Super moist Lemon Yellow Squash Bread is made with fresh lemon juice and zest and healthy yellow squash from your garden! This summer squash bread is the perfect way to sneak veggies into dessert! Put this at the top of your quick bread recipes, because you’ll make it more often than any other type of sweet bread!
If you’re looking for a yellow squash bread recipe, you’ve come to the right place! This is the MOST DELICIOUS way to use up all that summer squash!
I know this sounds weird. But hear me out.
We went on a trip to Seattle for a week, and when we got back, our yellow squash in our garden had become absolutely enormous. Like the size of medieval clubs. You could take these things into battle.
But I did not want to bludgeon people with them. I wanted to feed people with them! So I started thinking of ways to sneak the squash into food, and I found the perfect solution.
Lemon Yellow Squash Bread.
Who would have thought you could make dessert with yellow squash?
The beauty of this is that the squash is absolutely tasteless and just looks like bits of lemon.
(This means that your children will never know that you have baked yellow squash in the bread!)
I have made six loaves of this bread (with possibly more to come, because I have yellow summer squash coming out my ears!)
My whole family loves this bread and cannot stop eating it. We had guests for dinner on Sunday and I served this bread for dessert. They could not get enough, so I sent some home with them. Needless to say, this is quite possibly the best use EVER for all your summer squash.
Today’s Freebie!
Ingredients for Lemon Yellow Squash Bread
Wet ingredients:
- Vegetable oil (or olive oil)
- Eggs
- Buttermilk (can be made with regular milk and a splash of vinegar or lemon juice)
- Lemon juice
- Lemon zest
- Grated yellow or summer squash (can use fresh squash or frozen)
Dry ingredients:
- Granulated sugar
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Baking powder
For the optional glaze:
- Powdered sugar
- Lemon juice
- Milk
How to Make Lemon Yellow Squash Bread
First, you’ll need to grate or shred your yellow squash.
How do you shred squash?
It’s really easy with a food processor that has a grating attachment! If you don’t have one, you’ll need to grate it with a hand grater. Either way, the first thing you want to do is wash the squash and then cut off both ends.
Cut the squash into chunks about 3 inches high.
Slice these chunks in half from top to bottom. If you have a really large squash with hard seeds, you may want to remove the center portion with the seeds. If you are using smaller, normal-sized squash, you probably don’t need to do this.
Add the chunks to a food processor fitted with a grating blade. I love my Hamilton Beach 12-Cup Food Processor.
Can you freeze the grated squash?
Yes! I like to measure out one cup of the grated squash (the amount used in this recipe) and put it into Ziploc bags. Then when I am ready to make this bread, I take the frozen squash out of the freezer (at least a day in advance so it can thaw in the refrigerator).
One thing to note is that your frozen squash will release a lot of water as it thaws. Be sure to drain the water before adding the squash to your bread.
You’ll also notice that the thawed squash will have compacted into about 1/2 a cup. Don’t worry about that! Just go ahead and add it to your recipe. It was a full cup before you froze it, so you’re good to go!
Once you mix up the batter for the bread (please use a large mixing bowl, because this makes a lot of batter), you add in the grated yellow squash.
Mix it together, then pour batter into a large bread pan (9×5) and bake for 40-45 minutes.
You can use a hand mixer or stand mixer for the batter, but I always just mix it by hand. That way, I’m sure not to overmix and activate any gluten.
Once the bread has cooled for a bit, turn it out of the pan
and let it cool completely on a wire rack. Then top it with a wonderful lemon glaze and serve!
I left this bread out overnight before glazing because I wanted the top crust to stay wonderfully crispy. If you put it in a plastic bag, the crust will absorb the moisture in the bread and will no longer retain its wonderful texture. Even though I left the bread out for so long, it still stayed super soft.
I suggest you just let the moist bread rest at room temperature, uncovered, and only add the glaze right before you plan to serve it.
You can make summer squash bread with any type of summer squash! Try it with zucchini, too!
You can also make this wonderful Lemon Bread using zucchini. If you have kids who object to green things in food, you might want to stick with the yellow squash, though 🙂
Note: You can also make this bread in mini loaf pans! Bake for 30 minutes. If a toothpick comes out from the center with just a few crumbs, it’s done! (You may need to adjust the baking time depending on the size of your mini loaf pans and how hot your oven cooks).
This recipe adapted from a great zucchini bread recipe, Glazed Lemon Zucchini Bread from Lil’Luna.
For more delicious summer squash bread recipes using zucchini, try Cinnamon Swirl Zucchini Bread and Zucchini Orange Bread. Of course you can substitute yellow squash in these recipes as well!
There is a great recipe on Smitten Kitchen for Zucchini Bread where she suggests you leave the bread in the pan overnight, uncovered. That will keep your bread wonderfully moist, but preserve the crunchy top!
Did you make this delicious recipe? (It’s one of my all-time most popular recipes!) If so, be sure to leave a comment and let me know how it turned out!
Today’s Freebie!
Lemon Yellow Squash Bread
Super moist Lemon Yellow Squash Bread is made with fresh lemon juice and zest and healthy yellow squash from your garden! The perfect way to sneak veggies into dessert!
Ingredients
For the Lemon Yellow Squash Bread
- 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- zest from one lemon
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup yellow squash, grated
For the Lemon Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon milk
Instructions
Grease and flour a 9x5" bread pan. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer, beat the eggs. Add the 1/2 cup of oil and 1 1/3 cups of sugar and mix until well blended.
Add 1/2 cup of buttermilk, 2 tablepsoons of lemon juice, and lemon zest to the mixture and blend well.
Add the 2 cups of flour, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 2 teaspoons of baking powder all at once. Blend on low speed just until everything is incorporated and most of the lumps are gone.
Add the one cup of grated yellow squash and fold in using a spoon.
Pour the batter into your prepared bread pan and bake for 45-50 minutes, until the top is golden brown.
Allow the bread to cool for at least 30 minutes in the pans. Then slide a knife or spatula around the edges to loosen and turn out onto a cutting board. Allow to cool completely. (Alternately, you can leave the bread in the pans, uncovered, overnight).
Before serving, make the glaze by mixing the powdered sugar, lemon juice and milk together. Drizzle over the top of the bread. Glaze will harden up in time.
Notes
If you use frozen squash or add extra squash to this recipe, you may need to increase the baking time. I have tested this recipe with both frozen and fresh squash and gotten excellent results with both. If using frozen squash, be sure to thaw it first and drain any liquid. When measuring thawed squash, just use 1/2 cup instead of a full cup.
If you don't have any buttermilk, you can make some. Just pour your 1/2 cup of milk into a measuring cup and add a small splash of lemon juice or vinegar. Let sit for about ten minutes.
If you want even more lemon flavor, add more lemon zest, a couple drops of lemon essential oil, or a teaspoon of lemon extract to the batter.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 300Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 32mgSodium: 203mgCarbohydrates: 50gFiber: 1gSugar: 32gProtein: 4g
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Looks so delicious and moist!
Thank you Natalie! I always love it when you visit my blog!
OH MY GOODNESS!! This is mouthwatering!! I love how nicely you decorate it!
Thank you, Merry! I had to call all my friends to find some lemons so I could decorate it with that lemon slice 🙂
WOWW THIS LOOKS SO AMAZING!!! I’ve been wondering what to do with all my yellow squash and thanks to you I found a tasty recipe!! This is a MUST TRY!
This is absolutely GENIUS!! I love that this is a different way to use up some yellow squash!!
What a lovely addition to brunch or breakfast and I am sure it makes a delicious snack too!
Can this bread be frozen for later use ?
Yes! I have frozen it many times! If you plan to freeze it, I would wait to put the glaze on until you have thawed it and are ready to serve.
Super yummy!
I made this using my Gluten Free flour mixture and it turned out wonderful!
Thank you for this recipe. 🤗
Awesome! I’m so glad to hear it! Thanks for commenting and letting me know that our gluten-free friends can also enjoy this!
What do you use for your gluten free flour mixture? I have a friend who was recently diagnosed with Celiac disease and I’d love to make this for her.
There are gluten-free baking mixes you can buy at the store. Even Walmart has a gluten-free section with these. Otherwise, I use a mix of equal parts brown rice flour, corn starch, and tapioca flour/starch along with a teeny bit of xanthan gum. You can look online to find gluten flour mix recipes as well. Good luck! (I would say to use brown rice flour rather than white rice flour as the white rice flour tends to be gritty whereas the brown rice flour is more like powder).
Dont bake for your friend! If she has to be careful about cross contamination, just regular flour dust from your kitchen or pans will be bad for her. Just give her the recipe. My daughter was diagnosed last year. It is a difficult lifestyle.
I use Rob Mills one for one GF flour. Turned out perfect
Hi Melissa,
Do I need to peel squash?
Does it need to be cooked first?
Diane
Hi Diane. Good questions! You do not need to peel the squash, and you do not need to cook it! Just grate it raw with the peel on and it works perfectly!
Made this…excellent. very moist.
Thank you! My kids love it, even though it has squash in it!
Awesome!!!! I will make this every summer! Thank you!
My daughter & I made this yesterday. It is delicious! 🙂 We will be making it again. Thanks for sharing the recipe. 🙂
I’m so glad you liked it! Now I need to make some more!
The bread is very yummy. The only issue we had was that putting the dough in one 9X5 pan made the cook time 1 hour and 15 minutes. It was way too much for one pan. Is your recipe supposed to be for two pans? or just the one? After adding 20 minutes to the time and still having the center completely raw, we lowered the temp to 325 and let it cook for another 20 minutes. After that fiasco we put the next bath in 4 1/2 loaf pans and those came out beautiful! The picture in your directions above showed two pans, but the written directions called for one. I just wanted to make sure it should have been two pans.
Again, the bread is delicious!
Thank you so much!
Hi Heather. I’m so sorry you had so many problems with the recipe! I’m glad you were able to get it to work out with smaller loaf pans. I haven’t had any issues with this recipe, and it is for just one large loaf pan. I will need to make it again soon to make sure that everything works properly!
I agree with Heather, i think your instructions are for 2 smaller pans, i used my one large pan and it took over an hour to cook. I just took it out of the oven looks beautiful, can not wait fot it to cool so I can try it
Just made this with one 9×5 loaf pan and it took over an hour.
Thanks Meagan! About half the people say they have to bake it for longer. Not sure why it’s so different for some people, but it probably has to do with the moisture content of your squash. But it still turns out great even if you have to bake it longer!
Do you think it is ok to double the recipe and make two loaves at once? I have tons of squash and love to double up eating and freezing when possible.
Yes, of course! Double away!
Can I interchange yellow zucchini squash for green zucchini squash in any of the bread receipes?
Yes!
Also, thank you for sharing your recipe! I am excited to try it. I appreciate that it has less sugar than many regular loaf recipes call for. 🙂
I haven’t tried the recipe but definitely plan on it!
Wondering if yellow squash can be shredded up and frozen for future use like I can do with zucchini? I was gone for a long weekend and now I have an overwhelming amount of both but no time to bake!!
Yes! You can shred the squash and freeze it. Just be sure to let it thaw before using, and dump out the water before adding the squash to the recipe. (You know how zucchini always gets watery when it thaws? All that extra liquid will mess with your texture and baking time).
I doubled the recipe to make two loaves and kept testing for doneness, but had to add an additional 20 minutes to the bake time. I have a newer oven and have tested the temperature and it’s right on. So, not sure what the issue was, but it looks perfect (haven’t tasted yet).
Looks like I need to re-test this recipe to make sure the baking time is right! Did you use frozen squash, or fresh?
I wonder if it matters whether you use a glass or non-stick or aluminum pan, light versus dark, etc? I just made this recipe in a 9×5 nonstick metal loaf pan and it was perfect after 45 minutes at 325-350 (I put it in when my oven thermometer read 325 while the oven was heating).
I’ve made this recipe multiple times due to it being highly requested by my kiddos. The first time making it, I lived in TN and it was the middle of the summer. I had to bake it the additional 20 or so minutes that everyone is mentioning. When I lived in WY (dry and cold 75% of the time) the original instruction cook time was perfect. I just made another batch yesterday (now living in NC) and I had to add 8-10 minutes to my cook time. I believe it has to do with elevation levels, humidity in the air/location you live in. Just thought I’d offer a possibility to the cook time differences. I will continue to make this for as long as my kiddos beg for it!! Amazing recipe!
Thank you for your helpful hints! I’m so glad you were able to figure out the baking time issue. Many people have mentioned that they’ve had to bake it longer, but it always comes out perfectly where I live (in super dry Colorado). So everyone, take Keisha’s advice! If you live in humid, low-elevation areas, bake this for longer! Just do the toothpick test, and if it comes out clean or with a few crumbs, it’s done.
I have made this recipe twice now (and doubled it each time). Everyone loves it! And when I tell them, they can’t believe there’s squash in it! Plus it just looks so pretty too! It’s great to give away as a gift. Thanks for the great recipe!
Thank you! I agree! You can’t even tell there is squash in it, but it makes it so moist and delicious!
Made this last night. I used 2 cups of squash instead of one cup. Also needed to bake for about 1 hour. After I let it sit in the pan for about 24 hours as the new zucchini bread recipe on Smitten Kitchen suggests. Did not make the glaze. It was delicious without it!
Yes! I saw that recipe on Smitten Kitchen and did the same thing! It is delicious without the glaze so you can keep the crunchy top!
This recipe sounds great, never thought of using yellow squash in a bread. One question, what would you recommend instead of lemon? I was thinking of using orange juice instead of lemon juice because my husband is not a fan of lemon bread?
Thank you
Hey Marie, I think orange juice and orange zest would be amazing with this recipe! Please let me know if you try it and how it turns out!
I made this recipe with orange flavor instead of lemon and it tastes lovely! I also grated in (yes, grated) a few dried apricots with the squash for an occasional hint of flavor, surprise texture and orange color. Delicious…..
This bread works with zucchini or a mix of squash, too. I ran out of yellow squash, so I peeled and shredded some zucchini (peeled to keep green out of the batter) to make up the difference and it worked great.
Joan, I love how you just demonstrated how versatile this recipe can be!
Hi Melissa, I would love to make this recipe but I only have concentrated lemon juice on hand. Do you think it would be ok to use lemon juice, and no zest? If so, how much juice should I use?
Hi Megan! I often have just lemon juice and no zest when I make this recipe! Just go ahead and use the regular amount of lemon juice. Your bread will be slightly less lemony, but you don’t want to add more moisture by adding more juice, or it will result in a longer bake time.
Can you make this recipe in a muffin pan? Muffins are easier for me to give my toddler and she’s the one I’m trying to trick into eating more veggies! Thanks so much!
Nichole, that is a great idea! Yes! Go ahead and put the batter into muffin tins and bake for 18-22 minutes. (Check with a toothpick to see that it comes out clean or with just a few crumbs).
I made this cake,h taste like cake non squash eaters ate it I made little loaves, I ended up w 8 small loaves and 1 small layer.Did not make icing this time .Absolutely delicious.
Making it again today will make frosting.Good either way.
Thank You
So glad you liked it!
This recipe is a winner made double this time it, came out great again .What a clever recipe yellow squash.Made glaze this time I am having so many requests got to get busy.
Thanks again for sharing,Mellisa
Deb
This is a perfect recipe. Thank you!
So glad you loved it!
This recipe was so good! I have a ton of squash and needed something new to try with it. I tried this out today and love it! I had started this before I realized I didn’t have any baking powder 😵 so I looked up substitutes and found a yogurt sub. So instead of baking powder I put 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt (plain) and 1 tspn of baking soda. By the time I had realized I didn’t have any baking powder I already put all the liquids in so I couldn’t reduce that any so I just added another cup of flour. I also put blueberries in it. It needed to cook for an hour, but it turned out delicious and perfectly moist! Thank you for this awesome recipe, definitely a make again 😊
So glad you liked it, Courtney! The addition of blueberries sounds wonderful! I love your resourcefulness with ingredients 🙂
First I bake something I try your recipe ,I’m telling you this was something I will do again wend my girls come to visit. I love it, thanks so much for a great recipe
You are welcome! So glad you liked it!
It’s in the oven as we speak!!! So excited! Pic to follow!!!
Can’t wait to see!
This is absolutely delicious! Thank you for a great recipe! I will definitely be making this again.
Thank you, Darlene! So glad it turned out well for you!
Absolutely delicious! Hope you don’t mind I took some creative liberty and added a tsp of almond extract and a tbs of poppy seeds and OMGGGGG so good!
Lydia, I absolutely approve of your additions! I need to try adding poppy seeds and almond extract the next time I make this!
Thanks for the recipe! My daughter works at a produce and ancient grain farm and brought home some yellow squash and this was a perfect way to use it!
So glad you liked it! This IS the perfect way to use yellow squash!
I love this recipe! The first time I made it I doubled it because I had so much squash and it turned out perfectly.
I was wondering if it would work as a Bundt cake?
Hi Jo! So glad you liked it! I have never tried it as a bundt cake, but if you doubled the recipe, I bet it would work perfectly!
I’m dying to try this recipe it looks absolutely delicious but for some reason I can’t find the actual measurements or recipe just the recipe for the orange zucchini bread:(
So sorry about that! The recipe is back!
I cannot seem to find the Lemon Yellow Squash Bread recipe. Should I assume that I substitute lemon juice/zest for the orange juice/zest and yellow squash for the zucchini? The pictures look beautiful, so I am looking forward to trying it with my similar sized squash. LOL! Thank you!
So sorry Bea! Technical issues that have now been fixed. The recipe is back!
Hello.!
Made this cake today. It turned put to be super moist and yummy. With the glaze, a perfect dessert and without the glaze even a breakfast or snack bread. Loved it ! Thank you.
I wanted to know whether I can store it in fridge after putting on the glaze. Like if I have some more left over.
Hi Preeti! Yes, you can store it in the fridge after putting the glaze on. Just loosely cover it with some plastic wrap. So glad you liked it!
Mine fell. Followed recipe to the tee. I added a little more lemon juice but not very much. I used the whisk. My quick breads always come out. I will try again, if you have any suggestions. All other comments are positive, so it must be my measuring malfunction for today.
So sorry yours fell! Just so you know, this always comes out with a pretty flat top for me. It’s not domed, so if it didn’t fall too far, then you probably didn’t do anything wrong!
Melissa
This recipe is absolutely amazing! I made mini loaves and baked them for about 35 to 40 min, just until they pulled away from the edge of the pans. Now I can give them away along with a copy of your recipe!!! Thank you for sharing and showing other ways for kids to eat their veggies!!!
So glad you loved them!
Oh wow! This is amazingly delicious and lemony and I love it’s cake-like texture… so moist and tender. I’ll be making this often. Thanks!
So glad you like it!
Absolutely delicious!,, everyone loved it. Just made a double batch.
So glad you loved it!
This is so delicious. I can’t have eggs or dairy so I made a vegan version. I was nervous to make substitutions my first time trying out the recipe but I have so much yellow squash at the moment that I went for it. I used oat milk with a splash of vinegar for the buttermilk and an egg replacement. IT TURNED OUT FABULOUS!!! So moist and flavorful. It was delicious. The timing with the aluminum pan was right on, so maybe the comments about timing being off all used glass. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING.
Erin, I’m so glad you loved it and that it turned out so well!
Thank you for sharing your fantastic recipes and all the tips! Can hardly wait to use our bumper crop of squash in new recipes! I appreciate the advice about freezing, too!
Hi. I made your lemon squash bread and for some reason the middle was raw and oozing when I cut it in half.
The only difference was I used avocado oil to be healthier. I’ve never had this happen before. Do you think it was the oil?
I did cut the bread on the outside edges around the middle to taste the bread and it was so delicious and the texture was awesome!!
I am a picky conisseur of baked goods and it was perfect except for the raw middle.
Hey Tori, so sorry your middle was raw! Sometimes because of the different water content of the squash, I’ve had to cook mine longer as well. Your best bet is to insert a toothpick in the middle before you remove it from the oven. If the toothpick comes out with batter still on it, then be sure to bake it for longer. When the toothpick comes out clean or with just a few crumbs on it, then you’re golden! Give it another try!
SOOO good!! I’ve had a yellow squash from the garden laying in my kitchen for a week or so, so glad I found this recipe!!
I made mine vegan and it turned out great! My boyfriend said it’s the best dessert he’s ever had🥰
Here’s the substitutions I made:
– almond milk instead of the buttermilk/milk
– 2 tbsp chia seeds + 6 tbsp water mix & let sit for 10-15 mins instead of 2 eggs
– coconut oil for vegetable oil
So glad you loved it! And thanks for sharing your vegan version! That is awesome!
Can I use bread flour instead of all purpose flour?
I’ve never tried it with bread flour, but since this is a quickbread and not a yeasted bread, I wouldn’t necessarily use it. Bread flour has more gluten in it, and we don’t need to develop gluten in this bread. Great question!