A simple-to-make quick bread with banana and fresh zucchini.

Banana Zucchini Bread

Growing up we had two kinds of quick bread in our house: zucchini bread and banana bread. My mom’s been baking up batches for years and even now makes several loaves every few weeks. She doesn’t keep them all to herself and instead gives them away to neighbors and friends. In all these years I’ve never seen her use a recipe and it wasn’t until recently that I finally asked her about the recipe.

I was surprised to learn it was actually my grandmother’s recipe and, in my mom’s words, is “older than the hills”. My mom went on to write how happy grandma would be to know that both her daughter and granddaughter are making her bread. A family legacy was discovered that day and it arrived in the form of a recipe.

I have no idea where the recipe originated, perhaps from an old vintage cookbook or passed down from family or friends. Like many of the recipes from my grandmother’s generation, it is simple and straightforward— not a lot of muss or fuss. I’ve made some changes to it – the biggest one being the addition of banana which produces a combo of my two favorite quick breads: banana and zucchini.

Some Ingredients You’ll Need

I like to use two bowls for this recipe: a medium-sized bowl for the dry ingredients and a larger one for the wet ones. I start by whisking all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt. In the other bowl, I combine the brown sugar, granulated sugar, an egg, and a small amount of vegetable oil.
I use a medium-sized banana that’s plenty ripe. Because I don’t like to use a lot of oil (the original recipe calls for quite a bit) I added the banana because it imparts moisture and flavor without all the extra oil. Add the mashed banana to the wet ingredients.
I add one cup of shredded zucchini. I’ve seen recipes that suggest wringing the moisture out of the zucchini before adding it to the batter, but I don’t think it’s necessary. I just grate it and add it to the wet ingredients.
I like to add the dry ingredients to the wet ones slowly. I stir just until the flour mixture is incorporated before adding a little more. This ensures that the bread bakes up soft. Over mixing the batter results in tough bread.
This recipe makes one standard-size loaf. I use a glass pyrex loaf pan and the bread usually takes around 35 to 40 minutes to bake at 350°F. If you use a different kind of loaf pan the baking time may vary.

Happy Baking ❤

overhead photo of slices of banana zucchini bread

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