Coconut Flour Zucchini Bread {Dairy Free}
Hands down one of the best quick breads ever, this coconut flour zucchini bread is incredibly moist with a freshness you can taste. And with only 2 tablespoons of butter in the entire loaf and coconut sugar instead of refined sugar, it’s a healthy alternative to other sugar-loaded quick breads.
It’s not very often that gluten free breads taste better with age, but this is one of those breads. The first day you make it, it’s delicious, but the second day, it’s even BETTER. Wrapping it and storing it makes it even more moist and really blends the flavors.
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But that’s not the only difference between this zucchini bread recipe and others… here’s what really sets this loaf apart:
- It uses coconut flour. If you’d heard that coconut flour is tricky to work with or absorbs liquids like there’s no tomorrow, you’d be right! But follow the tips below and you’ll have an incredibly tasty loaf. Promise!
- And coconut sugar. So this loaf is going to taste like coconut right? Actually, no, not at all.
- And there’s very little butter. But it’s just enough to be flavorful.
- And it’s gluten free, dairy free AND refined sugar free. But still tastes amazing!
What kind of coconut flour works best in this zucchini bread?
For this recipe, the brand is not as important as how you measure it. I use the Nuts.com brand but any brand would most likely work well. (I’ve tested both Bob’s Red Mill and Nuts.com and they both are excellent in this loaf). What makes a huge difference though is weighing the flour, not just measuring it into a measuring cup. Cup measurements can vary widely, but the weight isn’t going to change. 55 grams of coconut flour is what you want for this bread.
Should I squeeze out the water in the zucchini?
This is often recommended in other recipes, and if you’ve ever done it, it’s certainly a messy task. But for this recipe, there’s no need to squeeze the excess liquid out. Let’s keep it simple and quick!
Why do I need to let the batter rest before adding it to the pan?
Two words – coconut flour. This resting time before adding the batter to the pan acts as a ‘coming together time’. Basically, it gives the batter time to absorb the coconut flour. Same method for this banana bread.
What’s the best way to store this zucchini bread?
I mentioned that this quick bread is even better the day after it’s baked and it’s so deliciously true! Just wrap the cooled bread in plastic wrap or even a plastic zippered bag and store it on your counter. Use a sharp, serrated knife to slice it.
How to Make Coconut Flour Zucchini Bread
Start with the ingredients
A half cup of coconut flour hardly sounds like enough right? But I promise, it’s plenty. Measure it by weight for the recipe so it’s completely accurate. Then it’s just tapioca flour (also called tapioca starch), some spices, eggs, coconut sugar, plant based butter and the super important – zucchini!
Grating the zucchini
The cleanest and easiest way I’ve found to grate zucchini is to place the grater right over the bowl and just grate it right there. For the 1 cup used in this recipe, it was 1 medium size zucchini. No need to peel it, just cut the ends off and start grating!
Mixing the batter
The batter for this bread is a delightfully simple prep. Just mix the dry ingredients with the spices in a large bowl and then shift to the wet ingredients in a medium sized bowl.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix with a spoon. No electric mixer needed.
Preparing the pan
It’s no fun baking a wonderful loaf of bread only to struggle to get it out of the pan, or worse, having it stick completely. That’s why lining the pan with parchment paper is so important here.
Just butter the pan all over, then cut a piece of parchment to fit the bottom of the pan. And place that down and butter it a bit too. That way you’ll end up with a loaf that you can easily remove from the pan.
Bake and enjoy
While the baking time is pretty accurate, a toothpick test is the best way to judge if this bread is done or not. Start checking at around 45 minutes. The toothpick should come out clean – if you see any hint of batter, let it bake for longer.
Then it’s just cooling and enjoying!
Recipe
Coconut Flour Zucchini Bread {Dairy Free}
Ingredients
Method
- Butter an 8” x 4.5” pan with plant based butter. Place a piece of parchment paper along the bottom of the pan. Butter the parchment. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flours, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cloves. Mix with a whisk until combined.
- In a medium bowl, combine the zucchini, eggs, coconut sugar and melted butter. Mix until fully combined.
- Add the zucchini mixture into the flour mixture and stir with a sturdy spoon to combine.
- Add the vinegar to the batter and give it another few stirs.
- Let the batter rest for 10 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
- Bake for 45 – 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean.
- Cool the bread in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
- Remove from the pan and finish cooling. Slice with a serrated knife.
Notes
- For the easiest way to grate the zucchini - set the grater right over the bowl and let the shreds fall into the bowl.
- Use a large spoon to mix the batter - no mixer required!
- Use a toothpick to check for doneness.
- Bread tastes even better on the second day.
For more tasty gluten free bread recipes, check out:
Hello,
I made this bread today and it was super dense, spongey and had a strong baking soda taste. I did change two things… one thing was a sub, the other thing was an oversight. So I subbed cassava flour for the tapioca, because I read online it could work as a substitute. The other thing is I accidentally mixed the sugar in with the dry ingredients instead of with the wet. Did either of those things cause this texture ? Or is that the way it is? I hope to hear back about it! Thanks
Hi Kel!
So the cassava substitute should be ok since it's only 5 grams. If it was more than that, I'd suggest something like cornstarch or even potato starch, but that amount should be fine.
And then the sugar shouldn't alter it.
The other things that come to mind to troubleshoot - it may need to bake a bit longer - another 5 minutes. And then if the zucchini is overly watery, that could be a bit too much liquid in the recipe, contributing to a wetness in the baked bread. I have only worked with an overly watery zucchini one time though, but it had a lot of liquid. And a strong baking soda taste... hm... the teaspoon is just enough to react with the vinegar to produce lift in the bread. It could be cut down by 1/4 teaspoon but not more than that.
Let me know how this goes.
Christine 🙂
How long will this bread last out on the counter or should I refrigerate it and possibly freeze it thank you
Hi Debbie,
So at room temperature, store it up to 3 days. Any longer than that and freeze it. For best results, slice it first before freezing.
Christine 🙂
My question is what can I substitute for coconut sugar and the butter. Can I use avacado oul? Thanks I will make this!
I want to make this but I dont have coconut sugar or butter can I use avacado oil and what kind of sugar. Thanks
Hi Debbie,
I haven't tested avocado oil so I can't say for certain. And for the coconut sugar, brown sugar is one of the best substitutes, but there are other options as listed here https://zestforbaking.com/best-coconut-sugar-substitutes
Hope that helps!
Christine
Hi again I made the bread before your answer so here goes what I used: avacado oil instead of butter and white sugar but next time I'll try brown sugar and arrowroot instead of tapioca. I did use a digital scale which I just got yesterday. I substituted all these ingredients because that's what I had. Also no cloves I don't care for that. This is very tasty so thank you again for your dedication to gf. Debbie
Glad you enjoy it Debbie!
Christine
I have 2 questions about this zucchini bread recipe:
1) What is the purpose of the apple cider vinegar? Texture? Flavor? To activate/enhance some other ingredient?
2) In the notes about tapioca flour/starch, it says you can sub cornstarch, but it's best to add baking soda or baking powder. This recipe already includes 1 tsp of baking soda ... is that enough if I use cornstarch? ... or should I use more? ... or use baking powder (if baking powder, how much?)?
Hi CK,
Sure, thanks for asking. So for number 1 - apple cider vinegar is used in a lot of gluten free recipes to activate the soda. In the case with this bread, it adds height and enhances the overall texture of it.
And then for the second question... Yes! You can use the cornstarch as a one-for-one substitute for the tapioca. It works perfectly.
Let me know if you think of anything else!
Christine
I just tried this recipe, but I didn't have the tapioca flour or coconut sugar, so I substituted honey. I used kosher salt and didn't use less so it was too salty my husband said. I want to try it again with less kosher salt and less clove. I think I would really love it more that way!!!!! Also I keep my coconut flour in the freezer and I think it dries it out, so I had to add water to make it into a batter. I am excited about trying your other recipes!!! Love your website, and notice you are so detailed oriented in your recipes!!! Great job!!!!! Thank you for doing this website!!! Now I need to start making my own bread because prices have went up due to covid.
Hi Christa,
So happy you enjoyed it - those are some helpful tweaks, thank you for sharing!
I'm a bread person (website gives that away!) and yes, prices are so high - I'll make a few loaves and then keep them sliced in the freezer. Otherwise those loaves add up!
Glad you liked it!
~Christine