I love the flavor of lemon all year round, but there’s something about spring and summer that screams out to me “Bake with LEMON!” Okay! I will!!! How about some Lemon Zucchini Bread. Genius combination, Right? Have you ever tried this combo in a tea bread before?
Well, if you haven’t, let me just say, you really need to put it on your bread recipes. It’s a summer must try, in my humble opinion 🙂
It’s really quick and easy to put together. In fact, this loaf is actually considered a quick bread or tea bread. Quick bread has always been one of my favorite things to bake. As with most quick bread, this is actually more like a Lemon Zucchini Cake, in my book. And I think that’s a delicious, good thing.
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What I Love About This Recipe
Not only is this loaf super delicious, but it’s also a great recipe to make when your garden is overflowing with freshly grown delicious zucchini. If you’re not a home gardener, no worries, the zucchini from the supermarket works just as well. The zucchini not only adds a pretty green fleck to this bread it also helps create a moist texture, I think you’ll really love.
Does anything sound better than a lemon zucchini bread with lemon glaze? How about that same bread with TWO Lemon glazes! Okay. I gotcha, TWO glazes it is!
The lemon flavor in this bread is really rock star quality. The bread itself has got a one-two lemon punch with lemon extract and lots of fresh lemon zest.
After the bread is baked and is still warm, it’s brushed with a wonderful lemon syrup. If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you might remember a similar orange syrup I made and glazed on an amazing Orange Pound Cake.
As if all that lemon deliciousness wasn’t enough, this yummy lemon zucchini bread is crowned with a lovely lemon glaze.
The flavors are all about summer. Bright sunny lemon and fresh tender zucchini.
Recipe Notes for Lemon Zucchini Bread:
Mixing~ The key to making a tender quick bread is all in how you mix the batter. The wet ingredients need to be thoroughly mixed together in one bowl and the dry ingredients need to mixed well in another bowl. Then, when the two are combined, it’s best to fold the wet and dry ingredients together, by hand, just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Do not overmix! Do not use an electric mixer! Do not stir vigorously! If the batter gets overmixed the finished bread will be tough.
Top Cracking~If the top of your bread cracks, don’t panic. It’s not a mistake. It’s just a characteristic of quick bread! I call it charm 🙂
Ingredient Notes
Lemon Extract~To create a deep, clean, bright lemon flavor, you really need to use a little lemon extract. I love using fresh lemon juice in my recipes, but in this recipe, lemon juice creates a very mild flavor compared to what the lemon extract will do.
Lemon oil is not the same thing as lemon extract. Only use the lemon extract in this recipe.
I use Pam Baking Spray to coat my baking pans. It’s different than the regular baking spray because it contains flour.
Lemon Zest~To complement and round out the lemon flavor I add fresh lemon zest. All of the essential oils that create the intense flavor of the fruit are concentrated in the zest. Don’t skip this ingredient! You can only get it from fresh lemons so don’t think of substituting fresher lemons with the plastic fake out lemon juice bottle. I use a Microplaner to quickly and easily remove the zest from the lemons without adding any of the bitter pith (the white part of the lemon peel)
Lemon Syrup~I use the smallest saucepan I have to make this. You only need to cook the lemon juice and sugar until the sugar completely dissolves. Remember to make this while your bread is in the oven baking. I start my syrup as soon as I pop the bread into the oven. It only takes a few minutes, so I just set it aside until the bread is done. Really, the important point is, you want to have the syrup ready so that you can start brushing it onto the bread as soon as you pull the bread from the oven. I coat the top of the bread 3-4 times while it’s cooling in the pan, then continue to coat the top and sides when it’s out of the pan and cooling on a baking rack.
Avoid a sticky mess! Setting the baking rack over a baking sheet makes cleaning up much easier. The baking sheet catches any of the syrup that would otherwise end up on your counters when you’re brushing the loaf.
Lemon Glaze~The Lemon Glaze is simply a mixture of lemon juice and powdered sugar. I start with the powder sugar in a small mixing bowl, then slowly drizzle the lemon juice in while whisking.  The exact amount of lemon juice added may vary a bit each time you make it due to the moisture content naturally occurring in the powdered sugar.
Tools to Make
Two mixing bowls and a spoon is really all the kitchen equipment you’ll need to prep the batter. How easy is that! Yay! No need to lug out my heavy standing mixer!
Recipe Variations
Lemon Poppy Seed Zucchini Bread~To convert this bread to Lemon Poppy Seed Zucchini Bread, which is of course really yummy, simply add 2 tablespoons of poppy seeds at step 2 along with the sugar, vegetable oil, egg, lemon extract and lemon zest and proceed with the rest of the recipe.
Lemon Zucchini Muffins~This Quick Bread can easily be converted to Lemon Zucchini Muffins. The recipe below produces approximately 4 cups of batter. Muffin tins use 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of batter per muffin, depending on the size of your tin. Fill the tins 3/4s full of batter and bake.
Your exact baking time will vary slightly based on the volume of your tin. I bake my muffins in a 350 degree preheated oven for 28-35 minutes
Lemon Zucchini Bread with Lemon Glaze
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
- 1 Large Egg Lightly Beaten
- 1 Tablespoon Lemon Extract
- 2 Tablespoon Fresh Lemon Zest
- 1 Cup Zucchini Shredded
- 1 1/2 Cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder
Lemon Syrup:
- 1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 1/4 Cup Fresh Lemon Juice
Lemon Glaze:
- 1 Cup Powdered Sugar Sifted
- 2-4 Tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray an 8 X 4-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- Â Make the Bread;Â In a large mixing bowl, mix together sugar, vegetable oil, egg, lemon extract and lemon zest. Fold in zucchini. Set aside.
- In another mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Â Add the flour mixture to zucchini mixture in 2 additions, mixing just until the flour is moistened. Do NOT overmix.
- Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
- Make the Lemon Syrup while bread is baking. In a small saucepan, cook the sugar and lemon juice over low heat until the sugar dissolves. When the cake comes out of the oven, generously brush the top with the lemon syrup. Allow the cake to cool in its pans for 10 minutes, glazing the tops a few more times while it cools in the pan. Remove the cake from the loaf pan and set it on a wire rack, set over the baking tray or a piece of aluminum foil, to catch drips. Brush the sides and top of the cake with the remaining syrup, allowing a couple of minutes between brushings, to allow syrup to absorb into the cake until the syrup is gone. Cool the bread completely.
- Make the Lemon Glaze; In a small mixing bowl, mix together powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons lemon juice until smooth. Add more lemon juice, a teaspoon or so at a time, as needed to reach a thick but pourable consistency. Pour the glaze over the bread. Let it sit out at room temperature until the glaze has dried well.
Fans Also Made:
More Yeast-Free Bread:
More Lemon Desserts…
- Lemon Ricotta Cookies
- Lemon Pound Cake
- Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
- Lemon Buttermilk Cake
- Lemon Brownies
Conclusion
There you have friends! My Favorite Lemon Zucchini Bread Recipe. I hope you love it as much as I do ♥Â
Can I use fresh lemon juice in place of the lemon extract and how much? Thank you.
Hi Carmela. I’ve never made it w/o the lemon extract. If you want to omit it, I’d suggest you add more lemon zest rather than more lemon juice.
I absolutely love the taste of this bread and have made this several times. I’m consistently having an issue with is raising in the middle. I have tried squeezing out the water from the zucchini and also replaced my baking powder. Any further thoughts
Hi Kimberly. The only other think I can think of is perhaps it’s slightly under-baked.
I have a loaf (first time) in the oven now! Lemon is my guy’s favorite flavor and I’m so excited to try this on him!!
I hope you enjoyed this bread, Peggy! This is one of my favorite quick bread 🙂
This stuff is delicious! I freeze zucchini all summer so this is the perfect winter bread. I take the bread out of the pan and put it on a plate. I poke holes with a wooden spoon end and pour that syrup all over it. Then after it cools, I ice it. it is wonderful! Thanks for the recipe. I’m a southern cook, everything is better with syrup, lol
Hi Christy! I’m so happy you enjoyed this bread! I totally agree with you, EVERYTHING is better with syrup!! <3
I love zucchini. Thanks for the bread recipe.
I do too, Emma! I’m happy you like this. Thank you for your positive review!
Can I substitute the sugar with honey? How much will i have to add?
Hi, Ellie-Rose. Thanks for asking. I haven’t tried honey for this recipe. Here’s Taste of Home advice: “Because honey is sweeter than sugar, the rule of thumb is 3/4 cup honey for every cup of sugar.”
There are other reminders before substituting honey, check those tips in this link.
Let us know how it turns out 🙂
The recipe was perfect I had no problems at all I always line my loaf pans with a piece of parchment paper over the edges so I can pop it right out of the pan and The lemon Amount was awesome I did add a few dried cranberries and oh my goodness It was over the moon delicious thank you for the recipe
Glad you loved this recipe, Ruth! This is one of my favorite bread. I gotta add cranberries next time! <3 🙂
Hello Ruth, how much cranberries did you add? Also wondering if ant berries would work.
Hi so glad that I found your page I want to use up my zucchini so so ready to try this recipe But ine question may I use greek yogurt or olive oil instead of the veggie oil? Thanks
Hi Katie! I’m not sure about greek yogurt but you can definitely use olive oil. Happy baking! 😀
Hi there, I make quite a few of your recipes and they are usually very good, despite the Canadian equivalents that don’t match well. However this time, with the lemon loaf, after I brushed it the first time with the syrup, I couldn’t get it out of the loaf pan. So I turned it over onto some foil and it got stuck to the foil, so I couldn’t re position it. Do you have any hints about how to get it out of the loaf pan once it has the syrup on it? I think you have to take it out first and put the syrup on after it is out of the pan. Also, the glaze of lemon juice to icing sugar ratio was too watery. And overall, the lemon flavor was overwhelming and was quite puckering. I would send a photo but can’t figure out how to do that.
Hi Wendy. I’m sorry to hear that your bread didn’t pop out of the pan for you. That’s so frustrating! Gosh, I’ve never had problems with my loaf sticking in this recipe. An easy fix for this problem would be to make an aluminum foil sling by lining the loaf pan with a double thickness of aluminum foil, allowing 2-3 inches to extend over long sides (you will later use these as handles to pull the bread out of the pan). Spray generously with nonstick cooking spray or grease with butter.
I think if the lemon flavor is overwhelming for your family, I would omit the lemon syrup. I guess we like a lot of lemon pucker…LOL <3
Regarding the lemon glaze. I believe that confectioners'sugar must have different moisture contents depending on where you live. When I write new recipes, the confectioners' sugar quantity is always the trickiest to figure out because it seems everyone has a different experience with it. I try really hard to make it always perfect for everyone but it seems like a moving target!!
I hope this helps a bit! <3
I had the same issue which I believe was caused by applying syrup while the load was still in the pan. Simplest solution would be to apply the syrup after removing loaf from the pan. Also I think the syrup may created part of the loaf to break away when it was removed from the pan. Yes, I did wait at least 10 minutes after applying the syrup before removing the loaf and I ran a knife around the edge to minimize any sticking of the loaf to the side of the pan. To confirm my theory: if the syrup was the reason I will need to try the recipe again without applying the syrup when the loaf is removed from the pan. Which I will do because I really like the the idea of combining zucchini and lemon in a sweet loaf.
This is a very tasty loaf! I only use half a cup of sugar in the loaf and just do the lemon syrup and it’s plenty sweet and lemony for us!
Wow that sounds awesome! ? Thank you, Sandy! So glad you like it!
These are fantastic!! I made 2 little changes: reduced the sugar to 3/4 cup and subbed Greek yogurt for half the oil!
I also totally forgot to make the glaze to put on right out of the oven and before I could put on the 2nd glaze, half them were eaten while cooling!
Thanks!
Hi Shannon!
Thanks for sharing your changes. I’m glad you enjoyed!
Your zucchini lemon loaf is the best use of zucchini I’ve found. I’ve made it several times and it turns out delicious every time without fail. People now beg me to make it for them because it is the best lemon loaf they’ve ever tasted and I have to agree! Its marvellous that you can use yellow zucchini and the picky eater has no idea that they are eating zucchini and once they try it they’re hooked lol. I can’t thank you enough for sharing…it’ll be a favourite for years to come!
Oh Donna! You made my day. I’m so happy to hear that the recipe is a “hit” for you too! Thank you for coming back and sharing your experience with everyone. I hope you find more recipes here that you and your family enjoy <3
I am giving your Chicken Enchiladas w/ Sour Cream White Sauce for dinner tonight???? Can’t wait but this recipe also sounds wonderful ???????? thanks for sharing…
Enjoy Shirley!
I wanted to make this but the ads are insane and I can’t read the recipe! For your reference the ads that are completely covering the page are from AdChoices.
Hi Jennifer. First off, let me give you a huge apology! I’m so very sorry about the ads. I have been struggling with getting the invasive ads off my site. I’m not placing any ads that interfer with reading any content. My understanding is that they are being placed on mobile devices that have not updated their OS systems. They’re a cookie placed by an aggressive advertising site from a site you visited prior to getting on my site.
Looks delicious but I can’t read the recipe because the ads are so large on your page and I click to remove and another big one pops up right over the Print button and recipe. Frustrating. I’ll try to print in between pop up ads. Thanks for recipe sharing!
Hi Kaye. I’m so sorry that’s happening. Those ads are not from this site! We will never display such invasive ads. Those pop ups are displaying on mobile devices. They’re a “cookie” from a site that was previously visited. The way to avoid them is to update your operating system on your mobile device. Hope that helps! 🙂
Yum, you had me at two glazes! This sounds incredible, and so refreshing! Great recipe, Kathleen!
Thanks so much Sam!
I love lemon and I especially love baking with zucchini! I feel like you’re a genius putting the two together! I can’t imagine how amazing and moist this is!
Thanks so much Holly!
First time I was taught, by my mom how ti make this bread was when I was 18, 1972. She made it with extra virgin olive oil. Italians are the ultimate cooks
Really enjoying this recipe! Yesterday I added finely chopped chocolate mint leaves and some white chocolate chips, and skipped the glaze (I love butter). Three loaves gone
Helen I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe. Loved your customization!!!
I am definitely saving this one for the parade of zucchini that I know is coming my way in a few months!