Sourdough Lemon Poppyseed Zucchini Bread

ByLaRee Colburn
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My family loves zucchini bread, but this sourdough lemon poppy seed version is always their favorite!  The tart lemon flavor combined with the poppy seeds and the moistness from the zucchini makes this one of our favorite quick breads.  We make a lot of it during the end of summer when we harvest lots of zucchini from the garden.  This sourdough lemon zucchini bread makes the perfect summer breakfast, quick dessert or snack.  A lot of folks complain about too much zucchini and wonder what to do with it, but with zucchini recipes like this around, we can never have too much zucchini.  This recipe can easily be made into zucchini muffins that are perfect for packing in lunches or taking with you on the go.

lemon zucchini bread sliced on a cutting board

I always try to make sure that I preserve some extra zucchini so I can make this recipe all throughout the winter.  My favorite way to preserve zucchini is to shred it in the food processor and then freeze it in a freezer bag.  Then it can easily be thawed out and made into this delicious zucchini bread.  

We like to make different flavors of this moist quick bread including chocolate zucchini bread, and classic zucchini bread.  Be sure to look for those recipes here on our blog.

Ingredients

  • Flour – I like to buy unbleached all-purpose flour from Azure Standard.  If you want to use whole wheat flour, I suggest making these with half whole wheat and half all-purpose flour so they don’t get too dense.
  • Poppy seeds
  • Lemon Juice
  • Salt – Redmond salt is the healthiest because it contains a lot of natural minerals.  Salt actually brings out the sweet rich flavor in baked goods.
  • Sugar – you can use regular white sugar, brown sugar or if you want a healthier option try this cane sugar from Azure Standard
  • Baking Soda – since we are using sourdough discard for this bread, we have to add some kind of leavening agent to help it rise.
  • Baking Powder - this also helps to rise this bread
  • Fat – you can use any kind of oil, butter, melted coconut oil or beef tallow, or to make these oil free just use applesauce instead of the oil.
  • Grated zucchini - fresh zucchini or frozen works just fine, but if you use frozen make sure it's thawed and drained before adding it to the recipe
  • Eggs – farm fresh is always best
  • Sourdough discard – I like to make these muffins with sourdough discard because it’s usually what I have in my refrigerator. You can also make them with active starter.  As long as you’re adding some kind of sourdough starter, you’ll get a good result. 
    Optional Lemon Glaze
  • Powdered sugar
  • Lemon juice

This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here

Tools

  • Stand mixer or a large mixing bowl – my absolute favorite stand mixer is a bosch mixer. I’ve used it almost everyday for years and it has served me so well including in the summertime when we bake almost 100 loaves of bread for farmers' market each week. I know several people that have had bosch mixers for over 30 years and they are still running strong. Getting a bosch mixer is one of the best investments you can make for your kitchen.  Get an extra $20 off when ordering from nutrimill.com/wagonwheel.  
  • Cookie Paddles – if you get the bosch mixer, I highly recommend you get the cookie paddles which is what I use for making this quick bread. You will need the metal top for the cookie paddles. I also highly recommend getting the cake paddles as well. I use all of them all the time.
    If you don’t have a stand mixer, you could use a large bowl and a hand mixer or large wooden spoon.
  • Loaf Pan - I love my enamel cast iron bread pan from Nutrimill, but if I make more than one loaf, than I often use my regular bread pans as well.
  • Muffin tin, optional – I really like this 24 cup tin, it allows me to make a bunch of muffins all at once.  If you don’t have a muffin tin, just set your paper muffin liners inside narrow-mouth rings (like you would use for canning) and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  This will keep the muffin liners upright until the muffins are baked.
  • Muffin liners – this saves on dishes and you won’t have to grease your muffin tin
  • Measuring Cups and Spoons

How to Make This Lemon Poppyseed Zucchini Bread Recipe

In the bowl of your stand mixer or a large mixing bowl, mix together all the wet ingredients.  Eggs, oil or applesauce, sugar, lemon juice, poppy seeds, sourdough starter, shredded zucchini and salt.  

adding lemon juice to lemon poppy seed zucchini bread
adding zucchini to sourdough zucchini bread

Then add all the dry ingredients. Flour, baking soda, and baking powder.  Mix just until combined.

mixing up lemon poppy seed zucchini bread

*If you want this recipe to have long fermented digestive and health benefits, you can leave it out on the counter for up to twelve hours or overnight.

To make sourdough zucchini bread:

Grease and flour the pan by spreading some butter or some kind of fat in the pan.  Add a little bit of flour and shake it around until the inside of the pan is completely coated.  You could also line the pan with parchment paper.

grease and flour pans for sourdough zucchini bread

Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

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adding lemon poppyseed zucchini bread to pans
lemon poppyseed batter in pan

Bake at 350 degrees in a preheated oven for 1 hour or until knife inserted in the center of your bread comes out clean.  I often end up baking this bread for closer to an hour and 25 minutes.  Every oven will vary slightly.

To make sourdough zucchini muffins:

Line each muffin cup with a paper liner.  Use an ice cream scoop to spoon the batter into each muffin cup.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

For best results, allow to cool completely on a wire rack before storing in an airtight container in the refrigerator. 

To add the optional sweet glaze, mix together powdered sugar and lemon juice and drizzle over the top of the bread.

Serve with fresh butter or cream cheese.

slice of lemon zucchini bread

Best if eaten within 3-5 days, or store in the freezer for an easy breakfast or dessert later on.   To thaw, allow to sit out for a few hours at room temperature.

If you try this recipe and love it, please come back and give it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @wagonwheelhomestead21.  I can’t wait to see what all you make!

lemon zucchini bread sliced

Tips

  • This bread can be mixed up the night before and allowed to sit out at room temperature to long ferment which increases the health benefits and digestibility
  • A great way to use up leftover sourdough starter discard.  You can also use active sourdough starter if you don’t have any discard in your refrigerator
  • If you’re looking for a more natural sweetener, try this cane sugar from Azure Standard.
  • You can use any kind of fat – oil, melted butter, beef tallow, coconut oil, or if you want to make these oil-free you can substitute applesauce for the oil

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Sourdough Lemon Poppyseed Zucchini Bread pin image

More Recipes Like This

sourdough lemon zucchini bread

Sourdough Lemon Poppyseed Zucchini Bread

My family loves zucchini bread, but this sourdough lemon poppy seed version is always their favorite!  The tart lemon flavor combined with the poppy seeds and the moistness from the zucchini makes this one of our favorite quick breads.  We make a lot of it during the end of summer when we harvest lots of zucchini from the garden.  
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Serving Size 10 people

Want to save this post?

Just enter your email and get it sent to your inbox! Plus you’ll get new recipes and homesteading tips from us every week!

Equipment

  • 1 Stand mixer or a large mixing bowl my absolute favorite stand mixer is a bosch mixer. I’ve used it almost everyday for years and it has served me so well including in the summertime when we bake almost 100 loaves of bread for farmers' market each week. I know several people that have had bosch mixers for over 30 years and they are still running strong. Getting a bosch mixer is one of the best investments you can make for your kitchen.  Get an extra $20 off when ordering from nutrimill.com/wagonwheel.  
  • 1 Cookie Paddles   if you get the bosch mixer, I highly recommend you get the cookie paddles which is what I use for making this quick bread. You will need the metal top for the cookie paddles. I also highly recommend getting the cake paddles as well. I use all of them all the time. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you could use a large bowl and a hand mixer or large wooden spoon.
  • 1 Loaf Pan  I love my enamel cast iron bread pan from Nutrimill, but if I make more than one loaf, than I often use my regular bread pans as well.
  • 1 Muffin tin, optional  I really like this 24 cup tin, it allows me to make a bunch of muffins all at once.  If you don’t have a muffin tin, just set your paper muffin liners inside narrow-mouth rings (like you would use for canning) and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  This will keep the muffin liners upright until the muffins are baked.
  • 1 Muffin liners this saves on dishes and you won’t have to grease your muffin tin
  • 1 measuring cups and spoons

Ingredients

  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup oil
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 Tbl. lemon juice
  • 2 Tbl. poppyseeds
  • 2 cups shredded zucchini
  • 1 cup sourdough discard
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3 cups flour

Instructions

  • In the bowl of your stand mixer or a large mixing bowl, mix together all the wet ingredients.  Eggs, oil or applesauce, sugar, lemon juice, poppy seeds, sourdough starter, shredded zucchini and salt. 
  • Then add all the dry ingredients. Flour, baking soda, and baking powder.  Mix just until combined.
  • *If you want this recipe to have long fermented digestive and health benefits, you can leave it out on the counter for up to twelve hours or overnight.

To make sourdough zucchini bread:

  • Grease and flour the pan by spreading some butter or some kind of fat in the pan.  Add a little bit of flour and shake it around until the inside of the pan is completely coated.  You could also line the pan with parchment paper.
  • Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
  • Bake at 350 degrees in a preheated oven for 1 hour or until knife inserted in the center of your bread comes out clean.  I often end up baking this bread for closer to an hour and 25 minutes.  Every oven will vary slightly.

To make sourdough zucchini muffins:

  • Line each muffin cup with a paper liner.  Use an ice cream scoop to spoon the batter into each muffin cup.
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
  • For best results, allow to cool completely on a wire rack before storing in an airtight container in the refrigerator. 
  • To add the optional sweet glaze, mix together powdered sugar and lemon juice and drizzle over the top of the bread.
  • Serve with fresh butter or cream cheese.
  • Best if eaten within 3-5 days, or store in the freezer for an easy breakfast or dessert later on.   To thaw, allow to sit out for a few hours at room temperature.
  • If you try this recipe and love it, please come back and give it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @wagonwheelhomestead21.  I can’t wait to see what all you make!

Notes

  • This bread can be mixed up the night before and allowed to sit out at room temperature to long ferment which increases the health benefits and digestibility
  • A great way to use up leftover sourdough starter discard.  You can also use active sourdough starter if you don’t have any discard in your refrigerator
  • If you’re looking for a more natural sweetener, try this cane sugar from Azure Standard.
  • You can use any kind of fat – oil, melted butter, beef tallow, coconut oil, or if you want to make these oil-free you can substitute applesauce for the oil

More Sourdough

I'm a homeschool Mom of 5, living out my dreams of growing a simple, sustainable life on our Nebraska homestead. I'm passionate about gardening, preserving, cooking from scratch and baking with sourdough. I enjoy milking Jersey cows and making our own dairy products. Come along with me as I share with you the skills you'll need to be successful at homesteading and frugal living.

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3 Comments

    1. Bake at 350 degrees in a preheated oven for 1 hour or until knife inserted in the center of your bread comes out clean.  I often end up baking this bread for closer to an hour and 25 minutes.  Every oven will vary slightly.

      Reply