Zucchini Spice Bread with Walnuts and Olive Oil

This bread was even better than I imagined. The olive oil gave it a deeper flavor and the whole wheat improved the texture and the flavor as well. I still love my Brown Sugar Spice Zucchini Muffins, but this is a different flavor entirely. This bread is richer in flavor and not cake-like at all. It is moist when first baked and stays that way even days later. It was delicious by itself or with butter or whipped cream cheese on top.

I’ve been playing with my zucchini bread recipes a lot lately, due to the overabundance of squash in my garden.  Hopefully, squash are as plentiful in your area as they are in mine. This is a large recipe. It made 3 full sized loaves of bread, perfect for the freezer and for gifts.

Zucchini Spice Bread with Walnuts and Olive Oil

6 small zucchini, approximately 5 1/2 cups shredded

3 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed

2 cups light olive oil, not extra virgin (this makes a big difference)

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

6 large eggs

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 cups whole wheat flour, I used freshly ground hard white wheat

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

4 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

2 teaspoons sea salt

2 cups walnuts, chopped and divided – set aside 1/2 cup

Baker’s Joy spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grate zucchini and then press most of the water out with a towel. Set aside. Combine the oil, sugar, vanilla and eggs. Set aside. Whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda and the spices. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until well combined. Stir in the grated zucchini and then the nuts.

Spray loaf pans and then pour batter into them as evenly as possible. Very lightly sprinkle the additional nuts on top of the loaves. If you have too many nuts on top, it will cause the bread to fall slightly. Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into loaf comes out clean or with crumbs.

This recipe makes (3) 4”x8” loaves.

Click here for printable recipe