Sweetened naturally with honey and full of heart healthy grains, this Honey Zucchini Pumpkin Bread is a lighter taste of fall with sweet pumpkin, autumn spices, crunchy bits of walnuts, and golden raisins (and/or dried cranberries or craisins) added for just the right hint of sweet. It’s less intense than your typical pumpkin bread which I find refreshing because pumpkin bread can be a bit over-the-top on the pumpkin — the zucchini lightens it up to just right! Seriously, this is THE perfect bread to munch on with your morning tea or coffee.

Oh, I should really mention that, although this bread is very enjoyable all on its own, it is oh SO much better if you spread some Whipped Pumpkin Maple Mascarpone on top. (If you don’t have Mascarpone on hand, substitute Greek cream cheese or Neufchatel. It’s such a simple thing to make, but trust me, it’s amazing.)

Ready for Pumpkin Season?

Normally, I’m not quite ready to rush into fall, because I want to hold onto summer as long as I can. But one day we went to the coffee shop and I saw all the pumpkin spice madness on the menu that always seems to happen WAY too early (in my humble opinion), but this year, I saw it and it was like a switch had been flipped in my brain. I suddenly had a HUGE craving for pumpkin bread.

I thought I remembered freezing some pumpkin last year after our annual family pumpkin/squash picking that we do every year at my parents’ place because they always seem to have so much more than they can every hope to use. And yes, I was right! I found TWO containers of frozen pumpkin in my freezer screaming at me that it’s TIME! Oh my, yes, yes, right now! It’s time. In fact, it’s high time I get to them because I might actually still have a couple butternut squash from LAST year sitting around. I better hurry up and use them because THIS year’s pumpkin picking festival is coming up fast!

Is it Zucchini Pumpkin Bread or Pumpkin Zucchini Bread?

This was a silly question my brain kept asking me … which is it? It is pumpkin bread or zucchini bread? An internal debate of no consequence at all … technically it’s both, but in the end I decided that it depends on the pumpkin/zucchini ratio. If you use more zucchini than pumpkin then it’s zucchini bread and if you use more pumpkin than zucchini, then it’s pumpkin bread, right? That seems logical to me, anyway.

Such a silly debate my brain insisted upon plaguing me with. Who the heck cares? As long as the result makes you happy. And this bread definitely makes me happy.

I hope it makes you happy too …

Honey Zucchini Pumpkin Bread

Author: Ann

Print Recipe

Ingredients

Scale

Wet ingredients:

3/4 cup shredded zucchini (about 5 – 6 oz.)
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 eggs
1/3 cup avocado oil (or other neutral tasting, heart healthy oil)
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt

Dry ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour (for gluten free, substitute brown rice flour or a GF blend)
1 cup oat bran or oat flour or old fashioned oats (or sub more whole wheat flour … if you are gluten intolerant, make sure your oats are certified gluten free)
1/4 cup flaxmeal or oat fiber
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 – 1 teaspoon stevia powder or 2 Tablespoons more honey

Mix Ins/Toppings:

1/2 – 3/4 cup golden raisins or craisins (optional)
1/2 – 3./4 cup toasted, chopped walnuts (optional)
About 2 Tablespoons raw (turbinado) sugar (optional, for the top)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray a 3×5-inch bread pan with cooking spray (or coat with oil)
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the wet ingredients until well blended.
Sprinkle the dry ingredients over the wet mixture, then stir until fully mixed.
Fold in the raisins and nuts and pour into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the top with the raw sugar and bake for 60 – 75 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let sit for 5 – 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and let cool on a wire rack. Slice and enjoy!

Notes

You can adjust the pumpkin/zucchini ratio to your preference … just make sure you have 1 3/4 cups total of zucchini and pumpkin. The first time I made it I used 1 cup of zucchini, 3/4 cup of pumpkin and it was really light and lovely, but didn’t have that orange color I was craving. This time I used more pumpkin than zucchini and it’s a prettier color, a little more dense, but still a lovely texture. Feel free to play with the zucchini/pumpkin ratio until you find just the right balance for you.

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