Zucchini Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

Best zucchini lemon poppy seed bread or muffins are the perfect summertime breakfast or dessert. Great shredded zucchini recipe with lemon zest that bakes up moist and delicious. Like our popular moist zucchini bread but with a zing of citrus!

Zucchini Poppy Seed Bread Recipe

Ok so if you have only baked one thing in a sweet loaf you are missing out. Creating a duo with fruit and veggies is the way to go. One adds lots of moisture while the other gives your creation a pop of flavor. Just like our coconut zucchini bread, after you combine your two faves you may never go back to the “regular” boring way.

There is a key to adding a moisture filled ingredient into the mix, so listen up. When you add something like shredded carrots or zucchini you want to remove the excess moisture. To do this the easiest way is to fold a few paper towels in half and put under your shredder. When you have about 1 cup fold the towels over and press gently so the water is absorbed. Then fold it in at the end.

Now the poppyseeds aren’t really a must, neither is the lemon either though. If you didn’t want one of them you could leave it out and make just zucchini lemon bread, or zucchini poppyseed bread. You get my drift.

Ingredients

• 1/3 c butter unsalted, softened
• Sugar to make it sweet
• Sour cream or this is how to make lemon curd from scratch
• Fresh lemon zest is a great add in
• Lemon juice for added zing
• Eggs at room temperature
• All purpose flour is the base of the dry ingredients
• Baking powder and baking soda will help it rise
• 1 cup zucchini grated and pressed inside paper towels to remove excess moisture before adding into batter
• Poppy seeds of course

Lemon Glaze

• 2 tbsp poppy seeds
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 4 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

Substitutions

The glaze is of course optional but just gives it an extra WOW that everyone seems to enjoy. Other options would be to whisk together a bit of milk with powdered sugar, or spread on a tub of frosting that is already made. If you are gifting this, slices of dried lemons are pretty garnishes on top of this. Greek yogurt can be used instead of sour cream.

How to Make Zucchini Lemon Bread

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a bowl, mix all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir with a whisk.
2. Cream together soft unsalted butter and sugar together.
3. Add lemon juice, zest and sour cream in with sugar mix everything.
4. Incorporate eggs on low and mix again. In portions, add dry ingredients mix to the large bowl. This will make a thick dough.
5. Grate zucchini over a few paper towels.
6. Fold and gently press down to remove most of the moisture
7. Add shreds and poppy seeds into your butter mix.
8. Use spatula to gently fold in and incorporate.
9. Line loaf pan with parchment paper or spray with non stick spray.
10. Pour the batter in it. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
11. Then bake without foil for another 20 minutes until toothpick inserted comes out mostly clean with wet crumbs attached.
12. Make syrup from poppy seeds, water, sugar, lemon juice.
13. Heat until sugar dissolves and let cool. Remove the bread from the oven – it turns out quite tall with a dense crust.

Transfer the zucchini bread to a wire rack and pour over the syrup, being careful not to soak the top too much. Let the syrup dry on top (5 minutes) and you can cut the bread. You can even “bake” this like our Instant Pot lemon poppy seed cake without turning your oven on during the summertime if you like.

How Long to Bake Zucchini Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

You can use this same batter to bake it in smaller forms too if you wanted. Jumbo muffins are sometimes good if you want them to bake faster. Regular sizes take about 18-20 minutes depending on your altitude and oven. You never want to over-bake so always check at the minimum timing for best results, I will talk about this more later too.

Mini Muffins Bake Time

This is how long to bake mini muffins which are great for toddlers with little hands. The perfect size to snack on or have a few for an on the go breakfast. The fastest of them all at only about 11 minutes and you can make a bunch of them with the same amount as you would use as 1 loaf you see here.

Another fun idea is to make mini bundt cakes. Super pretty if you are making this as gifts. Just cool completely, wrap in cellophane with a pretty ribbon on the top. Same ingredients but has a flare to them just because of the shape of them.

What else can you make with lots of zucchini?

We have made a ton of other baked goods and quick breads with this veg over the years. Some of the most popular creations people love are the air fryer zucchini bread mini loaves and our pumpkin zucchini muffins.

To save leftovers you need to allow it to cool completely, only slice what you are eating then and there. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap or foil and slide into a freezer bag. Keep on the countertop for up to 3 days ideally, slicing a piece off at a time to enjoy.