If you’ve made it past the title – congratulations! You may be thinking that putting vegetables into a dessert sounds like a poorly-conceived idea to sneak additional nutrients into the mouths of reluctant vegetable eaters. It might be the case sometimes, but I cross my heart and swear that isn’t the case here.
A friend introduced me to this recipe from Amanda Rettke and her blog, I Am Baker (iambaker.net), and as soon as I had my first bite, I knew I had to have the recipe.Â
Unlike many recipes that use zucchini, this one does not require the zucchini to be drained and squeezed of as much moisture as possible. In fact, this recipe requires the water contained within the zucchini to work.
Like many brownie recipes, this one comes together quickly and makes it a great go-to dessert. While they bake you’ll have ample time to clean up any evidence that vegetables were used.
An added bonus for some is that they are vegan. Just like you won’t notice the vegetables, you also won’t notice the lack of eggs or butter.Â
Zucchini Brownies
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 cups finely shredded zucchini – DO NOT DRAIN
1 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chunks
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 9×13 pan with butter (or baking spray) and line with parchment paper. Allow parchment paper to go up the sides for easy removal.
In a large bowl, combine oil, sugar and vanilla until fully incorporated.
Add flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Mix until combined. Batter will be very dry.
Fold in zucchini by hand. Allow batter to rest for 5 minutes.
Add in chocolate chunks and stir again. Batter should appear more wet. If not, let it rest for 5 more minutes and stir again.
Spread brownie mixture into the pan and bake for 25-35 minutes.
Brownies are done when an inserted toothpick is removed with crumbs. There should not be wet batter on the toothpick.
