Healthy Oatmeal Zucchini Banana Bread

Healthy Oatmeal Zucchini Banana Bread made with rolled oats, no added sweetener, and no oil! This moist and delicious zucchini banana bread is an amazing snack or breakfast.

Combining two of my favorite recipes – The Best Gluten-Free Banana Bread with The Best Gluten-Free Zucchini Bread –  generates an ultra classic loaf that everyone can be excited about!

This healthy zucchini bread recipe is sweetened entirely with banana, requires no oil, and is naturally gluten-free.

Made with rolled oats, this delicious bread is a good source of whole grains and complex carbohydrates, ideal for a pre-workout or post-workout treat to replenish glycogen. 

In addition, because we’re using a great deal of banana for both sweetness and moisture, we don’t need to use oil and the banana bread is still moist. 

Recipe Highlights:

• Flourless and Gluten-Free
• Oil-Free
• Dairy-Free
• No added sweetener
• Great source of complex carbohydrates

Rolled oats get blended into a flour in your blender, then everything gets mixed together in a mixing bowl. 

This healthy zucchini oatmeal banana bread is very lightly sweet, so if you like your breads on the sweeter end, feel free to add anywhere between two tablespoons and half a cup of your favorite granulated sweetener, such as coconut sugar, maple sugar, regular cane sugar, or sugar-free sweetener.

If you’re adding pure maple syrup, I wouldn’t recommend adding more than a couple of tablespoons as other adjustments would need to be made to the recipe to offset the added moisture.

Let’s discuss the simple ingredients for this banana zucchini bread.

Ingredients for Healthy Oatmeal Zucchini Banana Bread:

Rolled Oats: Used in place of flour, we blend up rolled oats to create the base for this banana bread. All you need to do is buzz old fashioned oats up in a high-powered blender until it resembles the consistency of flour. 

If you don’t have oats on hand, use 1 ⅔ cups of gluten-free all-purpose flour. 

I use gluten-free sprouted rolled oats, which are also glyphosate-free.

Ripe Bananas: Use overripe bananas with plenty of brown spots for the best results. Because we’re using bananas as the majority of the sweetener, we want them to be nice and sweet, so the more ripe, the better. 

Zucchini: Grated zucchini brings that unique earthy flavor to the zucchini bread. A perfect use for an abundance of fresh zucchini from the garden.

Eggs: A couple of large eggs helps to fluff up the bread and make it nice and fluffy. I haven’t tested the recipe using an egg substitute like flax egg for a vegan zucchini bread so I’m not sure what other adjustments (if any) would be needed.

Vanilla Extract: While vanilla extract is optional, it adds a nice warm flavor to the bread to help round out the flavor palate.

Baking Soda: Used as the leavening agent, baking soda helps the bread rise and keeps it held together nicely.

Lemon Juice: Lemon juice is added to react with the baking soda. Anything acidic works here, like cider vinegar, rice vinegar, etc.

Cinnamon: Bringing warmth to this inviting quick bread, ground cinnamon is an absolute must in my opinion. It also helps the bread taste sweeter without the need for added sugar.

Sea Salt: Salt enhances all of the individual flavors in the bread and brings out the natural sweetness. 

Optional Additions:

For a sweeter banana bread, add anywhere from 2 tablespoons to ½ cup of coconut sugar, maple sugar, white sugar, or brown sugar.

In order to make chocolate chip zucchini banana bread, add 1 cup of chocolate chips.

Add ⅔ cup of chopped walnuts or pecans if you like them.

Because this bread is not very sweet, choose your additions based on your sweet tooth. 

Now that we’ve covered the simple ingredients, let’s bake a loaf!

How to Make Oatmeal Zucchini Banana Bread:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a 9” x 5” loaf pan with parchment paper. 

Transfer the oats to a high-powered blender or food processor and blend on medium to high speed until a flour forms. This only takes about 20 to 30 seconds. It is fine if the flour is a little bit gritty…you just want all of the big chunks of oats to be pulverized. 

Use a box grater to grate the zucchini and measure out 1 cup.

Mash the bananas in a separate mixing bowl then whisk in the grated zucchini, eggs, vanilla extract and lemon juice (the wet ingredients).

Note: there’s no need to drain the shredded zucchini of excess moisture, as I have compensated for the moisture with the flour content.

Add the dry ingredients (oat flour, baking soda, sea salt, and cinnamon) into the bowl with the wet ingredients and stir until everything is combined.

Transfer the banana bread batter to the prepared pan and smooth it into an even layer.

Bake for 40 minutes, then cover with foil and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until the bread tests clean.

Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool for at least 30 minutes. Lift up on the parchment paper and place the loaf on a cutting board. Cut thick slices and enjoy!

Leave the leftovers in the loaf pan and wrap it tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and store it on the counter for up to 3 days. You can also store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

You can also slice the remainder of the loaf into individual slices and store it in freezer bags in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Enjoy this healthy zucchini banana bread recipe! It’s a great recipe for an afternoon snack, especially with melted butter on top of the bread. This moist bread is the perfect way of using up summer zucchini and brown bananas, and it may just be your new favorite banana bread recipe.

If you love classic quick breads, also try out these delicious gluten-free delights!

More Healthy Quick Bread Recipes: 

• Paleo Morning Glory Quick Bread 
• Keto Cinnamon Swirl Bread 
• Grain-Free Hummingbird Bread
• Paleo Pumpkin Banana Bread with Coconut Flour 
• Low-Carb Carrot Cake Bread 
• Gluten-Free Apple Cinnamon Bread

Enjoy this fresh and tasty loaf!

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4.41 from 92 votes

Healthy Oatmeal Zucchini Banana Bread

This healthy oatmeal zucchini banana bread is the ultimate healthy breakfast or treat that's packed with whole grains and complex carbs for an energizing treat. No added sugar or oil!

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time50 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr

Course: Quick Breads

Cuisine: American

Servings: 1 Loaf (10 slices)

Calories: 133kcal

Author: Julia

Ingredients

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 3 large ripe bananas mashed (about 1.5 cups)
• 1 cup grated zucchini
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract optional
• 1 tsp lemon juice*
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon optional

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a 9” x 5” loaf pan with parchment paper. 
• Transfer the oats to a high-powered blender or food processor and blend on medium to high speed until a flour forms. This only takes about 20 to 30 seconds. It is fine if the flour is a little bit gritty…you just want all of the big chunks of oats to be pulverized. 
  
• Use a box grater to grate the zucchini and measure out 1 cup.
• Mash the bananas in a mixing bowl.
  
• Whisk in the grated zucchini, eggs, vanilla extract and lemon juice (the wet ingredients). Note: there's no need to drain the shredded zucchini of excess moisture, as I have compensated for the moisture with the flour content.
  
• Add the dry ingredients (oat flour, baking soda, sea salt, and cinnamon) into the bowl with the wet ingredients and stir until everything is combined.
  
• Transfer the banana bread batter to the prepared pan and smooth it into an even layer.
  
• Bake for 40 minutes, then cover with foil and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until the bread tests clean.
  
• Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool for at least 30 minutes. Tug on the edges of the parchment paper to lift the loaf out of the pan and place it on a cutting board. Cut thick slices and enjoy!

Video

Notes

*Use cider vinegar or rice vinegar in place of lemon juice if you'd like. Anything acidic will work to create a chemical reaction with the baking soda.

Add 2 tablespoons to 1/2 cup of granulated sweetener of choice such as coconut sugar, maple sugar, or cane sugar for a sweeter bread.

Stir 1 cup of chocolate chips into the batter for chocolate chip zucchini banana bread.

Add 1/2 cup of chopped raw walnuts or pecans for a banana nut bread.

Leave the leftovers in the loaf pan and wrap it tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and store it on the counter for up to 3 days. You can also store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Slice (of 10) | Calories: 133kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 3g | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 5g

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