This recipe for Lemon Poppy Seed Summer Squash Bread is a wonderful way to use up fresh summer squash straight from the garden! Shred it, bake it, slice is up and serve with a pad of butter on a hot summer day for a refreshing treat!
During the summer time, there is always an abundance of fresh produce filling people’s gardens and the shelves of local farmer’s markets. It’s one of my very favorite things about summer! My husband and I have a very small garden growing in our back yard. This year we planted yellow squash, zucchini, egg plant, tomatoes, an array of peppers and fresh basil. I enjoy incorporating those fresh elements into my cooking, but by mid-summer I’m always looking for something a tad bit different to do with them.
I’m no stranger to making a loaf of zucchini bread, but this time I decided to mix things up a little bit. Zucchini and yellow squash are very similar in taste and texture in my opinion, so it’s not uncommon for people to use them interchangeably in their recipes – hence the creation of this beautiful Lemon Poppy Seed Summer Squash Bread!
By the way, this is a FANTASTIC way to sneak in veggies into a picky eater’s diet. I promise you, you won’t even know the squash is in there. Seriously, it’s amazing! First, you’ll want to grate two cups worth of squash and squeeze out most of the excess water. Did you know that zucchini and squash are comprised of 95% water? I didn’t, but I definitely believe it!
Next you’ll want to gather all of your baking ingredients, plus two large bowls and two loaf pans. This recipe will yield two loaves, so you can either freeze one loaf or cut the recipe in half if you feel like 2 is too many for your family. We usually have no problem going through 2 loaves within a few days, but this time I opted to freeze one loaf so we can enjoy it later.
Here’s a printable copy of the recipe, including all of the remaining ingredients you’ll need to make this dish:
Glazed Lemon Poppy Seed Summer Squash Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups shredded yellow squash can also use zucchini
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup Greek yogurt can sub with sour cream
- 4 tbs lemon juice
- 1 tsp lemon extract
- 1 package lemon flavored instant pudding mix
- 1/4 cup poppy seeds
Instructions
- Grate squash into a bowl until you have 2 cups worth. Squeeze out any extra water from the squash.
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray 2 medium loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, stevia/sugar and pudding mix.
- In a separate bowl, blend together eggs, vegetable oil, yogurt, lemon juice & extract.
- Slowly fold in shredded squash and poppy seeds until well combined.
- Evenly distribute the batter into the two greased loaf pans and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until completely done in the center. Allow to cool completely before adding optional glaze.
Notes
1/2 cup powdered sugar
3-4 Tbs lemon juice
Tried this recipe?
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The lemon juice and pudding mix give this bread the perfect pop of lemon without it being too tart, and the squash helped keep the bread nice and moist.
My 1 year old shared a slice of this bread with me for breakfast this morning and she loved it! She actually likes squash as it is, but we all know toddlers are prone to change their minds about things like that all the time. If she ever decides she doesn’t like squash, I’ll just whip up another batch of this Lemon Poppy Seed Summer Squash Bread and she won’t even know it’s in there. Win/win!
What are some other ways you like to cook with fresh summer ingredients? Do you have a fun way of hiding veggies into your meals without them being detected? Perhaps you have a delicious squash recipe you’d like to share with me! I’m always looking for something new to try, so leave a comment below and share your thoughts!
Looking for recipes similar to this one? Try my Mema’s recipe for traditional Lemon Poppy Seed Bread here!
That is a lot of Stevia.. I thinking of making it for my mom who is a diabetic. She uses stevia and it takes very little to add sweetness. I could do sugar free pudding also. What do you think?
Kathleen,
You’re right about Stevia packing in an extra sweet flavoring. I’d imagine it’d be okay for you to cut back on it just a tad. The bread itself doesn’t come out overly sweet in my opinion, but cutting back should be just fine. The sugar free pudding mix would probably be a great substitute as well. It’s really just added to give it some extra lemony flavor. I’d say give it a try and let me know how it turns out!
Surely you didn’t mean 1 1/2 cups of stevia, did you?
I typically do half stevia and half sugar, but yes, the measurement of 1 1/2 cups is correct. This makes two loaves of bread.
That looks amazing. My husband and kids love lemon poppy seed anything so this is perfect I can give them some yummy lemony goodness and know that they’re also getting vegetables. I can’t wait to make this.
This looks wonderful! I make a chocolate zucchini bread, but I wouldn’t have thought to use summer squash in lemon poppy seed. I’ll have to try it with some gluten-free changes. My mom is coming to stay for a while after my July baby arrives and she loves lemon poppyseed.
I never know whether to file recipes like this under Bread or Desserts. :/
Something is definitely not right with the stevia amount! Pure stevia and sugar is in no way interchangeable cup for cup!!! Maybe u meant a stevia blend such as trim healthy mama’s sweet blend??
Hi Jo!
The stevia I frequently use in baking is Great Value brand from Walmart, and on the front of the bag is says “measures cup-for-cup like sugar”. It does not appear to be a blend, but it’s possible that that’s the case. As always, I encourage readers to use their best judgement and preferences when cooking. I’ll definitely have to look for the stevia blend you recommended!
Well, back for round two. Your photos are so enticing. Can’t wait to see how it turns out with a little leavener in it. Thanks for correcting the recipe. Sorry to see my comment was deleted rather than replied to. It’s always nice to be validated when someone takes the time to comment.
Tracy,
I am so grateful that you pointed out my initial error in omitting the leavener. I went back and checked the hard copy of my recipe and sure enough – I left out the soda and powder. A crucial mistake! Your comment was not deleted at all, it just wasn’t made public. I didn’t want any potential bakers to be discouraged from giving the recipe a try because of my error. I appreciate you taking the time to comment and visit my recipes. I hope you continue to come back and try even more of them! Let me know how your next batch turns out!
AMAZING!!! I added 1 1/2 cups blueberries and the lemon zest from the two lemons I juiced. Also skipped the lemon pudding mix since I didn’t have any on hand. This is one of my new favorites even before I glaze it. Which I WILL be doing. Delish!
What did you use in place of the lemon pudding
Small box of pudding or large?
How much soda or baking powder then?
I used a regular sized box of Jello brand pudding mix. Not a large box. The soda and baking powder measurements remain the same – 1 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder. Hope that helps and happy baking!
Hi! Wanted to try this recipe because for once we have way more yellow than zucchini squash. I’ve made it twice now, once using small bread pans and then used muffin tins. We LOVED both and I will definitely be making this often. Thanks so much for the great recipe. I’m checking out the rest of your recipes now.
Hi Maxine! I’m so happy to hear that you loved the recipe! I hope you find more recipes on my website that you fall in love. Please subscribe, because I’ve got new recipes coming out every single week!
Can these be made into muffins?
I think they would make amazing muffins! I’m not quite sure how to adjust the bake time, that may be something you have to do a little trial and error with. If you give it a try let me know what worked for you!
I really enjoyed this recipe! I wish the bread had a little more lemon (I loooove lemon), so I’m thinking of adding some Lemon zest. & you are right, you can’t taste the squash at all.
I just made this poppyseed loaf today. The batter tasted great, so I can’t wait for the loaves to cool!
Do you remove the loaf to cool, or cool in the pan?
Hi Brenda! I allow the loaves to cool in the pan before removing typically, though I think it would be fine either way! Enjoy!
Did you leave out salt? I just made it and it seems to be crying out for a little salt. It’s a little bland for my taste without it. Moist though!
Hi Tracy,
I’ve personally never felt that it needed a little salt, but to each his own! That’s a pretty easy adjustment to make. I’m glad you (mostly) liked it! 🙂
Great texture. I made a few changes based on trying to reduce calories and what was in my pantry. Used half oil and half applesauce. Reduced sugar by 33%. Left out the lemon extract because I used vanilla pudding and added 4oz sweetened coconut. Used buttermilk rather than sour cream. Because buttermilk is thinner I used about 3/4 cup. Left out poppyseeds . great recipe.
Loved this! My yellow squash has been going to waste because I’ve run out of people to give it to. So excited to find this recipe. I made muffins as well as the bread; the glaze is the perfect touch. Will be making this often!