This Healthy Banana Zucchini Bread is packed with zucchini, banana, whole grains, walnuts, and flax. This fluffy and flavorful high fiber bread tastes great and makes an amazing muffins too!
Healthy Banana Zucchini Bread
This fluffy flax bread is fan-freaking-tastic!
As if I would post it here if it wasn’t…Though I’m not exactly opposed to posting photos of baking failures that look more like toes than cookies or cheesecakes that have fallen on the floor.
Making fun of myself is almost as making fun as others (*cough*paul*cough*) and I fully intend on sharing the visuals of such disasters with you on the regular.
But this recipe isn’t one of them. I baked these a few times, and several different ways, in order to find that sweet spot where texture and flavor get hot, heavy, and take off to vegas to elope.
I think it’s safe to say I found it!
So what are you waiting for? Make this meow!
This rockin’ recipe yields one large 9×5 loaf, three mini loaves, or 12 muffins or in my case, 2 mini loaves and a few muffins. I like variety.
Garnish with some extra crushed walnuts if you’re feeling fancy!
Healthy Banana Zucchini Bread
Ingredients
- 1 + ½ cups coarsely grated zucchini (skin on for extra vitamins)
- ¾ cup extra-ripe banana, mashed (approx. 1 large banana)
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup 100% whole grain flour or white wheat flour
- ½ cup ground flaxseed meal
- ¾ cup packed brown sugar
- ¾ cup milk
- 2 large eggs (or 2 flax eggs)
- 2 TBSP applesauce (or oil)
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉
- Grate zucchini, mash banana, and chop/crush walnuts, then set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together dry ingredients: ground flaxseed, flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
- Next add the zucchini, banana, and walnuts and stir to combine. In a separate bowl, whisk together your egg, milk, applesauce and vanilla.
- Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir until just combined; try not to over-mix.
- Spritz three mini loaf pans [or muffin tin!] with olive/coconuut oil or grease with coconut oil to prevent sticking and add the batter, filling each about halfway.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes for a tray of muffins or 25-35 for mini loaves.
- For a 9×5 loaf pan, bake on the center rack at 350℉ for 50-60 minutes. My loaf was perfect at the 55 minute mark.
- Test the center with a toothpick and, once it comes out squeaky clean, pull em out! I’m a neurotic baker and check mine about 2-3x before yanking them from the oven. It pays off =)
- Remove and place on a wire cooling rack, resisting the urge to run off with a face full of bread.
Notes
Nutrition
hungry for more?
more tasty quick bread recipes
If you get a chance to try this fluffy and healthy Banana 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!
Questions & Reviews
Question: I am trying to get away from white flour. Can almond or coconut flour be substituted?
Hi Sandra! It would take a very calculated balance of GF flours such as coconut and almond flours to produce the same result. If I were testing it at home [which I would love to now that you mention it!] I would start with my favorite GF flour blend as the base which normally has a specific ratio of healthy flours that produce all-purpose flour-like results! Hope that helps and thanks for reading!
Just made these as well as the carrot coconut ones (which i had forgotten about which is just tragic). My genius assistant mashed the bananas for me then proceeded to help me fill all the muffin cups without pointing out I had never added them, so they were remixed. THEN I was too busy making fun of her to put the timer on…. and they were STILL delicious. I think I’m only going to bake your muffin recipes from now on they always taste amazing.
Ohmygosh I’ve forgotten to add ingredients to banana bread before and had to swirl it in last minute! I’m glad the last minute addition worked and so happy you’re a fan of both recipes! Your comment totally made my day =)
Thanks Robin!!! I’m so glad you love the bread! My favorite topping for it lately is nut buyer sprinkled with flakes coconut! So good!
this is my new favorite bread recipe.. i made it once and can never get enough. thank you for this! yum-o!
I made a gluten free version. Here are the changes I made:
1 zucchini without skin (only cause it was going bad)
2 bananas
1 cup GF bobs red mill all purpose baking flour
3/4 cup GF bobs red mill oat flour
1/4 cup flaxseed
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup So Delicious Coconut Kefir
It was sooo yummy! Thanks for the base recipe!
I want to make everything that you post. I just don’t even know where to start, and I’m afraid of straying from my current diet. I wish I had your food knowledge!
Made this tonight and it was DEEE-LICIOUS! Going to try a larger batch to freeze for my boys for breakfasts during the school week….or a healthy snack grab! Thanks for the recipe!
Hey Jessie! =) It’s more of a breakfast bread vs. a sweet dessert-y bread. I kept the sugar on the lower side and let the super ripe banana add its own sweetness to the mix. The extra walnuts add nuttiness for sure but the cinnamon tricks your taste buds into thinking it a lil sweeter than it actually is. Very hearty/rustic with a light sweetness I would say. If that helps? Not *super* banana-y since my typical banana bread has 2-3 bananas in it and there is just one large one in this.
So, does this taste more like banana bread or just a moist, nutty bread? I’m trying to figure out how sweet/fruity it would taste.
Yummm! This looks divine! I haven’t baked with zucchini in ages so I need to get to it!
ah jen!! that looks SO GOOD! I pinned it!!
What a great bread! I love it when they are stocked full of good for you add ins. Perfect breakfast and snack. I want to slap a bit of peanut butter on it too.
Ooooo, that looks fabulous! I’m a big sucker for veggie/fruit/sweet/quick breads.
We love our fur balls!! I want to see that egg laying thang too! 🙂 I love the look of that bread. It’s hearty, rustic and nutty. I love that you used kefir, nice twist! All those great ingredients too, I bet it is heaven smelling it bake! Delicious!
Do you use Photoshop on your pictures? Or another editing program? I just started reading Plate to Pixel. Hoping to improve my picture skills! 🙂
Oh my goodness that looks freakin’ amazing. I’ve just rustled up a gluten-free banana bread myself (with sunflower and pumpkin seeds, mmm) and that also lacks butter – totally don’t need it!
I need to try this one day, mmm 🙂
Rach..Xx
>> livefoodlove.blogspot.co.uk <<
you have become quite the baker! I love it – and I can’t wait to have my own kitchen again so I can get back to baking – this recipe is high on my list 🙂
This looks like the best bread I would ever eat in my life!
Thanks schnookums! Please take maddie!!!!! She won’t stop “talking” to me.
how delicious! and so healthy!! this is a winner!
pinned the recipe! packed full of nutrients=yum!
This is amazing. I love healthy breads!
HOW CUTE IS MADDIE!! ahh i wanna snuggie her
i love how awesome you set up your little foodie pics 🙂 my little professional! this looks really good. i like that you added veg on it!!
i hope your little toe is okay pumpkin!!
xoxox
She laid a furball… do you want video of that? 😉
Yayyyy Hope you loooove it!
nooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Haha I toes should have posted sooner 😉
Ahh I found this MOMENTS too late! Literally just took a different recipe zucchini-banana bread out of the oven! This looks amazing. Pinning for next time I’ve got zucchini handy 🙂
I’m definitely going to try this! =) Thank ya
Yum! This looks awesome! Can’t wait to try it. I’m actually making 3 of your recipes this week! Carrot coconut muffins, stuffed sweet potatoes, Mexican, Pizza Lasagna, and your new veggie dip…wait…that’s four!!! 🙂 Also, our cats would’ve made the cutest kittens ever! They look so much alike! How much does she weigh? Our giant orange cat weighs 18 lbs…and the vet says it’s totally normal. He’s just a Goliath!
Yum yum! And I like that you explain what it is and how to make a flax egg. In the past I have used the 1 Tbsp flax + 3 Tbsp water before but I didn’t know you were supposed to let it sit in the fridge!
Oh yumm Jenn what an interesting combination of ingredients and flavors this is! I know the zucchini and banana combo is good… will be trying this, and soon! Thanks as always for your great recipes 🙂
I love the zucchini-banana combo! I do that i breakfast muffins (protein-filled, of course :).
Gorgeous loaf… it looks like it was made to be eaten warm with a giant glob of PB. YUM!
Oooh this looks so yummy! I’m not great at baking but I’m definitely thinking of giving it a stab 🙂
Wow you are speaking my language with that bread! As soon as I can eat gluten again, I’m making this. Pinned.
That looks like breakfast baby!
And if she lays an egg you’d better YouTube it asap!