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Zucchini Spice Bread

Zucchini spice bread with a deeply aromatic cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and cloves blend, baked into a golden loaf. Grated zucchini adds moisture for a tender spiced crumb, finished with turbinado sugar on top.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
cooling 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings: 10 servings
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Calories: 310
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Dry ingredients
  • 1.5 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 0.5 tsp baking powder
  • 0.5 tsp salt
  • 1.5 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 0.5 tsp allspice
  • 0.25 tsp ground cloves
  • 0.25 tsp nutmeg
Wet ingredients
  • 0.75 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 2 eggs
  • 0.33 cup vegetable oil
  • 0.25 cup molasses
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1.5 cup zucchini, grated and squeezed dry
Topping
  • 1 Turbinado sugar for sprinkling on top

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan
  • 1 cast iron skillet

Method
 

Preheat and prepare the pan
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 9x5 loaf pan. Set the pan aside while you mix the batter.
Mix the dry ingredients
  1. Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and all spices together in a bowl. Whisk until the spices look evenly distributed.
Mix the wet ingredients
  1. Beat brown sugar, eggs, oil, molasses, and vanilla until smooth. Stop once the mixture is glossy and well combined.
Add zucchini
  1. Stir in grated squeezed zucchini. Mix just enough to coat the zucchini with the wet batter.
Combine and bake
  1. Fold dry ingredients into wet until just combined. Do not overmix; the batter should look thick with no dry streaks.
Finish loaf and bake
  1. Pour batter into the loaf pan, sprinkle turbinado sugar over the top, and bake 55–65 minutes. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean and the top is fragrant and golden.
Cool and slice
  1. Cool the loaf 15 minutes before slicing. Let it rest in the pan until slightly set so slices hold their shape.

Notes

Pro tip: squeeze the grated zucchini very dry so the loaf bakes up with a tender, not gummy, crumb. Store tightly wrapped at room temperature up to 2 days or refrigerate up to 5 days; freeze sliced pieces up to 2 months. For a lower-fat option, replace the vegetable oil with an equal amount of unsweetened applesauce (texture will be slightly softer, not as rich).