This easy Gluten-Free quick bread is light, bright and fabulous all year round! And it has the most amazing moist and soft texture! Enjoy with or without the lemon glaze.
Lemon Thyme Zucchini Loaf
Easy, Fresh-tasting, Wholesome and Crowd-pleasing!
New! I’ve added a cooking video to this page so that you can see how easy it is to make this gluten-free Lemon Zucchini Loaf!
If you are new to the website, there is a printable recipe with exact measurements and directions at the bottom of every recipe page.
Hope you love it as much as we do!
Original post…Hello Sunshine! This Gluten-Free Glazed Lemon Thyme Zucchini Loaf is dreamy.
Fresh, bright and a perfect breakfast, snack or treat any time of year.
Recipe adapted from my friend Diane Morrisey, I first made this amazing bread over a year ago after Diane’s account was hacked and she lost allll of her followers.
Diane is mom of 6 who shares the most mouthwatering, easy-to-make dishes and lucky for us, her family convinced her to rebuild (she now has well over 200K followers!) Her dishes aren’t gluten-free but her recipes are easily adapted, so definitely check her out.
When I make this in the late Summer, it was a perfect way to enjoy all the summer zucchini and I loved the combination of Zucchini, Lemon and Thyme.
It was super fresh tasting and literally tasted like Summer!
This has since become a regular in our rotation and we seem to make it all Spring and Summer!
It has the best fresh flavor with the lemon, zucchini and thyme (skip if you want!), the perfect moist, soft & fluffy texture and is soooo YUMMY!
Best part, it it super easy to make and makes enough for 2 loaves!
I like to make one large and two small loaves but that’s just personal preference!
And with several loaves you can glaze one, not glaze one and freeze one! Lots of options!
So let’s make it!
It’s made with real, whole food ingredients!
What you’ll need is:
eggs
sugar
gluten-free all purpose flour (we used GF Jules — affiliate link)
zucchini
apple sauce
yogurt
lemon juice
lemon zest
baking soda
baking powder
salt
vanilla extra
and fresh thyme.
As an aside, you may have noticed that we are affiliate for GFJules. To learn more about why we love GFJules flour and why we have used it for 10 years, click here.
Bonus: at the bottom of that post is a one-time use affiliate Discount Code.
And importantly, purchasing through an affiliate link does not change your cost at all. It generates a small percentage of the sale for me, and purchasing through an affiliate link helps me fund this website and all the recipes I share, so thank you!
Back to the bread…
It’s super easy to make!
The first thing to do is shred the zucchini.
The recipe requires 2 cups which is about 2 medium or 1 large zucchini. And I like to shred it with a simple box grater and let it sit in a colander and drain any excess water while I gather the rest of the ingredients and start mixing it all together.
Pro Tip: I leave the skin on, but you could peel if it you have some in your house who don’t want to see any green and you prefer hidden veggie baking…
Once your ingredients are gathered, it comes together in no time!
First mix together the wet ingredients– yogurt, oil, applesauce, lemon juice + sugar. Don’t be scared by the amount of sugar — remember it is making 2 breads and it’s not a particularly sweet bread!
Then add in the egg, one at a time. Pro tip: it’s best to bake with room temperature eggs if you can!
Meanwhile: Mix the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter or fork or whisk. This helps combine the ingredients and make the flour finer, which helps with texture.
And then mix in the lemon zest.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir in the zucchini and vanilla and you’re ready to add to the pans and bake!
It makes either 2 loaf pans or, as I made, 1 10-inch loaf pan and 2 mini loaf pans.
Just look how cute the mini loaves are!
Pro Baking Tips:
Check with about 5-10 minutes left and if the tops are golden but the center not yet fully baked, loosely cover with foil and continue baking.
Let the breads cool in the baking pans for 15-20 minutes before removing from the pans to fully cool on baking racks. The pans will be very hot, so the breads will continue to bake and set, even out of the oven.
And just look at this texture!
First, I love that you can see all the pieces of zucchini and thyme but again, if you want more hidden veggies, peel the zucchini first and feel free to skip the thyme.
And you can just see how moist and soft & fluffy it is!
Want a slice?
And while we enjoy this bread both with and without the glaze, if you decide to glaze it, it is super easy and I love it with the glaze!
The glaze is just lemon juice and confectioner’s sugar.
And then you literally spoon or pour it over the cooked and cooled bread.
Pro Tip: this bread freezes well but freeze it un-glazed. And then add the glaze after defrosting for ultimate freshness.
Hope you love this Lemon Thyme Zucchini Loaf as much as we do!
This Gluten-Free Glazed Lemon Thyme Zucchini Loaf is dreamy -- Fresh, bright and a perfect breakfast, snack or treat any time of year. Perfect texture, moist, fluffy, a burst of lemon and soooo YUMMY! Recipe adapted from Dianne Morrisey.. Makes 2 loaves.
Author: Healthy Gluten-Free Family
Recipe type: Dessert, Breakfast, Snack
Cuisine: Gluten-Free, Vegetarian
Serves: 2 loaves
Ingredients
Bread
½ cup vegetable oil or canola oil
½ cup applesauce
6 oz (3/4 cup) plain Greek yogurt or a dairy free yogurt of choice (I've made it with Kite Hill almond milk yogurt)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
3 cups Gluten-free all purpose flour (containing xanthan gum). We used GF Jules.
1 teaspoon gluten-free baking soda
¼ teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups grated zucchini (let sit in a colander and drain for at least 10 minutes while you prepare rest of ingredients)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
Lemon Glaze
1½ cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Garnish
fresh thyme
lemon zest
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and coat 2 loaf pans in baking spray and dust with flour. (I actually made 1 10 inch loaf pan, and 2 mini loaf pans)
In a large bowl, cream together oil, apple sauce, greek yogurt, lemon juice and sugar.
Once well combined, add in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, thyme and salt with a pastry cutter.
Add in lemon zest and stir to combine.
Add dry ingredients into wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
Add in zucchini and vanilla, and stir to combine.
Once combined, divide bater evenly between bread pans.
Bake 55-60 minutes (mini loaf pans bake for 45 minutes) or until a cake tester comes out clean. TIP: if the bread is looking done on the top but cake tester isn't coming out clean, gently cover the loaf pan with foil and bake longer.
Allow to cool at least 20 minutes before removing from pan and placing on cooling rack.
Glaze
In a small bowl, stir together lemon juice and powdered sugar until well combined.
Glaze Bread
When bread is fully cool, with bread on cooling rack, pour glaze over the bread, Top with extra zest and thyme leaves.
Made this today! SO easy and delicious!!! I have a 9” loaf pan so I was able to make that plus 3 mini loaves with the recipe. I kept one mini with no glaze and the rest is glazed and so extra yummy!!! Thank you!!!
I made the Lemon Thyme Zucchini bread and it was FANTASTIC! It is SO delicious! You must make it for yourself. Perfect is the word I will use to describe its texture, moisture and flavor. I will make this again and again and even as my “go to” recipe for when I make something homemade for a gift. Seriously, I am so excited sharing how scrumptious this bread is…my mouth is watering as I type. Enjoy!
Hi! My name is Karen, and I’m the mom in our Healthy Gluten-Free Family. My posts and pictures here and on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter are labors of love that allow me to share a very personal journey with you, one our family has taken together — learning, experimenting and sharing how to raise a healthy happy gluten-free family. Read more ...
Made this today! SO easy and delicious!!! I have a 9” loaf pan so I was able to make that plus 3 mini loaves with the recipe. I kept one mini with no glaze and the rest is glazed and so extra yummy!!! Thank you!!!
I made the Lemon Thyme Zucchini bread and it was FANTASTIC! It is SO delicious! You must make it for yourself. Perfect is the word I will use to describe its texture, moisture and flavor. I will make this again and again and even as my “go to” recipe for when I make something homemade for a gift. Seriously, I am so excited sharing how scrumptious this bread is…my mouth is watering as I type. Enjoy!
Thank you so much! Happy you loved it as much as we do! Enjoy!