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You are here: Home / FRUGAL FOOD / cooking from SCRATCH / Zucchini Brownies with Perfect Chocolate Frosting

Zucchini Brownies with Perfect Chocolate Frosting

June 16, 2017 by Stephanie 13 Comments

Zucchini lovers and haters alike will love these moist, chocolatey zucchini brownies. The frosting is excellent, but they're delicious without it too! As a bonus, the recipe doesn't have any eggs!

In addition to talking about budgeting and finances, I love to share from-scratch recipes, frugal dishes, and ways to use garden produce.  Today I am sharing one of my favorite ways to eat zucchini– zucchini brownies!

Zucchini lovers and haters alike will love these moist, chocolatey brownies.  Hiding zucchini in brownies is a great way to trick picky eaters into getting some veggies.  The frosting is dreamy.

As a bonus, zucchini brownies don’t even require eggs!

We started a garden the first year we were married (almost 12 years ago!).  We planted a little bit of everything .  It was actually a rather huge garden for two people.  Like anyone who has planted zucchini, we had a prolific crop.

When discussing what to do with our harvest, a neighbor asked us if we had tried zucchini brownies.  I laughed out loud.  Brownies were (are) one of my favorite treats.  Why would I want to ruin them by adding vegetables?

Because he was a nice neighbor, he sent my husband home with a plate of moist, delicious brownies.  I was sold!  I could not believe that they had zucchini in them.  I sent my husband back to get the recipe.

You can follow along with the photo tutorial or jump right to the bottom and print the recipe.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups shredded zucchini
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
  • 6 Tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

Mix together oil, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl.  You may have noticed that there aren’t eggs in the recipe.  That’s not a typo.  There really aren’t any eggs!  That’s another reason that I love this recipe– I can make it even when I’m out of eggs.

Zucchini Bownies Tutorial 1

In a smaller bowl, mix together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.  Add flour mixture to the large bowl.  Stir until combined.  It will resemble slightly moist sand.

Zucchini Bownies Tutorial 2

Add in shredded zucchini and mix.  Sometimes I add walnuts, but I’m not feeling nutty today, so I’m leaving them out.

Zucchini Bownies Tutorial 3

 A note on the shredded zucchini:  I leave the peel on and shred it in my food processor.  With the skin left on, you may see flecks of green if you look closely, but my kids are smart enough to never refuse chocolate.  If you are trying to hide the zucchini from a hater or picky eater, peeling it before shredding it will make it pretty much invisible.

 At this point you’re going to think that I am crazy.  Your mixture will not look like any other brownie or cake batter you’ve ever seen.  If you’ve got a lot of faith, you can just put the crumbles into your greased pan and trust that it will work.

Zucchini Bownies Tutorial 4

Otherwise, you can let sit for about five minutes first.  The zucchini will start to sweat and to let off a little moisture.  When you mix it again, it will start to come together a little better.  Still it will not look like a typical batter.  It will be more like cookie dough now.  Don’t fret.

Zucchini Bownies Tutorial 5

Another note on the shredded zucchini: You can use freshly shredded zucchini or zucchini that has been frozen and thawed.  If it is frozen and thawed, drain off most of the water.  You won’t experience as much of the dry batter phenomenon (see below) with frozen zucchini as you will with fresh.

Just press it into a greased 9 x 13 pan.  I usually put a sandwich bag on my hand to press it into the pan.

Zucchini Bownies Tutorial 6

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Zucchini Bownies Tutorial 12

After putting brownies into the oven, start the frosting.  The method is a little different than most frosting recipes, but it makes for excellent frosting, so pay close attention.

Start by melting the butter and cocoa powder together in a saucepan.

Zucchini Bownies Tutorial 7

Set aside to cool.  I usually wait until after the brownies have been out of the oven for a while to finish the frosting since the brownies need to cool before you frost them anyway.

Zucchini Bownies Tutorial 8

When it’s nice and cool it will go to a creamy solid state.

Zucchini Bownies Tutorial 9

In a medium bowl, blend together powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla.  Stir in the cocoa and butter mixture once it has cooled.

Zucchini Bownies Tutorial 10

The cocoa and butter mixture is creamy enough that you can stir it all by hand without any problem.  The frosting is pretty amazing.  It’s the perfect way to top these yummy brownies, though they are delicious without frosting too.

Zucchini Bownies Tutorial 11

Spread frosting over cooled brownies and serve.

Be careful because they are really good.  While you can argue that they are good for your because they have zucchini in them, I’m pretty sure that eating too many won’t be very good for your waistline.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Zucchini lovers and haters alike will love these moist, chocolatey zucchini brownies. The frosting is excellent, but they're delicious without it too! As a bonus, the recipe doesn't have any eggs!

4.8 from 4 reviews
Zucchini Brownies with Perfect Chocolate Frosting
 
Print
Prep time
10 mins
Cook time
25 mins
Total time
35 mins
 
No one will ever guess that the secret ingredient in these moist and delicious brownies is actually zucchini! And don't skip the frosting-- it's divine!
Author: Stephanie @ SixFiguresUnder.com
Cuisine: Dessert
Ingredients
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • 1½ cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 cups flour
  • ½ cup cocoa powder
  • 1½ teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups shredded zucchini
  • ½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
  • 6 Tablespoons cocoa powder
  • ¼ cup butter
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • ¼ cup milk
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
  1. Mix together oil, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl.
  2. In a smaller bowl, mix together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
  3. Add flour mixture to the large bowl. Stir until combined. It will resemble slightly moist sand.
  4. Add in shredded zucchini (and walnuts) and mix.
  5. Let sit for about 5 minutes for the zucchini to let off a little moisture.
  6. Mix again, then press into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.
  7. Note 1: The mixture will not look like a normal brownie or cake mix, but as it cooks, the zucchini will let off moisture.
  8. Note 2: There really are no eggs in the recipe. That's not a typo.
  9. After putting brownies into the oven, start the frosting. Melt the butter and cocoa poweder together in a saucepan. Set aside to cool.
  10. In a medium bowl, blend together powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla. Stir in the cocoa and butter mixture once it has cooled.
  11. Spread frosting over cooled brownies and serve.
3.5.3251

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Filed Under: cooking from SCRATCH, FRUGAL FOOD

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Comments

  1. Trista says

    September 3, 2018 at 12:07 pm

    This is my favorite zucchini brownie recipe! I have made it SO many times! My children and I love it! I made it for a family get together and didn’t tell anyone they had zucchini in them until after they ate them I got so many comments about how good they were! Thank you for the recipe!

    Reply
  2. easy food recipes says

    January 6, 2018 at 4:03 am

    Greate article. Keep writing such kind of information on your
    page. Im really impressed by your site.
    Hi there, You’ve performed an excellent job.

    I will definitely digg it and for my part recommend to my friends.
    I am confident they will be benefited from this web site.

    Reply
  3. E. Burton says

    August 24, 2017 at 10:05 am

    Made these for a beach picnic and got rave reviews. I didn’t tell the people at first that zucchini was involved and they were amazed when they found out. Other zucchini dessert recipes which I have tried usually have obvious bits of zucchini showing but not these! The texture was between a fudge and cake-like brownie – nice and moist and flavorful. I did have to bake them about 10 minutes longer to avoid a too moist center.

    Reply
  4. Ashley says

    June 19, 2017 at 6:29 am

    These look delicious! Brownies are one of my favorite treats too – far better than cake. We usually grow zucchini but that didn’t work out for us this year. Hopefully someone at church overplanted =D

    Reply
  5. Ms. Frugal Asian Finance says

    June 16, 2017 at 11:20 am

    Thank you so much for sharing the great recipe and the detailed instructions! I had never heard of zucchini brownie before. It looks delicious!

    Reply
  6. Deb says

    August 4, 2016 at 7:37 am

    Can you use dehydrated zuchinni in this recipe? If so, I assume it would need to be rehydrated?

    Reply
  7. Midori says

    August 26, 2015 at 5:02 pm

    Wow! These brownies are delicious! I finally tried the recipe today and we could not taste the zucchini at all! Thank you Stephanie for sharing this recipe!

    Reply
  8. lydia @ frugaldebtfreelife says

    July 13, 2015 at 6:04 am

    Great for using up all that zucchini hanging out in the garden!

    Reply
  9. Midori says

    July 12, 2015 at 11:16 am

    Thank you! I printed this recipe out and will have to try it this summer!

    Reply
  10. [email protected] says

    July 10, 2015 at 1:35 pm

    I love zucchini recipes! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Denise says

      September 22, 2017 at 4:33 pm

      I think that I will try that sometime.

      Reply

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