I’ve been searching for a vegan zucchini bread recipe, but couldn’t find one that was oil free, whole grain, or didn’t have maple syrup or honey in it. So, I decided to try to make my own.
Let’s just say the first attempt turned out pretty bland. But the second go round was much better!
The dates & raisins in this recipe are really important if you want to have sweetness without using refined sugar or maple syrup. You do want to do the soaking and blend for a few minutes until they are completely pureed.
I did use my Vitamix, so I can’t tell you how well this step would work in a regular blender. It might still have small pieces floating around, which would probably taste okay, but not be consistent throughout the bread.
I also used oat flour because I don’t like the taste of whole wheat flour. Bleh. You can use old fashioned oats and blend them or just buy oat flour. Oat flour is great if you are gluten free – just make sure you buy certified gluten free especially if you have celiac disease.
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If zucchini is very wet, squeeze in fine mesh strainer to remove excess moisture
Also, if your shredded zucchini is really wet, you might want to press it into a fine mesh strainer to try to remove some of the moisture. Otherwise, your zucchini bread my be too dry on the outside and wet on the inside.
After it is done cooking, make sure you let is cool for at least 10 minutes because it will continue to firm up even if it is a little moist in the middle.
I’ve mentioned this before about it being difficult to get my oldest to try new vegetables. And he doesn’t like zucchini. Except this one! I was able to pack a piece in his lunch as dessert. He also likes the vegan carrot cake, but that’s a little messy to send to school with the icing on it. This is similar to the carrot cake recipe, so if you can do one then you can do the other!
Related Reading – How to make Healthy School Lunches
Flax eggs are easy & great for baking
This recipe uses a “flax egg” so if you have never done this before it is really easy. Mix 1 tablespoon of ground flax seed with 3 tablespoons of water and set aside for 5 minutes. You can even let it sit there for up to about 30 minutes if you need. You can sub 1 flax egg for 1 regular egg in any baking recipe. Double it for 2 eggs and so forth. It’s that easy!
Vegan Zucchini Bread
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoons ground flax seed
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 1/2 cup unsweetened almond or soy milk
- 4 1/2 ounces pitted whole dates, roughly chopped about 18 deglet noor dates
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup raisins
- 1 3/4 cups old fashioned oats
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
- 1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini
Instructions
- Combine flax & water together in a small bowl for flax egg. Let sit for at least 5 minutes.Combine plant milk, dates, vanilla, & raisins in a medium bowl and soak for 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350º. Lightly spray a 9X5 loaf pan or use silicone muffin pan. Use a food processor to shred your zucchini; squeeze out excess moisture in a fine mesh sieve or cheese cloth. Set aside.
- Place oats in a high powered blender & blend until fine powder forms, gradually increasing speed as necessary.
- Pour oat flour into a large bowl & add dry ingredients (baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, & walnuts if using). Mix together.
- Blend milk & date mixture in a high powered blender until smooth. Make sure you blend for long enough time to puree the dates & raisins. It took me a few minutes. (I used a Vitamix Blender)
- Pour milk/date mixture and Flax egg into the dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Add shredded zucchini and mix again.
- Pour batter into the loaf pan and bake for 60-70 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
You listed 1 3/4 cup old fashioned oats or oat flour. Do you mean 1 3/4 cup oat flour…..or old fashioned oats ground to make 1 3/4 cup flour?
Thank you.
Yes either one. I usually just do the old fashioned oats & blend them in my vitamix.
I made this recipe but I forgot to put in the flax seed egg. It turned out fine! We like it pretty well although my husband would like it to have more cinnamon. Next time I will put that in. By the way, I enjoyed your blogs. But the last one is in May. I hope you will come back! It looks like you have a good thing going here.
Thanks! Glad you like it! I’m not sure what you mean by the last one is in May. If you click on “Blog” on the menu you’ll see my most recent posts – I’ve been posting every week!
Mine will not cook through! So sad I wasted a big zucchini
I’m so sorry it didn’t work well for you. You might try straining the zucchini next time if it is very wet.
Mine didn’t cook through either. I ground up 1 3/4 cup oats but then only used 1 3/4 cups of the flour, next time I will try using all of the oat flour the 1 3/4 cups of oats yield. I made your lasagne and cheese sauce, both tasty! I’ll figure this recipe out too, trial and error. Lol
What is the nutritional value of this bread?
If you scroll down to the bottom of the recipe the nutrition is there. Nutrition
Serving: 1slice | Calories: 222kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 207mg | Potassium: 482mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 47IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 137mg | Iron: 2mg