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Sliced zucchini banana bread on a wooden chopping board with a pink loaf tin in the background

Healthy Zucchini Banana Bread

Banana Zucchini Bread is loved by my kids: I've taken traditional banana bread, lowered the sugar, upped the fibre and added some veggies.
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Course: Baking
Cuisine: Australasia
Keyword: Healthy banana bread, zucchini banana bread, banana zucchini bread, low sugar banana bread, dairy-free banana bread, easy banana bread
Servings: 16
Calories: 189kcal

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4.74 from 50 votes

Ingredients

  • 200 g Zucchini This is typically 1 large zucchini
  • 250 g Banana This is typically 2 med/large bananas
  • 100 g Brown sugar ½ cup
  • 2 eggs
  • 125 ml Olive oil (mild) ½ cup
  • 160 g flour 1 Cup
  • 160 g wholemeal flour 1 Cup
  • 3 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

  • Mash the bananas, you want approximately 270g of mashed banana or 1 metric cup.
  • Grate the zucchini, you want approximately 200g of grated zucchini, which is around 2 metric cups.
  • Squeeze out the zucchini with your hands to remove as much liquid as possible.
  • Heat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius (360 F. Prepare a loaf tin, I use a silicone tin so I don't need to line it, if you are using regular loaf tin then you will need to line it with baking paper.
  • In a medium-sized bowl whisk the oil, eggs, and mashed banana.
  • Add the sugar and whisk until well combined.
  • In a second large bowl whisk together the remaining dry ingredients: flours, baking powder, and cinnamon.
  • Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, fold until just combined.
  • Fold in the grated and squeezed zucchini.
  • Transfer the batter into your prepared loaf tin.
  • Bake at 180 degrees (360 F) celsius for 50-60 mins or until a skewer comes out clean.
  • Once cooked, remove from oven, allow to cool for 5-10 minutes in the loaf tin before turing out on a cooling rack.

Video

Notes

  • Use a mix of plain and wholemeal flour, this yields a banana bread with higher fibre but still a great soft texture. If you cannot find wholemeal flour you can use a wholewheat flour
  • Be sure to use the correct amounts of mashed banana and grated zucchini.
  • Don't forget to remove the excess liquid from the grated zucchini by squeezing it well before adding it to the batter
  • If your children are very weary of anything the slightest bit green, try peeling the zucchini before grating, then over time stop peeling it.
  • Storage: This zucchini banana bread stores best in an airtight paper towel-lined container at room temperature. Make sure you cool the bread completely before transferring to the container. It will store for 3-4 days.
  • Freezing: This loaf will freeze for up to 3 months if frozen. Make sure you wrap the loaf completely in cling film before freezing. When you want to enjoy the banana bread. Defrost on the bench overnight.
Substitutions
  • Flour: I use a 50:50 mix of plain flour and wholemeal flour, this means some extra fibre but still a soft texture. You can skip the wholemeal flour and use one hundred percent plain flour. However, don't go for one hundred percent wholemeal flour as the bread ends up too dry.  
  • Banana: Banana can't be substituted out of a banana bread recipe, but your bananas can be bruised battered and brown and you will still get a great result. Potentially even better than using perfect bananas.
  • Zucchini: I use grated zucchini in this recipe, you can substitute with equal quantities of grated carrots. The flavour of the banana bread will be slightly different as carrot has a stronger flavour than zucchini, but it will still be delicious.
  • Sugar: In this recipe, I use brown sugar as I like the flavour it adds to the banana bread. If you would prefer to use an unrefined then coconut sugar is a suitable substitute. You can also make this recipe with granulated white sugar.
  • Oil: I like to use a mild olive oil in my baking. Any mild flavoured oil would be a suitable alternative, as would melted butter.
  • Eggs: I haven't tested this recipe with egg substitutes.
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Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 189kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 103mg | Potassium: 156mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 66IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 70mg | Iron: 1mg