Fudgey Zucchini Brownies

It's been years since I've made brownies - I think the last time I did was in college and the straight from the box kind.  Now that I'm getting a little more into baking (and seeing everyone else make brownies on IG), I decided it was time to try making brownies from scratch.  Anybody can make a basic brownie though, so I knew I wanted to do something a little different.  I wanted to make a (slightly) healthier version of a brownie, so I was debating between black bean and zucchini brownies.  I've heard of both kinds, but haven't tried either so I wasn't sure which direction to go.  Ultimately, I decided to go with the zucchini brownies because I was making zucchini enchiladas the same week and Trader Joe's only sells 3-packs of zucchinis, so it just seemed like the practical thing to do.

If you haven't already heard about the zucchini brownie trend, I'm here to tell you that they are absolutely amazing.  When I was a kid, my brother hated veggies and anything green, so my mom would sneak spinach into chocolate cake to trick my brother into eating greens.  An added benefit?  Spinach or zucchini add great moisture to the baked goods and give them a great fudgey texture.  I'll be honest, I was pretty amazed at how the zucchini disappeared in these brownies once they were baked.  With 2 cups of zucchini and 1 cup of flour, it's impressive that you can't find the zucchini at all in the final product.

In typical me fashion, I couldn't just follow the original recipe I looked up.  One of the subs I made was to use almond flour rather than regular.  I love the texture and flavor that almond flour brings to sweets, so it seemed like the right thing to do for this recipe.  Plus, I still had some almond flour laying around and the less AP flour I use for sweets, the more I have for bread.  Second, I swapped out coconut oil for canola oil.  Ever since I read the fats chapter in my nutrition book and learned about saturated fats, I've been on kind of an anti-coconut kick.  I remember a few years back when everyone was raving about coconut oil, but the truth is, it's not good for you.  Coconut oil (and most coconut products) are full of saturated fat that other oils aren't.  Here's the breakdown: coconut oil has 120 calories per tbs and 14g of total fat, 12g of saturated fat.  1 tbs canola oil also has 120 calories and 14g of total fat, but only 1g of saturated fat.  That's a huge difference!  So I swapped out the coconut oil for canola oil in this recipe to make it just the slightest bit healthier.  At the end of the day, they're still brownies, but these small substitutions can make a big difference in the long run!

Total Time: 40-50 minutes

Servings: 9 brownies

Ingredients:

2 cups shredded zucchini

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup maple syrup or honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup almond flour

+1/2 cup chocolate chips, separated in half

Instructions:

1. Shred zucchini and add place in a colander while prepping the other ingredients.
2. Preheat oven to 375° F and line an 8x8" baking pan with parchment paper.
3. In a large bowl, add oil, maple syrup and vanilla extract and stir to combine.  Add cocoa powder, baking soda, 1/4 cup of chocolate chips and salt and continue to stir until combined.
4. Squeeze liquid out of the zucchini using a clean towel or paper towel.  You want to squeeze a good amount of liquid out, but don't completely wring out the liquid.  Stir to combine.
5. Add flour and stir just until incorporated.
6. Add the batter to the baking dish and sprinkle the top with remaining chocolate chips.  Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the outer part of the brownies is set and the inside is a little jiggly.  
7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before removing from the pan and cutting.

Don't worry, you can see the zucchini strands here before the brownies bake, but they completely disappear when you bake them!

As you can tell, these brownies were so ooey-gooey that they were falling apart in the pan.  I didn't really squeeze the zucchini a lot, so you can see how it changed the texture & moisture content of the brownies.  Next time I make them (since there will definitely be a next time) I'll squeeze them out a little more so I get a more structured brownie.