Gluten-Free Lemon Zucchini Bread

This easy Gluten-Free Lemon Zucchini Bread is soft, moist and delicious, topped with a tangy lemon glaze you’ll LOVE. It’s perfect with a cup of tea, or enjoyed as a light dessert or a satisfying sweet snack in the summer months.

This time of year, when zucchini season hits, it’s time to make all our favorite zucchini recipes! We love classics, like Gluten-Free Chocolate Zucchini Cake or classic Gluten-Free Zucchini Cake with cream cheese frosting, Zucchini Bread, or Muffins, but our new gluten-free lemon zucchini bread recipe is worth adding to your rotation, especially because…

Gather Your Ingredients

This zucchini bread starts with simple ingredients + one little extra you’ll want to keep on hand. Let’s take a look:

How To Make Gluten-Free Lemon Zucchini Bread, Step By Step

As always, you can find the full recipe, with ingredient amounts, detailed instructions, and tips in the recipe card below.

1. Preheat & Prep. To start, preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line an 8×4 loaf pan with parchment paper. Make sure you’ve squeezed any extra water out of the zucchini with paper towels.
2. Combine Dry Ingredients. In a small bowl, combine gluten-free flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda and whisk till evenly blended.
3. Rub Zest Into Sugar. In a large bowl, combine lemon zest and granulated sugar and rub the zest into the sugar until the mixture is fragrant and the sugar has a slight lemon tint to it.
4. Combine Wet Ingredients. Add oil, eggs, vanilla, and lemon oil to the lemon sugar mixture and whisk to combine.
5. Add Dry Ingredients To Wet Ingredients and stir until just a few dry floury patches remain.

6. Mix In Zucchini. Add grated zucchini to the bowl and stir until the zucchini is evenly distributed. (Some people find this easier with a fork!)
7. Bake & Cool. Transfer the zucchini bread batter to the prepared pan and bake in preheated oven 45-50 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean with just a few moist crumbs. (no wet batter!) Let the zucchini bread cool in the pan for 8-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.
8. Make The Lemon Glaze. In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 Tablespoon melted butter, 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice and the powdered sugar. Whisk until smooth and evenly blended. Ideally the glaze should be opaque and pretty thick, but still pourable.
9. Pour Glaze Over Cooled Zucchini Bread and let the glaze set before slicing. Cut into thick slices and enjoy! Store leftover zucchini bread in an airtight container 2-3 days at room temperature.

FAQ + Tricks For The Best Lemon Zucchini Bread

Use The Right Size Pan! I recommend this USA loaf pan. It’s a standard 1-pound loaf pan that measures 8.5 x 4.5. If you use a larger 9×5 pan, your bread will be flatter and thinner and will bake faster.

Make The Most Of That Zest! Be sure to ONLY get the yellow lemon zest, not the bitter white pith underneath. Really pack the zest into those Tablespoons to get the most lemon flavor into this bread.

Use Lemon OIL Not Lemon Extract. I find lemon extract can lean a bit chemical and artificial in taste, so we much prefer lemon oil when possible, for best results. Lemon oil is food grade lemon essential oil–the exact flavor we’re getting from the zest! It’s a very concentrated, strong FRESH lemon flavor that will take the lemon flavor in this zucchini bread recipe to the next level.

Prep Your Zucchini Properly! First time grating a zucchini? Here’s what you need to know! I prefer using a food processor to grate zucchini (FASTER!), but you can use the large holes of a box grater. Then, make sure to squeeze out any excess water with some clean paper towels or a clean kitchen towel before adding it to the batter. This helps prevent your bread from getting mushy or soggy.

More Zucchini Recipes To Try

Gluten-Free Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins

Gluten-Free Zucchini Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

SOFT Gluten-Free Zucchini Bread

Gluten-Free Lemon Zucchini Bread

5 from 1 vote

Author: Emily Dixon, Sweets & Thank You

This easy Gluten-Free Lemon Zucchini Bread is soft, moist and delicious, topped with a tangy lemon glaze you’ll LOVE. It’s perfect with a cup of tea, or enjoyed as a light dessert or a satisfying sweet snack in the summer months.

Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes minutes

Cooling Time: 35 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 45 minutes minutes

Print Pin Rate

Servings: 1 Loaf (10-12 slices)

Ingredients

For The Lemon Zucchini Bread

• 1-1 ½ cups grated zucchini (Extra liquid squeezed out!)*
• 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon zest (from 2-3 lemons–really pack it in!)
• ¾ cup granulated sugar (150 grams)
• ½ cup canola oil or vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon lemon oil *
• 1 ⅓ cup gluten-free measure-for-measure flour * (160 grams) weighed or scooped and leveled
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda

For The Lemon Glaze

• 1 Tablespoon butter , melted
• 2-3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup powdered sugar (120 grams)

Instructions

First, Make The Zucchini Bread

• Preheat & Prep. To start, preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line an 8×4 loaf pan with parchment paper.
• Combine Dry Ingredients. In a small bowl, combine gluten-free flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda and whisk till evenly blended.
• Rub Zest Into Sugar. In a large mixing bowl, combine lemon zest and granulated sugar and rub the zest into the sugar until the mixture is fragrant and the sugar has a slight lemon tint to it.
• Combine Wet Ingredients. Add oil, eggs, vanilla, and lemon oil to the lemon sugar mixture and whisk to combine.
• Add Dry Ingredients To Wet Ingredients and stir until just a few dry floury patches remain.
• Mix In Zucchini. Add grated zucchini to the bowl and stir until the zucchini is evenly distributed. (Some people find this easier with a fork!)
• Bake & Cool. Transfer the zucchini bread batter to the prepared pan and bake in preheated oven 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean with just a few moist crumbs. (no wet batter!) Let the zucchini bread cool in the pan for 8-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

Next, Make The Lemon Glaze:

• Combine. In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 Tablespoon melted butter, 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice and the powdered sugar. Whisk until smooth and evenly blended. Ideally the glaze should be opaque and pretty thick, but still pourable.
• Adjust Texture, As Needed. If the glaze is too thick, add more lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon at a time, if needed to thin the glaze out. If the glaze is too thin, add more powdered sugar 1 Tablespoon at a time until you reach your desired consistency.
• Pour Glaze Over Cooled Zucchini Bread and let the glaze set before slicing.
• Serve & Store. Cut into thick slices and enjoy! Store leftover zucchini bread in an airtight container 2-3 days at room temperature.

Notes

• Zucchini. You can use up to 1 1/2 cups of zucchini in this bread, but the more you use, the more you’ll taste it. Keep that in mind as you choose! I usually use 1 cup when serving my kids. 
• Gluten-Free Flour. We’re using King Arthur Measure-For-Measure Gluten-Free Flour blend. If you use another 1:1 gluten-free flour blend, be sure it contains xanthan gum, or the bread won’t turn out properly. Do not substitute coconut flour, almond flour, or oat flour into this recipe.
• Lemon OIL. If you can find it, we recommend adding lemon oil rather than lemon extract, since it’s got the same fresh flavor as lemon zest. If all you can find is lemon extract, you’ll need double the amount.

Video

Course: Cake, Dessert, Quick Bread

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free

Keyword: gluten-free zucchini bread, lemon zucchini bread, zucchini bread, zucchini cake

Find the recipe:

sweetsandthankyou.com/gluten-free-lemon-zucchini-bread/