Summer Squash Bread is the best way to use up all those giant yellow squash in the garden!
Summer squash bread sounds kind of weird, doesn’t it?
I grew a garden for the first time this year, and like a total amateur I planted way too many squash and zucchini seeds and when I ended up with THREE plants of each, I didn’t have the heart to thin them back.
Those of you who have grown summer squash and zucchini understand how ridiculous that is. I’m swimming in vegetables over here and quickly running out of ways to use them. I need more yellow squash recipes!
Since I essentially create recipes for a living, you would think I’d be the perfect person to deal with a huge basket of produce harvested from my garden each morning. Unfortunately, that just isn’t the case.
See, I plan out (most of) my recipes and posts weeks in advance, and I also work on a freelance basis to create recipes for other companies. Regardless of the time of year, or what I have lying around the kitchen, sometimes I’m just too busy working on specific recipes to make use of what’s in front of me.
Last week I came home from a camping trip and found about 10 gigantic yellow squash and zucchini out in the garden, each one roughly the size of a football. These extra-large varieties typically have a firmer texture and larger seeds than the more appropriately-sized specimens sold at the grocery store, so just about the only thing I could think to do was to turn them into yellow squash bread.
Zucchini bread is a given, but what to do with the squash? Uhhhh… how about Lemon Poppy Seed Summer Squash Bread?!
Years ago when I acquired my first stand mixer, I also got the slicer/shredder attachment.
As far as attachments go, it might be the most basic of them all, but it’s one of my very favorites. It’s cheap, effective, easy to clean, and easy to store.
In 10 minutes, I had enough shredded squash and zucchini to bake close to 50 loaves of quick bread. I kept the squash and zucchini separate, and froze it all in 2-cup portions for future use.
This summer squash bread recipe is so darn good, I think it qualifies as a dessert rather than a quick bread. I thought about covering it with icing, but honestly it doesn’t need it. It doesn’t even need to be slathered in butter, which is my natural instinct for zucchini bread.
Go grab those huge squash out of your garden and get ready for a treat!
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Here’s the Recipe!
Lemon Poppy Seed Summer Squash Bread
Summer Squash Bread is the best way to use up all those giant yellow squash in the garden!
Ingredients
- 1 cup melted unsalted butter
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- Juice and zest of 2 small lemons
- 1 teaspoon almond flavor
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups grated summer squash
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease or line two loaf pans; set aside.
- Place the melted butter, sugar, lemon juice and zest, almond flavor and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl. Cream together until fluffy and light in color, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to fully incorporate into the mixture before adding another.
- Evenly sprinkle the salt, baking soda, and baking powder over the top of the mixture. Mix well.
- Working in batches, add the flour a 1/2 cup at a time; mix in entirely between additions. Fold in the squash and poppy seeds. Divide the batter between the prepared loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean.
Notes
You do not need to refrigerate this Lemon Poppy Seed Summer Squash bread, but it will last longer in the fridge than at room temperature. You can keep it in an air-tight container at room temperature for 1-2 days, or refrigerated in an airtight container for 3-5 days.
To make a Gluten Free version, substitute 3 cups of all-purpose gluten-free flour in place of 3 cups of all-purpose regular flour and add 1 1/2 teaspoons of xantham gum. Try using Bob’s Red Mill all-purpose gluten-free flour.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 20 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 254Total Fat 10gSaturated Fat 6gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 4gCholesterol 52mgSodium 202mgCarbohydrates 38gFiber 1gSugar 22gProtein 3g
Nutrition information has been auto-calculated for your convenience.
Comments
Very yummy!
Just tried this recipe, but with half the sugar, and it is great! Still plenty sweet for my taste.
Only problem with this bread is that I can’t stop eating it.
Hi Kathryn,
Thanks for sharing your comments. I had to laugh out loud at the “problem” with the bread!
– Linda
Your recipe looks delicious! Can I reduce the amount of sugar ??
Hi Janice,
Give it a go and let us know what you did and how it worked out.
– Linda
One of of my things I like to live by in the kitchen is “Follow the recipe the first time” (unless I know for sure I need to make a change because of our family’s preferences.)
Our neighbor’s garden has supplied the neighborhood with summer squash and I already made a summer squash bread that was good; however, I wanted something different.
BEHOLD THE LEMON POPPY SEED SUMMER SQUASH BREAD!!!
I have three children and the one who LOVES lemons dislikes baked lemon anything. I got him to try it and he said it was alright. You’ll have to forgive the poor child for his shortcomings.
Otherwise…
THIS BREAD WAS MAGNIFICENT! The butter gave it that perfect crispy (but in no way hard) exterior and the flavorings were perfect (I will admit I wasn’t going to add all the almond, but I’m glad I did.) Moist- but not overly so. The crumb was perfect!
I see no reason for refrigeration? because you’ll only heat up your fridge from constantly opening it up to have “Just one more slice…” It goes good with tea, it goes good with coffee, good with and without butter. Eat it for breakfast with some Greek yogurt. Have a salad for lunch with this bread. Dinner could be chicken, a side and this bread (it’s the vegetable?)…or this could be dessert.
My family, save the odd duck,(don’t fret, he’ll be happy to suck the lemons after I’ve zested and squeezed them) from the bottom of our hearts thanks you for this DELIGHTFUL recipe.
Next mission:see how many people admit they like this BEFORE finding out there’s summer squash in it. I don’t know why, but people just get goofy when they find out there’s vegetables in their quick bread.
Hi Aimee,
Your comments made me laugh out loud!!! So glad most of your family loved it! 🙂
– Linda
? My job here is complete! Again, thanks for the marvelous recipe. It appears I am required to make it for extended family.
I am about to make this for the first time. I have a technical question…
It says to melt the butter first and then cream in mixing bowl with other ingredients. Why melt the butter completely and not just use softened butter that will cream in the mixing bowl?
Hi Charlie,
I haven’t made this recipe that way so not sure if it would work or not, but give it a go if you want.
– Linda
Can I use a glass loaf pan? All the stores around me are absolutely out of all disposable and metal loaf pans, all that was left were the glass ones.
Hi JP,
Here is what I found from this site: https://www.simplyrecipes.com/the_simply_recipes_guide_to_loaf_pans/
An old rule (introduced by Pyrex itself) says to reduce the temperature 25 degrees lower than the recipe calls for if you’re baking in glassware. We’ve found this is not necessary. Just check for the doneness early, and rely on sensory cues (smells, firmness, the good old toothpick-inserted-in-center-of-loaf-comes-out-clean test) to gauge done-ness rather than time. Which is a good habit no matter what your pan is made of.
-Linda
Does it need refrigerated? Or left on counter
You do not need to refrigerate this Lemon Poppy Seed Summer Squash bread, but it will last longer in the fridge than at room temperature. You can keep it in an air-tight container at room temperature for 1-2 days, or refrigerated in an airtight container for 3-5 days.
I substituted 1 cup unsweetened applesauce in place of butter, don’t need all that fat, love love love this recipe. Very delicious ?
This sounds wonderful and I can’t wait to try it with the plethora of lemon drop squash we are getting out of our garden right now. Can this bread be frozen? Also, when you said you froze the extra shredded squash, how did you do that? I’d love to know more since we will be trying to preserve a lot of squash and zucchini this year. Thanks so much!
Hi Sara,
Yes, this bread can be frozen. After the bread has fully cooled, wrap each loaf of bread tightly in plastic wrap or foil and then put them in a zip lock bag, and put them into a zip-top bag before storing them in the freezer.
When you want a loaf, take it out of the freezer, then thaw at room temperature and then enjoy a taste of summer all year!
To freeze the extra shredded squash, just put it into freezer bags or other freezer containers and place in the freezer. Easy, peasy!
– Linda
Can I use flax seeds instead of poppy seeds?
Hi Clare,
I haven’t made it this way, but many breads have flax seeds in them. Give it a try and please let us know how you liked it.
– Linda
What is the neasurement of lemon juice? I would like to sub bottled lemon juice.
Hi Stacy,
You can get about 3 tablespoons of juice from 1 small lemon, so for 2, use about 6 tablespoons of juice.
– Linda
Help…..Made mine today and it fell in the middle.
I just made this and it’s amazing!! So glad I found a recipe to use all my summer squash!
Hi Jessica,
I’m glad you love it!
– Linda
Since it’s summer and I don’t want to heat the house, will this recipe work just as well in a bread maker?
Hi Veronica,
It should work fine as long as you can set the temperature and bake time as in the recipe. Let us know how it went.
– Linda
I think I’ve found my new favorite squash recipe…I like zucchini sauteed but the texture of yellow squash doesn’t lend itself as well; and i’ve had a stockpile building up in my fridge from my farm share bags. I used whole-grain white wheat flour and my cast-iron bundt instead of loaf pans, and this baked up dense and moist like a pound cake. It didn’t even need the glaze as it was sweet (and moist) enough on its own. This will be great for breakfast, snack and dessert time. The only other change I might make is to decrease the sugar a little. But I may even get my dad (who loves pound cake but hates vegetables) to eat this!
This redcipe was just what I was looking for! I too love anything lemon and the fact that it calls for almond flavoring makes a delicious difference. I have an apple bread recipe that calls for both vanilla and almond flavoring and the same is true in that bread. It is “over the top” delicious, but no one can seem to figure out the secret ingredient! Thank you for the post. Our garden is producing more yellow squash than we can use and give away. I’m sure our neighbors will be thrilled with a loaf of Lemon Squash Bread!!!
I’d love your apple loaf recipe!
Haha, I was reading this reciper and kept going back to ingredients, wondering why only 1 TEASPOON of almond FLOUR – it’s almond FLAVOR! Sounds yummy – I am so glad I started searching what to do with all my yellow squash. Making it now!
Has anyone tried this with a Dairy free butter alternative? Just wondering if an oil or butter substitute would work?
do you need to take the moisture out of the squash before using it?
Nope!
This is my go to recipe for a great spring/ summer loaf! It’s always a hit with family and friends, I can’t tell you how many quarantine loaves I’ve given away. I use organic sugar, which is more coarse and it gives a nice little crunch to the edges. Thank you so much for this awesome recipe.
I’ve been making Zucchini Bread for 40 years…crushed pineapple, chopped walnuts, you know the drill.
Anyway, yesterday I was wondering what to do with 6 medium yellow squash and found your recipe. It is terrific. There’s no ‘evidence’ of squash like with zucchini. My grands were none the wiser. I’ll be making this again. Oh, and I did add some bottled lemon juice since my lemons were not that juicy. Many thanks.
I followed the recipe, but instead of making 2 loaves I made 24 muffins (much simpler for serving at work). I baked them at 325 degrees for 21 minutes. Not a crumb left! I adore the combo of lemon and almond. These simple, down-home squash muffins are beautiful and elegant! Incredibly moist and delicious! I may give a tart lemon icing a try – can only make them even more incredible!
Wow! Just tried a piece of the lemon poppy seed summer squash bread very very good thank you so much. My first time growing crookneck yellow summer squash and I have plenty of it.
Just when I was going to discontinue growing yellow zucchini because family does not care for it as much as green zucchini..,..OMG! I made this with one of my “giant” yellow zucchini and omitted the poppy seeds as I did not want to go to the store, Results of this recipe is to die for!! Simple and like eating a cloud. I did peel the squash as the skin was pretty thick. I also drizzled a lemon icing over it to make up for the absence of poppy seeds. This is going to be my new signature zucchini bread. (Icing was 1TBLS butter melted in microwave,zest and juice if a small lemon and 1/2cup powdered sugar mixed til smooth and poured over the still warm bread). Outstanding! I will definitely try it with the poppy seeds next time. I’m sure that’s even better. Thank you for this recipe.
What size loaf pans?