Hazelnut Zucchini Bread Recipe
Posted on September 28th, 2012 by Becky || 13 comments
A few things I’ve learned about vegetable gardening in Utah: Zucchini and squash can easily overtake a small garden so they are best when planted in their own area (one small plant ends up being gigantic), cilantro doesn’t survive well in Utah (or at least I have killed a few cilantro plants here), strawberry plants come back every year and multiply, flat leaf parsley grows well in Utah, rhubarb takes a few seasons to grow enough to harvest, tomato plants grow huge so you must buy cages (and the smaller part of the cage goes in the ground … I learned this by doing it the wrong way), beer keeps slugs away from your garden (but might draw puppies into the garden), spicy peppers grow well here, and lastly, anyone can grow mint, it is like a weed and flourishes every year (although I have killed it before by not watering enough).

This year, my zucchini plant provided several loaves of zucchini bread and countless side dishes. Recently, I put zucchini in chicken tiki masala; I’ve also added it to spaghetti, sauteed it with marcona almonds and rosemary, and just sliced it up raw for a fresh salad.
After trying several different zucchini bread recipes over the years, I’ve found one that I love! My recipe calls for hazelnuts and hazelnut oil but you can substitute walnuts and walnut oil or applesauce for the oil. I really think the nut oil was the deal breaker for this recipe. The hazelnut oil enhances the bread flavor and the hazelnuts and pumpkin seeds on top give it a nice crunchy texture.
What’s your favorite zucchini recipe?
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons light vegetable oil or canola oil
- 2.5 cups grated zucchini
- 2.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1cup of hazelnuts, toasted and skins removed
- 2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
- 2 tablespoons hazelnut oil*
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter or spray loaf pans (2 large or 4 small).
- Beat eggs until light. Add the sugar, mixing well. Add the oil, zucchini, and vanilla, and mix thoroughly.
- Sift the dry ingredients. Add by the cupful to the egg mixture. Stir until well blended. Add the half of the hazelnuts and all of the hazelnut oil.
- Spoon batter into the pans, sprinkling the rest of the nuts and pumpkin seeds on top, and bake for approximately 1 hour. Cool on racks.
Notes
*Also, if you don't have hazelnut oil on hand you can use walnut oil or extra vegetable oil. *For a healthier version, you can substitute some of the oil with applesauce.. *Zucchini bread freezes very well.



Becky Rosenthal started Vintage Mixer a few years ago in hopes of sharing her love of food, style and hospitality with the world. She lives in Salt Lake City where she manages SLCfoodie, a local resource for food and dining enthusiasts.






I will have to make this recipe for myself. Too bad Josh can't have any..ha!
I love zucchini bread. I think my collection of recipes includes no less than 10 different varieties. The thought of using the nut oil sounds delicious, thanks so much for the recipe
This looks great! I'm only on my first Utah garden but can echo several of your thoughts – cilantro was a bust for me as well and mint is practically growing wild throughout my yard (including cracks in the driveway). My favorite use of zucchini is simply sliced like coins, brushed with just a touch of olive oil, sprinkled with kosher salt and roasted. So good!
Your bread looks scumptious. Last year I swirled in Nutella to zucchini bread. I think this recipe would be a perfect fit for a swirl of Nutella.
I was so happy to see you posted this, and i already made a two loaves; with a few necessary alterations. I'm so sad I forgot to add blueberries. it's delicious without them though, the perfect texture of a light crumb and crispy almost caramelized crust. bravo.
I forgot to mention that I sprinkled Rum flavored sugar on top (you could also use natural sugar crystals). It added a sweet crunch to the top of the bread before baking, which my husband especially loved. I just now added this part into the recipe.
I recently posted our favorite zucchini recipe on my blog. It's a simple bread, and we always leave out the nuts because we don't like them.
Glad to know that it wasn't just me killing the cilantro!
i had the pleasure of sampling this delicious bread and can assure… it is wonderful. i love the new use for hazelnut oil!
Oh man this looks delicious! And your photographs are beautiful! Everything here looks great!
Thanks!
I recently launched my own blog, I'd love for you to check it out and let me know what you think!
http://www.prettygoodfood.com
Your Zuchini Bread Recipie looks scrumptuous. I hope it is not necessary to ‘home grow’ your zuchini in your own garden, as I am not a gardener. Perhaps the next time M’lu and I are in SLC, we can sample your Hazelnut Zuchini Bread. We can’t remember ever having any. It does look absolutely delicious.
Gorgeous, Becky! The hazelnuts look beautiful on top of the bread. I love all kinds of quick bread- definitely bookmarking this to try!
Hi Becky,
Your blog is really great! Thanks for sharing this recipe. My wife and I had fun baking this bread and it tasted wonderful. She was happy that the recipe didn’t call for butter.
The idea of substituting apple sauce for oil is a great tip! It would be helpful if you can also mention the serving size in your recipes.
Thanks for the tip. I will try to do that in the future! I’m so glad you enjoyed the bread!