Moist Zucchini Cake Recipe

This cake is insanely delicious! It’s a great way to use up zucchini, and the best part is that it’s an easy recipe. Grated zucchini makes this cake incredibly tender, while cinnamon gives it a warm and comforting flavor. Topped with a brown butter cream cheese frosting, this moist zucchini cake recipe is one of the coziest things I’ve ever made. My family absolutely devoured this cake, and people I shared it with loved it too. Once you make it, I’m sure it’s going to become one of your favorite zucchini recipes!

You can typically find zucchini all year round in the grocery store, but summertime is when people tend to have excess zucchini from their gardens. If you have more fresh zucchini you want to use up in baked goods, make sure to try my Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread and Lemon Zucchini Loaf. Or, for some tasty savory options, try my Baked Zucchini Fries and Zucchini Sauce Pasta.

Why This Recipe Works

• Best zucchini cake. I love zucchini bread, so making a cake with zucchini was a no-brainer. The zucchini releases water as it bakes, resulting in an extraordinarily moist cake. The addition of cinnamon in the cake, as well as the brown butter cream cheese frosting, takes this cake over the top in deliciousness.
• Easy to make. For this easy zucchini cake recipe, there’s no need to squeeze or drain your zucchini before adding it to your cake mixture,  and there are very few steps. Just mix up a few simple ingredients, bake, and frost.
• So, so delicious. I just wanted to emphasize how good this cake is. I think it can even convert zucchini haters!

Ingredient Notes

• Zucchini: You need two cups of grated zucchini. Depending on the size of your zucchini, this may take 1-2. 
• Granulated sugar: We only use white sugar in this zucchini cake recipe because it helps provide structure and also absorbs some of the moisture. Using brown sugar would make this cake too moist and therefore dense.
• Vegetable oil: Using oil also contributes to a moist and tender cake, and the neutral flavor allows the other components of this cake to shine. 
• Eggs: To bind all the ingredients together and help with leavening the cake. 
• Vanilla extract: Pretty much all of my baked goods have vanilla extract. I love it so much, and it complements so many wonderful flavors, including the ones in this cake. 
• All-purpose flour: Important for giving the cake structure. 
• Cinnamon: My cozy spice of choice for this warming zucchini cake. 
• Baking soda and baking powder: To help the cake rise. 
• Salt: Adding salt both balances and enhances the sweetness of this cake.
• Butter: For our brown butter frosting. 
• Cream cheese: The other key ingredient for the frosting.

How to Make Zucchini Cake

1. Prep oven and pan. Preheat your oven to 350°F and generously grease a 9×13 pan with cooking spray. 
2. Grate zucchini. You need 2 cups of grated zucchini, from 1-2 zucchinis. 
3. Combine wet ingredients. In a large bowl using an electric mixer, or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add your 2 cups of grated zucchini, 1¾ cups of granulated sugar, 1 cup of vegetable oil, 3 large eggs, and 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract. Mix to combine. 
4. Add dry ingredients. To the bowl of the stand mixer, add 2 cups of all-purpose flour, 3 teaspoons of ground cinnamon, 2 teaspoons of baking soda, 1 teaspoon of salt, and ¼ teaspoon of baking powder. Mix until just combined with no flour streaks remaining, but do not overmix.

5. Bake. Pour the zucchini cake batter into your prepared pan and bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. 
6. Brown butter. While the cake bakes, brown your butter. For a full guide on how to brown butter, check out my guide. Once the butter is browned, transfer it to a heat-proof container to cool to room temperature. You can place it in the fridge to speed up this process. While you wait for the butter to cool, take out your 8 oz cream cheese brick to allow it to warm to room temperature.
7. Let cake cool. Once your cake is baked, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool to room temperature. 
8. Make frosting. Add your softened brown butter to a medium bowl and mix it at medium speed until smooth, and all the little browned bits are evenly mixed throughout the butter. You can use a hand mixer or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Add 8 oz of softened cream cheese to the butter and mix for 2-3 minutes or until fluffy and smooth. Add 3½ cups of powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and ¼ teaspoon of salt to the butter mixture and beat for another 2 minutes until mixed and fluffy. If it’s too soft, add another ½ cup of powdered sugar. If it’s too stiff, add a splash of milk. 
9. Frost cake and enjoy. Frost your cooled cake with the brown butter cream cheese frosting, then slice and enjoy!

Recipe Tips

You can make the frosting up to a week in advance if you want to split up the cake-making process. 

I think this zucchini cake recipe is great as is, but you can add up to ¾ cup of add-ins, like chopped walnuts, semi-sweet chocolate chips, shredded coconut, or raisins. You can also make it more of a zucchini spice cake by adding additional warming spices, such as ginger, nutmeg, or cloves. I also think a touch of maple syrup in the frosting could be good, but you’ll have to be cautious about adding too much and making the frosting soupy. 

This cake recipe makes a lot—perfect for sharing with friends and family or bringing to summer potlucks!

The brown butter cream cheese frosting is, in my opinion, the perfect way to top this zucchini cake recipe. But if brown butter isn’t your thing, double the recipe for my small batch cream cheese frosting and use that instead. Or, if cream cheese isn’t your thing, make my brown butter buttercream. We love options!

Make Ahead, Storing, and Freezing

Make Ahead: If you want to make this moist zucchini cake recipe in advance, don’t frost it. The cream cheese frosting requires refrigeration. You can make the frosting several days in advance and keep it in the fridge, and store the unfrosted cake for 1-2 days at room temperature. Let the frosting come to room temperature and frost the cake right before you plan to serve it.

Storing: Store leftover zucchini cake with cream cheese frosting in the fridge for 3-4 days. You can either transfer the cake to an airtight container or just cover your pan with plastic wrap.

Freezing: I have not tested freezing this cake but I think it would freeze well. You can also freeze the unfrosted cake and the frosting separately for up to 1 month. Check out my full guide on How to Store and Freeze Cakes for more information.

Recipe FAQs

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