This fluffy flax zucchini bread is spiked with a boatload of healthy goodness and a whole lot of YUM!
Though I’m trying my best to space these bad boys out a bit, holy cow am I on a baking spree! As part of The Great Pantry Purge of 2015 I’ve been knee deep in whole grains, nuts, and dry goods galore so naturally, bakers gonna bake!
bake bake bake bake
Severe Banana Split Bread withdrawls led me to break out my loaf pan yet again and try something new. Well, sort of new. I took my Fluffy Flax Fruit and Veggie Bread recipe, a reader favorite from my days of food photography faux pas, and made a few tasty tweaks. Then I slathered each slice in soft, spreadable, sweet cream cinnamon butter because I’m a complete animal and it’s SO GOOD!
The combination of sweet, nutty zucchini bread with the buttery cinnamon flecked spread was positively fireworks-worthy. Good thing too, considering this was a delicious part of our 4th of July brunch.
God bless America.
Whole Grain Fluffy Flax Zucchini Bread
You can even one-up the entire ordeal and make yourself a little jar of Stephie’s swoon-worthy Cinnamon Honey Butter which totally inspired my sweet spread pairing for this recipe. You should probably make her copycat Texas Roadhouse Rolls too for good measure.
But first, zucchini bread! Let’s do this!
Whole Grain Fluffy Flax Zucchini Bread
Ingredients
- 1 large extra-ripe banana
- 1.5 cups coarsely grated zucchini
- ¾ cup chopped walnuts
- 1 + ¾ cup whole grain wheat flour
- ½ cup ground flaxseed
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon plus extra to taste
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 flax egg or large egg
- ¾ cup packed brown sugar
- ¾ cup milk
- 2 TBSP applesauce
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
tools needed:
extras:
- ¼ cup finely chopped walnuts for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Spritz a 9x5 loaf pan with oil or rub with butter, set aside.
- Place your banana in a microwave safe bowl, covered and heat for 3-4 minutes on high.
- Tilt bowl to the side to pour out any liquid that may have separated, mash with a fork, then set aside to cool.
- Grate your zucchini, pat dry if extra watery, and add to the banana bowl.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, flax, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
- In a separate bowl, gently stir together your egg, milk, applesauce, brown sugar, and vanilla.
- Add the zucchini-banana mixture and fold together until just mixed.
- Pour zucchini mixture into the flour mixture and stir with a fork until just combined.
- Gently fold in walnuts and pour batter into the prepared loaf pan.
- Smooth the top with your spatula and add chopped walnuts to the top of the loaf if you're feeling fancy. Feeling EXTRA fancy? Chocolate chips on top. Do it.
- Bake on center rack for 30 minutes, rotate pan, then bake for an additional 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes clean from the center of the loaf. Bake times may vary a smidge based on oven conditions so my rule of thumb is to always check baked goods a few minutes early and re-test as needed.
- Allow bread to cool in pan for 15 minutes, then gently remove and place onto a wire cooling rack to continue cooling. Enjoy warm or at room temperature, it's great both ways! Store tightly wrapped on the counter for up to 4 days.
- Slather each slice in cinnamon-sugar sprinkled spreadable butter and dive. on. in.
Notes
Nutrition
special diets and swaps
- t-rex chefs: use a large egg or give flax eggs a chance!
- vegansaurus chefs: use your favorite vegan faux butter spread [like Earth Balance] for the cinnamon butter and use one flax or chia egg in the recipe. Easy peasy!
Slice, slather, and enjoy!
Of course the butter is gloriously optional, and since there’s none in the bread itself, you can totally justify the buttery topping, or healthify things even further by skipping it. Though Maybe you should add a little cinnamon to a teeny tiny little pad of softened butter for science’s sake. It really is great both ways!
Judging by the giant half bag of whole grain flour I still have in my possession, you can certainly count on a few more baked goods heading your way! If you’re lucky enough to live near me you can even count on a freshly baked batch on your door step. Though maybe only a few slices. Two. Two slices. I have zero self-control around a fresh baked loaf of zucchini bread!
Though I haven’t had the opportunity to test a gluten-free alternative for this bread, I plan on purchasing a medley of GF flours for the new house to bake with. I’m SO excited to venture into more gluten-free baking! Any tips? Leave me a comment!
Also, I apologize for the T-Swift reference in the beginning of the post.
Just shake it off.
Shake it off.
If you get a chance to try this fluffy flax zucchini bread, let me know! You can leave me a comment here (LOVE checking those daily!) or tag @PEASandCRAYONS on Instagram so I can happy dance over your creations. I can’t wait to see what you whip up!
Do you think I could cook these as muffins instead of bread? And do you think they would freeze well? It looks delicious!
Hey Jessica, thank you! Yes and YES! You’ll want to reduce the bake time for muffins (start at the 18 min mark and keep checking from there depending on how hot your oven runs and how generous you pour each muffin cup) and they will freeze like a champ! They’ll defrost in the microwave for about 30-45 minutes. After defrosting (either by heating or leaving out on the counter to defrost) they can also be toasted (delish!) or (my latest obsession) sliced in half and pan-fried on a non-stick skillet in a teeny bit of butter. I had it like that at a restaurant once and I’m hooked! Have fun with it! <3
This bread looks super moist and moreish. What can I use instead of apple sauce if I can’t get any?
Thanks Razena – I love it so! The applesauce was a healthy butter substitute so I would default to melted butter if you don’t have applesauce handy =)
Thanks, that was really helpful. I will let you know how it turns out 🙂
What a great healthy option for zucchini bread!
You had me at boatload of healthy goodness, then you tossed in zucchini bread and cinnamon butter. Um face plant here I come.
This bread looks wonderful, and I love all the healthy ingredients!
Oh, and in my opinion you can never go wrong with a T.Swift reference 😉
Woahh I seriously just came to your website to search for the older version of this bread, I’ve got old bananas and a ton of zucchini around the house and this recipe is the perfect way to use them up! Yay!
My mouth is watering! I literally am obsessed with zucchini bread!
Yum! I’ll be giving this a try!
Looks amazing! Maybe for a gluten free option, you can add more ground flax seed and add in some more eggs to make sure it still has a bread-like consistency. It will definitely be more spongey and dense than the gluten bread though.