I really didn’t want to call these zucchini brownies. I didn’t want any preconceived ideas preventing anyone from making these! I like zucchini brownies, but sometimes they are too mushy, or have a weird texture, or you can taste the zucchini. I don’t mind so much that you can taste the zucchini, but some people do. However, these brownies taste like regular brownies, you cannot tell there is a stitch of vegetable in them. I mainly made these because I’m on a zucchini kick and figured I should use up my abundance! And really brownies sound good pretty much any day of the week. (I apologize for these horrible pictures, these dark brownies were hard to photograph!)

I made these a couple days ago and they are sooo good. These are basically brownies that happen to contain zucchini. I would make these any time I need brownies. Trust me, just make them. I certainly don’t believe that baked goods with zucchini in them are healthy, but it’s a nice bonus. Maybe some extra fiber? A couple nutrients?

Try these while the zucchini is still plentiful. I also freeze shredded zucchini for the winter (when I want to make brownies!) – just shred it, put it in a freezer bag, squeeze out the air and pop them into the freezer. I freeze it in 2 cup amounts, which is generally what recipes call for when containing zucchini.

As I’ve said before, zucchini is the most versatile vegetable! 🙂 Check out some of my other zucchini recipes

Crock Pot Veggie Lasagna (made with zucchini)

Cinnamon Zucchini Bread

Sausage Stuffed Zucchini

Zucchini Brownies

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate (I did not have any chocolate, so I used this substitution method that uses cocoa powder and oil. It worked just fine! I used olive oil.

3/4 cup butter

2 cups sugar

3 eggs slightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s Special Dark powder and it made these deliciously decadent!)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini, unpeeled

1/2 – 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13 pan well. In a microwave safe bowl, add the chocolate (or cocoa oil mix) and butter and heat at 30 second increments until the mixture is melted and smooth. Stir in the sugar. Add in the eggs and vanilla and stir until well combined. There may be little bits of egg that don’t mix in, that’s okay. Whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in smaller bowl. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir to combine. Add in zucchini and stir until evenly mixed, then add chocolate chips and stir again. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with fudgy crumbs. Do not over bake!