I Tried the Most Popular Zucchini Bread on the Internet — Here’s My Honest Review

When it came time to pick out recipes for our zucchini bread recipe showdown, including AllRecipes’ “Mom’s” zucchini bread was a no-brainer. It’s by far the most popular recipe on the internet, with over 10,000 ratings, an average of five stars, and over 7,000 comments singing its praises. I had no doubt it would be good — but could it be the best?

The recipe itself is rather simple, utilizing pantry staples and classic techniques to make a traditional loaf of zucchini bread. It does get studded with chopped walnuts and seasoned with an entire tablespoon of ground cinnamon, making it the most heavily spiced zucchini bread we tested. I had high hopes for this recipe and was eager to give it a try.

Get the recipe: Mom’s Zucchini Bread

Like most zucchini bread recipes, this recipe yields two loaves of bread, so it makes a lot of batter. You’ll start by sifting flour, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon together in a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine eggs, oil, vanilla, and granulated sugar. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir to create a batter. Add two cups grated zucchini along with chopped walnuts and stir once more to incorporate.

Pour the batter into two greased and floured loaf pans and bake in a 325°F oven until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean. Let cool in their pans for 20 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. This recipe is super simple and comes together in no time at all.

This recipe is a classic, no-frills zucchini bread that tasted pretty good, but not great. The flavor was pleasant, with a strong cinnamon note that shined, but it lacked the rich caramel notes that come from brown sugar. (This was the only recipe that didn’t use brown sugar, and you could tell). The texture was also nothing to write home about — it was right on the verge of being dry and didn’t have that pound cake-like quality some of the other loaves did. Compared to the other zucchini breads I made, this recipe was remarkably forgettable.

I also didn’t love the fact that the recipe yielded two loaves. I had to borrow a second loaf pan from a friend and didn’t really want a second loaf. I ended up stashing the second one in the freezer, hoping to thaw it out in the upcoming weeks. And because the recipe uses three eggs, it’s difficult to scale it back to only yield one loaf. Overall it was a fine recipe, but I don’t think I’ll be making it again.

1. Plan to freeze one of the loaves. This recipe yields two loaves of zucchini bread, so unless you’re planning to eat both of them within a week, go ahead and freeze one. I wrapped mine in plastic wrap and stuck it in a gallon-sized baggie before freezing.
2. Line your loaf pans with parchment paper. This recipe has you grease and flour your loaf pans, but I recommend lining them with parchment paper as well to make sure nothing sticks.
3. Omit the walnuts if desired. If you’re not a fan of nuts in your zucchini bread, feel free to leave them out.
4. Cut back on the cinnamon. This recipe uses an entire tablespoon of cinnamon, giving it bold cinnamon flavor. If you’re sensitive to spice, feel free to scale back the amount of cinnamon to just a teaspoon for a more mild flavor.

Rating: 6/10

Have you ever baked Allrecipes’ zucchini bread recipe? Tell us what you thought!