Every August somebody hands you a zucchini the size of a baseball bat. Zucchini bread is the obvious answer. Except plain zucchini bread, by loaf number four, is kind of boring. So this is the beach-vacation version. Pineapple. Coconut. A splash of rum, or rum extract if it’s a school-night thing. Basically a piña colada, but you eat it with a fork. The zucchini? Gone. Melts right in. My guess? Nobody at the table clocks it. Not the kids, not your uncle who “doesn’t do vegetables.”
One thing up front. Plenty of piña colada zucchini bread recipes make 2 or 3 loaves in one go, with almost 3 cups of sugar in the bowl. Mine is one 9×5 loaf. Roughly a third less sugar per loaf, too. And every amount is in cups and grams, so if you’re in the UK with a kitchen scale (and calling it courgette), you’re covered.
So What’s Different About This One?
The famous version is Taste of Home’s contest winner. Nothing wrong with it! It’s just built for a bake sale. Four cups of flour, 3 of sugar, three pans greased and waiting. Church potluck, sure. Tuesday night with two people in the house? Eh. You want one. Also, cut the sugar a little and suddenly the pineapple shows up. Tangy, fruity, not just a vague sugary hum.
So, the deal with mine. Single loaf, two if your freezer’s got space. Sugar sits at 200 g, a cup, where most versions go 1½ per loaf. Grams beside every cup measure. And the glaze, pineapple juice and coconut with toasted flakes on top, which oddly none of the big-name versions bother with. That glaze is half the point, if you ask me.
Ingredients (and a Few Notes on Each)
| Ingredient | US | Metric |
|---|---|---|
| All-purpose (plain) flour | 2 cups | 250 g |
| Granulated sugar | 1 cup | 200 g |
| Baking powder | 1 tsp | 4 g |
| Baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) | ½ tsp | 3 g |
| Fine salt | ¾ tsp | 4 g |
| Large eggs, room temperature | 2 | 2 |
| Neutral oil (canola or vegetable) | ⅔ cup | 160 ml |
| Vanilla extract | 1 tsp | 5 ml |
| Coconut extract | ½ tsp | 2.5 ml |
| Rum extract or dark rum | ½ tsp extract or 1 tbsp rum | 2.5 ml or 15 ml |
| Shredded zucchini (courgette) | 1½ cups, packed | 190 g |
| Canned crushed pineapple, well drained | ½ cup | 120 g |
| Sweetened shredded coconut | ½ cup | 40 g |
| Chopped macadamias or walnuts (optional) | ⅓ cup | 40 g |
Why oil and not butter? Oil doesn’t go solid when it cools. Butter does. Day three, the oil loaf still squishes when you press it. Butter loaf? Firmer. Fridge makes it worse. If you’re a coconut fiend, trade half that oil for melted coconut oil and the whole kitchen smells like sunscreen. In a good way.
The pineapple. Crushed, from a can, and drained like you mean it. Sieve, spoon, press. Hard. Keep that juice! Two tablespoons of it go into the glaze later. Chunks are a bad idea here, by the way. They leave wet little pockets in the crumb.
Rum: bottle or extract? Funny thing about baking with rum: the oven steals most of the flavor. That’s why so many bakers just use rum extract. Got a bottle of dark rum open anyway? Tablespoon in the batter, little glug in the glaze (glaze never goes in the oven, so that’s where it counts). Kids eating it? Leave it out, no drama. Coconut and pineapple do the heavy lifting anyway.
Fresh pineapple is fine here (not so in jello). Pineapple jello that just won’t firm up, ring a bell? That’s bromelain at work, a protein-munching enzyme raw pineapple is full of. Same culprit behind pineapple-marinated chicken going weirdly mushy overnight. Bread doesn’t care, though. Oven heat wrecks the enzyme ages before the crumb sets. Canned pineapple is already heat-treated, which is partly why it’s the lazy (and perfectly good) default.
Little bit of trivia. The piña colada got made Puerto Rico’s official national drink in 1978. July 10 is its day in the States, too, if you’re into food holidays (I sort of am). Funny timing. That’s exactly when the zucchini start multiplying on the counter.
To Squeeze or Not to Squeeze
Oh, the great squeeze debate. One camp says don’t touch it, the water is what makes zucchini bread moist. The other camp wrings every drop out in a dish towel. For this loaf I’d go halfway. Why? The pineapple. There’s already a lot of juice coming from it. Pile dripping zucchini on top, and you’ll get edges that look great with a middle like wet sponge.
Box grater, big holes, that’s how the zucchini gets shredded. Don’t bother peeling. Grab a fistful at the sink, squeeze till the dripping basically stops. That’s it, don’t go nuts. Damp is good. Bone-dry isn’t. One medium zucchini, around 7 or 8 inches long, should give you the 1½ cups.
How to Make It
1. Pan first. Get the oven going at 350°F (175°C, or 160°C if yours is a fan oven). 9×5 pan, a 2 lb tin over in the UK, greased, with a parchment sling hanging off both long sides. Those flaps are your handles later.
2. Dry stuff. Flour, baking powder, soda, salt, whisked together in whatever medium bowl’s clean. Now toss the coconut and nuts in there too. Coated in flour, they’re less likely to sink to the bottom.
3. Wet stuff. Big bowl. Eggs and sugar, whisked about 30 seconds till they look a shade paler. Then the oil, vanilla, coconut extract and rum. Stir in your squeezed zucchini and the drained pineapple.
4. Fold gently. Tip the dry into the wet. Spatula, big slow folds, and quit the second you stop seeing white streaks. Lumpy is fine! Overmix and you get a tough loaf with tunnels running through it, which is the number one quick bread mistake.
5. Bake. Into the pan, smooth the top, and bake 55 to 65 minutes. Peek at 35 minutes. Already deep gold on top? Foil hat time, loosely. For doneness, poke a skewer in the middle: moist crumbs stuck to it, great, gooey batter, give it longer. I like a thermometer for this; about 200°F (93°C) in the center and you’re there.
6. Wait. Seriously. Give it 15 minutes in the pan. Lift it out by the parchment flaps, onto a rack, and then leave it alone for an hour or so. Slice it hot and the middle looks underdone, even when it’s fine, and you’ll panic for nothing. (Hard, I know.)
Printable Recipe
Piña Colada Zucchini Bread
Equipment
- Mixing bowls
- Whisk
- Spatula
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Box grater (for zucchini)
- 9×5-inch loaf pan
- Parchment paper (optional)
Ingredients
Bread
- 2 cups all-purpose flour 250 g, spooned and leveled
- 1 cup granulated sugar 200 g
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¾ tsp fine salt
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ⅔ cup neutral oil 160 ml, canola or vegetable
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp coconut extract
- ½ tsp rum extract or 1 tbsp dark rum
- 1 ½ cups shredded zucchini 190 g, lightly squeezed
- ½ cup canned crushed pineapple 120 g, well drained, juice saved
- ½ cup sweetened shredded coconut 40 g
- ⅓ cup chopped macadamias or walnuts 40 g, optional
Glaze (optional)
- 1 cup powdered sugar 120 g
- 2 tbsp reserved pineapple juice
- ¼ tsp coconut extract or 1 tsp rum
- 2 tbsp shredded coconut toasted
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C, 160°C fan). Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan and line it with a parchment sling.
- Squeeze the shredded zucchini by the handful until it stops dripping. Drain the pineapple in a sieve, pressing with a spoon, and save the juice for the glaze.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in the coconut and nuts so they are coated with flour.
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar for about 30 seconds. Whisk in the oil, vanilla, coconut extract and rum extract (or rum). Stir in the zucchini and pineapple.
- Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients just until no dry flour shows. Do not overmix.
- Scrape the batter into the pan and bake 55 to 65 minutes, until a skewer in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs (about 200°F / 93°C inside). Tent loosely with foil after 35 minutes if the top is browning fast.
- Cool 15 minutes in the pan, lift out onto a rack and cool completely, about 1 hour.
- For the glaze, stir the powdered sugar, pineapple juice and coconut extract until thick but pourable. Drizzle over the cooled loaf and sprinkle with toasted coconut.
Notes
- Squeeze the zucchini lightly; the pineapple already adds a lot of moisture.
- Muffins: 12 lined cups, 20 to 25 minutes at 350°F. Mini loaves: start checking at 30 minutes.
- Store covered at room temperature up to 3 days or in the fridge about 1 week. Freeze unglazed, wrapped, up to 3 months.
- Nutrition is an estimate per slice without glaze or nuts.
Nutrition
The Glaze (Optional, but Do It)
Remember the pineapple juice you saved? Here’s where it goes. Powdered sugar, 1 cup or 120 g, plus 2 tablespoons of that juice and a ¼ teaspoon of coconut extract, stirred up in a mug. Adults-only batch? Teaspoon of rum, skip the extract. Thickness-wise, think slow honey. If it’s more like paste, dribble in juice a few drops at a go.
Zigzag it over the loaf. Then, quick, before it sets, throw on 2 tablespoons of toasted coconut. Toasting takes 3 or 4 minutes in a dry pan over medium-low heat, stirring. Don’t walk away. Coconut goes from golden to burnt in about the time it takes to check your phone.
Muffins, Mini Loaves, or Two Big Ones
Same batter, different pans. For muffins, fill 12 lined cups about three-quarters and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 20 to 25 minutes. Mini loaf pans (the 5¾ x 3 inch ones) take 3 or 4 pans’ worth, and you start checking at 30 minutes. Only have an 8×4? Fine, it just rises taller and needs maybe 5 to 10 minutes more; don’t fill it past two-thirds. And for two loaves, double the lot and use two 9×5 pans. Please don’t cram a double batch into one deep pan. The outside dries out long before the middle sets.
When Things Go Wrong
| Problem | Likely cause | Fix next time |
|---|---|---|
| Sunk or gummy in the middle | Too much liquid from zucchini or pineapple, or pulled out too early | Squeeze the zucchini, drain the pineapple hard, bake to 200°F inside |
| Dry and crumbly | Flour scooped straight from the bag, or baked too long | Spoon and level the flour (or weigh it); start checking at 55 minutes |
| Top too dark, center raw | Hot oven or dark metal pan | Foil at 35 minutes; use 325°F with a dark pan |
| Nuts or coconut sank | Add-ins not coated | Toss them in the flour mix first |
| Tough, with tunnels | Overmixed | Fold only until the flour disappears |
Storing and Freezing
Wrapped up or in an airtight box, it’s good on the counter for about 3 days. It’s a wet bread, though (fruit plus zucchini), so if your kitchen runs warm and humid, move it to the fridge after day one. It’ll last around a week in there. Glazed loaf? Use a container, not plastic wrap, or the glaze ends up stuck to the wrap.
Freezing: leave the glaze off. Plastic wrap, foil over that, whole loaf or slice by slice. Three months, no problem. Thaw in its wrapping on the counter so it doesn’t sweat, glaze after. Frozen slices also go straight into the toaster nicely, or 15 seconds in the microwave. Not sure how long something keeps? The USDA FoodKeeper is worth a bookmark.
What Goes With It
Coffee. That’s really all it needs. Doing brunch? Mine would sit beside Greek yogurt with berries and nuts, mango slices on the side. Dessert mode: warm slice, coconut ice cream, done (vanilla’s fine). Feeling extra tiki? Pour a Tropical Smoothie Avocolada. Same flavors, drinkable.
Got more zucchini (you always do)? Try these easy courgette recipes. Into the coconut flavor? The banana bread with coconut oil is a cousin of this one. There’s also a banana and honey bread, a pumpkin bread with a cream cheese swirl for fall, and, if pineapple is your thing, pineapple sheera, a fast Indian semolina sweet.
Questions People Ask
I only have a fresh pineapple. Okay?
Totally. Chop it, blitz it a few times so it’s roughly like the canned crushed kind, drain. It’s usually wetter and a bit more sour than canned, so lean on that spoon.
Gluten-free?
Yes. I’d use a cup-for-cup GF blend with xanthan gum in it, 250 g on the scale. Then let the batter just sit there 15 minutes. Gluten-free flour drinks slowly. Slightly denser loaf. Softer, too, which nobody complains about.
Frozen zucchini from last summer?
Go for it. It’ll thaw into a puddle, so sieve it and squeeze way harder than fresh. Then measure. After, not before.
Is it boozy?
Barely. Extract gives you the smell without any alcohol. Real rum in the batter mostly cooks off. Want to actually taste the rum? Put it in the glaze.
If you make it, drop a comment. Real rum, coconut oil, muffins, macadamias, whatever you did. Those little notes help whoever bakes it next.
emm
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