Name: Pineapple Zucchini Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 85 min
Ingredients: 3 cups all-purpose flour; 2 cups granulated sugar; 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda; 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg; 8 ounce can of crushed pineapple (drained, juice reserved); 4 eggs; 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract; 16 tablespoons unsalted butter (melted); 1 ½ cups shredded zucchini (about 2 small zucchinis); Turbinado sugar (alternative to frosting); 4 ounces cream cheese (room temp); ¾ cup powdered sugar; 3 tablespoons pineapple juice

This Pineapple Zucchini Bread puts crushed pineapple and shredded zucchini in the same loaf, and both keep it moist without peeling or squeezing the zucchini. Warm cinnamon and nutmeg carry the flavor, and the pineapple juice you drain off goes into a cream cheese frosting. One batch makes two 9×5 loaves that bake in 45 to 50 minutes, and they freeze well.

Five slices of zucchini bread with white icing are arranged on parchment paper, with a knife placed nearby. — A teaspoon of vanilla rounds out the warm spices and pineapple sweetness in every slice.

Melted Butter Instead of Oil

Plenty of zucchini bread with pineapple recipes call for oil, and oil keeps a loaf moist, but melted butter gives it a richer flavor. The pineapple adds the sweetness, so you don’t have to add extra sugar to make it sweet enough. The worry with any zucchini bread is a soggy middle from all that water, and I tested this one both ways. Leaving the zucchini’s liquid in gave me the better loaf.

The pineapple is the only thing that needs draining, so that’s the one step to get right. If you want a recipe for zucchini bread with pineapple you can count on, this is the one I settled on.

Good for Overnight Guests and Office Meetings

Pumpkin Season Kickoff Treats!

FREE EMAIL BONUS: Know exactly what to bake from the first cool day onward.

Quick breads are what I bake when I have overnight guests, because they’re easy to have ready to set out with coffee or tea. This recipe makes two loaves, so you can keep one at home and take the other to an office meeting, or wrap the second loaf and freeze it for the next round of guests.

The bread itself comes together with a whisk and a spoon, so there’s no mixer to get out. If you don’t have zucchini, a pineapple bread with toasted coconut gives you a similar quick bread.

A loaf of zucchini bread on a cooling rack, partially sliced, with a serrated knife beside it on a gray cloth.

Frosted or Sprinkled with Turbinado Sugar

You can top this loaf two ways. For the frosting, beat room temperature cream cheese with powdered sugar until smooth, then add the reserved pineapple juice a tablespoon at a time until it’s as thick or thin as you like. Wait until the bread has cooled completely before you pour it over the top.

If you’d rather skip the frosting, sprinkle turbinado sugar over the batter before baking. I use the same turbinado sugar topping on my banana zucchini bread with chocolate chips and it adds just enough sweetness.

What Keeps This Loaf Moist Instead of Soggy

Use canned crushed pineapple. Fresh pineapple works, but the loaf isn’t as soft, so I don’t recommend it.
Stir the batter just until it’s combined, then fold in the zucchini. Overmixing makes a tougher loaf.
Let the loaves cool in the pans on a rack for 10 minutes before turning them out, and let them cool completely before frosting.

A loaf of zucchini bread with white icing, partially sliced, sits on parchment paper next to a knife with a wooden handle.

Everything That Goes Into This Zucchini Bread

Baking ingredients on a countertop: flour, sugar, eggs, butter, zucchini, canned crushed pineapple, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla extract, ground nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. — Zucchini Pineapple Bread Ingredients

A package of Dixie Crystals powdered sugar, a bowl of egg white, and a box of Philadelphia cream cheese on a gray marble surface. — Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients

The exact amounts are in the recipe card below.

Zucchini: Two small zucchini give you about 1 ½ cups shredded, which is what the recipe uses.
Crushed pineapple: Use one 8 ounce can of crushed pineapple.
Turbinado sugar: This is only for sprinkling on top if you skip the frosting, so you can leave it out if you’re frosting the loaves.

How to Make Pineapple Zucchini Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting

Step One: Shred the Zucchini

A glass measuring cup filled with shredded zucchini sits on a gray surface, next to a metal box grater and a sliced zucchini end. — Use a grater to shred the zucchini into a measuring cup.

Step Two: Mix the Dry Ingredients

A glass bowl filled with various dry baking ingredients and a metal whisk, ready to be mixed on a gray countertop. — Whisk the dry ingredients.

Step Three: Mix the Wet Ingredients

A metal whisk sits in a glass measuring cup containing whisked eggs, mashed bananas, and vanilla extract on a light gray countertop. — Whisk the eggs, vanilla and drained crushed pineapple. Remember to reserve the drained juice for the frosting.

Step Four: Combine

A glass bowl with flour and beaten eggs being mixed with a wooden spoon on a gray countertop. — Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir just until combined.

A glass bowl contains partially mixed dough with melted butter pooling around it. A metal spoon rests in the mixture, and the bowl sits on a gray countertop. — Add the melted butter.

Glass bowl with thick, light brown banana bread batter and a metal spoon resting inside, placed on a gray countertop. — Stir until incorporated.

A glass bowl with light brown batter and shredded zucchini, partially mixed with a spoon, on a light gray countertop. — Fold in the shredded zucchini.

Don’t over mix. Stir just until everything comes together. Over mixing can make the loaves tough and dense.

Step Five: Fill the Pans

Two metal loaf pans filled with unbaked batter, one with visible shredded zucchini, both lined with parchment paper, placed on a gray textured surface. — Divide the batter between the two prepared loaf pans.

A loaf pan lined with parchment paper holds unbaked zucchini bread batter, sprinkled with brown sugar. A container of brown sugar sits nearby on a gray countertop. — If you’re skipping the glaze, sprinkle the tops with turbinado sugar now.

Step Six: Bake and Cool

A loaf of zucchini bread with a golden crust is on a cooling rack. Several slices are cut, showing the moist, textured interior on a light cloth background. — Bake and let cool before adding the frosting.

Step Seven: Make the Frosting and Finish

A loaf of frosted bread or cake sits on parchment-lined tray next to a knife with a wooden handle, on a gray fabric background. — Pour the frosting over the cooled loaf.

This is the kind of from-scratch loaf you can bake ahead for overnight guests or an office meeting with everyday ingredients and two bowls. You can find more like it in my breads and biscuits recipes.

If you loved this recipe, give it a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating! Also, snap a picture of your finished dish and share it with me on Instagram using the hashtag #butterandbaggage and tagging me @butterandbaggage.

Explore Recipes

Breakfast & Brunch Baked Squash

Pineapple Zucchini Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting

Melted Butter Instead of Oil

Good for Overnight Guests and Office Meetings

Frosted or Sprinkled with Turbinado Sugar

What Keeps This Loaf Moist Instead of Soggy

Everything That Goes Into This Zucchini Bread