Pina Colada Zucchini Bread

The tropical flavors of pineapple, coconut and rum come together to turn traditional zucchini bread into something special. This recipe from Taste of Home for Pina Colada Zucchini Bread is absolutely delicious and makes three loaves, so there’s plenty to share. Although you may want to keep it all for yourself!

A Pina Colada cocktail is made with pineapple, cream of coconut, dark rum and a splash of lime juice. It is frothy, tropical and so yummy. It was the inspiration for this sweet recipe from Taste of Home. As a community cook for TOH, I have the pleasure of making and reviewing recipes, like this one. The original recipe for Pina Colada Zucchini Bread was contributed by Sharon Rydbom from Tipton, Pennsylvania.

While the tropical flavors in this recipe make it taste amazing, the zucchini adds texture and moisture to the bread. It is a heavenly bite that bakes up perfectly and tastes so terrific.

Pina Colada Zucchini Bread Recipe

What’s needed?

• all-purpose flour
• sugar
• baking powder
• baking soda
• salt
• eggs
• canola oil
• vanilla extract, coconut extract, rum extract
• shredded zucchini
• crushed pineapple
• chopped pecans (or walnuts)

Most bakers keep vanilla extract in their pantry. But coconut and rum extracts are not as common. I found the coconut extract to be the most important of the three used in this recipe. It really adds a punch of coconut flavor to the bread. Instead of the rum extract, I used two tablespoons of white rum in the batter. IT WAS DELICIOUS! I am always surprised at just how flavorful it is to use liquors like rum and grand marnier in my baking.

How to shred zucchini?

You’ll want to select and buy zucchini that is small and tender. They will have fewer seeds and less moisture than larger zucchini. They are also easier to shred, as you can simply feed them into your food processor without having to cut them into smaller strips.

Trim the ends from the zucchini and wash them. Then, fit your food processor with the shred wheel and cover with the lid. Feed the zucchini through the tube in the top of the food processor. It took me less than 5 minutes to shred the 3 cups of zucchini that are needed for this recipe. If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a box grater to do the job.

How to make Pina Colada Zucchini Bread?

• Preheat oven to 350°. Line 3 greased 8×4-in. loaf pans with waxed paper; grease paper.
• In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. In another bowl, whisk eggs, oil and extracts. Stir into dry ingredients until just moistened. Fold in zucchini, pineapple and walnuts.
• Transfer to prepared pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 45-55 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Gently remove waxed paper.

I sprayed my baking loaf pans with cooking spray before filling with batter. Then, allowed the loaves to cool completely before removing them from the pans. There was no need to use waxed paper. If you choose to line your pans for easy removal, I would use parchment paper.

For more tasty variations on Zucchini Bread, check out these recipes:

• Chocolate Zucchini Bread
• Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread