I put green vegetables in your brownies- please don’t hate me.
I know this generally isn’t my MO, and I tend to be more of the veggies are veggies and treats are treats mindset, but what can I say- I’m all about being unpredictable over here.
Now I like a nice slice of zucchini bread as much as the next girl, and I was just as leery about my frosted fudgy treats having two whole zucchini in them as you may be, but let me tell you- these zucchini brownies are goooood.
Like- not good for having a veggie in them, but so good that I highly doubt you or anyone you served these to could ever guess the secret ingredient. Like so good that I will definitely be making them the next time I need a quick brownie fix, whether I have a fridge full of zucchini or not.Now regarding these fudgy zucchini brownies, I did happen to have a bunch of zucchini in my fridge, and after two nights of sautéed veggies, I knew I had to find a way to bake them into something.
I haven’t baked with zucchini a ton in the past, but nothing could have prepared me for how little I tasted it in these brownies.
2 cups were grated into the batter and yet the texture is just regular brownie fudgy-ness without any sign of a vegatable. It’s almost like they dissolved right into the batter resulting in a super moist, fudgy, chocolatey deliciousness. So so good.
To top these babies off is a creamy chocolate frosting that makes these even more amazing- and yes, I still consider these “healthy brownies” with the rich and decadant frosting. #sorrynotsorry
Get the recipe for Fudgy Zucchini Brownies below! Want another healthy brownie recipe? Try Fudgy Date Brownies which are only made with natural sugar (from dates!)
Fudgy Zucchini Brownies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut oil (another vegetable oil will work as well)
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used dark)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups finely shredded zucchini*
For the Frosting:
- 5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly spray or grease a 9x13 baking pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar and vanilla until smooth and well-combined. Sprinkle the flour, cocoa powder, soda and salt over the wet ingredients and stir until just incorporated. (The batter will be dry at this point- worry.)
Fold in the zucchini and mix for just a few seconds or until batter is well combined.
Spread into the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the middle of the pan comes out with a few moist crumbs.
Allow brownies to cool completely before frosting.
For the Frosting:
In a medium-large bowl, stir together the butter and cocoa powder until smooth. Add the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, alternating with the milk. Stir in the vanilla.
Spread frosting over cooled brownies and enjoy!
Notes
*Finely shredding the zucchini helps it release more liquid leading to the right texture of brownies. If your batter seems extremely dry after combining all the ingredients, your zucchini may be on the dry side. You can add a tablespoon of water at a time until the batter comes together. The zucchini will release a lot of water during baking and help bind the brownies and give them their rich and fudgy texture!
Recipe adapted from: All Recipes
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 15 Serving Size: 15Amount Per Serving:Calories: 321 Total Fat: 12g Saturated Fat: 8g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 2g Cholesterol: 8mg Sodium: 295mg Carbohydrates: 51g Fiber: 2g Sugar: 35g Protein: 3g
Pin Fudgy Zucchini Brownies for later!
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar says
August 8, 2014 at 7:57 amHoly yum! We have a ton of zucchini right now and mixing it with chocolate is exactly what I’m looking to do! Yum!
Patrizia says
August 8, 2014 at 9:23 amI was waiting for you to post the recipe for this as soon as I saw the pictures on Instagram! I have so much zucchini, and already made two zucchini breads and was looking for a new idea! They look amazing!
Rachel @ Baked by Rachel says
August 8, 2014 at 10:14 amThese look amazing!! So moist and fudgy! Wish I had one right now :)
Becky says
February 7, 2017 at 3:31 pmMoist-yes! Fudgy-not really. It’s still more like a cake but a good cake
Jocelyn@BruCrew Life says
August 8, 2014 at 10:54 amNow this is how I like to eat my veggies :-) I have used this recipe from All Recipes too and love it…so decadent and delicious!!!
Rachel @ Bakerita says
August 8, 2014 at 12:56 pmThat frosting…OMG! I might try to make these GF with almond flour to make them extra healthy! :D I’m super curious about the zucchini in there. Must try! Pinned :)
Kayle (The Cooking Actress) says
August 8, 2014 at 6:25 pmI keep hearing that zucchs just make chocolate treats moist and you can’t taste ’em-i sooo need to test this! Your brownies are certainly selling me!
Lauren at Keep It Sweet says
August 9, 2014 at 7:42 amI am completely sold, they look amazing!
Sarah @ Sarah's Bake Studio says
August 9, 2014 at 9:01 amOoh. I am totally interested in trying these. Anyway to eat more veggies without feeling like I am eating veggies sounds good to me! ;)
Stephanie @ Eat. Drink. Love. says
August 10, 2014 at 12:10 amI love baking with zucchini! These look so good and I love that gooey frosting!
Elisa @ Insalata di Sillabe says
August 11, 2014 at 6:13 amAt first I was a lot skeptical about baking with vegetables, but then I tried a zucchini cake and simply fell in love. So now I’m all about adding veggies to my sweet treats whenever I can, and these brownies…well, they truly look delicious!
xo, Elisa
Francesca Catanuso says
August 11, 2014 at 10:40 amoh, yes. treats and veggies CAN be besties.
Joanne says
August 11, 2014 at 1:02 pmI’ve made chocolate zucchini cake before and it is CRAZY how the zucchini really just melts into the chocolate. So adding a veggie into these means I can eat them for breakfast, right?
Christine says
August 11, 2014 at 6:08 pmI made these last night they taste sooooo good. My only question is mine have to be eaten with a fork they fall apart really easily. Is that supposed to happen?
Audra says
August 11, 2014 at 10:57 pmHey Christine- No mine definitely weren’t like that. It’s hard to know what went wrong though- did they cool completely?
Kayla says
August 12, 2014 at 4:13 pmI made mine with yellow squash, which has a lower water content than zucchini, so I added an egg to help bind them and they are delicious. Christine-I wonder if your zucchini wasn’t as moist as Audra’s was?
Audra says
August 17, 2014 at 9:21 pmYeah that’s very possible. Thanks Kayla.
Jennie @themessybakerblog says
August 12, 2014 at 8:00 amI’m diggin’ the addition of zucchini. I only have 100 pounds of it growing in my garden that needs to be eaten, so why not add it to a brownie. I bet these are the moistest brownies eva!
Alice // Hip Foodie Mom says
August 17, 2014 at 2:20 pmAudra, oh my gawd, I love these brownies! I just made a zucchini cake on friday and am obsessed now. Pinned and love these. . perfection right here.
Ariane says
August 18, 2014 at 3:46 amI baked a batch of these chocolate zucchini brownies last Thursday for the Baking Society meeting at my university and everyone loved them. My housemates and friends loved them as well. A hit with everyone :) Thanks for the recipe! Definite keeper.
Jacqui says
August 18, 2014 at 8:27 amHi Audra, I have been reading your blog for a long time but this brownie recipe is the first thing I have ever made. Mainly because I had all the ingredients without needing to go shopping. WOW! So yum. A great alternative to the traditional brownie when you need that chocolate fix. My daughter (18mo) and her little friends loved it too. Thank you! Oh and halfway through mixing the batter I remembered our oven broke the other night. So I baked it in our Weber BBQ (with the lid down of course). It worked a treat. Perhaps even better than my oven baking!!! :)
Sarah says
August 19, 2014 at 9:25 pmSo, I made these tonight. This recipe is AMAZING. Seriously best brownies I’ve ever made, and I’ve never made zucchini brownies before. The recipe worked just perfectly as it is. I’m an amateur cook so nothing ever works just right for me, and I vary rarely love anything I cook. Just wanted to say thank you!!
I did want to say I was able to successfully reduce the sugar in the batter by 1/2 cup and in the frosting I cut the sugar in half by using less milk and adding organic stevia to taste. It was delectable!
j says
August 20, 2014 at 10:57 pmMade these exactly as instructed. Amazing. No one has ever guessed that they have zucchini in them! I cook and bake all the time, but I rarely leave a review…but these I just had to comment on. Everyone must try this recipe. Thanks for sharing it!
Julie says
August 25, 2014 at 8:15 pmThese sure didn’t turn out very dry wonder if something is missing like a egg.
Kathie says
September 15, 2014 at 8:53 pmOk mine came out so dry and almost dust like! The only thing holding them together was the frosting! I live in Denver and even added more zucchini for extra moisture. What a waste of time!!!
Avra-Sha Faohla says
October 1, 2014 at 11:19 pmAudra, did you pack your zucchini, or did you just lightly drop the shreds into the measuring cup? If you did the former, maybe the people who have complaints of it being too dry did the latter and that might explain the problem.
Audra says
October 5, 2014 at 10:02 amYou know I think I packed it full but didn’t press it down. My zucchini was ripe and had lots of residual liquid- I think dry zucchini is the problem- in that case I would add a little extra liquid.
Avra-Sha Faohla says
October 5, 2014 at 1:16 pmI think I did the same–I didn’t just lightly drop, but I also didn’t really press it down much.
Anyway, I made two versions, one with an added egg, as Kayla recommended (because I also used yellow squash), and then another without the egg. They both turned out a little more cakey than I expected (which was why I made the second version–I thought maybe without adding an egg it might be a bit more fudgy), but they were really delicious nonetheless. I think I slightly preferred the one with the added egg, but not by a huge margin. And the frosting was simply amazing. The recipe is definitely a keeper.
Annie says
March 27, 2015 at 12:50 pmwould it change consistency if the zucchini was creamed in a food processor instead of grated? i’ve tried doing chocolate zuccchini muffins with it grated and my picky 6 year old still picked out the zucchini. so, thought i’d try it in the food processor and see how that goes. thanks, they look delish! i have to be very creative to get veggie in him.
Carol says
April 6, 2015 at 2:11 pmAre these brownies easily stored?
I was just wondering if they harden really quickly.
Audra says
April 13, 2015 at 5:07 pmThey last for a few days in an airtight container :)
Sarah says
April 27, 2015 at 8:09 amThey dont last 24 hours in my house! LOL! Such an amazing recipe!!! Hubbies only complaint is the mess I leave after baking them! DO you think they would freeze ok??
Kolleen says
July 21, 2015 at 8:45 pmI made these and they came out great! They baked up nice and fluffy, definitely a cake-like brownie. I think next time I am going to try them in cupcake liners and just fill them a little more full :)
Diane Ashton says
August 5, 2015 at 11:25 pmI also used dark cocoa and they seemed dry when I put them in the pan. However, they are great. Nice dark moist goodness. Thanks
Aarti says
September 21, 2015 at 2:00 pmIs it 1/2 cup melted coconut oil or in solid form?
Audra says
September 24, 2015 at 10:04 amMelted will be easier, but solid can be used if you cream it like you would butter :)
Clarissa says
January 13, 2016 at 12:24 pmI’m just wondering why you didn’t use any eggs in this recipe. Have you tried it?
Amy says
August 5, 2016 at 12:09 pmThese are amazing! I used a stick of melted butter instead of oil. When I mixed in the zucchini it was still very dry, so I added two eggs. They were delicious!
Katie says
August 5, 2016 at 3:42 pmAudra, The brownies are cooling right now. Frosting made and ready to go. I’ve used,tons of recipes with zucchini. This one looked,so good. I love the way zucchini gives so much moisture. They smell, so good. Thanks for recipe.
Ann says
August 10, 2016 at 1:56 pmSo as I made these brownies last night, I noticed my end result was way too dry. I could not imagine putting them in a pan without them being combined. So I looked at another very similar recipe and discovered the addition of a little water. Glad I added the water. They turned out perfect and oh so darn delicious. Will definitely make again….
Lindsey says
September 27, 2016 at 11:21 pmThese brownies are delicious!! They are light, moist, and healthy (but in a great way, not a kale way!) I added an egg to the mix because I like eggs in my baked good and also added chocolate chips. The frosting looks amazing but I omitted it because the chocolate chips added my second dimension of chocolate-y goodness. I highly recommend these brownies!! Thank you!!
Cheryl Pugh says
June 21, 2017 at 9:49 amIn the recipe it states, “2. The batter will be dry at this point – worry.” Is that a typo or should you worry if it is dry? Coconut oil has a higher content than other oils. I used canola oil and added 2 eggs and it came out great. Not too sweet, just right, and not dry at all. Thank you for a great recipe.
Audra says
June 21, 2017 at 10:38 amThis was definitely meant to says DON’T worry. I will fix that!
I have used coconut oil before and it works great!
Cheryl Pugh says
June 21, 2017 at 9:50 amI meant to say Coconut Oil has a higher “fat” content in my original comment, that’s why I added the eggs with the canola oil.
Jan Venteris says
August 9, 2018 at 10:32 amThese are a disaster. Came out almost as dry as when they went in oven. I suspected batter was too dry. Wish I had added eggs or water. Won’t waste my time again. Too many good recipes out there.
Audra Fullerton says
August 9, 2018 at 1:05 pmIt sounds like your zucchini didn’t have any residual moisture which may have been the problem. I have made these so many times and my aucchini is always packed with liquid. I am going to add a note to add a little water if the batter still seems dry and also a picture of what the batter should look like. Sorry for the confusion!