Zucchini Carrot Banana Bread is the ultimate combo of some of my very favorite breads. If you have not tried this dynamic trio together, you are going to love it! This moist quick bread is a favorite for breakfast, snacking, and even dessert.
If you love quick bread and want a few more recipes to try, how about this delicious zucchini banana bread. Another favorite quick bread is this einkorn banana bread. All of these are made with tasty whole-grain flour.
What Makes This Bread Work?
This is a moist, tender quick bread that has a lovely combination of flavors.
Not only is this bread made with whole wheat flour, but also loaded with vegetables. If you have someone who isn't into vegetables, this is a great way to get them without them ever knowing!
I love this bread for breakfast, snacking, desserts, and really any time of day. It works. You can also double this recipe and freeze a loaf. Then you can pull it out whenever you are ready.
Ingredients
- Whole Wheat Pastry Flour- This is low-protein whole wheat flour that I love to use in a quick bread. It keeps the bread light and tender.
- All-purpose flour- For this bread, I made it with a blend of whole wheat and all-purpose. It can easily be made with 100% whole wheat, but if you are new to baking with whole grains, I suggest using a blend as this recipe is created.
- Baking soda- my favorite leavener for quick bread.
- Salt- Kosher is my go-to, but you can use whatever salt you prefer. It doesn’t take much, but do not leave out the salt!
- Butter- Unsalted
- Canola oil- I always prefer a blend of oil and butter in quick bread. The butter adds flavor and oil adds extra moisture.
- Greek yogurt or sour cream- I like to add this in quick bread for moisture with the oil also.
- Egg- this helps with structure.
- Brown sugar- you can also use granulated if you like, but I prefer the flavor of brown sugar.
- Vanilla- pure vanilla is best.
- Bananas- Make sure they are ripe for the best flavor.
- Carrots- These will be grated, so you can baby carrots or full carrots.
- Zucchini- This will be grated, and then squeezed to remove excess moisture.
How To Make
Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. In another medium-size bowl add the melted butter, oil, bananas, and brown sugar.
Mix them well, then add in the egg, vanilla, and Greek yogurt. Mix well.
Next in is the grated carrots and grated zucchini. Last are the dry ingredients. Make sure to only mix them to combine.
If you over-mix, you will get tough bread, so just make sure only to mix to combine.
Place it in the oven and bake for about 50 minutes. Remove it from the oven and let it cool in the pan for 5-7 minutes. Turn it out onto a cooling rack.
You can serve this warm, cool, or even cold. It is just delicious no matter how you serve it!
Notes
- First up, do not overmix your batter. This will result in a dense loaf. This is important with any quick bread, but really important when you are using whole wheat.
- Also, make sure and use the spoon method for measuring wheat flour, if you aren't grinding your own. The flour will compact in shipping. Make sure and give it a quick mix, then spoon it into your measuring cup, then level it off with a knife.
- The next biggest tip I have is not to overbake. For those dry baked goods I talked about, the baking time is the biggest culprit. Let me share my favorite trick for avoiding this.
- Underbake your loaf just slightly. I know, this might sound like a bad idea but hear me out. Any baked goods will experience "carry-over cooking" when they are removed from the heat source.
- What this means is the residual heat in the baked goods will continue to cook the loaf even after it is pulled from the oven. This is really important to remember with whole wheat as it absorbs more moisture.
- If you pull this loaf out when it is perfectly baked, it will continue to cook over the next 5-10 minutes and become dry. So, underbake it just slightly and it will be perfect when you are ready to slice! My perfect time in the oven was 50 minutes.
Zucchini Carrot Banana Bread
Equipment
- 1 8x4 loaf pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 ripe bananas
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup melted butter
- ¼ cup canola oil
- ¼ cup Greek yogurt
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- ⅔ cup grated carrots
- 1 cup grated zucchini after it is grated, squeeze out the excess moisture.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare your loaf by spraying with pan release or buttering the pan with softened or melted butter.
- Mix the flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
- In another medium-sized bowl, add in the bananas. Mash them with a fork. Next, add in the brown sugar, butter, and oil. Mix well. To this add the egg, vanilla, and Greek yogurt.
- Now add the grated carrots and zucchini. Make sure you squeeze out the zucchini to get out excess moisture. Mix and add the dry ingredients.
- Mix the wet and dry together, be sure not to overmix. You only want to mix this until they come together.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and move to the preheated oven. Bake for 50-55 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the oven. Let it sit in the pan for 5-7 minutes. Turn it out onto a cooling rack.
- That is it. The loaf is done. You can enjoy this bread warm, cool, or even cold! This bread is amazing any way you choose to eat it!
Notes
- First up, do not overmix your batter. This will result in a dense loaf. This is important with any quick bread, but really important when you are using whole wheat.
- Also, make sure and use the spoon method for measuring wheat flour, if you aren't grinding your own. The flour will compact in shipping. Make sure and give it a quick mix, then spoon it into your measuring cup, then level it off with a knife.
- The next biggest tip I have is not to overbake. Those dry baked goods I talked about, the baking time is the biggest culprit. Let me share my favorite trick for avoiding this.
- Underbake your loaf just slightly. I know, this might sound like a bad idea but hear me out. Any baked goods will experience "carry-over cooking" when they are removed from the heat source.
- What this means is the residual heat in the baked goods will continue to cook the loaf even after it is pulled from the oven. This is really important to remember with whole wheat as it absorbs more moisture.
- If you pull this loaf out when it is perfectly baked, it will continue to cook over the next 5-10 minutes and become dry. So, underbake it just slightly and it will be perfect when you are ready to slice! My perfect time in the oven was 50 minutes.
Marie says
Such a wonderful idea for the plethora of zucchini piled high on our counter this time of year. First of all, kudos to Amy for inspiring this home cook, who does NOT like to bake. Secondly the addition of the carrot cake element to this bread is the bomb. And finally, the suggestion of cutting the sugar in the recipe and then sprinkling a little sugar on top is pure genius. It absolutely works! I'm looking forward to diving deeper into the archives.
I baked one yesterday and am baking another today as a heartfelt "Thank You" to my boyfriend's coworkers who are working weekends to prepare for an audit.
admin says
Awesome Marie, thank you for letting me know! This recipe is a favorite quick bread of our's!
Claire says
Looks delicious! I’d love to see a version using einkorn flour, and olive or avocado oil instead of canola 🙂
Amy Sandidge says
You can easily use olive or avocado oil in place of canola in this recipe. I don't have a recipe developed for this one with einkorn flour yet, but I do have an einkorn banana bread recipe. Have you checked that one out yet?