Have you ever made zucchini bread with pineapple? It is my new favorite quick bread recipe and I have to share it with you! Perfectly spiced, sweet and moist.
Friend, I have been making this pineapple zucchini bread now for the last several months, perfecting my version for you. It reminds me of my pineapple carrot cake recipe, but in loaf form (and sans carrots).
It’s a long story, but Mr. FMK was given a loaf of traditional pineapple zucchini bread from someone at a work site he was visiting. And I immediately declared it was one of the best zucchini bread recipes I’ve ever had. I demanded he get the recipe so I could try and recreate it. The woman kindly sent him her handwritten version with all of the notes and I was so excited to get started.
The traditional version had everything you know and love about zucchini bread: sweetness, moisture, bits of zucchini speckled throughout, and spice. But now add pineapple, dates and walnuts (!). So much texture and goodness, truly.
And as delicious as that bread was as is, I also wanted to make an FMK version. So I tested some things, trying different ratios of flour, sugar, oil, etc. I wanted a version that was a little lighter than a traditional zucchini bread recipe with pineapple – one that you will love making over and over again with some simple wholesome swaps.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Perfect for garden season! Use up that zucchini in all the ways.
- A fun twist on a zucchini bread recipe.
- Simple swaps to make this loaf a little lighter, thanks to greek yogurt and a less sugar.
- The perfect amount of spice to balance out the sweetness you get from the pineapple and dates.
Making Zucchini Bread with Pineapple
Adding pineapple to zucchini bread is a delicious way to ensure both moisture and sweetness in a quick bread recipe. I love the little bits of pineapple that come through on each bite.
I tested this recipe with various types of canned pineapple, but using crushed pineapple yielded the best results. If you can’t find crushed pineapple, you can also use canned pineapple chunks – you’ll just want to sliced them into smaller pieces and kind of crush them with the flat side of your knife. This will help give the same texture as crushed pineapple.
If you’re not a fan of pineapple, feel free to try my more traditional healthy zucchini bread recipe.
Main Ingredient Notes:
- unbleached all-purpose flour – using all-purpose flour for zucchini bread will give you the texture you know and love with traditional zucchini bread recipes. I’ve also tested it using 1 cup of all-purpose flour, with 1/2 cup whole wheat flour. The bread will be slightly more dense that way, but it does work, with barely noticeable changes.
- greek yogurt – To lighten up this recipe, we’re replacing some of the oil with plain greek yogurt. You can use full-fat, 2% or non-fat plain greek yogurt. Skyr (icelandic yogurt) works too. If you need this recipe to be dairy-free, I’m betting a dairy-free greek yogurt alternative would work just fine. I’ve used Siggi’s brand before when testing other recipes and it works the same in most cases.
- oil – Use a neutral oil such as avocado oil or light olive oil. Coconut oil will work too. We’re only using 1/4 cup for the whole recipe.
- granulated sugar – I opted for granulated white sugar to keep things simple. I did not test this this with maple syrup, and I would not replace all of the dry sugar with maple syrup, as it will significantly affect the dry-to-wet ratio of ingredients.
- grated zucchini – make sure to 1: use the fine side of a box grater and 2: squeeze out water before measuring. I do 1 cup packed AFTER squeezing the water out.
- crushed pineapple – As noted above, this recipe works best with crushed pineapple (drained, then measured!) but if you use canned pineapple chunks, you’ll have to flatten the chunks and slice them into small pieces for best results.
- Medjool dates – dates (chopped fairly small, but not quite diced) give this bread delicious caramel-like sweetness within the loaf. You could leave out if you’re not a fan but I do love the texture and flavor it brings. Raisins are a good substitute.
Find the full detailed instructions with measurements in the recipe card below, at the end of this post.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here are the step-by-step instructions for how to make zucchini bread with pineapple.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a metal 8×4 inch loaf pan with parchment paper or grease well with cooking spray.
Mix dry ingredients: in a medium bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Mix wet ingredients: in a large bowl mix together zucchini (make sure it’s squeezed out!), yogurt, egg, oil, vanilla, and pineapple (drained). Image 1 & 2.
Combine: Add about half of the bowl of dry ingredients, stirring a few times, then add in the rest of the dry ingredients and medjool dates, gently folding in until all the dry bits of flour are incorporated. Image 3 & 4.
Bake: Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 40 minutes uncovered. Then tent with foil and continue baking another 10-15 minutes. OR, until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Images 5 & 6.
⭐️ Baking tip: I check the bread for doneness with a toothpick at 50 minutes. If it needs a little more time, I’ll continue baking uncovered for another 5 minutes. Usually the bread is done by 55 minutes, but every oven is different, so rely on the toothpick method (checking for wet batter) to be sure.
Zucchini Bread Tips
- Use the fine side of a box grater. This makes small zucchini shreds that blend well into the bread.
- Squeeze the extra water out of the zucchini so you don’t end up with a loaf that’s too wet.
- Make a parchment paper overhang for easy cleanup.
- Tent with foil after 40 minutes, then continue checking on the bread every 5-10 minutes. Use the toothpick method to check for doneness.
Storing & Freezing
Storage: Leftover zucchini bread can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days. If you live in a warmer or humid environment, store in the fridge.
Freeze: Tightly wrap in completely cooled bread in plastic wrap then, then foil and store in a airtight container. Label, date, and freeze for up to 3 months.
Thaw: Place bread in the fridge to thaw overnight and store in the fridge as well.
Pineapple Zucchini Bread
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- 1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, weighed 184g
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
Wet ingredients
- 1 cup grated zucchini, finely grated, water squeezed out and lightly packed
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup Greek yogurt, weighed 83g
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup avocado oil
- ½ cup crushed pineapple, drained (see notes)
- ½ tablespoon vanilla extract
Mix-ins
- ½ cup chopped Medjool dates, chopped fairly small
- 1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour
- ½ cup chopped toasted walnuts, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF and line a metal 8×4 inch loaf pan with parchment paper or grease well with cooking spray.
- Mix dry ingredients: in a medium bowl combine 1.5 cups flour , baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg; set aside.
- Mix wet ingredients: in a large bowl mix together shredded zucchini (water squeezed out), sugar, yogurt, egg, oil, drained crushed pineapple and vanilla. Stir until everything is fully incorporated.
- Toss chopped medjool dates with flour until coated; set aside.
- Combine: To the large bowl of wet ingredients, add about half of the dry ingredients. Stir a few times then add the rest of the flour and chopped dates (and nuts if using).
- Bake: Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake uncovered for 40 minutes. Tent with foil and bake another 5-10 minutes. I typically check the bread after 8 minutes and do the toothpick test, then continue baking another 5 minutes uncovered.
- Cool: Allow the bread to cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes.
If you make this pineapple zucchini bread recipe, be sure to leave a comment and star rating on the blog! I love hearing from you, and it helps others learn more about the recipe too. Xx Ashley
Recipe FAQs
Can I substitute the oil for more yogurt?
I have not tried that myself, but it could likely work. Your bread will not have as much moisture though.
Do I need to peel the zucchini before grating?
Nope! Because you’re using the fine side of the box grater, the little bits of skin are essentially undetectable.
Can I make this recipe into muffins?
Yep. Pour the batter into a lined muffin tin and bake at the same temperature for about 20–25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Does this recipe work with fresh pineapple?
I have not tested this recipe using fresh pineapple, so I can’t say for sure if it’ll turn out the exact same. It likely won’t be as moist so you may need to compensate by adding additional oil.
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