Healthy and Delicious Zucchini Brownies

These healthy and delicious zucchini brownies are everything! They check the sweet, salty, and healthy boxes. They’re fudgy, delicious, and best of all, easy to make! There’s no butter in them and they’re gluten-free.

Although I’m not gluten intolerant, I’ve cut back on gluten-laden ingredients that spike inflammation in my body. I feel that doing this has made a lot of difference in my energy level and with overall aches and pains. Best of all, when it comes to any zucchini haters in your family, the zucchini completely disappears into the batter. They’ll never even know it’s in them!

Last year, I featured these Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins on this blog and they were a huge hit. This year, I wanted to try yet another chocolate and zucchini mashup, but I also wanted to experiment with the ingredients to make a dessert that was a little more healthy, with less sugar. The result is a brownie that is so rich and fudgy, they taste decadent, but they’re nearly guilt-free.

What’s In These Healthy and Delicious Zucchini Brownies

• Shredded Zucchini – I I like to use a box grater to make short work of this task. For this recipe, I used a small shred but not a tiny grate.
• Coconut Sugar – I’ve been giving this a whirl in recipes lately with good success. I really like the Bob’s Red Mill brand, but if you’re too nervous to try coconut sugar in a recipe, you can substitute light brown sugar for a similar taste.

• Coconut Flour – There’s only a tiny bit of coconut flour in this recipe. I also like the Bob’s Red Mill brand, but I noticed King Arthur just came out with one too. If you don’t have any gluten issues, or just want to use regular flour, I recommend a good quality, all purpose version.
• Coconut Oil – Just two tablespoons of it replace butter and it’s a much healthier choice. Make sure it’s melted and then cooled, but still liquified.
• Cocoa Powder – The rich chocolatey flavor really comes through with the addition of cocoa powder.
• Pure Maple Syrup – Maple syrup adds to the rich flavor in these brownies without too much sweetness. Don’t substitute pancake syrup, though!
• Egg – Let your egg come to room temperature for the best results.
• Mixed Nut Butter – I love the mixed nut butter from Costco, with very low sugar added, but you can swap out almond butter instead. Don’t use peanut butter, though, as it will overwhelm the other flavors.

• Baking Soda
• Vanilla
• Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips – Just 1/3 cup amps up the chocolate taste even further.

Let’s Make These Zucchini Brownies, Shall We?

Assemble your ingredients, as well as an 8″ square pan. I personally love glass pans for baking. Because these brownies are really fudgy, I recommend lining the pan with parchment paper that’s been lightly greased or sprayed with coconut oil. It makes removing fudgy brownies a snap and leaves no mess. Win, win!

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
• Shred your zucchini with a box grater. I love this one by OXO that catches the grated zucchini in a handy little cup under the grater.
• Place the shredded zucchini in a large bowl, blotting it thoroughly to remove any extra moisture.
• Add your egg, 1/2 cup of nut butter, 1/4 cup of pure maple syrup, 1/2 cup of coconut sugar, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
• Stir thoroughly to combine the ingredients.

• Next, add 2 tablespoons of coconut flour, 1/2 teaspsoon of baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and stir those into the batter.
• Finally, add 2 tablespoons of melted coconut oil and 1/3 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips.
• Pour the batter into an 8″ baking pan lined with parchment paper that’s been lightly greased with coconut oil.

• Bake at 350 for 35 minutes and check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the batter. If it doesn’t come out cleanly, add another 5 minutes to your baking time.
• Cool the brownies completely before removing them from the pan.
• Cut into squares and serve. If you want to add a bit more decadence, you can drizzle them with a little more melted chocolate, However, I find them to be perfect as is!