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Home » Recipe Index » Bread: Quick Breads » Lemon Poppy Seed Zucchini Bread
by Kara Cook 57 Comments
Lemon Poppy Seed Zucchini Bread – shredded zucchini and pudding mix make this quick bread extra moist. It’s a fun twist on traditional poppy seed bread!
Lemon Poppy Seed Zucchini Bread
You know how sometimes in life, when one stressful thing happens, a whole bunch of other stressful things happen right at the same time, and you kind of loose a handle on things and start to wonder what it feels like to be “normal”? When you start feeling detached, kinda like you are watching yourself from outside your body and that things are happening faster than you can process them?
And all you want to do is curl up on the couch, eat chocolate, watch reruns of Psych, ignore the ringing phone, and pretend like no one will care if you don’t feed them or provide them with clean laundry? Yah, I’m having a week like that. Fun times people, fun times.
Thankfully I still have a stash of recipes hidden in the recesses of my computer that I haven’t shared with you yet. This Lemon Poppy Seed Zucchini Bread is one of them. My mom brought us a loaf, and I loved it so much I made sure I got the recipe.
I’m a huge fan of lemon, and this is a great way to indulge my lemon cravings and get rid of some extra zucchini. It’s a win win situation!
Pudding mix makes this bread extra soft and moist. If you can’t find lemon pudding mix, you can substitute vanilla pudding and it will still be delicious.
Tips for making Lemon Poppy Seed Zucchini Bread:
-I like to peel my zucchini for this bread. Without the green flecks, no one even suspects that it has zucchini in it! But you can of course skip that step.
-I have better success with most of my quick bread recipes using mini loaf pans instead of large. I use these mini pans. They are 5 3/4″ x 3 1/4″.
-Use a light touch when mixing the batter. Over-mixing can lead to a tough loaf.
-It is much cheaper to buy poppy seeds in bulk. I buy mine at my local grocery store and keep them in the freezer. They last for years. You can also buy them on amazon here.
-Lemon zest is what adds great flavor to lemon baked goods, so if you love lemon, it’s worth it to invest in a good lemon zester.
We love this lemon zucchini bread. If you try it, let me know how your family likes it. 🙂
ZUCCHINI DESSERT RECIPES:
- Butterscotch Zucchini Blondies
- Zucchini Bundt Cake (with orange cream cheese frosting)
- Zucchini Cobbler
- Chocolate Zucchini Cake (with coconut frosting)
- Zucchini Brownies
MORE ZUCCHINI BREAD RECIPES:
- Pear Zucchini Bread
- Chocolate Zucchini Bread
- Cream Cheese Filled Zucchini Bread
- Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
- Pineapple Zucchini Bread
- Zucchini Banana Muffins
- Cherry Zucchini Bread
- Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Lemon Poppy Seed Zucchini Bread Recipe
Yield: 24 servings
Lemon Poppy Seed Zucchini Bread
Soft and yummy lemon zucchini bread made with pudding mix and poppy seeds.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Total Time50 minutes
Ingredients
- 4 cups flour
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 3.4oz pkg instant lemon pudding mix
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/4 cups milk
- 1 cup oil
- 3 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 cups peeled, shredded zucchini
- 1/4 cup poppy seeds
- 1 Tbsp lemon zest
Instructions
- Spray two large or six mini loaf pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper, set aside.
- Combine flour, sugar, pudding mix, soda, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, oil, and lemon juice. Add to dry ingredients and stir gently.
- Add zucchini, poppy seeds, and lemon zest. Stir till just combined.
- Pour into prepared pans. Bake at 325° for 50-55 minutes for 9x5" large pans, 30-35 minutes for 5"x3" mini pans. Cool 10 minutes in pans before removing to cooling racks.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
24Serving Size:
1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 240Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 32mgSodium: 227mgCarbohydrates: 31gFiber: 1gSugar: 13gProtein: 4g
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Reader Interactions
Comments
CarrieThis recipe (minus the zucchini, lol) is a recipe I have been trying to find for ages – it’s the one cake I asked for every year on my birthday, but my wonderful mother THREW THE RECIPE AWAY in a fit of healthfulness. So excited to try it this weekend!
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- Kara Cook
Haha, silly mom! Glad you found the recipe, and I hope you had a wonderful birthday!
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- Terri
I have pampered chef four loaf pans that are all connected. what would be the cooking time?
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- Kara Cook
It depends on the size of the individual loaves. As long as they are about 5×3″, the baking time should be as directed, 30-35 minutes. If they are smaller, you will need additional pans, and the baking time will decrease.
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- Lori Ragain
I made this for our Sunday school class. I didn’t have instant lemon pudding, I had the cook lemon pudding. So I cooked the pudding with the 1 and 1/4 cup of milk until it was thick. Then I let it cool while I prepared the rest of the recipe. Added the pudding with the wet stuff and mixed well. It turned out great, everyone loved it.
Thank you,
LoriReply
- Kara Cook
Thanks for sharing your adaptation Lori! So glad it turned out with the cooked pudding. 🙂
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Love this has zucchini added! lemon poppy seed is my favorite.
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- Kara Cook
I’m with you, lemon poppy seed is one flavor I can’t resist!
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- Laura
We really enjoyed this recipe. I added ~ two cups of blueberries and got 24 muffins and one loaf of bread.
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- Kara Cook
I bet it was so delicious with the blueberries, I’ll have to try that!
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This will be great with zucchini from the garden this summer.
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- Kara Cook
Garden fresh zucchini is the best! So glad I have friends and family who share with me.
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Wow , I made the lemon zucchini poppy bread , it was delicious, I made it in 2 loaf tins , and added extra lemon a extra zest , ( love lemon ) , I’m glad I did as I could have added more, in saying that I made a lemon drizzle also for the top , I took one loaf to a family gathering and everyone was asking for the recipe , so headed them in your direction , it won’t be the last time I make this and sure it will become a favorite,
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- Kara Cook
So glad it was such a hit! I also love it with more lemon zest, but unfortunately the rest of my family doesn’t. I bet it was even more decadent with the glaze. Thanks for sending people to my website for the recipe, I appreciate that so much! 🙂
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I made this recipe today. But instead of loaves made cupcakes. 350 for 18 minutes was perfect. Very tasty
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- Kara Cook
Oh man, that sounds yummy! I bet they would be so good with lemon cream cheese frosting. 🙂
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- Darkis Saine
I’m making this right now but it’s taking way longer than 55 minutes to bake. What have I done wrong. It’s still in the oven after an hour and 10 minutes. The edge is done but the center isn’t
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- Kara Cook
All ovens cook differently, so yours just may need more time. If the outside is getting too brown, you can turn the temperature down.
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- Shannon
Hi there. The bread tasted good but for some reason both my loaves fell and had huge wholes in the middle. Any advice about what I did wrong? Could you make these as muffins?
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- Kara Cook
It could have simply been that your zucchini was extra juicy. Next time try squeezing it dry and see if that makes a difference. And yes, I think you could make them as muffins. They will bake faster, maybe about 18 minutes?
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- Shirley Gustafson
This is an excellent recipe! I made the first batch with vanilla pudding. Midway through mixing I found my Poppy seeds were bad so I substituted Chia seeds. It was just as good as the second batch made with fresh poppy seeds and lemon pudding mix.
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- Kara Cook
Happy to hear that it works well with chia seeds! Thanks for the tip. 🙂
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- Kayleigh Rogney
Can these loaves be frozen?
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- Kara CookSee AlsoChocolate Chip Zucchini Scones
We finish it off fast enough that I haven’t actually had to freeze it, but I’m sure it would freeze up just fine. Let it cool completely, then wrap it in plastic wrap and place it in a freezer ziplock bag. (Or if you don’t have the ziplock bags, use two layers of plastic wrap.) It should last in the freezer for 2-3 months.
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- Rita L Weisjohn
Made this today and it is delicious! I will probably add just a touch more zest next time but there will be lots of “next times”. 🙂 Thank you so much for such a wonderful recipe!
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- janet
I made this today and have to agree, it is delicious, after reading the reviews, I did add extra lemon zest and squeezed 1 extra whole lemon in too.
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Made this today and squeezed a little extra lemon juice into the batter. I also drizzled a little glaze on top. Everyone loved it!
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- Kara Cook
Glaze would make it even more tasty!
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I made this today and it was great! I’m allergic to eggs so I substituted the eggs with 16 oz of applesauce. I also squeezed and entire lemon into my batter and added the zest and mine came out quite lemony. I used two pans rather than the mini loaf but I had to increase my cook time to 68 minutes.
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- Gina B.
I made this today for the first time and it was great! Super moist and dense! My only complaint is (which seems to be the trend) is that it wasn’t as lemony as I was hoping for… which that refreshing lemony flavor is what I was going for on this hot summer day! I would definitely make it again though! Thanks for sharing 🙂
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- mark
This was good, though I would prefer a little more lemon flavor. My son said it could be sweeter, but I though it was spot on. Going to try it with some blueberries next time.
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- olivia
Cannot find lemon pudding mix anywhere!! Could I use vanilla? I did find the little pudding cups of lemon pudding lol but no box.
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- Kara Cook
It should be fine with vanilla pudding mix. I’d maybe use a little extra lemon zest to compensate. 🙂
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- Marcia Stuhlsatz
Can I use coconut oil in this recipe?
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- Kara Cook
It will not be quite as moist with coconut oil as it is with vegetable oil, but it should still work just fine.
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- Lynne
I made these and will again, not an overpowering taste of lemon, so I may increase the juice and zest next time. I zested the whole lemon but didn’t measure the amount. I ran out of parchment paper and sprayed and floured the loaf pans, that worked fine, and I also had to bake a bit longer. Highly recommend this recipe, thank you for sharing it.
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- Kara Cook
Glad to hear they worked even without the parchment paper! Oh, and if you want a more powerful lemon flavor, just increase the lemon zest, no need to add more of the juice. I do that with other lemon recipes that my kids won’t be eating. 🙂
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- Linda
Could this recipe be used as muffins instead of loaves? Any adjustments needed?
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- David
Do you squeeze the zucchini dry before using it?
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- Kara Cook
No, I didn’t squeeze it dry, just used it right after grating. 🙂
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- Karen
Fabulous recipe! My grandkids ask for it every time they visit. Thank you for sharing!
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- Jenny
Would it work using Almond Flour?
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- Kara Cook
I have personally never baked with almond flour, but it is certainly worth a try. Let me know how it turns out!
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- Beverly King
If I make the larger loaves, do I have to use a metal pan or can a glass loaf pan work? Which one would be the best to use?
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- Kara Cook
I have only used metal loaf pans, but I would think a glass pan would work. You need to reduce the oven temperature when baking with glass, so you would need to preheat your oven to 300°. You may need to adjust the baking time. Let me know how it turns out!
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- Ginger
I was so excited to make this recipe! I had all the ingredients on hand, and was anxious to get these loaves in the freezer in preparation for an upcoming hunting trip. When they cooled, I couldn’t resist a small slice, just to test. To my surprise….it was very bland and not at all what I expected. I could barely taste the lemon flavor. As I laid in bed last night, I racked my brain trying to figure out what went wrong. Lo and behold….I did not recall adding any sugar. So now I have two beautiful loaves of bread (I also added blue and pink blueberries….so they are very pretty) and am not quite sure what to do with them. I am contemplating making some lemon curd to serve with them. Any other ideas? Bread pudding of some kind? They really need a “pop” of flavor. I refuse to throw them away….I am rating based on what the final result WOULD have been, had I followed instructions. Even made properly, though, I think they need more lemon flavor.
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- Kara Cook
It’s a bummer that you forgot the sugar. 🙁 Lemon curd would be good, or you could mix up a lemon glaze and drizzle it over the loaves. And next time you make them, you can definitely add more lemon zest if you want a stronger lemon flavor. Good luck!
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- Sharon C
I made the lemon poppy seed zucchini bread and I thought it was delicious! I also added fresh Maine blueberries (mixed in a little flour so they didn’t sink to the bottom). Thank you for such a great recipe!
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- Clare
I would love to do it. How can I avoid using pudding mix? Thank you.
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- Kara Cook
I don’t think you would have good results leaving out the pudding mix. Instead, I’d tweak my lemon lime zucchini muffins by adding poppy seeds and baking them in loaf pans. https://www.creationsbykara.com/lemon-lime-zucchini-muffins/ Good luck!
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- Krysta
Sorry you are going through a rough patch. I know how it is! Hang in there! (and thanks for the recipe, it sounds wonderful…and I happen t have some zucchini in the fridge!)
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- ash
Hi I am wondering if you use the instant lemon pudding or the cook and serve lemon pudding I cant wait to try this out 🙂
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- Kara Cook
I use the instant lemon pudding mix.
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- Karen M
What if you have cook and serve pudding mix, NOT instant. What to do? Husband came home with wrong mix
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- Kara Cook
I think that for baked goods like this bread, it will probably work just fine.
- Melinda
Good luck with your week. I totally relate! I think I tried this at mom’s house and it was super yummy!
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Thanks for sharing. Looks so yummy! Can’t wait to try it. Your blog is so cute!!
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