This Pineapple Zucchini Bread is a quick loaf recipe that’s a little bit different. Watch the video showing you how to make this Pineapple Zucchini Bread, then scroll to the bottom of this post to print out the recipe so you can make it at home.
Every time I go to the store (which is pretty much every other day), I buy a large bunch of bananas. The thought is that we’ll eat them, naturally. But in reality, 3 of the 6 bananas end up becoming brown-spotted.
One hint of brown on a banana, and no one in my family is going to eat it, so I end up using those browned bananas in banana bread or muffins. Or I mash them up and store them in the freezer for later use. Storing that mashed banana in the freezer, by the way, is a great tip. It looks kind of brown and yucky… but it still keeps well and works perfectly in banana bread recipes.
As fabulous as it is, one can only eat so much banana bread. So today’s post is focused on trying something new. I still have bananas on my counter becoming perfectly over-ripened, but I opted to make a Pineapple Zucchini Bread instead.
How to get your kids to try zucchini:
I must take a moment to note here that my 17-year old son absolutely HATES zucchini… with a passion. When I put sauteed zucchini on his dinner plate, he protests greatly and has to hide it in his other food to get it down his throat. The kid just does not like zucchini.
Do you have any tips for getting kids to eat zucchini? He looks at it with quite a lot of disdain, and although I ask him to at least take a few bites of it during dinner… he doesn’t like it much at all.
The kiddo watched me make this Pineapple Zucchini Bread with major skepticism. To my surprise, he wanted to taste it the next morning. HE LOVED IT! My zucchini-hating son loved this zucchini bread. I thought that was pretty cool. In fact, the kid could not stop eating it. Good thing the recipe makes two loaves.
In this recipe, I opted to grate the zucchini finely- rather than use the regular cheese-grater size grate. I thought that worked well because you don’t seeing glaring green pieces in the slices. Glaze was an option I considered, but really the bread is perfectly delicious on its own… especially when warmed slightly and smeared with real butter.
Set aside the ripe bananas and make this bread instead. The kids might actually eat it!
Here are a few more recipes using zucchini that you might enjoy:
- Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Zucchini Beef Enchiladas
- Taco Zucchini Boats
- Classic Zucchini Bread
- Baked Parmesan Zucchini Fries
- Zucchini and Rosemary Soup
Pineapple Zucchini Bread
Recipe Details
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 3/4 cup granulated white sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2½ cups shredded zucchini
- One 8.5-ounce can crushed, unsweetened pineapple, in its own juice (drained)
Instructions
- Place the oven rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray two 8x4-inch loaf pans with nonstick spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, allspice and salt.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, applesauce, oil, sugars, and vanilla. Stir in the zucchini and pineapple. Then stir in the dry ingredients, a little at a time, just until the batter is moistened and incorporated. Don't over-mix.
- Divide the batter between the two prepared loaf pans. Bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until the edges pull away slightly from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the bread cool in the pans for at least 20 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely. This bread will keep well at room temperature for up to three days.
Can you make this in advance and freeze? Thinking some advanced baking might be indicated for the holidays.
Definitely! Wrap well, and drop it in a freezer baggie.
You asked how to get your son to eat zucchini. Your recipe rocks, however, if you want a recipe without the sugar, grate an average size zucchini into your next meatloaf. So delicious. Also consider grated carrots.
This is the best Zucchini Bread recipe I’ve ever made!! Was given several large zucchini’s from my daughter’s garden and this is the 3rd time in 2 weeks that I’ve made this recipe! Makes 2 loaves and had to share with my neighbors and they went crazy for it!! Very moist!!
Glad to hear!
Would it work in 9 x 5 load pan instead?
Yes, it will just be shorter loaf.
How did you grate the zucchini to have it so fine if you did not use the box grater? Was it a food processor or some other kitchen tool? Thanks
There should be a fine grate to use on a regular box grater.
When making the Zucchini bread did you squeeze out the liquid first.? Darn, I am in my kitchen now and just thought if it is required for this recipe or not…??. Help me please! Thanks! I do not have applesauce or all spice but I used pumpkin spice instead.
No, it’s not necessary to squeeze the moisture out.
Hi there! This looks amazing and I really want to try it! I’m diabetic though and have to watch my sugar intake. I’ve tried a lot of recipes where I was able to use a sugar substitute (like Splenda) and have them turn out well. Unfortunately, I’ve also had a few that were complete failures. I was wondering if you’d tried this with a substitute or if you had any suggestions on using one. With the flour and pineapple, the carbs are high for my needs so I was hoping to find a way to reduce them a bit. Thank you!
I haven’t tried using a sugar substitute with this one, but I’d definitely try!
Hi from Romania! I maked this amazing recipe and I translated in romanian language for my friends who was wondering how amazing it is! Thank you a lot for sharing with us! I made some changes in the recipe but it was amazing even this way.I was not put the ananas but I put an apple mango mix and I made it in a biger cake mould for 30 minutes in the oven. Congratulation for your wonderful blog! I will try more recipes from your page! A big hug from me!
Please give this recipe a try it is delicious moist and a hit! Only 1/8 cup oil per loaf! I sprinkled some walnuts in after I mixed the wet ingredients. Do not over mix, the recipe is perfect!
Such a fun twist on a classic recipe. Super delicious!
Wow what a great flavor combination. Made this and it didn’t last long in our house!
I would LOVE a slice of this amazing zucchini bread!! YUM!
I can’t believe I never thought to put pineapple in my zucchini bread. It’s seriously the most delicious combination! Thanks for sharing!
I’d like to add nuts, & raisins, what kind and at what Point do I put them in?
Thank You
I’d probably like to add chopped walnuts and golden raisins. You can swirl them in with the batter once you’re finished mixing that.
Is there a differnce if using dark brown sugar?
I think you’ll be fine using either.
How much pineapple do you use in the recipe? Should it be crushed and drained?
An 8-ounce can comes out to about 2/3 cup when drained. You can certainly cut a fresh pineapple into tiny bits if crushing isn’t an option.
can I use cake flour to replace all purpose flour?
To substitute cake flour for all-purpose flour use 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons cake flour for every cup of all-purpose flour. So if you want to try it in this recipe, you’ll need 3 cups of cake flour plus 6 tablespoons.
When I made my zucchini pineapple bread was I supposed to squeeze our the liq. from the zucchini’s as I uses a fine grader that made the zucchini look soupy?
If your zucchini yields a lot of moisture when grating, then yes… it might be a good idea to drain it on a paper towel a little bit.
I was wondering if there was an alternative to all of that sugar? (I don’t want to use artificial sweeteners either.)
Is there anything else that could be done to reduce the number of Weight Watchers points? 7 points is equivalent to a whole meal, and even as delicious as this sounds, one slice would not replace a meal for me. 🙂
You could certainly try reducing the sugar by half and see if you are happy with the result!