Lemon Almond Zucchini Bread

I’d love to have my own vegetable garden in the summer, but I live in the city. I tried to plant a small patch of veggies one year and the experiment went well—until my plot got invaded by rats! Ugh! The minute my tiny garden became a rodent playground was the minute I retired my gloves and shovel.

Luckily, my parents manage to keep a small but productive garden every year and they gift me with their extras. And I still had a zucchini from this summer’s garden hanging around my kitchen this week. Zucchini bread has been calling my name.

♥ Related: Apple Fritters with Chai Spice Glaze

For this recipe, I paired the grated squash with some of my favorite flavors: almond and lemon. A bit of almond flour in the batter along with all-purpose flour amps up the nutty, almond flavor. Toasted almonds crown the top to create a crunchy foil to the uber-moist texture that the zucchini and almond flour give to the bread.

The lemon lends a citrus twist to the cake and a bit of a tart pucker to the glaze on top. I threw in some poppy seeds for extra crunch.

I love baking this sort of quick bread because it’s such an easy recipe. The batter comes together quickly without an electric mixer. This is a perfect bread to kick-off the day; or to pair with an afternoon cuppa (Joe or tea, you pick!)

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5 from 2 votes

Lemon Almond Zucchini Bread

This lemon almond zucchini bread recipe is incredibly moist with a tart sweet glaze and crunchy toasted almonds. It's a perfect bite for breakfast or tea time!

Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword Almonds, Cake, Lemon, Quick Bread, Zucchini

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes minutes

Ingredients

Zucchini Bread Batter

• ¾ cups granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp lemon zest zest from ~1 lemon
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ¼ tsp almond extract
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• ½ tbsp ground ginger
• ¾ cup almond flour fine almond meal/flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups grated zucchini lightly packed into the cups; ~1 medium zucchini
• ¼ cup poppy seeds

Glaze & Topping

• ¼ cup confectioners sugar
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• ⅛ tsp almond extract
• ⅓ cup almond slices toasted

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350F degrees.
• Coat a 9×5 loaf pan with non-stick spray. Or lightly coat with vegetable oil or butter with a paper towel.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla extract, and almond extract until well combined.
• In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, almond flour, and all-purpose flour until well combined.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients bowl and stir together just until the batter comes together and there are only a few slight wisps of dry flour to be seen.
• Fold the zucchini and poppy seeds into the batter gently but until evenly distributed in the batter.
• Scrape the batter into the prepared baking pan using a knife or small offset spatula to ensure the batter is even. Bake for 50-60 minutes until a toothpick or skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean with no wet batter attached.
• While the cake is baking, in a medium bowl, whisk together the confectioners sugar, lemon juice, and almond extract until everything is smooth and the glaze is a pourable consistency.
• Cool the cake for about 10 minutes and then remove from the pan. Let cool for another 10 minutes. Drizzle glaze over the top of the cake as evenly as possible using a small spatula to distribute the glaze across the top of the cake. Sprinkle with almonds. Let cool completely before cutting and eating.

Notes

• Use either a box grater or food processor with the grater attachment to grate the zucchini. The food processor makes this job much easier. 
• To toast the almond slices, heat a small frying pan over medium heat and add the sliced almonds. Toast, stirring often, until the almonds turn golden brown on both sides.

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