Easy Vegan Zucchini Bread
A delicious vegan quick-bread flavored with cinnamon, nutmeg, and pecans.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp ground flax seeds
- 4 tbsp water
- 1 3/4 cup flour all purpose
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp kosher salt I used Mortons
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup melted coconut oil refined coconut oil, not virgin
- 2 tsp white rice vinegar
- 1.5 cups shredded zucchini
- ⅓ cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- Start by pre-heating the oven to 350 degrees. Then line a 8 1/2 x 4 in (standard 1 lb) loaf pan with parchment paper and grease the bottom and sides with refined coconut oil.
- Then grate a large zucchini using a box grater. I like to put the whole grater in a bowl to catch all of the zucchini, and then I grate this on side with the large holes. Put the shredded zucchini in a colander so the extra water can drain while you prep the other ingredients.
- Next, mix the ground flax seeds and water in a small bowl. Stir and set aside to thicken.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix well and set aside.
- In another large bowl, combine the sugar and the coconut oil. Whisk for 1 full minute. Then add the vinegar and thickened flax egg and whisk for 2 minutes ( I set a timer 🤓) It should be lighter in color and much thicker and fluffier than when you started.
- Then, with clean hands, gently squeeze the zucchini in your fist to remove the excess water. You don't have to completely ring it dry, just a good squeeze to dry it out a bit. Then measure out 1.5 cups and add it into the bowl with the wet ingredients. Mix well.
- Then add 1/2 of the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients and stir. When combined, add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until the flour is no longer visible, but be careful not to beat/over mix.
- Stir in the pecans so they're evenly distributed in the batter and then transfer to the prepared loaf pan. Smooth out the top lightly, and bake for 1 hour. In my oven, it takes exactly 1 hour and five minutes. It's better to let it go a little longer than you think it needs or else the inside will be doughy.
- Side note: Your kitchen should smell AMAZING at this point, so take a moment to enjoy how cozy it feels to have a kitchen that smells like baked goods and cinnamon. It's the little things 💛
- After about an hour, insert a toothpick into the center. If it comes out clean you can remove the pan from the oven and set it on a rack to cool. After 5-10 minutes, gently remove the zucchini bread from the pan and allow it to finish cooling on the rack (This will allow the crumb structure to develop nicely)
- I usually wait about 20 minutes before slicing (it will still be warm, don't worry) and then I enjoy this with a cup of tea or coffee. So good! Hope you love it 😊
Notes
Notes, when measuring the zucchini just place the shredded zucchini in measuring cup and level it off. No need to press it down firmly so that it's densely packed. This will yield too much.
Also a gentle squeeze to remove the excess moisture from the zucchini is important but you don't need to ring it bone-dry. Too much moisture leads to a doughy bread, and too little makes it a dry. So just a squeeze to remove the excess water is the way to go. To make it easy, I just press the shredded zucchini firmly between my hands for a few seconds before measuring. That usually does the trick! 😊
I know it's hard to let this cool before slicing, but allowing the bread to cool a bit on a rack will allow air to circulate all the way around it and that will help create the perfect texture inside and prevent that dense, doughy middle that quick-breads often have.
Also, if you don't have an oven thermometer you might be shocked to know what your oven isn't always ready at 350 degrees when it beeps. Mine is routinely 330 when it says it's preheated so check to make sure you're baking at the right temp. Oven thermometers costs under 10 bucks and can really improve your baking game👩🏻🍳
Allow this bread to cool completely before freezing. I also like to slice it before freezing because it's so much easier to reheat that way! After slicing, I wrap it tightly and place it inside of an airtight container. It can last about 6 months in the freezer.