The Best Gluten Free Zucchini Bread

This recipe makes the BEST gluten free zucchini bread! It’s so easy and delicious. Lightly sweet, perfectly moist and one of the best ways to use up fresh zucchini in the summertime.

Looking for more gluten free zucchini recipes? Check out my recipe for Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes HERE. You can also find recipes for Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies , Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies, Gluten Free Sugar Cookies and lots more!

Gluten free zucchini bread has become a summer family tradition at our house. We’ve planted a garden the last 6 or 7 years and we always plant a good amount of zucchini. My family doesn’t prefer cooked zucchini but we love to bake with it! I love to shred our zucchini and freeze it that way we can enjoy it all year long! It’s the perfect secret ingredient to baked goods. It makes them so delicious and moist!

This recipe makes two full sized loaves, four mini loaves or two dozen muffins. It doesn’t matter what form I bake this bread- it evaporates at my house!

Ingredients For The Best Gluten Free Zucchini Bread

• Granulated Sugar-You can use regular white sugar, coconut sugar or raw cane sugar.

• Brown Sugar-I typically use light brown sugar. It helps make the bread really soft and moist.

• Melted Butter (or oil)– I love the taste of melted butter over oil in this recipe. Trust me, you can taste the difference! If you’re needing it dairy-free simply use melted refined coconut oil or oil of your choice.

• Eggs – Eggs act as a binding agent in this recipe. Unfortunately, I have not tried an egg substitute in this recipe.

• Vanilla– I prefer to use the Watkins Pure Vanilla Extract, I think it gives the best flavor.

• 1:1 Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Blend– For baking, I typically use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1:1 All Purpose Flour Blend. It goes great with this recipe and is not grainy or dry at all.

• Cinnamon– The hint of cinnamon in this recipe adds a little bit of warmth and spice without being too overpowering.

• Salt– I use fine pink Himalayan salt to help balance out the sweet.

• Baking Soda– Baking soda is somewhat self explanatory 🙂

• Baking Powder– I’m not very particular about my baking soda and baking powder brands, I typically purchase them in bulk at Sam’s or Aldi.

• Grated Zucchini– The best way to hide zucchini in baked goods is to shred it. I peel, dice and shred mine in a food processor and store them in the freezer until I’m ready to use them. My family does not prefer finding green chunks (peel) in their muffins or bred so that is why I do it this way. If you don’t mind it, then by all means shred it however you like!

Gluten-Free Baking

I used Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free flour for this gluten-free zucchini bread. Personally, it is my favorite cup for cup gluten-free all-purpose flour blend made with rice flour. A cup for cup gluten-free flour blend is one that already has starches and xanthan gum added to it.

Cup for cup (or 1 for 1) flour blends makes gluten-free baking so much easier! Make sure you do not add any extra xanthan gum to your flour if it already has it in it. If you do, your bread will be super gummy! Not all gluten-free flour blends are created equal so keep that in mind when choosing a flour!

Some other great brands are Pillsbury Gluten-Free flour and King Arthur Gluten-Free Flour Blend. Another thing to keep in mind with gluten-free baking is to weigh your flour instead of using a measuring cup. Or use a spoon to scoop the flour into the measuring cup, being careful not to pack the flour into the cup. Please do not scoop the flour out of the bag with your measuring cup. If you do you could get more flour than the recipe calls for. 

Dairy-Free Baking

Several of our family members are dairy-free as well as gluten-free so I like to include a dairy-free alternative to as many recipes as I can.

This recipe is easily converted into a dairy-free version by simply substituting the melted butter for a dairy-free butter or your oil of choice. I, personally, make this recipe quite often with refined coconut oil when I am out of butter and it works perfectly!

Easiest Way To Shred Your Zucchini

Like I mentioned earlier, every summer we plant a huge garden and grown tons and tons of zucchini! My family doesn’t prefer to eat cooked zucchini but we love zucchini bread, cupcakes, pizza crust etc. I have found the best way to store zucchini is to shred and freeze it!

Step-By-Step Shredding Process

• Peel off the skin with a vegetable peeler

• Cut into cubes so it will fit easily in a food processor

• Place in food processor and pulse until shredded

• Put into freezer bag, label and place in freezer

How To Make The Best Gluten Free Zucchini Bread

• Preheat oven to 325F.

• To a large mixing bowl, or stand mixer, add the white sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla. Mix until well combined.

• To a separate bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda & baking powder. Whisk together until spices are well incorporated.

• Slowly add the dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until well combined.

• Carefully fold in 2 cups of shredded zucchini.

• Pour batter into 2 buttered or parchment lined loaf pans.

• Bake 45-60 minutes until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Enjoy!

Recipe Variations

In a bit of a rush and don’t have 60 minutes to bake 2 loaves? No worries! Instead of 2 loaves, make 24 muffins instead. I do this all the time to make it easier to serve the kiddos. They adore zucchini muffins!

Craving chocolate? Add some mini chocolate chips! Dairy-free? Add the Enjoy Life dairy-free mini chocolate chips.

You can add nuts like pecans or walnuts. I even have a friend who adds fresh blueberries.

We love this recipe and make it all year long. I hope you and your family enjoy it as much as we do. Happy Baking!