Healthy Zucchini Bread (Keto)

This healthy zucchini bread is soft, fluffy, gently sweet and deliciously spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg. A gluten free and Keto bread, it’s perfect for a sugar free breakfast or as an afternoon snack.

Have you tried baking with zucchini yet? It’s sooo good!

Quick explanation here – having lived in London for more than half my life now, I should really say “courgette”, but some of you may know I’m German. And in Germany a zucchini is called a zucchini, so I’m just gonna stick with it 😉

What does zucchini bread taste like?

Zucchini bread tends to be slightly sweet and moist. It has the texture of a muffin rather than of bread – soft and fluffy. Popular spice choices are cinnamon and nutmeg – you could add other spices commonly used in pumpkin spice mixes such as ginger, cloves, allspice or even cardamom. To make a Keto zucchini bread like this one, you simply use a low carb flour (or two – I chose almond flour and coconut flour) and replace the sugar with a low carb sweetener such as erythritol or xylitol.

Actually, the only effort involved is squeezing ALL liquid out of your zucchini, so your bread does not go soggy. I used a cheesecloth for this, but you can use a regular dishcloth. Once this slightly messy bit is done, the rest of the cake basically makes itself.

We like to eat it all on its own, but if you want, you could spread some butter on it, too. It would be lovely toasted as well!

How to make a moist and fluffy healthy zucchini bread – step by step:

1.) Peel and then grate 3-4 small zucchini.

Peeling the zucchini is purely for your visual benefit. If you don’t mind green specks in your bread, by all means, don’t waste the peel and add some lovely additional fibre to your bread.

2.) Using a kitchen towel or a cheese cloth, squeeze as much liquid out as possible. You should end up with 1 ½ cup or 230g shredded zucchini. I squeezed out 160 ml of liquid in total, that’s an entire small glass.

Tip: Take your time with this step. Squeeze, squeeze and when you think you’re finished, squeeze some more. Remember: You don’t want soggy bread!!

This is how it should look after you’ve given it some elbow grease!

3.) Whisk the eggs with an electric mixer or in a food processor until pale, frothy and doubled in size. Add the butter and vanilla and blend.

4.) Add the zucchini and blend until combined.

5.) Mix all dry ingredients in a separate bowl – almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, granulated erythritol, cinnamon and nutmeg – making sure there are no lumps. Then add to the batter and blend until combined. Stir in half the nuts (optional, but I like a bit of crunch in this bread).

6.) Line a regular size loaf tin with parchment paper and fill in the batter. Top with the remaining nuts and bake for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick/knife inserted comes out clean.

Tip: If the top of the bread gets too brown too early, cover the top loosely with aluminium paper. The bread you see in the images is my first try, which was on the dark side. The second time around, I covered it at minute 40 and achieved a much gentler brown.

Recipe Variations

I think this recipe would work equally well with grated carrots. In this case, there’s no need for squeezing out any liquid – simply grate and go!

If you don’t have a cinnamon and nutmeg separately, you could sub with 2 tsp of pumpkin spice or mixed spice.

The hazelnuts taste and look great on top of the bread. Walnuts or pecans would also be good options. Alternatively, I’d go for slivered almonds.

I used ground almonds in this recipe – that’s what we call “regular” almond flour here in the UK. If you want to use extra-fine (fat-reduced) almond flour, I recommend you use 1 cup / 100g instead of the 125 g / 1 1/4 cup (and, if the dough seems too soft, add another 1-2 tbsp of almond flour if necessary). The super-fine almond flour absorbs more liquid than the coarser almond flour/ground almonds.

This healthy zucchini bread is only gently sweet, that’s how I like it best. If you want more of a cake experience, you could add another 2 tbsp of sweetener. I used a brown erythritol for this recipe (Lakanto Golden or Sukrin Gold are both good options), but a regular erythritol would work well, too.

This recipe would also work for zucchini muffins. If you use a muffin pan, reduce the oven time to around 25-30 minutes. (This is an estimate based on other muffin recipes I’ve made, so be sure to check with a toothpick if they’re ready.) I have a coconut flour zucchini muffin recipe if you’re not a fan of almond flour!

Other sweet recipes using veggies: 

• Fudgy Chocolate Avocado Cake (Sugar Free)
• Keto Carrot Cake For Two
• Healthy Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

Tried this Keto zucchini bread? Give it a star rating below!

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5 from 1 vote

Healthy Zucchini Bread

I love hiding vegetables in desserts and this healthy zucchini bread is my new favourite. You cannot taste (or see) the zucchini at all. Its gently sweet flavour works perfectly in this recipe - think fluffy loaf cake with bonus nutrients!

Course Dessert

Cuisine British

Keyword healthy zucchini bread, keto zucchini bread, low carb zucchini bread

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 12

Calories 188kcal

Author Katrin

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cup/ 230g shredded zucchini /courgette all liquid squeezed out
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup/ 100g butter softened
• 1 ¼ cup/ 125g almond flour or ground almonds
• ½ cup/ 50g coconut flour
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• 3 tbsp granulated erythritol
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• ¼ cup/ 30g chopped hazelnuts or pecans

Instructions

• Pre-heat the oven to 180 Celsius / 356 Fahrenheit.
• Peel and then grate 3-4 small zucchini. Using a kitchen cloth, squeeze as much liquid out as possible. You should end up with 1 ½ cup or 230g shredded zucchini.
• Whisk the eggs with an electric mixer or in a food processor until pale, frothy and doubled in size. Add the butter and vanilla and blend.
• Add the zucchini and blend until combined.
• Mix all dry ingredients in a separate bowl – almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, erythritol, cinnamon and nutmeg – making sure there are no lumps. Then add to the batter and blend until combined.
• Stir in half the nuts.
• Line a loaf tin with parchment paper and fill in the batter. Top with the remaining nuts.
• Bake for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick/knife inserted comes out clean. If the cake gets too brown, cover the top loosely with aluminium paper.
• Let cool completely before slicing.

Notes

Make sure you squeeze the liquid out of the zucchini as much as you can. And when you think you're finished, squeeze some more. I ended up with 160 ml of zucchini liquid.

2.1 net carbs per slice on the basis of 12 slices. 

Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months.  

Nutrition

Calories: 188kcal | Carbohydrates: 4.6g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 16.6g | Saturated Fat: 6.4g | Sodium: 26mg | Potassium: 220mg | Fiber: 2.5g | Sugar: 0.9g

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