Almond Flour Zucchini Bread Recipe

This healthy almond flour zucchini bread recipe is soft, moist, and packed with fresh summer zucchini. It is delicious for breakfast or snack!

Low Carb Zucchini Bread With Chocolate Chips

Why you’ll love this almond flour zucchini bread

Fluffy texture and classic bakery zucchini bread taste, without all the carbs.
Low calorie, low saturated fat, and over 7 grams of protein per slice.
There’s no yeast, kneading or rising time required for this easy one bowl quick bread.
Perfect as a keto low carb breakfast to serve family, a healthy after school snack alternative to cookies or candy bars, or a homemade thank you gift for friends.
Did I mention the cake-like fluffy texture? It is worth mentioning again!

Also try these simple Almond Flour Muffins

Step by step recipe video

Key ingredients

Almond flour – You need two cups of fine almond flour or flourless almond meal for the gluten free zucchini bread. Blanched or unblanched varieties both work, and I also include a nut free alternative below. If you want to substitute pecan flour for almond, that is delicious as well.

Zucchini – Use half a cup of fresh summer squash. This can be green zucchini or yellow squash. Look for firm, small or medium sized zucchini at the grocery store or farmer’s market.

Yogurt – Adding half a cup of plain or Greek yogurt gives you a soft, moist bread. And flavored or dairy free yogurts are fine too. Try vanilla, strawberry, raspberry, or lemon yogurt.

Good substitutions for yogurt in the recipe include coconut cream, mashed banana, sweet potato, or pumpkin puree. Applesauce has a thinner, more watery consistency and may yield a mushy texture, so I do not recommend it here.

Sweetener – I’ve tested the recipe successfully with both classic white sugar and sugar free granulated sweeteners (erythritol, xylitol) that measure like sugar. If you prefer to use stevia, pure maple syrup or honey, you may need to experiment with the ratio of dry to wet ingredients in order to still achieve a good finished outcome.

Eggs / flax eggs – This ingredient will bind the almond flour and create a tender loaf cake. For an egg free, vegan almond flour bread, use prepared flax eggs instead.

Spices – Ground cinnamon compliments the natural sweetness of the zucchini, while pure vanilla extract imparts warming tones to the grain free and paleo friendly vegetable loaf.

Other ingredients – The bread also calls for baking powder (not baking soda) and salt.

Toppings / add ins – This is the fun part. Stir in a handful of shredded coconut, high fiber chia seeds, chopped dark chocolate, toasted walnuts or almonds.

My personal favorite variation is chocolate chip almond flour zucchini bread, with chocolate chips stirred into the batter and extra chocolate chips sprinkled on top just before baking. I love the chocolate zucchini combination, and one can never have too much chocolate.

Leftover zucchini? Make Chocolate Zucchini Cake or Zucchini Brownies

Almond Flour Quick Bread Batter Mixing Bowl

How to make healthy zucchini bread with almond flour

Begin by greasing a 9×5 inch loaf pan. Alternatively, line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. Set this pan aside.
Preheat your oven to 325° Fahrenheit, or 162° Celsius.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the almond flour, sweetener, baking powder, salt, and optional cinnamon, walnuts, and chocolate chips. Stir very well.
Add in the shredded zucchini, yogurt, eggs or prepared flax eggs, and pure vanilla extract. Stir until the batter is evenly mixed.
Spread the mixture into the prepared baking pan. Smooth with a spoon, and press a few more chocolate chips into the top if desired.
Bake on the preheated oven’s center rack for 45 minutes or until fully cooked. A toothpick inserted into the center of the quick bread should come out mostly clean.
Carefully remove from the oven, and let it cool fully on the counter before slicing or going around the sides with a knife and popping the zucchini loaf out onto a serving plate.
Once cooled, cover loosely and either store on the counter or in the refrigerator overnight. Any leftovers after a day should be refrigerated up to four days for optimal freshness. Or slice and freeze in an airtight container for up to three months.

Troubleshooting and tips for best results

Help! I substituted coconut flour, and it turned out dry.

In this recipe, and in my other recipes, it is important to only use the flour specifically called for in the ingredient list. Almond flour is technically not flour at all, so it will not act the same way in recipes as another type of flour. Coconut flour is also not something that should be swapped in a 1-to-1 ratio for other flours, as it needs much more moisture (and often more eggs) to avoid dry, crumbly results.

My almond flour bread broke when I took it out of the pan.

After removing the pan from the oven, let it cool on the counter before going around the loaf with a knife to loosen it from the sides of the pan. It continues to firm up as it cools and will be much easier to remove and slice after sitting. The almond flour zucchini loaf is even firmer the next day. However, if you do not wish to wait, simply cut slices from inside the pan.

How do you shred zucchini? Do you need to buy expensive cooking tools?

A simple box grater or cheese grater costs under ten dollars, and this is a great method for shredding zucchini. If you own a food processor, I find that to be even easier and rarely even bother changing to the grating attachment. For large zucchini, blot off extra water with a paper towel after shredding.

The first bite tasted like baking powder.

Solve this potential issue by mixing the dry ingredients very well. Then stir vigorously again after adding the wet ingredients to the bowl. Since this is a gluten free bread, you do not need to worry about overmixing. Also be sure to use unexpired baking powder, not baking soda, which would leave a strong metallic taste. The two leavening agents are not interchangeable.

Healthy Zucchini Bread With Almond Flour

1. First, preheat the oven to 325° Fahrenheit (162° Celsius), and grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, stir almond flour, sweetener, baking powder, salt, optional cinnamon, walnuts, and chocolate chips until well mixed.
3. Add the shredded zucchini, yogurt, eggs or prepared flax eggs, and vanilla. Stir well.
4. Spread batter evenly into the prepared baking pan. Sprinkle more chocolate chips on top if desired.
5. Bake 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the almond flour zucchini bread comes out mostly clean.
6. Let cool fully, then slice and enjoy hot or cold.
7. Store leftovers loosely covered on the counter overnight. After a day, refrigerate or freeze any remaining slices in a covered container for optimal freshness.