My granny always had so much leftover zucchini in her garden, it was a challenge to use it all. I invented this recipe when she gifted me a huge bag of zucchini one summer fresh from her garden. Zucchini is very high in water and fiber content. It’s the perfect way to moisten brownies without adding extra fat and get extra fiber in your diet.
First published in 2007, this recipe – along with my recipe for Zucchini Bread – is consistently among the most downloaded ones here on SkinnyChef.com!
Make 12, 1.5 ounce brownies
Ingredients
5 ounces bittersweet dark chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 egg whites
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cups all-purpose flour or oat flour, plus 1 tablespoon for flouring the pan
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini, (about 1 large zucchini)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or almonds
Non-stick cooking spray
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 8×8-inch baking pan with cooking spray and sprinkle with the one tablespoon of flour. Shake the pan until the flour evenly coats the inside of the pan. Place chocolate in an ovenproof dish and place in the oven, 5-6 minutes until just melted. Or place chocolate in microwave (30 seconds to 1 minute) until melted. Cool slightly.
In a large bowl, mix together the oil, egg white, sugar, vanilla and melted chocolate until well blended. Stir in the flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice. Fold in the zucchini and nuts. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center of the pan. Cool completely in the pan and cut into squares. Store in an air-tight container for up to 3 days.
Did You Know…
Fried Zucchini flowers are a delicacy! Many cultures stuffed zucchini flowers with tender fillings like cheese, mashed potato, and chopped ham. In Mexico, they use fresh goat cheese as a filling, and whip egg whites to make a light batter before frying.
Make It a Meal
Serve with Citrus Almond Chicken, Zucchini with Sage and Sweet Potato Mash.
Wine Pairing
Riesling, Pinot Noir, Port
My boss just gave me a giant zucchini from his garden. This posting is perfect timing! I’m going to make them this weekend. Thank you!
Perfect Jill!
Let me know how it turns out. If you still have *tons* of zucchini left over you can try my zucchini bread too
Zucchini bread is my favorite…although these brownies do look amazing! Unless you tell them, no one will ever guess these treats are made with zucchini!
Thanks Kathy!
I bet you have a incredible brownie recipe- do SHARE!
I made the brownies today with oat flour. They turned out with amazing flavor, but I had two issue with them.
1) They seemed kind of thin for the pan.
2) They didn’t cut very cleanly.
Is that typical for this recipe? If not, do you have any suggestions?
Hey Jill,
Glad you tried the brownies! Mine came out ok, but I’m going to make them again this weekend and I’ll report back
I’ll change the pan to an 8X8 as well…
Try dipping a knife in cold water before cutting them or you can place a piece of wax paper inside the pan for easy removal.
P.S. How is your new treadmill- do you love it?
I am excited to hear your report back. Thanks for the knife and wax paper tips. Those should be handy.
And yes, I’m loving the new treadmill. Now I have a whole room where I can practice yoga or run on the treadmill. It’s so convenient. No excuses to skip a workout now!
AMAZING! Thank you!
I love your recipes, but would it be possible to get the fat and calorie content in them.
Hey Lynn!
Thanks for your note. We’ll be calculating the nutritional information and hopefully posting in this summer. Stay tuned!
When I was a teenager my friends mom made these and they were so yummy, I cannot wait to try them out on my family!
I know this was posted a long time ago, so I hope I still can get a reponse! I can’t wait to try this recipe, but I just had one question. Do you peel the zucchini first? Thanks!
Sorry Gizel!
No need to peel the zucchini
THANKS!!! Can’t wait to try them!!!
Just wanted to let you know, I made these with spelt flour and agave syrup (reducing the oil in half) and they came out lovely.
Great Snooky!
I love baking with Spelt flour, it also makes amazing cookies!
These were absolutely delicious! I had to bake them way longer than 30 minutes though- mine probably took about 42 minutes. Could I have done something wrong or could it just be my oven? Thanks!
Hi Lizzie!
Glad to hear you enjoyed them
Even oven is different, as long as the brownie came out moist and yummy, it’s fine that it took 10 minutes more.
Any chance you can post just the basic nutrition on these (cals, carbs, fat, sugar)? They look so good and i want my dieting friends to actually enjoy them
Check back soon Kel, I’m working on the nutritional info now!
Do you need to squeeze dry the zucchini before folding it in to the batter?
Great question! You don’t want to squeeze it since the moisture in the zucchini helps to keep the brownies moist.
I loved these brownies. They turned out great My whole family liked them too. Even hubby who isn’t a zuchini lover. Actually he would have preferred if i hadn’t told them they were in there Oh well too bad for him .
Suzanne, that’s too funny!! Next time, keep it our secret. Have you tried the chocolate avocado shake?
can you provide a link to your zucchini bread recipe? please & thank you
Hi Trace,
here’s the link for the zucchini bread recipe…
You might also be interested in the recipe for a Molten Zucchini Chocolate Cake…
I made these tonight wanting to try a different way to use zucchini. Mine baked an extra 10 minutes or so as well. Still turned out good. They are more of a cake brownie to me. I like more of a fudger brownie. My daughter who will not eat zucchini bread because its made with zucchini eats these.( In a whisper voice) No I did not tell her either. Ha!
Shhhh.. I won’t tell either! I’ll have to create a fudgy brownie too, great idea!
Can you substitute applesauce for the oil?
I haven’t tested it, but try it out!