baking soda and 1 teaspoon baking powder. I’ll test it! Sorry that yours ended up having a strong baking soda taste, Maureen.
I made a couple of modifications to make this a “five” star. First, make sure you squeeze out the zucchini really well and it will not be mushy. Second, use only 2.5 T water when making the flax egg. Third, I use 1 tsp baking soda and 1 tsp baking powder. (I tried twice with 2 teaspoons soda and both times I could still taste it). Lastly, I add 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts. I love this loaf, make it weekly and eat it for breakfast every day!
I making this right now it is looking delicious
This recipe did not come out right.Way too wet and mushy
I’ve made this twice now and both times it came out really mushy. Is it 1 cup of zucchini before or after squeezing out the water? I’m wondering if that’s where I’ve gone wrong. (I’m measuring out a cup after I squeeze it.) Mushy or not, I still ate it because it’s delish! I’d just like to get it right the next time.
Aargh never mind, I just realized I messed up the setting on my new oven both times.
Yes mine came out mushy also
Hi Kathy! I’m so sorry it came out mushy. Did you follow the recipe exactly?
This is the perfect recipe for me because I’m still pulling plenty of zucchini out of my garden! It looks delicious!
I’m so loving that this has so much goodness in it! And – love your use of avocado in it as well – I’ve been experimenting with baking with avocado and unless there’s cocoa or chocolate involved, my baking experiments have been total fails so I am super pumped to see this gorgeous loaf!
I love zucchini bread and this looks absolutely delicious!
This looks so so good!! Also love the creative idea of using avocado.
I love the use of avocado and banana instead of oil, this sounds really good!
Thanks Danielle. The avocado makes it so moist! You gotta try it. 🙂
I’m seriously craving this now! It sounds so good!
You will love it, Amanda. 🙂
I’m usually very picky about vegan baked good but this one exceeded my expectations! By far the best vegan zucchini bread I’ve had. Very flavorful and incredibly moist. Can’t wait to make this again!
Can I still make this without avacado? I have none and can’t go out and buy any at the moment.