I’m Finally Sharing My Grandma’s Top-Secret Zucchini Bread Recipe (2024)

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published Jun 19, 2021

Kitchn Love Letters

Lemon zest lends brightness to this moist and tender zucchini bread, which is perfect for breakfast or an afternoon snack.

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One of my favorite food memories from growing up in Ohio is eating my grandma’s homemade zucchini bread. She made it every summer with homegrown zucchini from her garden, and whenever the loaves emerged from the oven, everyone in the vicinity would immediately descend. The bread would be gone before it even had a chance to cool.

I live in New York now, but I’m still an Ohio girl at heart (where making quick breads are about as Midwestern as you can get). Last summer, during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, my family and I took refuge at my parents’ house in Ohio, where protestors marched throughout the month of June just a few miles away. We did our part and made 20 to 30 mini loaves of my grandma’s bread for a physically distanced bake sale to support the Southern Poverty Law center. It sold faster than the lemon loaf!

Back in New York, my kids and I occasionally have stoop sales to support our local community center, The Brotherhood Sister Sol, and neighbors are often skeptical. (Zucchini bread is not a New York thing.) Does it taste like vegetables? No, I always say — give it a try, you wont regret it. The flavor is sweet, warm, and bright.Even my son, who refuses to eat anything with even a speck of green, will gobble it up.

Now, my grandma’s zucchini bread isn’t just better than anyone else’s because it’s nostalgic. No, it’s also because of her secret ingredient. I’ve kept this secret guarded until now — it made me feel close to her, because perhaps she guarded it herself. But knowing my grandmother, she probably didn’t think she was doing anything special or secret, only that her bread was way better than someone else’s down the street. (To be fair, she was an expert baker).

Her secret? Lemon zest. Not lemon juice; just zest. It seems sort of silly — after all, lemon zest features in many a quick bread, cake, or biscuit — but I don’t often see it in zucchini bread. It seriously takes it to the next level, adding a brightness that perfectly contrasts the warmth of the cinnamon. Although it’s not in the original recipe, I like to rub the zest into the sugar to release every last bit of its fragrant oils. The mild zucchini grabs onto these flavors, and the result is a moist, springy, slightly sweet bread that’s packed with flavor. It’s dairy-free, although still plenty moist — eggs add the richness many quick breads get from whole milk, sour cream, or yogurt.

Making My Grandma’s Zucchini Bread

Here, I’ve translated my grandma’s recipe into one that’s much easier to follow. My recipe card has very few instructions (like many old recipes, it assumes the baker knows what to do), and also calls for “salad oil” (which is just standard vegetable oil). Judging by these details, I’d guess her recipe originated in a ’40s- or ’50s-era magazine or cookery book for housewives.

You can add nuts if you like (I prefer pecans over walnuts, but either work for texture), but I often leave them out, as nut allergies are common these days and my kids aren’t fond of the nutty version. My grandma often added raisins, so I’ve included them as an option here, although I personally find they interrupt the flavor goodness of the secret ingredient.

My family’s favorite way to eat this zucchini bread is with a thick schmear of cream cheese — it’s how I’ve eaten it all my life. It makes for a very bright breakfast or afternoon snack when you just want a little something sweet with a big mug of milky tea.

At Kitchn, our editors develop and debut brand-new recipes on the site every single week. But at home, we also have our own tried-and-true dishes that we make over and over again — because quite simply? We love them.Kitchn Love Lettersis a series that shares our favorite, over-and-over recipes.

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