Can I cook the bacon before adding it to the zucchini bread mixture?

Yes, you absolutely can - the bacon will cook in the bread anyway, but if you cook it until super crispy before adding it, it will have a slightly different texture in the finished bread. Both are great - it just comes down to preference.

How long will the cheesy zucchini bread keep?

It keeps well for 4 days in the fridge, and it freezes well too. I like to slice it and then freeze it in ziplock bags. That way, you can easily pop it in the toaster to defrost it.

Can I make the zucchini bread mixture into muffins instead of a loaf?

Yes! I love doing this. Grease your muffin pan, then pour in the mixture. Leave a little space at the top to allow for rising in the oven. Then you can bake at 400°F (200°C) for 20 to 25 minutes. It works for regular-sized muffins, or mini bite-sized muffins (perfect for party bites). 20 minutes will be enough for the mini version - larger muffins will need a little longer in the oven.

Can I use a different type of cheese in the zucchini bread?

Definitely - cheddar and feta work well because they're both strong and creamy, but you can play around. Swap in mozzarella, Gruyere, Parmesan, or even blue cheese.

One Bowl Cheesy Zucchini Bread

Description

This wonderful cheesy zucchini bread is THE recipe if you have zucchini to use up! It’s so simple and there’s no need to drain your zucchini first – mix your ingredients in one bowl, transfer to a loaf pan, and bake. Packed with cheese, scallions, and bacon, it’s a wonderful prep-ahead breakfast, weekend brunch, snack or light lunch.

I’m using a regular 9 x 5 inch loaf pan here.

Ingredients

Units Scale

4 eggs
1/3 cup olive oil
1 cup plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2.5 cups grated zucchini (roughly 2 large zucchini or 400g)
3 scallions (spring onions), finely sliced
3 slices of bacon
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated (plus extra to scatter on top)
1/2 cup feta, crumbled
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons chilli flakes
Black pepper.
1 tablespoon everything bagel seasoning or sesame seeds (optional)
Zest of 1 lemon (optional)

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Prepare your loaf pan. Line your pan with parchment paper, and heat your oven to 400°F (200°C fan).
Cook the bacon (optional). You can add the bacon into the mixture without cooking it first (it will cook in the oven), but cooking it first gives you lovely crispy pieces and a little extra flavor. It’s up to you! If you’re cooking the bacon, add your bacon slices to a pan over medium-high heat and cook for about five minutes, flipping a few times as you do, until the bacon is super crispy. Remove from the pan and chop into small pieces.
Mix the zucchini bread. Crack your eggs into a mixing bowl and whisk them. Add 1/3 cup olive oil, 1 cup of flour, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, 1/2 tablespoon of fish sauce, the grated zucchini, chopped scallions, chilli flakes, chopped bacon, grated cheddar, crumbled feta, 1 teaspoon of salt, a good grind of black pepper and the lemon zest if you’re using it. Mix until no streaks of flour remain, then pour into the prepared tin. The mixture will be reasonably wet. Scatter over the extra cheese and everything bagel seasoning if you’re using it.
Bake the zucchini bread. Transfer the tin to the oven, and cook for 45 to 50 minutes, until the top looks deeply golden and you can cleanly insert a skewer or knife into the middle (there shouldn’t be any sticky residue). If there is residue on the skewer, keep the bread in the oven for another 10 minutes and check again. Remove from the oven and let cool in the tin for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool. Slice and serve with softened butter (I can HIGHLY recommend trying this with roasted garlic butter).

Notes

INGREDIENT NOTES: Skip the bacon to make the bread vegetarian, or you could use chorizo. Play around with the cheese too – Gruyere, blue cheese or Emmental would be lovely swaps.

STORAGE INSTRUCTIONS: The bread will keep for roughly 4 days, stored in the fridge. You can pop slices into the toaster if you like to heat it a little, but it’s great cold. It also freezes well. Slice it, then store in ziplock bags so you can easily pull a slice or two out when you need to.

WANT MINI VERSIONS? I used this mixture to make mini zucchini bites for a party recently – this one batch was enough to make 48 mini bites. They went down very well and I’ll definitely be trying it again! They only needed around 20 minutes in the oven.

Prep Time: 10
Cook Time: 50
Category: baking
Method: oven
Cuisine: american

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1 slice
Calories: 257
Sugar: 0.8g
Sodium: 603.2mg
Fat: 17.7g
Saturated Fat: 5.3g
Unsaturated Fat: 11.3g
Trans Fat: 0g
Carbohydrates: 16.5g
Fiber: 1.4g
Protein: 9.8g
Cholesterol: 109.6mg