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Blueberry Zucchini Bread

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Sweet zucchini bread loaded with juicy blueberries and topped with a tart lemon glaze. This easy zucchini bread recipe is super moist, uses a ton of zucchini, and doesn’t require a mixer!

Lemon Glazed Blueberry Zucchini Bread For Breakfast

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I’m glad I have this super easy Lemon Glazed Blueberry Zucchini Bread recipe because I’ve got zucchinis coming at me left, right, and center!

If you’ve ever planted zucchini before, you’ll know that when the plant starts flowering, it’s game time.

So if you were wondering, this is why people put zucchini in bread!

Zucchini bread is one of my absolute favorite ways to use up a lot of zucchini.

Normally I make a traditional cinnamon-spiced version, but I had a ton of blueberries and lemons leftover from my Blueberry Lemon Chia Puddings, and I knew they’d be perfect in this recipe!

To create this recipe, I used America’s Test Kitchen’s “Zucchini Bread” recipe as a base. It has the best proportions and ingredients of any zucchini bread recipe I’ve used over the years.

I will say, if you’re going to sign up for any subscription in your life, I highly recommend signing up for a membership to ATK. I’m not sponsored or affiliated, but their recipes work every time. It’s a great way to build confidence in the kitchen.

The recipe doesn’t call for cinnamon, or brown sugar, or even vanilla. Therefore, we’re left with a lot of room for creativity and tweaks.

A slice of Blueberry Zucchini Bread

The original recipe does call for tangy yogurt and lemon juice, which pairs very nicely with blueberry bread. I used a 2% greek yogurt and threw in a little lemon zest to brighten the flavor even more.

I love the way this recipe drains the zucchini too. So much liquid is extracted, which ensures the loaf will cook well, and not get soggy.

Draining the zucchini also makes it possible for us to toss in some juicy blueberries, without waterlogging the loaf

And because I just can’t leave well enough alone (and because I still have 1/2 a bag of lemons left), I pour a tangy lemon glaze all over the top of the bread.

The result? A perfect slice of sweet, tart, garden-y goodness! It’s so sweet, so fresh, and so lovely, you owe it to yourself to make a loaf.

Heck! Make a couple and freeze one for later!

How to make a Blueberry Zucchini Bread with Lemon Glaze

Ingredients to make Blueberry Zucchini Bread with Lemon Glaze

Makes 1 9×5″ Loaf

Adapted from America’s Test Kitchen’s “Zucchini Bread” recipe.

The Ingredients You’ll Need:

  • 2- 2 1/2 cups of unpeeled, shredded zucchini (about 13 ounces of zucchini, after scooping out the big seeds)
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 heaping teaspoon lemon zest (zest of two small lemons)*
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup of white sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup of plain yogurt (I used 2% greek yogurt, but use what you have) or whole milk
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice*
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups of blueberries, fresh or frozen

Lemon Glaze

  • 1 cup of powdered sugar
  • Zest of one small lemon*
  • 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon lemon juice*

To make–combine the lemon zest and powdered sugar in a small bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and stir. The glaze should be thick, but still pours off a spoon. If the glaze is too thick, add a teaspoon of lemon juice to thin it out.

*The whole recipe uses about 3 small lemons.

Instructions for making the bread:

Grate zucchini and toss with 2 tablespoons of the sugar. Let zucchini drain in a colander set over a bowl for 30 min.

Shredded zucchini draining in a colander

Preheat oven to 375° and grease and flour a 9×5″ loaf pan.

Melt the butter and set aside to cool while you prep the rest of the ingredients.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, lemon zest and salt in a medium sized bowl and set aside.

In another bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together the butter, yogurt, eggs, remaining 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons of sugar, vanilla and lemon juice until combined.

Once the zucchini is done draining for 30 minutes, leave in the colander and using some paper towels, press as much additional water out as possible. I ended up with 1/2 cup of water removed.

Add the zucchini to the yogurt mixture.

Add the blueberries to the dry ingredients and give a quick toss to coat. This will keep the blueberries from sinking to the bottom of the loaf.

Blueberries tossed in all purpose flour

Fold the zucchini mixture into the dry ingredients gently as to not mash up the blueberries.

Continue folding until there are no more visible flour streaks.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake at 375° for 60-70 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean in the center.

Blueberry Zucchini Bread batter in a loaf pan

Allow to cool in the pan for about an hour before removing.

Pour prepared glaze over the cooling zucchini bread and let cool completely.

Slice and serve with a strong cup of coffee.

Prepping and Draining the Zucchini:

Zucchini is an extremely watery vegetable, so by draining the zucchini before we mix it into the bread ensures that it will bake through and won’t sink in the middle or get soggy.

We use a little sugar to help draw out the moisture of the grated zucchini. This also helps to tenderize the vegetable, remove any bitterness, and of course, add extra sweetness!

After draining in the colander, we take some paper towels and give the zucchini a good squeeze. This is just to make sure we’ve gotten out as much water as possible.

If you happen to be using a large or overgrown zucchini, it’s still good to use for bread, just scoop out the seeds before shredding and draining. The seeds tend to be bitter and super watery and just unpleasant to eat.

Should I peel the zucchini before grating it?

A loaf of baked blueberry zucchini bread in the loaf pan

Nope!

The skin is so thin and so tender, that you do not need to peel it before grating it.

Leaving the skin on also adds nice little green flecks throughout the bread.

Can extra Zucchini be frozen?

It can be hard to estimate how much zucchini you have vs how much you need for a recipe.

So if you find yourself with a little more shredded zucchini than the recipe calls for, freeze it!

The frozen grated zucchini will be great in breads, zucchini pancakes, soups and stews.

If you want to use frozen zucchini for bread, pancakes or other baked goods, make sure to thaw in the fridge first and drain the excess moisture by letting it sit in a colander and squeezing with a paper towel.

Storing your Blueberry Zucchini Bread:

Glazed Lemon Blueberry Zucchini Bread

Your Blueberry Zucchini Bread can be stored on the countertop for 3-4 days–though I’m sure it’ll be devoured faster than that!

Leave the top of the bread uncovered. This will keep the glaze from melting into the bread.

To prevent the loaf from drying out, I would take a piece of plastic wrap and press it up against the exposed cut side of the bread. This will help the interior stay moist, but keep the glaze intact.

If you live in a particularly humid area, the freshness will decline a little more rapidly, so storing your loaf in the fridge would be a good option as well.

You can freeze this bread, but don’t glaze it until after it’s thawed.

When you’re ready to eat, thaw on the countertop, and then pour the glaze all over it!

Image of a whisk

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Other Recipes You Might Like:

Healthy Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Dairy Free Banana Bread

Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread

Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins

Blueberry Lemon Chia Pudding

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

Yield: 1 Loaf
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes

Moist bread full of blueberries, zucchini and topped with a tart lemon glaze. Each slice is a little piece of summer!

Ingredients

  • 2- 2 1/2 cups of unpeeled, shredded zucchini (about 13 ounces of zucchini, after scooping out the big seeds)
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 heaping teaspoon lemon zest (zest of two small lemons)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup of white sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup of plain yogurt (I used 2% greek yogurt, but use what you have) or whole milk
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups of blueberries, fresh or frozen

Lemon Glaze

  • 1 cup of powdered sugar
  • Zest of one small lemon
  • 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Instructions

To Make The Bread

  1. Grate zucchini and toss with 2 tablespoons of the sugar. Let zucchini drain in a colander set over a bowl for 30 min.
  2. Preheat oven to 375° and grease and flour a 9x5" loaf pan.
  3. Melt the butter and set aside to cool while you prep the rest of the ingredients.
  4. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, lemon zest and salt in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
  5. In another bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together the butter, yogurt, eggs, remaining 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons of sugar, vanilla and lemon juice until combined.
  6. Once the zucchini is done draining for 30 minutes, leave in the colander and using some paper towels, press as much additional water out as possible. I ended up with 1/2 cup of water removed.
  7. Add the zucchini to the yogurt mixture.
  8. Add the blueberries to the dry ingredients and give a quick toss to coat. This will keep the blueberries from sinking to the bottom of the loaf.
  9. Fold the zucchini mixture into the dry ingredients gently as to not mash up the blueberries. 
  10. Continue folding until there are no more visible flour streaks.
  11. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake at 375° for 60-70 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean in the center.
  12. Allow to cool in the pan for about an hour before removing.
  13. Pour prepared glaze over the cooling zucchini bread and let cool completely before slicing.

To Make The Lemon Glaze

  1. Combine the lemon zest and powdered sugar in a small bowl.
  2. Add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and stir. The glaze should be thick but still pour off a spoon. If the glaze is too thick, add a teaspoon of lemon juice to thin it out.


Notes

The entire recipes uses about 3 small lemons

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 262Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 48mgSodium: 259mgCarbohydrates: 45gFiber: 2gSugar: 26gProtein: 5g

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