September 15, 2015
(last updated November 12, 2024) 
This zucchini date bread combines the goodness of traditional zucchini bread with sweet pockets of tender, caramel-like, chopped Medjool dates. It’s a wonderful snack or sweet breakfast. Best of all, the bread is both gluten-free and vegan, so you can share it with eaters of all styles!
Perfectly moist vegan zucchini bread has always been one of my favorite simple treats.
In this post, I’m sharing a variation that is not only free of dairy and egg, but is gluten-free as well. And it features a special ingredient that makes traditional zucchini bread even better: Medjool dates.
Zucchini date bread may just become your favorite means of enjoying this classic quick bread!
A match made in (baking) heaven
Years ago, I made zucchini muffins as a means of using up a ton of late summer zucchini.
Much as I love vegan zucchini pasta, zucchini chips, and zucchini pancakes, I appreciate sweet foods with the versatile vegetable as well.
So I wanted my muffins to be on the sweeter side. However, I preferred for some of that sweetness to come from a nutrient-dense source.
I thought to add chopped dates to the muffins as a means of achieving this. That’s how my love of the zucchini + date combo in baked goods was born.
Somehow, these two ingredients are a perfect pair.
Maybe it’s because zucchini is neutral, with a touch of sweetness, while dates are boldly and unapologetically sweet. Or because zucchini is light and moist while dates are dense and (at their best) creamy.
Whatever the case, the zucchini + date combo makes this quick bread so much better.
Noteworthy ingredients
A few ingredients in this loaf are worthy mentioning specifically.
Gluten-free, all-purpose flour
The first is a gluten-free flour blend. For gluten-free baking that’s also vegan, I tend to recommend a blend of gluten-free grains and starches, rather than a single flour variety.
My favorite to bake with is the King Arthur gluten-free measure-for-measure flour. I get consistently excellent results with it.
Bob’s Red Mill also makes a 1:1 gluten-free flour that’s quite effective in vegan and gluten-free baked goods.
Zucchini
Both zucchini and yellow summer squash can be used in this recipe.
Before adding the zucchini, I recommend squeezing it lightly through a nut milk bag or cheesecloth to help remove some excess moisture.
This will help to keep the zucchini date bread nice and light in texture, rather than dense and overly moist.
Dates
I strongly recommend using pitted Medjool dates to make the bread. Medjool dates are a variety of dates that are especially tender and plump. They have an irresistable flavor that’s reminiscent of caramel.
In place of Medjool dates, chopped deglet noor dates are a good second option.
How to make gluten-free vegan zucchini date bread
The thing I love about zucchini bread, pumpkin bread, banana bread, and most quick breads is that they’re so easy to make. This recipe comes together with a series of simple steps.
Step 1: Wring moisture from your zucchini
Here’s a good tutorial for this step.
Step 2: Whisk dry ingredients together
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together your flour, baking powder and soda, ginger, cinnamon, and salt.
Step 3: Mix wet ingredients
The wet ingredients include vegan buttermilk, two types of sugar, cane and brown (each lends something unique to the bread’s texture), and avocado oil, which is my go-to fat source for baking.
Step 4: Add wet ingredients to dry and mix
One thing that I love about gluten-free baking is that you can use some elbow grease with mixing!
In normal baking, over-mixing will overdevelop gluten. This leads to heavy baked goods.
When gluten isn’t present, you can stir your batter well, till it’s quite smooth, and that’s what you’ll do when you combine the wet and dry ingredients in this recipe.
Step 5: Fold in the zucchini and dates
My personal favorite step in making the zucchini date bread. Be sure to approach this step thoroughly, so that you don’t end up with big clumps of dried fruit or zucchini in the finished loaf.
Step 6: Bake
I like to err on the side of over-baking by a few minutes for quick breads; better for a loaf to be slightly tough at the edges rather than gummy on the center.
This is especially true for gluten-free quick breads, which are sometimes overly dense or gooey as it is.
The zucchini date bread will need about 50-60 minutes in the oven. I generally need to bake my batches for a whole hour.
When it’s done, the top of the loaf will be domed and set, and the entire loaf should appear a deep, golden brown.
Step 7: Enjoy
Allow the bread to cool on a wire cooling rack for a full hour before slicing and enjoying.
After that, you can get down to enjoying it! This is a perfect fall quick bread, equally nice for breakfast or snacking. I eat it plain most of the time, but a schmear of cashew or almond butter is a pretty great addition as well.
Slices of the zucchini bread will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days. They can also be frozen for up to eight weeks.
And if you love this treat, be sure to check out my classic vegan zucchini bread, too.
Gluten Free, Vegan Zucchini Date Bread
Author –Yields: 10 servings
Ingredients
- 1 cup lightly packed, grated zucchini (95g)
- 1 3/4 cups gluten-free, all-purpose flour (210g)
- 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt scant
- 2/3 cup vegan buttermilk (2/3 cup non-dairy milk mixed with 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice or apple cider vinegar)
- 1/3 cup cane sugar (65g)
- 1/3 cup light or dark brown sugar (65g; substitute additional cane sugar)
- 1/3 cup avocado oil
- 3/4 cup pitted and chopped medjool dates (105g, or approximately 6 large dates)
Instructions
- Begin by using a nut milk bag, cheesecloth, or tea towels to wring some moisture from the grated zucchini. This will ensure that your batter is moist, but not gummy. Set the squeezed zucchini aside.
- Preheat your oven to 350F. Lightly oil and flour a 8.5 x 4.5 x 2.75 inch / 21 x 11 x 6 cm loaf pan.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder and soda, ginger, cinnamon, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sugars, and oil. Pour this wet mixture into the flour mixture. Whisk the batter together well, so that you have a smooth batter (unlike batter with gluten, this batter can't be overworked). Fold the prepared zucchini and chopped dates into the mixture, so that they're evenly incorporated.
- Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan. 50-60 minutes, or until the top of the loaf is domed and set, and the entire loaf appears a deep, golden brown. Wait a full two hours before removing the loaf from its pan. Then allow it to cool on a wire cooling rack for at least another hour. Slice and serve or store. Slices of the zucchini bread will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days. They can also be frozen for up to eight weeks.
Hopefully you’ll give it a try this fall, and let me know what you think!
xo
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Categories: Recipes,
Quickbreads
Method: Oven
Dietary Preferences: Gluten Free, Soy Free, Tree Nut Free, Vegan
Method: Oven
Dietary Preferences: Gluten Free, Soy Free, Tree Nut Free, Vegan
Leave a Comment
Gena, I’d prefer the maple syrup you mentioned in your write up to the processed cane sugar but where is it?
Thanks.
Hi Marge,
Great question. Over the years, I’ve needed to workshop this recipe considerably, in keeping with reader feedback that the bread turned out much too gummy/dense, or even raw at the center. The recipe card (which now includes the cane sugar) is up-to-date and accurate, but the text of the post needs updating, which you are giving me an extra reminder to do. Cane sugar works better for a fluffy, moist-but-not-dense bread. However, you can substitute an equal amount (1/3 cup) maple syrup for the cane sugar, whisking it into the wet ingredients.
I hope this helps!
Gena
Sorry, didnโt work for me. Baked seventy five minutes and still doughy as others have said.
Hi Gena! Would subbing spelt flour work here? Let me know!
Thanks,
Natalie
I wouldn’t use regular spelt, but light spelt would work well!
Currently having this for breakfast, I baked it last night it looks, smells and tastes wonderful!! I added a bit of dried rosemary and cinnamon instead of ginger since I’m not really a ginger gal and it is beautiful! I baked it for around 65/70 minutes
Thank you Gena for this lovely recipe ๐
I LOVE that this is a GF, sugar free and vegan recipe!! Brave to that. Unfortunately, I’ve made this bread a few times, and each time I have cooked for close to TWO hours and the inside still will not cook. I squeezed out the extra water in the zucchini and used the Bob’s Red Mill GF flour mix as well. Not sure what I’m doing wrong, The taste is DELICIOUS but the texture is uncooked bread ๐ I’ll take any advice to get it to come out like your pictures!
Thanks!
Hey Emily,
I’ve gotten some mixed feedback on cooking time, so I do plan to re-test the recipe and possibly tweak my measurements soon. I’ll definitely let you know when I have a more reliable formula — I’m sorry it didn’t turn out right!
G
I have the same problem as Emily!!!
I’m working on it! Promise ๐
Hi! I’m really looking forward to trying this recipe. I don’t have GF flour…could I use regular flour instead? Would anything else need to shift? Also do you have any thoughts on using banana instead of maple syrup? I’m out of maple and do not have any other sweetners on hand..thanks for any thoughts!
Hi Lisa,
Regular flour is totally fine!
Regarding the banana, I’m not entirely sure how it’ll work out. I think you’d need at least 1/2 cup mashed, which will change the liquid ratio in the recipe. You can try that, and then reduce almond milk to 1/2 cup. I haven’t tried this so I can’t vouch for it, but I’ve got my fingers crossed that it’ll turn out for you ๐
Gena
This is really delicious, but the texture is gummy. I used Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 GF flour. Reading the comments, I wonder if I should bake it some more. I did bake for about 60 minutes. Altho the toothpick was clean, the bread was not as brown as your photos. And I now see that since I downloaded the recipe, you’ve added direction to remove moisture from the zucchini. Maybe that would have made the difference. It really does taste good, so I will try again.
Heather, thanks for the comment! Because the cooking time seems slippery, this is a recipe that I may test again myself for precision (I’ve gotten an oven thermometer since I made it, which is helping me to manage what can be an unevenly heated oven). I’ll comment to let you know if I do!
Do you think that this recipe would work if I added some berries into it?
This loaf is currently cooling on my counter…. minus two slices already! Courtesy of yours truly ๐ Really delicious! Sadly, I was out of Bob’s GF flour so I made my own mix of
1 1/2 cups brown rice flour
1/2 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1 pinch xantham gum
and it worked perfectly! Obviously I didn’t use the whole batch for the loaf, I have some left over for my next one, lol.
The consistency was fabulous, and it was moist, dense, and filling. Everything I’ve ever dreamed of in a GF vegan bread! The dates literally melted in my mouth like caramel, so perfect. I made sure to squeeze out the zucchini extra well with my nut milk bag, as a note. Other than that everything was the same! Oh, but it did take over an hour to cook. Even now it might be a little under cooked (but I love it all the same. Not raw or anything, just not super cooked!).
Thank you so much! Your blog is awesome <3
This is super awesome feedback! And thanks for noting the cooking time, Amberley, that’s helpful. Also helpful to know the flour blend you used. I hope that you can enjoy the delicious loaf all through the weekend ๐
I really wanted this to turn out!! Sadly, like Lindsey, my batter started out extremely doughy, and the end result was super slimy and gummy after over an hour of baking. ๐ Such a shame!!
Did anyone have any success with this recipe so far? I’m going to buy some Bob’s GF (I used Pamela’s), and try again. I really want to succeed with it!
Really sorry to hear it, Logan. Mine turned out really well, but gluten free baking is tricky. If I get any more feedback like this, I’ll try re-testing it and see what kinds of results I get (so that I can adjust quantities if need be).
Logan, me again: I added a note to call for squeezing out excess moisture out of the zucchini prior to cooking. I think this will help with the gumminess, in addition to trying Bob’s GF flour. If you have a chance to test before I do, let me know how it goes!
Gena, round 2 came out GREAT!! I used Bob’s GF, and I think that really made a difference; even before I added the zucchini I knew it would end up totally different from the last one. This was my first attempt at vegan baking, so I’m so happy it turned out in the end! Thanks so much, Gena!
Logan, I am THRILLED to hear this! I think I will edit the recipe to explicitly call for Bob’s GF, so that everyone has consistent results. Really grateful for your feedback!
I had a real disaster with this – came out like a brick (kept having to put it back in as it didn’t seem to be cooked – was probably baking for an hour) and the texture in the end was a combination of slimy and grainy – barf! Any suggestions as to where I might have gone wrong?
Lindsay, I’m so sorry to hear that. It could have been the GF blend you used (I use Bob’s Red Mill, if that’s helpful), or it could have been oven running hot or cool. It might also have been really watery zucchini. In any case, I hope you have more success with other recipes and am sorry that this one was a flop.
This was delicious! I found that I had to bake it for much longer however, 75 minutes. Maybe my zucchini had a lot of water?? Anyway, I will be enjoying it all week!
Could definitely be moisture in the vegetable, Lucy! I also have a very hot oven. I’m glad you mentioned it — I’ll add that the recipe may need longer in the oven.
We have a TON of zucchini from the garden and are constantly looking for new recipes to use them in. This is next on the list!
I just made the bread, it’s in the oven now…can’t wait to taste it! I assume that the flax meal/water mixture went in with the wet ingredients, you didn’t say where to add it. Sorry for being a hyper-proof-reader, comes from editing recipes for many years!
That’s totally right, Jess. Thanks for catching ๐ I hope you enjoyed it!
Wow – it looks so good for gluten-free bread. Mine never looks like that haha ;p Maybe I’ll have to try this recipe. I love the date & zucchini combo. I am also a zucchini fiend. We buy several a week and I love putting them in anything and everything (even smoothies!).
This looks wonderful! I’m not much of a home bread baker, but I’d like to try this recipe. Thanks!
YUM! And that almond butter… Give me a thick slice and a warm chai and I’m in heaven.
I totally agree zucchinis are very versatile! I have used them in baking as well and my cake turns out really good. I would love to try this zucchini date bread recipe of yours.
This looks so yummy!! Did you drain the zucchini before adding it into the mix?
I actually didn’t, but perhaps my zucchini wasn’t very moist. If yours seems watery, then feel free to give it a squeeze through cheesecloth or paper towels!
Gena, this zucchini date bread looks amazing! Can’t wait to get my baking on and make this bread ๐
Woohoo! I hope you enjoy it, Heidi!
Wow, this looks fabulous! Do you think I could use date paste instead of maple syrup? I prefer fruit-based sweeteners. Or could I just use more zucchini?
Hey Dana!
Zucchini are not sweet enough to compensate for the maple syrup, so unless you want a really savory bread, I wouldn’t use extra zucchini here. Date paste will work wonderfully, though ๐
G
Gena you are on a roll this week! what a flow of great posts! do you also experience the weird fact that how busier you are how easier it is to get things done? may sound weird but I really do! oh and on topic: i love zucchini as well ๐
Hanne, I am 100% more productive when I’m busier! It’s so true, and having more blog productivity is proof. Glad you’re enjoying the posts.
Looks great, Gena–love the addition of the dates and ginger instead of cinnamon. The photos are spectacular by the way. ๐ xo
Thanks, Maria! That is very kind! My photos are certainly a work in progress.
No other word than perfection! And zucchini is my favorite veggie! Eaten every day ๐
Yum! I will try it right away, probably using whole wheat pastry flour instead of making it gluten free though. We’ll see how it turns out. Thanks for sharing!
Actually glad you mentioned that — I should add to the recipe that AP flour or WWPF will work perfectly! I hope you enjoy it.