The Best Zucchini Bread You’ll Ever Make (High Altitude Notes Included)

Sharing is caring!

Easy zucchini bread recipe made with olive oil, warm cinnamon, and fresh garden zucchini — two moist loaves, plus high altitude notes.

This post may contain affiliate links. As an amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.

This zucchini bread recipe is exactly what I make when my garden zucchini plant decides it’s going to feed the entire neighborhood and I’ve got three of them staring at me from the counter. It’s simple, made with real ingredients, and turns into two moist loaves that disappear fast around here.

I use olive oil instead of butter in this one, which keeps the crumb incredibly moist without weighing it down, and the cinnamon makes the whole kitchen smell like fall no matter what month it actually is. If you’ve made my Sourdough Banana Muffins before, this has that same cozy, from-scratch quick-bread energy — just zucchini instead of bananas.

Why This Recipe Works

Grating the zucchini fine means it melts right into the batter — you get all the moisture and none of the big stringy bites. And because we’re not draining or squeezing the zucchini first, you’re not losing any of that moisture either, which is exactly what keeps this bread from drying out (more on why that matters even more at elevation below). The olive oil is the other quiet workhorse here — it keeps the bread moist for days longer than a butter-based loaf typically stays fresh. As a bonus, since there’s no butter or milk anywhere in this recipe, it happens to be naturally dairy-free too.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Wet Ingredients

• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup olive oil
• 2 cups granulated sugar (1¾ cups for high altitude)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract — I use my homemade vanilla extract for this, but store-bought works great too
• 3 cups finely grated zucchini (about 2 medium zucchini), unpeeled and not squeezed dry

Dry Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking powder (¼ teaspoon for high altitude)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda (¾ teaspoon for high altitude)
• 3 cups all-purpose flour (add 2 tablespoons more for high altitude)

A box grater does the job on the zucchini, but if you’re making this often, a food processor with a grating attachment saves a lot of time — I’ve got the one I use linked on my Amazon storefront along with the rest of my go-to kitchen tools.

How to Make Zucchini Bread

Mix the wet ingredients. In a stand mixer (or by hand in a large bowl), beat together the eggs, olive oil, sugar, and vanilla until smooth and well combined.

Add the zucchini. Fold in the grated zucchini and mix until evenly distributed through the batter.

Add the dry ingredients. Sprinkle in the cinnamon, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and flour. Mix just until combined — you don’t need to overwork it.

Divide and bake. Split the batter evenly between two greased loaf pans (these are my favorite!). Bake at 350°F for 45–50 minutes (365°F for 40–50 minutes at high altitude — start checking at the 40-minute mark), until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool before slicing. Let the loaves cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to finish cooling. Slicing too early will give you a gummy center, so be patient (that’s hard for me!)

High Altitude Baking Tips

This one’s a big deal for those of you baking up here with me. At high elevation, liquid evaporates faster and leaveners work harder, which is exactly what causes quick breads to dry out, dome oddly, or collapse in the middle. Here’s what I change:

• Sugar: reduce from 2 cups to 1¾ cups — too much sugar at altitude weakens the structure
• Baking soda: reduce from 1 teaspoon to ¾ teaspoon
• Baking powder: reduce from ½ teaspoon to ¼ teaspoon
• Flour: add 2 extra tablespoons to give the batter more structure
• Oven temp: bump up to 365°F — a slightly hotter oven helps the structure set before the bread has a chance to over-rise and fall
• Don’t squeeze the zucchini. This is the one people get wrong. At sea level, some recipes have you drain the zucchini. Up here, you want that extra moisture — it’s fighting against faster evaporation the whole time it bakes.

Tips for Success

• Finely grate the zucchini rather than coarsely shredding it — you want it to disappear into the crumb, not sit in big chunks.
• Don’t peel the zucchini. The skin is soft once grated and adds little flecks of green throughout the loaf.
• Measure your flour by spooning it into the measuring cup and leveling it off, not scooping — scooping packs in extra flour and can dry the loaf out.
• Let the loaves cool completely before wrapping for storage, or they’ll trap steam and turn soggy.

Storage & Freezing

Zucchini bread keeps at room temperature, wrapped tightly (I love my beeswax wraps for this), for about 3 days, or in the fridge for up to a week. It also freezes beautifully — wrap cooled loaves (or individual slices) tightly in plastic wrap, then foil, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature or warm individual slices in the microwave for about 20 seconds.

What to Serve With Zucchini Bread

A warm slice with a pat of butter is really all it needs, but a dollop of homemade whipped cream turns it into dessert. It also makes a great addition to a brunch spread alongside my Crustless Ham and Cheese Quiche. And if a slice of this disappears fast, my Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cookies are another simple, real-ingredient bake worth keeping in rotation.

Final Thoughts

This is one of those recipes that turns a slightly overwhelming zucchini harvest into something everyone actually looks forward to. If you make it, I’d love to hear how it turns out — leave a comment below, and be sure to follow along @my.colorado.kitchen for more simple, real-ingredient recipes made from 7,053 feet up.