A healthy summer treat with a serving of zucchini mixed into this sweet and delicious Chocolate Chip Zucchini Banana Bread! Made gluten-free with oat flour, sweetened with unrefined sugars including banana and maple syrup and a healthy dose of chocolate.
If you subscribe to the THM meal plans then you’ll be fully up-to-date on my gardening adventures! Unlike last year’s garden in our very shaded yard in California, our sunny Minnesota garden is absolutely thriving. In fact, it’s kind of out of control! Our zucchinis are especially prolific and I’m at the point where I’m just handing out zucchinis to anyone who shows up at our house. Thankfully I have plenty of zucchini recipes up my sleeve including this zucchini banana bread.
What I love about this healthy loaf recipe is that it’s entirely sweetened with unrefined sugars like maple syrup and the natural sweetness of bananas. It’s also gluten-free (love me some oat flour!) and dairy-free if you choose to grease your loaf pan with coconut oil. I’ve heard this healthy zucchini bread is a real hit with the kiddos. Would love to hear your thoughts!
Here’s What You Need:
- oat flour – you can buy oat flour or make your own by grinding up rolled oats.
- bananas
- zucchini
- maple syrup
- eggs
- chocolate chips
- cinnamon
- nutmeg
- baking powder
- sea salt
A quick note: This zucchini bread is not extremely sweet. Sweetness will depend entirely on the ripeness of your bananas. If you like things a bit sweeter I’d recommend adding 1/4-1/2 cup of brown sugar or coconut palm sugar.
How to Make Healthy Zucchini Banana Bread
STEP 1: In a large bowl combine oat flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder and sea salt.
STEP 2: In a separate bowl mash up bananas and add in maple syrup and eggs.
STEP 3: Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir in zucchini and chocolate chips.
STEP 4: Add mixture to loaf pan and bake for 50-60 mins. Loaf is done when top is firm to touch and no batter remains when poked with a toothpick or fork. Let sit in loaf pan for 20 mins before removing and allowing to cool completely on counter.
Baking with Zucchini
The most important thing to know about baking with zucchini is that it holds a lot of water! Start by shredding your zucchini into a separate bowl or onto a clean kitchen towel. Take the kitchen towel or paper towels and squeeze out all of the excess liquid from the zucchini. The end result will be a big ball of shredded zucchini that you’ll add to the batter.
This healthy zucchini banana bread will keep up to 3 days if left well-wrapped on the countertop…if it lasts that long!
Chocolate Chip Zucchini Banana Bread
A healthy summer treat with a serving of zucchini mixed into this sweet and delicious Chocolate Chip Zucchini Banana Bread! Made with oat flour, sweetened with banana, maple syrup and a healthy dose of chocolate.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 12 slices 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Bake
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 2 cups oat flour (ground up rolled oats)
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- pinch of ground nutmeg
- 2 tsp baking powder
- pinch of sea salt
- 3 large ripe bananas, mashed
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 2 large eggs
- 1 large zucchini, shredded and excess water squeezed out* (roughly 1 cup)
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Grease a loaf pan with coconut oil or butter and set aside.
- In a large bowl combine oat flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder and sea salt.
- In a separate bowl mash up bananas and add in maple syrup and eggs.
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir in zucchini and chocolate chips.
- Add mixture to loaf pan and bake for 50-60 mins.
- Loaf is done when top is firm to touch and no batter remains when poked with a toothpick or fork.
- Let sit in loaf pan for 20 mins before removing and allowing to cool completely on counter.
- Will keep for up to 3 days in an airtight container on the counter.
*I use a clean dish towel and place the shredded zucchini inside before squeezing out all of the liquid. Be sure to get everything so it ends up in a large ball that you have to break up into the batter.
Keywords: Zucchini banana bread, zucchini bread, gluten-free zucchini bread
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15 Comments
VeraLucia C.
July 18, 2022 at 4:51 pmHi there, can it be frozen or stored in the fridge for longer than 3 days?
Allie Bales
June 1, 2022 at 4:15 pmLoved the texture of this bread! Taste was great- not too sweet. Perfect to top with yogurt or nut butter! Def will make this againz
★★★★★
Alma
November 1, 2021 at 7:21 pmWe made this bread today and my toddlers loved it! It was full of taste, soft and so delicious ! Saving in my recipe book as a family fave!! Thank you for sharing it! Now looking into making the sweet potatoe cornbread:)
★★★★★
Tanya
August 29, 2017 at 6:33 amWonderful recipe..made it for my toddlers and they devoured it. Love that it uses oat flour. Mine was very dense and came out quite wet still after baking an hour, so I sliced it up and put back in the oven. Next time I will spread it out into bars rather than a loaf. I also added cocoa powder to make it more chocolatey. Will def be making this one again!
Sha
August 10, 2017 at 7:21 amDear Davida,
How much zucchini was used in this recipe (cups, after squeezed out)? Where I shop, there are many sizes of large zucchinis, I don’t know how large is large. It may help is you can give me an estimate of how many cups of it squeezed, so I can get an idea of how much zucchini to grate 🙂
Thanks in advanced.
Davida @ The Healthy Maven
August 10, 2017 at 11:53 amOne large zucchini will come out to around 1 cup after being squeezed. This isn’t an exact measurement, but it doesn’t need to me!
Cassie Autumn Tran
August 5, 2017 at 1:23 amWould two flax eggs work for this bread? It looks delicious!
Davida @ The Healthy Maven
August 10, 2017 at 12:06 pmI think it should but I haven’t tried it myself!
Kay
August 4, 2017 at 9:23 pmI can’t wait to make this! Would you be able to tell me how much zucchini I would need in terms of cups? Thank you Davida! Absolutely love your blog!
Davida @ The Healthy Maven
August 10, 2017 at 12:07 pmHi Kay! It comes out to about 1 cup after being squeezed. This is a rough estimation but the exact amount won’t change the recipe!
Tales of Jules
August 3, 2017 at 8:39 amI really need to try this one out! It looks absolutely delicious and we have so many zucchinis in our garden at the moment that I run out of ideas what to do with them.
Defenitely trying this one out at the weekend.
xx Julia
http://www.talesofjules.com/
Kylie
August 2, 2017 at 8:03 pmI made this yesterday, it is AMAZING. A delicious healthy comfort food for the cold winter in Sydney.
Absolutely love it, keep up the great work, your recipes are amazing.
Davida @ The Healthy Maven
August 10, 2017 at 12:14 pmSo happy to hear that!
Diane
August 2, 2017 at 5:33 amIt’s in the oven now…. smells good. Will report back w/how it turns out!
Diane
August 4, 2017 at 6:28 amIt came out quite dense actually and wet (even though I cooked it or 80 minutes). I think for my personal taste, I’d rather eat something a bit sweeter.