Zucchini Bread Lab243 recipes
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What goes into zucchini bread

The main ingredient list of all 243 recipes, with names merged so one choice counts once: unsalted and salted butter are butter, light and dark brown sugar are brown sugar, kosher and table salt are salt. Different flours stay apart. Frosting, glaze and other extras are counted on their own at the end.

In short

  • Most zucchini bread recipes use oil (81%); 31% use butter, and 13% use both.
  • For sugar, 46% use white sugar alone, 32% white and brown sugar together, and 10% brown sugar alone.
  • For leavening, 76% use baking powder and baking soda together, 12% baking powder alone, and 10% baking soda alone.
  • For dairy, 65% use no dairy, 10% yogurt alone, and 8% sour cream alone.
  • 29% add chocolate, 27% nuts and 23% fruit; 35% add none of these.

The main choices

Each block sorts every recipe into one group by a single decision. Amounts are the median among recipes in that group, scaled to 250 g of flour, the size of a typical loaf. The recipe named under each group is the one in it closest to the typical loaf on every ingredient.

Butter, oil or both

Each recipe counted once, by the fats in its main ingredient list.

Oil includes coconut oil (6%) and olive oil (6%).

White, brown or a syrup

Each recipe counted once, by the sweeteners in its main ingredient list.

Coconut sugar counts as brown (1 recipe). "With honey or maple syrup" means any liquid sweetener (honey, maple syrup, molasses and sweetened condensed milk), with or without dry sugar. Coarse and cinnamon sugar are usually sprinkled on top, so they do not count here.

Baking soda, baking powder or both

Each recipe counted once, by what it relies on to rise.

  • Baking powder and baking soda

    median 8 g baking soda and powder · closest to typical: Zucchini Bread (sallysbakingaddiction.com)

    76%187 recipes

  • Baking powder only

    median 9 g baking soda and powder · closest to typical: Lemon Zucchini Bread (livewellbakeoften.com)

    12%30 recipes

  • Baking soda only

    median 8 g baking soda and powder · closest to typical: Best Sourdough Zucchini Bread (theclevercarrot.com)

    10%25 recipes

  • Everything else

    <1%1 recipe

Which dairy

Each recipe counted once, by the dairy in its main ingredient list. Butter is counted with the fats.

Yogurt includes Greek yogurt (8%).

Add-ins

Share of recipes that add at least one of each. A recipe can add several, so the shares do not sum to 100%. 35% add none of these. Spice is one of the dish's own ratios on the overview rather than an add-in, so it is left out here.

  • Chocolate29%

    chocolate chips or chunks 26% · bar chocolate 2%

  • Nuts27%

    walnuts 17% · pecans 4% · nuts 3%

  • Fruit23%

    raisins 6% · apples 4% · banana 3%

How often each ingredient appears

Share of the 243 recipes that list it at least once, for every ingredient in 5% or more of them. The median amount is among recipes that use it and give a weighable amount, scaled to 250 g of flour; for a flour, it is that flour's share of all the flour in the recipe.

  1. Eggs100%

    243 recipes · median 107 g (about 2 large eggs)

  2. Zucchini98%

    239 recipes · median 220 g

  3. Salt94%

    229 recipes · median 3.6 g

  4. All-purpose flour90%

    220 recipes · median: all of the flour

  5. Baking powder89%

    217 recipes · median 4.1 g

  6. Baking soda87%

    212 recipes · median 4.3 g

  7. Vanilla83%

    203 recipes · median 6 g

  8. Granulated sugar81%

    198 recipes · median 190 g

  9. Vegetable oil69%

    168 recipes · median 129 g

  10. Cinnamon65%

    160 recipes · median 3.5 g

  11. Brown sugar45%

    111 recipes · median 147 g

  12. Butter31%

    77 recipes · median 99 g

  13. Chocolate chips or chunks26%

    64 recipes · median 182 g

  14. Nutmeg21%

    53 recipes · median 0.8 g

  15. Cocoa powder17%

    43 recipes · median 63 g

  16. Walnuts17%

    43 recipes · median 79 g

  17. Lemon zest11%

    28 recipes · median 5 g

  18. Lemon juice9%

    24 recipes · median 22 g

  19. Greek yogurt8%

    21 recipes · median 142 g

  20. Milk8%

    21 recipes · median 49 g

  21. Sour cream8%

    21 recipes · median 102 g

  22. Raisins6%

    16 recipes · median 89 g

  23. Coconut oil6%

    15 recipes · median 97 g

  24. Olive oil6%

    15 recipes · median 109 g

  25. Whole lemon or orange6%

    15 recipes · median 48 g

  26. Whole wheat flour6%

    15 recipes · median: all of the flour

  27. Ginger5%

    14 recipes · median 1 g

  28. Honey5%

    14 recipes · median 134 g

Toppings and extras

26% of recipes (65 of 243) list something beyond the main recipe: a frosting, glaze, filling, crumb topping, a boiling bath or a sprinkle on top. None of it is counted above. The most common extra ingredients, as a share of all recipes:

  • Powdered sugar14% (35)
  • Lemon juice8% (20)
  • Butter4% (11)

How the ingredients are counted

A recipe uses an ingredient when any line of its main ingredient list names it. Names are merged by the words in them, so “1 cup unsalted butter, softened” and “salted butter” are both butter, and a line that offers a choice (“walnuts or pecans”) counts as the first one named. Canola, vegetable and other neutral oils are one oil; coconut and olive oil are listed on their own.

Lines only for greasing the pan are left out. Lines for brushing, sprinkling or serving, and lines that belong to a frosting, glaze, filling or topping, count as extras.

Amounts come from the grams on each recipe page: printed by the source, or converted from cups and spoons with standard densities. Scaling them to 250 g of flour lets a small recipe and a double batch line up. Percentages are rounded down.