These Zucchini Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting are soft, tender and absolutely divine! A sweet treat that is perfect for parties, pot lucks and using up any extra zucchini.
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Why We Love These Zucchini Bars
- The perfect late summer dessert and a great way to use any extra summer zucchini. I have zucchini that grows until October, so I'm using it all through fall too!
- An effortless recipe that creates a soft and tender cake-like bar.
- These zucchini bars are a crowd pleaser! Perfect for sharing at parties, pot-lucks or holidays.
- The cream cheese frosting is irresistible and gives the bars the most delightful creamy finish.
- They are just delicious! No way around it, so dang good! Everyone loves them whether they think they like zucchini or not.
Zucchini Bars Recipe Ingredients
- Large Eggs
- Sour Cream
- Canola Oil
- Pure Vanilla Extract
- White Sugar
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Cinnamon
- Unbleached All Purpose Flour
- Shredded Zucchini
- Salted Butter
- Cream Cheese
- Powdered Sugar
- Milk
Substitution Suggestions:
- Sour Cream: Plain Greek yogurt or vanilla Greek yogurt can be used.
- Canola Oil: Vegetable oil, olive oil or coconut oil are good substitutes. Coconut oil needs to be melted and don't worry, the bars won't taste like coconut.
- Pure Vanilla Extract: Pure extracts are better and yield the best flavor. Imitation extracts can leave an unpleasant after taste in your baked goods and frostings.
- All Purpose Flour: White whole wheat flour or whole wheat flour can be substituted. The bars will be darker in color and just a tiny bit heavier in texture, but just as delicious!
- Salted Butter: Feel free to use unsalted butter for the frosting. If you do, add a tiny pinch of salt to the frosting.
- Cream Cheese: If you want you can use Neufchâtel cheese. The frosting won't be quite as rich, but it will still taste good.
- Milk: Any type of milk can be used to thin out the frosting. You can even use water if you want.
These zucchini bars with delicious cream cheese frosting is a great recipe to use the abundance of zucchini you may have. These are the best zucchini bars and are asked for often. They have become the family's favorite way to eat zucchini!
How to Make Zucchini Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
- First, preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 15x10 rimmed baking sheet or jelly roll pan with non-stick cooking spray. Or line it with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with hand mixer add the wet ingredients: eggs, sour cream, canola oil and vanilla extract. Mix on low speed until smooth.
- Next, add the dry ingredients: granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, and all purpose flour. Mix on low speed just until it is combined.
- Fold in the shredded zucchini until evenly incorporated through out the batter.
- Pour batter into prepared pan and spread it into an even layer.
- Bake in preheated oven on center rack for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let bars cool completely before frosting.
This easy cream cheese frosting recipe is creamy, fluffy and irresistible. It is the perfect finale for the soft zucchini bars.
How to Make Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or with a hand mixer, cream together the softened cream cheese and butter until fluffy.
- Add in the vanilla extract, milk and powdered sugar one cup at a time beating well after each cup on low speed.
- Once all the powdered sugar is added, increase the speed on the mixer and beat for about a minute or so until the frosting is creamy and fluffy.
- Evenly spread the frosting over cooled bars, slice and serve!
Looking for more desserts similar to this one? Try these Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting or this Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. They are both soft, fluffy and incredibly delicious.
Storing Zucchini Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
Storing: The frosting has cream cheese so it can spoil, so the bars should be kept in the refrigerator when not being served. They'll be fine left out the day you are serving them. With that, nobody wants to eat a hard, dried out zucchini bar with stiff frosting which can happen in the fridge. I usually store my leftover bars in the freezer. The freezer will preserve the freshness of the bars and not dry them out.
Freezing: Place individual slices of frosted zucchini bars on a sheet pan and freeze them. Once they are frozen you can layer them between pieces of wax paper in a freezer safe airtight container or individually wrap them in plastic wrap and then add them to the container or freezer bag. I like to wrap them in plastic, then I can place the frozen bar right in my husband and kids' lunch boxes. They're thawed by the time they eat lunch.
Thawing: Take the bars out a few hours before you want to enjoy them. If they are wrapped in plastic, it's easier to unwrap them while they are still frozen. You don't have to, but it helps keep the frosting in tack better.
Heather's Favorite Tools for this Recipe
- I don't think I could live without my KitchenAid Stand Mixer. It's the best tool ever for making so many different things.
- I love simple tools that can be used for various things. I use the box grater for all sorts of things: carrots, cheese and of course zucchini.
- When I have a lot of zucchini or large zucchini to shred I love using my Cuisinart Food Processor.
- Long ago, I used to be a Pampered Chef consultant and I still prefer their baking tools and pans to any others. Their baking sheets are the only ones I use. Find yourself a consultant, host a party and treat yourself to a set.
- An offset spatula is my favorite tool to use for spreading the batter and frosting into even layers.
Tips for Easy Zucchini Bars
- Read the recipe from start to finish before you start. I am speaking from experience.
- Gather all the ingredients before you start preparing the recipe. It is so much easier to bake when all the ingredients are ready.
- Use room temperature ingredients. It helps with even baking along with creating a smooth batter and a lump free frosting.
- Always fluff your flour, then spoon and level to measure. Do this when baking anything. It will help eliminate any extra flour from being added to the recipe. Too much flour will make the bars dry and unpleasant.
- Do NOT over mix the batter. If you over mix the batter the zucchini bars will turn out dense and spongy.
- If your oven tends to bake unevenly, you can rotate the baking sheet a little over half way through the baking time. It helps with even baking and keeping the top level.
- Slice into 35 smaller bars to serve a bigger crowd.
What can I do with all my extra shredded zucchini?
Shred extra zucchini while you have the food processor out and then freeze it. You will have shredded zucchini available all year long so you can make all your favorite breads and muffins. After the zucchini is shredded, I put it in a paper towel lined colander so the towel can absorb some of the excess liquid from the zucchini. I like to freeze my shredded zucchini in 2 cup portions. Measure out 2 cups and place it in a quart size freezer safe zip top bag. Then I stack all the bags flat on a baking sheet and place it in the freezer. I like the bags to freeze flat because they will store easier in the freezer and there is no wasted space.
FAQs
Before frosting these bars or any cake with cream cheese frosting, make sure what you're frosting is fully cooled. If you want to prep ahead, make these bars ahead of time and then frost them a bit before you need to serve. This way the frosting is nice and fluffy still and there is no risk of the cream cheese frosting spoiling.
Nope! No need to spend extra time peeling the zucchini. The skin on zucchini is thin enough that it becomes really tender when baked, plus it makes the bread so pretty with all the flecks of green!
I shred zucchini two different ways. If I only need a cup or so of shredded zucchini, I’ll grab a small zucchini and shred it with a box grater. However, I often get large zucchinis (because they grow so fast sometimes!) so I’ll get out the food processor and shred a bunch of zucchini at once. I like to do this because then I can make a few extra batches of breads and muffins and freeze them for the kids so they are available for their lunches and snacks.
Yes, frozen shredded zucchini can be used. Let the frozen zucchini thaw and pat it dry as much as possible with paper towels or clean kitchen towel. No need to wring it out, just absorb the outside extra moisture. Then use the shredded zucchini in bread, muffins, cake or these bars.
More Zucchini Recipes:
- Cinnamon Swirl Zucchini Bread
- Chocolate Zucchini Cake
- Zucchini Brownies with Frosting
- Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
- Pumpkin Zucchini Muffins
- Classic Zucchini Bread
- Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
- Healthy Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
- Cheesy Zucchini Biscuits
- Turkey Zucchini Meatballs
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Zucchini Bars
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 cup canola oil
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups white sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
- 2 cups shredded zucchini
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup salted butter, softened
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 15x10 rimmed baking sheet or jelly roll pan with non-stick cooking spray. Or line it with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment add the eggs, sour cream, canola oil and vanilla extract. Mix on low speed until smooth.
- Add the granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, and all purpose flour. Mix on low speed just until it is combined.
- Fold in the shredded zucchini until evenly incorporated through out the batter.
- Pour the batter into prepared sheet pan and spread it into an even layer.
- Bake in preheated oven on center rack for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let bars cool completely before frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the softened cream cheese and butter until fluffy.
- Add in the vanilla extract, milk and powdered sugar one cup at a time beating well after each cup on low speed and scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Once all the powdered sugar is added, increase the speed on the mixer and beat for about a minute or so until the frosting is creamy and fluffy.
- Evenly spread the frosting over cooled bars, slice and serve!
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