A healthy summer treat with a serving of zucchini mixed into this sweet and delicious Zucchini Banana Bread! Made gluten-free with oat flour, sweetened with unrefined sugars including banana and maple syrup and a healthy dose of chocolate, this healthy zucchini bread will quickly become a new favorite snack.

The Best Healthy Zucchini Bread Recipe!

If you subscribe to the THM meal plans then you’ll be fully up-to-date on my gardening adventures! Unlike last year’s garden in our very shaded yard in California, our sunny Minnesota garden is absolutely thriving. In fact, it’s kind of out of control! Our zucchinis are especially prolific and I’m at the point where I’m just handing out zucchinis to anyone who shows up at our house. Thankfully I have plenty of zucchini recipes up my sleeve including this zucchini banana bread.

What I love about this healthy loaf recipe is that it’s entirely sweetened with unrefined sugars like maple syrup and the natural sweetness of bananas. It’s also gluten-free (love me some oat flour!) and dairy-free if you choose to grease your loaf pan with coconut oil. I’ve heard this healthy zucchini bread is a real hit with the kiddos. Would love to hear your thoughts!

Ingredients in Zucchini Banana Bread:

• Oat flour – you can buy oat flour or make your own by grinding up rolled oats. This recipe will also work with whole wheat flour if you can tolerate gluten.
• Bananas – Mashed bananas for sweetness and moisture
• Zucchini – Be sure to shred and remove all excess moisture from the zucchini otherwise it will affect the outcome.
• Maple syrup – Honey will also work or any other liquid sweetener.
• Eggs – 2 large eggs. I have not tried this with any egg substitutes, unfortunately!
• Spices – cinnamon and nutmeg add a nice spicy flavor to this healthy zucchini bread.
• Baking powder – for rise.
• Chocolate chips – because what’s zucchini banana bread without chocolate chips? You could replace the chocolate chips with nuts like walnuts or pecans.
• Sea salt – this helps to enhance the sweetness, however feel free to omit if watching sodium levels.

A quick note: This zucchini banana bread is not extremely sweet. Sweetness will depend entirely on the ripeness of your bananas. If you like things a bit sweeter I’d recommend adding 1/4-1/2 cup of brown sugar or coconut palm sugar.

How to Make Healthy Zucchini Banana Bread

STEP 1: COMBINE DRY INGREDIENTS

In a large bowl whisk together oat flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder and sea salt.

STEP 2: MIX WET INGREDIENTS

In a separate bowl mash up bananas and add in maple syrup and eggs.

STEP 3: COMBINE BATTER

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and fold in zucchini and chocolate chips.

STEP 4: BAKE

Add mixture to loaf pan and bake for 50-60 mins. Loaf is done when top is firm to touch and no batter remains when poked with a toothpick or fork. Let sit in loaf pan for 20 mins before removing and allowing to cool to room temperature on a wire rack.

Baking with Zucchini

The most important thing to know about baking with zucchini is that it holds a lot of water! So it’s important to shred it and squeeze out all water.

Grate zucchini into a separate bowl or onto a clean kitchen towel. Take the kitchen towel or paper towels and squeeze out all of the excess liquid from the zucchini. The end result will be a big ball of shredded zucchini that you’ll add to the batter.

Storage Instructions

This healthy zucchini banana bread will keep up to 2-3 days if left well-wrapped on the countertop or longer in the fridge.

Alternatively, you can store in the freezer wrapped in plastic wrap and aluminum foil for up to 3 months. Remove the night before to thaw on countertop.

Can you Make These as Muffins?

Yes you can! Just be sure to line your muffin pan with paper liners and bake for 20-25 minutes. I’d also recommend trying out these chocolate zucchini muffins if that’s more your style!

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