Banana Zucchini Bread with Chocolate Chips

Banana zucchini bread is a super moist, tender, and flavorful quick bread that’s perfect for your next brunch spread or to enjoy as a snack with a cup of tea or coffee. It’s a great way to use up bananas and zucchini that are a little past their prime and turn them into something truly amazing. 

Doesn’t everyone love how wonderful a slice of warm banana bread can taste. It’s comfort food at its finest. Ripe bananas add natural sweetness to everything from a classic banana pudding to banana French toast. They provide a unique flavor to baked goods which is why banana muffins are so loved.

Chocolate chip zucchini bread with bananas is a dense buttery loaf that’s perfect for breakfast, a snack, or as part of a brunch menu. Combining both sweet bananas and zucchini into one recipe makes for a super moist, scrumptious bread with more flavor than a traditional zucchini bread.

Like bananas, zucchini provides moisture when added to baked goods. When you combine the two you get a bread that will melt in your mouth. Add some chocolate chips or leave them out, it’s fantastic both ways.

While typically we use zucchini in salads or casseroles, zucchini, which is full of liquid, makes this banana bread even more moist. At the end of the summer when you have a lot of zucchini, you’ll have a new recipe to try out.

When experimenting with this banana zucchini bread recipe, I was afraid there would be too much liquid and I tried wringing out the excess liquid from the zucchini first, but found that it wasn’t necessary, the recipe actually needs the zucchini juice.

You can easily customize this quick bread by adding in walnuts and chocolate chips. I’m not a huge chocolate fan so I prefer it with just nuts, but the rest of my family loves it with chocolate chips. What’s nice is it makes two loaves so if you’re like me, you can add the chocolate chips to half of the batter and have an entire loaf to yourself.

Try a slice warmed up in the microwave or toasted with butter, and enjoy with a cup of tea for a delicious breakfast. Try serving it along size some candied bacon. This is one of those recipes that I have to freeze right away or I’ll eat the entire loaf!

All out of zucchini? Try a moist pineapple bread or strawberry bread.

Can You Use Summer Squash in Zucchini Bread?

‘Squash’ is a broad term for a host of vegetables, including zucchini. There are many varieties of squash, like yellow squash, butternut squash, acorn squash, and spaghetti squash. Zucchini is a summer squash and is characterized by its long, thin shape and dark green color.

In this recipe, as with most, you can substitute zucchini with yellow summer squash. Other squash varieties like acorn and butternut are harvested in the fall and have a different texture than their summertime counterparts, and will not work in this recipe. 

Does the end result taste like zucchini? 

The beauty of using zucchini in a sweet application is that it has an incredibly mild flavor. It has earthy, vegetal notes that are barely noticeable in the final product. In this recipe, combined with a strong flavor like bananas, it won’t taste like zucchini. The shredded zucchini provides moisture, and even though you can’t taste it, you still can get some of the nutritional benefits of eating a vegetable.

Why You’ll Love Zucchini Banana Bread

• It’s super flavorful for breakfast or an afternoon snack.
• It’s amazingly moist.
• It’s a perfect way to use up extra zucchini.
• You can customize it with nuts and chocolate chips.
• Make it sweeter by adding a frosting and serve for dessert. 
• You’re eating veggies! 

Banana Zucchini Bread Recipe Ingredients

• Zucchini – Look for medium-sized fresh zucchini without bruising or other defects. Alternatively, you can use yellow squash. You will need 1 ½ cups of grated zucchini which you can get from about 2 medium squash.

• Bananas – For best results, the bananas should be overripe which means they are full of brown spots. If not, check out some tips on how to quickly ripen bananas. You’ll need a cup of mashed bananas which is about 2-3 medium bananas depending on their size.

• Spices – Nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves add amazing aroma and warmth to the bread.

• Nuts – Walnuts add both texture and flavor and are the perfect combination when cooking with bananas, but pecans will also work in this bread. If you prefer to leave them out, it’s still amazing. 

• Chocolate Chips – Chocolate chips are a classic addition to banana bread. Use whatever kind you’d like, but I prefer semi-sweet. You can also omit the chocolate chips — it’s up to your personal taste.

• Turbinado sugar – Turbinado sugar (also called raw sugar or demerara sugar)is less processed than white sugar. It has a larger crystal and a flavor similar to brown sugar. It’s great for topping bread and muffins because it creates a crunchy sugar crust that provides a little extra sweetness and an interesting texture. It’s normally found in the baking aisle.
  
• Pantry Staples – Flour, sugar, eggs, butter, vanilla, salt, baking soda, baking powder. 

How To Make The Ultimate Zucchini Banana Bread

Step 1: Mash & shred

Before you get started, mash the bananas and shred the zucchini.

Step 2: Mix the dry ingredients. 

Whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and spices. 

Step 3: Mix the wet ingredients. 

In a separate bowl, add the mashed banana, eggs, and vanilla and whisk to combine. Add the banana mixture to the flour and stir until just combined. Stir in chopped nuts.

Then, stir in melted butter and shredded zucchini. If adding chocolate chips, add them here.

Step 4: Bake the loaves. 

Divide the batter equally between two prepared loaf pans and sprinkle with turbinado sugar and bake. The sugar creates a crispy coating to the top of the bread. If you don’t want the added sugar, you can leave it off.

Cool the pans on a rack for 10 minutes, then remove the loaves from the pans and allow to cool completely on a wire rack before slicing. 

Serve with butter and a cup of your favorite tea.

Tips for Making a Moist Zucchini Bread Recipe

• Shred the unpeeled zucchini on a box grater, you don’t need to wring out the liquid.
• You want to use overripe bananas or the bread won’t have much flavor. If your bananas aren’t quite ripe, learn some tricks for speeding up this process.

What can I put on my zucchini banana bread?

This bread is delicious served as is, with nothing on it. Of course, a spread of butter never hurt anyone, either. While I love it warm, toasting it is just as good.

If you want to try serving it for dessert, leave off the turbinado sugar at the end and once it has cooled, add some cream cheese frosting to the top before slicing.

How to Store a Quick Bread

This bread will keep on the counter wrapped in plastic wrap or stored in an airtight container for 3-4 days. To extend the shelf life, you can also refrigerate it for up to a week.

With any quick bread, it will stay moist longer if it hasn’t been cut into individual slices, so just cut the slices you need and don’t slice then entire loaf. However, when freezing, I like to slice it first and place parchment paper between each slice so you can just take out the number of slices you need.

You can also freezes the entire loaf, just let the bread cool and wrap your bread in plastic wrap, then in aluminum foil or place them in freezer bags. Freeze it for up to 3 months.

Quick Bread FAQs

Can I make this recipe ahead of time? 

This recipe is a perfect make-ahead recipe. Once cooled, you can refrigerate or freeze until ready to serve.

Why use zucchini in a quick bread? 

Zucchini bread uses shredded zucchini to add moisture to the bread. Rather than adding flavor, the zucchini mainly contributes a moist texture to the final product. 

More Banana Recipes to Try

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