Moist Zucchini Bread with Cream Cheese-Sour Cream Frosting

Love zucchini bread? Our recipe is flavorful, moist and has an awesome cream cheese frosting with sour cream.

Zucchini Bread Recipe

This this time of year that garden zucchini starts to go crazy. The warm weather brings out the blossoms and fruit. Zucchini is one of those vegetables that are accessible year round, so that means there’s a zucchini recipe for 365 days of the year. Our zucchini bread is an easy recipe that you can eat all year round too.

What to do with lots of zucchini? Zucchini bread, of course.

Although most of you had already guessed this since you read the post title.  Is there any better way to use up a tired veggie than make a quick bread out of it?  Hell, half the time you don’t even know there is a vegetable in the bread.

There is the added bonus for me, in that baking it also one of my favorite ways to warm up the kitchen.  In the cool morning air, the siren’s call of the oven is overwhelming.  It’s worth getting up early to feel the oven gently warming the home from its kitchen heartbeat and then to have the sweet smell of the quick breads intoxicating the air. As I made and drank my cappuccino amongst such sweetness, accompanied by my love and pups, the feeling of perfect contentment filled my soul.

Favorite Cookbook

This recipe was initially inspired off a recipe from the “Too Many Tomatoes, Squash, Beans, and Other Good Things” cookbook.  Every gardener should have this cookbook on their shelves. Countless times some of my favorite veggie recipes began from this book, then I  would tweak it here and there to my own personal preference.

For the little additions to the zucchini bread, we used what we happen to have in the cupboard, but feel free to substitute your favorite dried fruits, nuts, chocolate chips, or any other add-on you like.  We’ve topped this one with a cream cheese/sour cream frosting, but the zucchini bread is excellent without the frosting.  You are the one going to eat it.  Make the recipe to your own taste. 😉 And here’s a great article on different zucchini and summer squash varieties.

-Todd

Zucchini Bread w/ Cream Cheese Frosting

Yield: 12 Servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes mins

Cook Time: 45 minutes mins

Total Time: 1 hour hr

The zucchini bread isn't too sweet since it has the sweetnes of the cream cheese frosting on top. If you don't use the frosting, or just like your bread sweeter, add another 1/4 cup of brown sugar to the zucchini bread.

Macerating (soaking) the currants or other dried fruit in rum or kahlua is not only delicous, it helps rehydrate the fruit so when the loaf gets baked, the fruit doesn't get tough. If you dont' want to use alcohol, soak them in some warm water until ready to add to the batter.

Makes 1 loaf

4.75 from 8 votes

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Ingredients

Zucchini Bread

• 2 cups grated Zucchini (2-3 medium zucchini) (if seeds are too big, you can scoop them out before grating)
• 2/3 cup (150ml) Vegetable Oil
• 1/2 cup (100g) Sugar
• 1/2 cup (110g) Brown Sugar
• 2 Eggs , beaten
• 1 -inch Fresh Ginger , grated
• 2 cups  (250g) Flour
• 1 teaspoon (5g) Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon (5g) Baking Soda
• 1/2 teaspoon (2.5g) Kosher Salt
• 1 teaspoon (5g) Cinnamon
• 3/4 cup (110g) Dried Currants , or whatever dried fruit you want-raisins, blueberries, strawberries, etc
• 3/4 cup (90g) Pecans , chopped
• Dark Rum or Kahlua (enough to to cover currants)(or warm water)

Cream Cheese/Sour Cream Frosting

• 4 ounces (113g) Cream Cheese , at room temp.
• 1/4 cup (60ml) Sour Cream
• 1/4 cup (30g) Powdered Sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon (2.5ml) Dark Rum or Kahlua , or vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon (3g) Cinnamon

Instructions 

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9.25" x 5.25" bread pan or line with parchment paper and set aside.
• Begin by soaking the currants (or other dried fruit) in the dark rum. By the time everything else is mixed, they will have plumped up enough to use. 
• Grate zucchini into a large bowl.  Add vegetable oil, sugars, beaten egg and grated ginger and mix until well combined.
• Whisk or sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon until well combined. Gently stir the dry mix into the zucchini mixture until just combined. - Do Not Over-Mix.
• Drain currants, then add the currants and pecans to the zucchini mix and stir a couple times until it is just mixed.
• Pour into greased bread pan, place on a baking sheet and put in oven.  Bake for about 50-60 minutes, or until a tester toothpick comes out clean. (If top starts to brown too much, place sheet of aluminum foil over the loaf to protect it.) Remove from oven and allow to cool a bit.

Make Frosting

• Whisk all ingredients (cream cheese, sour cream, powdered sugar, rum, and cinnamon) until well combined and smooth.  Frost at will.
• Feel free to adjust to your own taste.  This is made to be not too sweet, and to compliment the ingredients in the Zucchini bread, however if you'd like it sweeter, up the powdered sugar.  Lemon zest would be another good addition.

Nutrition Information per Serving

Calories: 386kcal, Carbohydrates: 45g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 22g, Saturated Fat: 13g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 40mg, Sodium: 274mg, Potassium: 229mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 27g, Vitamin A: 249IU, Vitamin C: 4mg, Calcium: 67mg, Iron: 2mg

Course: Breakfast, Side Dish

Cuisine: Baking, Breads, Breakfast/Brunch, Garden Recipes, Vegetable

Calories: 386

This recipe was originally published in 2009 and re-published in 2021 with new photos

More Easy Zucchini Recipes:

• Moist Whole Wheat Zucchini Muffins with Pecan Crumble Topping
• Olive Oil Zucchini Layer Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
• New Years Detox: Low Carb Zucchini Noodle Recipes