Braided Zucchini Yeast Bread

Zucchini Yeast Bread is a nice change of pace from the more typical quick-bread, cakey style zucchini breads. Pureed zucchini adds great flavor, moisture and texture to this tasty yeast-risen bread.

zucchini yeast bread

This is a recipe I’ve been working on for a while. Because I belong to a co-op farm I get LOTS of zucchini, all summer long. I’m always looking for new ways to use the prolific squash. I mean, there are only so many spiralized salads a gal can eat!

When I use zucchini for baking I basically treat it as added water, since that’s mostly what zucchini is made of. Because it doesn’t have a very pronounced flavor, zucchini is easy to slip it into all sorts of recipes.

For my Zucchini Yeast Bread I simply replaced some of the water in a fairly basic bread dough with zucchini. The first few times I made the bread I used shredded zucchini.

The shredded zucchini was breaking up the gluten, so I tried making a zucchini puree and that did the trick. Now I had a bread that was soft and moist with a very slight vegetable flavor from the zucchini.

All that was left to do was make a pretty braid, top it with some cheese, bake until golden brown, and enjoy! We ate it with a green salad and smoked salmon for a light dinner. Perfect!

Ingredients

ingredients for zucchini yeast bread in glass bowls on a white surface.

How to make Zucchini Yeast Bread

See the recipe card for detailed measurements and instructions.

purees zucchini in a food processor
  • Puree the zucchini in a food processor until it looks like apple sauce.
bread dough made with pureed zucchini
  • Use the zucchini puree as moisture for the dough.
  • Mix the dough and set it aside for the first rise.
three strands of dough for braiding bread
  • After the first rise knead the dough and split it into 3 equal pieces.
  • Braid the three sections into one loaf. Set it aside to rise until doubled in volume.
  • After the loaf is risen, brush it with egg wash and sprinkle with parmesan cheese before baking.

Storage

The bread is best the day that it is baked. It will keep at room temperature for 1 day. Leftovers can be frozen for up to 3 months.

More Zucchini Recipes

zucchini yeast bread

If you love this recipe as much as I do, I’d really appreciate a 5-star review.

zucchini yeast bread
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4.62 from 13 reviews

Braided Zucchini Yeast Bread

Fresh zucchini puree gives bread great moisture and flavor. This recipe makes 1 large loaf.
Prep Time30 minutes
Bake Time25 minutes
Rising Time2 hours
Total Time2 hours 55 minutes
16 slices
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Ingredients

  • 8 oz zucchini (about 1 large)
  • 4 oz warm water (½ cup)
  • 2 ¼ teaspoons dry yeast
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 large egg (room temperature)
  • 15 oz bread flour (3 cups, see note)
  • 1 egg (for egg wash)
  • 2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese for garnish

Instructions

  • Puree 8 oz zucchini in a food processor until it looks like apple sauce.
  • Combine zucchini puree, 4 oz warm water, 2 ¼ teaspoons dry yeast, 1 teaspoon salt¼ teaspoon black pepper and 1 large egg in a mixer bowl. Mix on low speed to combine. Add 2 cups of flour and mix 2 minutes to form a thick batter. Switch to the dough hook. Add the remaining flour a little at a time, until the dough gathers onto the hook and clears the sides of the bowl. Knead for 5 minutes. If working by hand, add as much flour as you can with a wooden spoon the turn the dough out onto a floured surface to finish kneading in the remaining flour.
  • Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead into a smooth ball. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, turning once to coat. Cover the bowl and set aside to rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
  • Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, knead a few times and divide into 3 equal pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a 14" long rope. Braid the three ropes, pinching each end to seal together and set the loaf onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap which has been oiled to prevent sticking. Set aside in a warm place for about 1 hour until the dough has almost doubled in volume and springs back slowly when poked.
  • Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 °F. Brush the loaf with egg wash, Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese or garnish of your choice. Bake about 30-35 minutes until golden brown and the interior temp is about 200 °F.

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Notes

If measuring the flour by volume use the “dip & sweep” method. That is, dip the measuring cup into the flour bin, overfill it, then sweep away the excess.

Nutrition

Serving: 1slices | Calories: 108kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Trans Fat: 0.003g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 155mg | Potassium: 76mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 0.5g | Vitamin A: 59IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 0.4mg
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @eileen.bakingsense or tag #bakingsense!

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Recipe Rating




33 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Very very delicious. Nice flavor and texture. Sandwich bread. I want to try adding herbs and garlic. Freezes and reheats easy and efficiently.

  2. I am planning on making this loaf. Do you need some sugar or honey to activate the yeast? If so, how much would you use?

    1. It’s not necessary to use sugar to “activate” the yeast. There’s plenty of food for the yeast in the flour. If your yeast is old and past it’s “use by” date you can check if it’s still active by mixing it with water and sugar, but otherwise it’s not necessary.

  3. I love zucchini and I wish I knew someone who had an abundance each summer. Such a beautiful loaf of bread.

  4. Wow, look at that texture!!! Looks delish!
    Though i have cooked with zucchini, never used them in bakes, next time i get some, definitely i m baking this loaf!!!

    1. Thanks, Priya! It took about 5 tries to get a texture that I was happy with. Pureeing the zucchini was the trick.

  5. I am always looking for ways to use up my garden zucchini, looks delicious! Pinning for later, Thanks!

  6. I have done a zucchini chocolate bread and loved it ! this is the first time I see it in a gorgeous yeasted bread !
    Lucky you, Eileen – here zucchini is so off season through the year, its sold for the price of gold 🙂 I would love to be your neighbour n taste that gorgeous vegetable based bread
    PS :what software / app do you plug in to create that amazing slide show for the step-by-step recipe ? looks cool – can u ping me the details offline ? Many thanks 🙂

    1. Hi Kalyani. I guess we all take for granted what we have in abundance.

      I use the “meta Slider” plugin to create the slideshow. I like to make a slide show for process photos so those who want to see the step-by-step can, and those who don’t can scroll passed.

    1. When my kids were young the game every night before dinner (in the summer) was to find where I hid the zucchini.

  7. What a great idea to puree the zucchini and then just replacing the water. That way you don’t have to drain it or wring it out! I have some summer squash looking for a recipe, and i’m going to try this. Gorgeous loaf!

  8. Hello Eileen, I absolutely loved your bread. Adding zucchini in pureed form is such a brilliant idea. The braid looks perfect and crumb feels so soft. Bookmarked for sure