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Grandma Lucy’s Zucchini Bread

This old fashioned zucchini bread is just the way Grandma has made it for years! Super moist, sweet, and with a hint of cinnamon — it’s perfect for breakfast, a snack with coffee, or dessert!

slice of zucchini bundt cake on plate

Grandma’s Zucchini Bread

One of my mother-in-law’s favorite things to bake is zucchini bread — and boy is it delicious!

I love to have a slice with my morning coffee, and my husband likes to toast his on the flat griddle with a bit of butter. No matter how you serve it, Grandma’s zucchini bread is a real treat!

I don’t know how she does it, but this bread is incredibly moist, but not to the point of being soggy. It’s just right!

When I asked where the recipe came from, my MIL showed me the yellowed page from one of those old church cookbooks from decades past. They always have the best recipes!

My MIL made a couple small tweaks to make this her own, while staying true to the classic recipe. It’s a keeper and I predict it will stay in our family for generations to come!

Related: Try Grandma Lucy’s Piña Colada Cake too!

slice of zucchini bread on plate

For your convenience in re-creating this recipe at home, we’ve included shop-able ad links to some of the products and supplies used. Read our disclosure policy here.

Zucchini Bread Ingredients

  • Eggs
  • Sugar
  • Vegetable oil
  • Flour
  • Baking powder
  • Baking soda
  • Salt
  • Cinnamon
  • Grated zucchini
  • Vanilla extract
  • Chopped nuts — either walnuts or pecans work well
  • Raisins

zucchini bread on plate with full cake in background

Kitchen Supplies Used

How to Make Zucchini Bread in a Bundt Pan

The beauty of this recipe is its simplicity!

You only need one mixing bowl — or the bowl of your stand mixer.

First you combine the eggs sugar, and oil and mix on medium-low speed. Then you mixi in all the rest of the dry ingredients (minus nuts and raisins). Finally, add your grated zucchini and vanilla and mix until just incorporated.

Fold the raisins and nuts into the batter and pour into a prepared bundt pan. Make sure that the pan is well greased and dusted with flour to prevent sticking.

Bake for 45 minutes at 350°F, then test with a toothpick for doneness.

A printable copy of this recipe is available at the bottom of the post.

cutting a slice of zucchini bread

How to Keep a Bundt Pan from Sticking

My mother in law loves to use bundt pans for baking because they make even simple recipes look fancy! However, bundt pans are notorious for sticking.

The good news is that a few little tricks can prevent cake from sticking to a bundt pan!

  1. Grease and flour the pan thoroughly — We mentioned this above in the directions, but it’s so important we’ll say it again! You can use a non-stick baking spray too. Whichever method you choose, make sure to get into all the nooks and crannies of the pan.
  2. Allow the cake to cool in the pan — Don’t try to flip the cake out of the pan as soon as it’s done baking. This is a recipe for sticking! Instead, allow the cake or bread to cool completely in the pan first.
  3. Shake before flipping — When it’s time to flip the bread out of the pan, give it a good shake first to loosen everything up. You’ll see the cake release and move freely in the pan when it’s ready! This is my husband’s trick and it works every time like a charm!

Can you use a loaf pan instead of a bundt pan?

Sure! Most large loaf pans are about the same size volume-wise as a traditional bundt pan. Simply make your batter as described in the recipe and bake in a loaf pan instead.

If you have small or medium sized loaf pans, this will make enough for two loaves.

If you want to check the size of your pans compared to each other, fill one with water and then pour the water into the other pan. This lets you know if they are close enough, or if there is a discrepancy in size.

cutting a bite of zucchini cake with a fork

How do I keep my zucchini bread from getting soggy?

Zucchini has a LOT of moisture, which is one of the good things about using it for baking, as it keeps baked goods and breads moist.

However, you can have too much of a good thing!

To prevent your zucchini bread from turning out soggy, be sure to squeeze out as much excess moisture as possible from the zucchini before mixing it into your batter.

zucchini bundt cake on cake stand

Can you freeze zucchini bread?

We usually keep our zucchini bread inside a covered cake plate on our counter — its keeps for a few days this way, and that’s  more than long enough with our family because we’ll eat it all!

However, zucchini bread does freeze well if you’d like to save some for later!

Simply slice any of the bread you’d like to freeze and wrap individually in plastic or parchment paper. Then place the individual slices in a freezer bag that’s tightly sealed.

Related: For another old fashioned coffee time treat, try this moist Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake recipe too!

Classic Zucchini Bread Recipe (Printable Copy)

If you liked this recipe, please rate it! We’d love to hear what you think!

cutting a slice of zucchini bread
Print

Old Fashioned Zucchini Bread

A classic zucchini bread recipe, just like Grandma makes it!
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword bread, cake, zucchini
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 12
Calories 421kcal
Cost $5

Equipment

  • bundt pan
  • stand mixer

Ingredients

  • 3 eggs
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3/4 cups vegetable oil
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 2 cups zucchini grated
  • 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup pecans chopped
  • 1/2 cup raisins

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F and grease and flour a bundt pan. You can also use non-stick baking spray.
  • Combine eggs, sugar, and oil with mixer on medium-low speed.
  • Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon and continue mixing.
  • Squeeze moisture out of the grated zucchini, then add to batter with vanilla extract and mix.
  • Stir in raisins and nuts by hand.
  • Pour batter into your prepared bundt pan and bake at 350°F for 45 minutes. Bread is done when a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Notes

Nutrition values are an estimate and based on 1 slice of bread, 12 servings total. Exact numbers will vary based on ingredients used and the size of your servings.

Nutrition

Calories: 421kcal | Carbohydrates: 56g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 41mg | Sodium: 396mg | Potassium: 192mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 34g | Vitamin A: 105IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 32mg | Iron: 2mg

Pin our zucchini bundt cake on Pinterest:

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23 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Granny’s zucchini bread is the most delicious bread.
    A friend was on Facebook begging for someone to make her some zucchini bread, I felt like being a good deed and viola she gets her craving satisfied.
    Thank you for the recipe.

  2. This is the exact recipe my grandmother used! And it turns out perfect! Have you ever made it in a muffin tin?

    • I have not, but I bet it would be fantastic! Probably would just need to shorten the baking time a bit and bump up the temp slightly.

  3. I made a chocolate zucchini cake in a Bundt pan. Listed ingredients appear to make the same consistency batter and I used applesauce instead of oil. It was the best!

  4. 4 stars
    It was a pretty good recipe. I put my zucchini in a blender (2), and didn’t drain the liquid. I didnt use the oil. I used 1 tablespoon of melted butter instead + 2 table spoons of cream. I added extra nutmeg (+2 teaspoons), vanilla (+1 teaspoon) and baking powder (+2) teaspoons because I used whole wheat flour instead of white. It came out great! and the extra spices are great during the holiday season!

  5. Oh and only 1 cup of sugar!

  6. Made per instructions but came out heavy and very dense. Is that the way it’s suppose to be? Had a nice flavor.

  7. 5 stars
    I made this today and it’s delicious! I did reduce sugar by 1/3 cup and used Craisins rather than raisins (although we love raisins too!) thanks for posting!

  8. 5 stars
    Amazing! Thanks for sharing this recipe- it was delicious and moist. Perfect balance of sweetness and depth – a total delight for my tastebuds. I would feel confident serving this at a gathering or giving it as a gift.

    • Sara Garska

      I’m so glad you loved Grandma Lucy’s Zucchini bread–it is a family favorite. Thanks for letting us know. Sara

  9. 5 stars
    I’ve made this 4 times just this summer because we have fresh zucchini in our garden! It’s amazing and everyone loves it!

  10. Could I bake in a 9 x 13 pan instead of a Bundt pan?

    • Hi Debbie, I have not tried the recipe in a different pan, so I can’t offer advice on that personally. What I would do is look up conversions for different pans to make sure that they are the same volume.

  11. Jenifer lucas

    Great recipe, I’ve already made this 3 times. It disappears fast.

  12. 5 stars
    Every one loved it !!!

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