The gooiest zucchini brownies ever! You’d never guess these are made a little healthier and made with whole grains (but can also be made with all-purpose or gluten-free flour) or that zucchini and that applesauce takes the place of oil! With gluten-free and dairy-free options.
I don’t like zucchini at all. I’m also not a fan of “hiding” veggies in my dessert recipes, because I can always tell that they’re in there. That’s not the case with these brownies!
These healthy zucchini brownies still have sugar in them, but they’re not quite as bad as your usual brownie recipe. If you want something especially naughty, try these gluten-free brownies, which are really the best brownies ever – gluten-free or not! They can also be made with whole wheat flour.
These chocolate zucchini brownies have no added fat* (except what’s in the chocolate chips) and are full of zucchini and whole grains (but really do not taste like it!) so you can feel good about giving these to your children.
* I love healthy fats and usually load up my recipes with them. But in this one, it’s just not needed!
Really, unless your kids watch you make these, or you grate the zucchini coarsely, there’s no way that they’ll be able to tell that these brownies have zucchini in them. Or that they’re whole wheat or whole spelt. The gluten-free version also doesn’t taste gluten-free!
Want some more kid-friendly recipes? Try my no-bake oatmeal cookies. They’re whole grain and naturally gluten-free + vegan. And perfect for the lunch box!
This whole wheat banana bread is also a favorite and you can always toss in some walnuts or chocolate chips for something different.
And if you have portion control issues, these brownies halve beautifully! Use a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan and bake for only 14 minutes.
I highly recommend not decreasing the amount of chocolate chips in the batter. You can definitely skip the ones on top but these zucchini brownies rely on the sweetness and flavor from the chocolate chips!
I’m pretty sure you’d be disappointed if you didn’t use the chocolate in the batter. And I definitely don’t want that!
Be sure to use Dutch-process cocoa powder in these zucchini brownies. If you use the regular natural kind (like Hershey’s) these zucchini brownies will likely come out cakey instead of nice and fudgy like you see!
Besides, once you have some Dutch-process cocoa powder, you’ll be able to make these whole wheat chocolate cupcakes! They’re seriously just as delicious as traditional cupcakes made with all-purpose flour.
If you don’t mind the brownies being cakey and want to use regular cocoa powder, then go for it! Some commenters have mentioned making them with regular cocoa powder and loving them.
Have more zucchini to use? This chocolate zucchini bread also looks great! As do these zucchini muffins.
Enjoy!
Zucchini Chocolate Brownies (100% whole grain, gluten-free, dairy-free options)
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 16 brownies
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs (50 grams each, out of shell)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup coconut sugar or unrefined sugar or granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) unsweetened applesauce
- 1 cup (125 grams) whole wheat flour or whole spelt flour or all-purpose flour or Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour for the gluten-free version
- 1/2 cup (45 grams) Dutch-process cocoa powder (using regular cocoa powder may result in cakey brownies)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups (about 300 – 320 grams) peeled and grated zucchini
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips + 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips to sprinkle on top (for dairy-free, use Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips)
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (176 degrees C) and line an 8"x8" pan with parchment paper or spray with baking spray.
- In a large bowl, mix together the eggs, vanilla, coconut sugar, and apple sauce and let this sit for 5 minutes to let the coconut sugar dissolve.
- In a separate medium bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder (sifted if lumpy!), baking soda and salt. Make sure there are no clumps before going on to the next step.
- Add the dry mix to the wet, gently stir until combined. Be sure not to over mix!
- Then fold in the zucchini and 1 cup chocolate chips.
- Pour the batter into the pan and even the surface with a spatula.
- Sprinkle 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips on top.
- Bake for 30 - 35 minutes (14 minutes for the half batch) or until a toothpick inserted in the middle doesn't come out gooey. It might still be sticky - just not have raw batter on it.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days at room temperature or up to one week in the refrigerator. I recommend storing them in the refrigerator right from the beginning due to their high moisture content.
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517 comments on “Zucchini Brownies (gluten-free, dairy-free options)” — Add one!
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Do you know approx.hiw many calories these would be? On a calorie voucher ting diet here!
I intentionally don’t include the nutritional info (I focus on making healthier choices rather than low calorie / fat / etc.) but you can copy and paste the recipe here for that info, if you like. I hope you’ll enjoy them! :)
I want to make these delicious brownies but I wondering what you think would be a good substitute for the eggs ( my 4 year old has a sever egg allergy).
Thank you,
Maureen
I unfortunately have no experience with egg substitutes but I found this helpful chart. I hope that helps! :)
You can substitute ground flaxseed for egg.
I just made this with chia ‘egg’ as a vegan version and they turned out great! Just mix 2 Tbsp chia seeds with 6 Tbsp. water and let sit for 5 minutes, then use just as you would the two eggs :)
Thanks so much for posting the vegan version you tried! I’m sure it’ll help others. And thanks for the rating. :)
For a Flax egg use 1TBS flax meal and 3TBS warm water. Sit in refrigerator for 1 minute to set up.. Equals 1 egg.
Thank you for that! :)
I just made these b/c I have so much zucchini from my garden. They were absolutely amazing. I cannot believe there is no added fat besides the choc chips. The 2cups of zucchini make them so moist!
I’m happy to hear that they came out well! And I agree… it’s hard to believe the only added fat is from the chocolate chips. Thanks so much for the feedback. :)
These were AH-mazing! I was a skeptic, I’ll admit. But man alive these blew me away. Everyone loved them and you can’t tell there is squash in there at all! I used one cup of zucchini and one cup of yellow squash – and spelt flour. Winner!!! Thanks! :-)
I’m so happy that they came out well! And good to know that yellow squash works here. Interesting! Thanks so much for the feedback. :)
Wow! These are incredible! My kids didnt see me sneak in the zucchini. They love them. I would make these again because of how moist they are! Thanks for your recipe! I complimented you on fb so I think more people will be using your recipe! :)
I’m so happy that your kids liked them! And thanks for complimenting me on FB. I hope your friends will enjoy the brownies, too! Thanks for the feedback. :)
Oh My!!! These brownies are awesome! My husband and all 3 kids loved them! I made the recipe exactly as written except I used white whole wheat flour. They tasted to me like the sinful molten lava cakes but none of the guilt. They fell apart a bit but I’m guessing that’s because we couldn’t wait even 5 minutes for them to cool from the oven! I will definitely be checking out more of your recipes.
Haha. Well, they shouldn’t have fallen apart but I’m happy you were able to live with it. ;) So happy that you and your family enjoyed them! And white whole wheat is always a good idea. Thanks so much for your feedback! :)
Hi Erin,
Do I need to wring out the water in the zucchini? Love your recipes!
Thanks.
Margie
Nope! No need to do that. Unless your zucchini is over the top watery. Then just get rid of enough water so that it has a “normal” amount of water (I hate saying that because there’s no exact way of measuring this). I hope you’ll enjoy the brownies! :)
Wow Erin, these were so good! I used whole wheat pastry flour and they came out more like cake which was fine with my family, my kids loved it so much my 6 year old said he wants this “cake” for his birthday! I have to admit I probably used more chocolate chips than you called for because you can never have too much chocolate… Another winning recipe from you!!
But darn. These aren’t supposed to be cake-like! I’m really surprised that whole wheat pastry flour had that effect. I love that your son asked for these brownies as his birthday cake. :) Thanks so much for the feedback!
Zucchini is exploding out of my garden and I really don’t want to make any more zucchini bread. I checked to see what you had on your site and decided to do these first :-). I added a cup of walnuts (for the hubby) and omitted the chocolate chips sprinkled on top. These were chocolatey and ooey gooey!!! I think next time I might make your chocolate ganache to frost the brownies. That would take it over the top! When mixing, I had to double check the amount of zucchini called for and then check my measuring cup to make sure I hadn’t added too much. It just really seemed lilke a lot of zucchini I was folding in. The thing I love is it used up 2 cups of zucchini!!! Now I have a reason to be excited when I see an enormous zucchini in my garden! You rock, Erin!!!!
Yay! So happy that you liked the brownies! :) But after you’ve made these, my other zucchini recipes aren’t nearly as exciting (especially the chocolate zucchini cookies and lemon zucchini muffins – they’re good but nothing compared to this!) The chocolate zucchini cake is almost as good as these brownies but not as gooey and decadent. I’d be interested to know how it comes out for you, though! I know a few people who have had issues with the ganache (it comes out gel-like or it comes out totally runny) but I make it all the time and never had any problem. Really strange! Anyway, thanks for your feedback and good luck on growing a few more zucchini this year. :)
These are quickly becoming a weekly staple in our home! I add peanut butter chips on top instead of mini chocolate chips- because you can’t go wrong with peanut butter!
Ooh! You’re right. Peanut butter is always right. ;) I wouldn’t have thought of adding them here, though. Thanks for the idea and for the feedback!
Thank u so much for this delicious and healthy recipe that my whole family loves! The only change I made was G/F flour instead of regular flour, which made it come out much more fluffy (almost a cake instead brownie). But still a super moist, yummy and HEALTHY treat that I can feel good about offering to my picky eaters.
Sorry for the slow reply! Was it a GF baking blend mix? I’m happy that it came out well, even if they were cakey. ;) Thanks so much for the feedback!
These are Delish. I’ve deemed them pin worthy to my board which contains Pinterest recipes that are worth it. Way to go and thank you. Now if I could just eat only one- but with nursing a baby I think it will be ok ;) xx
Thanks a ton for pinning! I’m so happy that you enjoyed the brownies. Good luck on the self-control thing (I know I don’t have any…) and thanks for the feedback! ;)
Ahhh, using Whole WHEAT and SPELT does not make this a GLUTEN free recipe as the title Chocolate Zucchini Brownies (100% whole grain, dairy-free)suggests.
We eat only “Paleo”, maybe Almond Flour or Coconut Flour would work?
Thank you for the delicious looking recipe, I’m going to try to alter your wonderful recipe just a bit and see if those of us who have to be absolutely gluten free can enjoy it too
I’m not sure how “100% whole grain” and “dairy-free” suggests gluten-free. A whole grain label has absolutely nothing to do with gluten (although there are gluten-free whole grains like teff and buckwheat). I never mention this being a gluten-free recipe in the post or title at all. About half of the recipes on my blog are 100% whole grain and contain gluten (normally using whole wheat or whole spelt) and the other half are grain-free (using almond and coconut flours). So perhaps that’s where the confusion came from? Or perhaps someone linked to it wrong? I’m kind of stumped! Anyway, I hope you’re able to make a nice grain-free version and if a gluten-free version is okay, try these flourless chocolate chip zucchini oat brownies with certified gluten-free oats. Hope that helps!
I’m so happy I found this recipe on Pintrest. Since I’ve made them my friends have not stopped asking me for the recipe. So easy to make and this was the first time I’ve made brownies from scratch. LOVE them!!!
I’m so happy that you and your friends liked the brownies so much! Who would have thought something full of zucchini would be so good? ;) Thanks a ton for the feedback and the rating!
I used avacodo instead of applesauce and they even more moist and fudgy!!!
Ooh! That sounds amazing. I’m definitely going to try that. :) Thanks so much for the tip and the rating!
It is that lovely time of the month and I just had to have something chocolatey, so I made these delicious brownies. I made some substitutions because I didn’t have everything… Maple granulated sugar instead of coconut sugar, oat flour instead of whole wheat flour, and Hershey’s cocoa powder instead of Dutch-process cocoa powder. SO YUMMY! And I don’t feel like a fatty-boom laddy after eating one, I mean three pieces. LOL! Thanks for sharing :)
Haha. I’m so happy that the brownies could give you a little comfort! ;) Maple granulated sugar sounds amazing! I bet it’s pretty expensive but I’ll look into it, anyway. Thanks for mentioning it! And oat flour?! Thank you for mentioning that! I’ll try that out too and then I can add that as a gluten-free option because people are always asking. I think I like your version better than mine. :D Thanks for your lovely comment and the rating!
I was really excited about this recipe! I substituted coconut oil for applesauce since we didn’t have any at home. Perhaps that really messed with the outcome, but I’m not so sure.
I just pulled these out of the oven, and I am, sadly, disappointed with these brownies.
First of all, if you add a cup of chocolate chips to any recipe (and add more on top), it will taste great. Why bother with the zucchini and whole wheat/ spelt flour at all? The amount of chocolate chips totally negates any real progress in nutrition.
I left out the chocolate chips and the resulting flavor was bland and “earthy” tasting, definitely not like a brownie. Almost like a piece of brown bread, actually.
I would rather just eat 1 cup of chocolate chips from the bag!
Lily
I’m sorry you didn’t like them. I’ve just made it clear in the post that you need the chocolate chips. I do have to disagree with you on the pointlessness of using zucchini and whole grains here. Just because there are a lot of chocolate chips doesn’t mean I need to use all-purpose flour, refined sugar (although sugar is sugar) and butter instead of applesauce. That’s like saying why eat salad if you’re going to use salad dressing? At least in my opinion. :) I’m all about making healthier desserts and not healthy desserts. There will always be some kind of sweetener in my desserts (and therefore never be classified as “healthy”) but I won’t stop making other healthier changes just because of the negative contribution sweeteners (or in this case, chocolate chips) make to the nutritional profile.
Hey Erin,
First of all, I am so sorry to have left a negative post! It might seem silly, but I really have been thinking about it and just wish I had tried the recipe as you suggested and THEN reviewed. So sorry about that.
Now, to the reason I’m posting again: I made them a second time exactly as you directed in the recipe and they were REALLY really good. Also, even though I ate like 10, I didn’t feel gross afterwards at all.
Thanks for a great recipe, and I apologize again for my first review and totally admit it was 100% error! This recipe will be my new go-to from now on :)
Lily
Hi Lily! Thanks a bunch for this comment. I really appreciate that you came back to re-review them after making them with the chocolate chips! I’m also happy that you enjoyed them. Yucky brownies are one of the saddest things ever, right? ;) And so awesome that they’ll be your go-to brownie from now on! Thanks again. :)
Wondering if one could use Quinoa floor rather than the whole wheat or spelt for these zucchini brownies. If so what would the portion amount be
I’m afraid not. :( Quinoa flour doesn’t have the gluten in it to hold these brownies together. If you need them to be gluten-free, you could try a gluten-free baking mix but I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure.
I have a baking question. When you use baking soda as the leavener there is usually something acidic in the recipe, otherwise the leavening agent is usually baking powder. Is the zucchini acidic enough to need baking powder?
Good question! I have to be honest and say that I’m not really sure, even after doing a little research. If you prefer to use baking powder, give it a try. These are incredibly dense brownies so I don’t think it’d end in disaster, even if baking powder was the wrong call.
the cocoa is
Can I use baking stivia or Splenda for a diabetic treat?
I haven’t tried it myself. I’m thinking there might be a Stevia aftertaste but if you’re used to that, then I think it’d be okay. :)
Hi, Erin! Stevia and Splenda by themselves do not sweeten chocolate sufficiently. The brownies would taste very bitter using one of those substitutes. Just piping up because I run a sugar-free blog and have worked with sweeteners quite a bit. ;) Have enjoyed browsing your recipes so much! I’m going to try my hand at a few of the grain free ones, and of course give you credit if I post ’em.
Great job with those photos by the way. So drool-worthy!
Could u use honey instead of sugar? And if so do you need to add more or something else to balance it back out?
Sorry for the slow reply! I use a lot of honey in place of sugar and haven’t found an exact rule. If I were you, I’d try half and half and see what happens. I hope it worked out if you already tried it!
Made these yesterday, and they turned out fantastically!! I’m on a diet before my wedding but needed something sweet and gooey as a treat and they were perfect! Thanks so much for this recipe!! Even better than regular brownies!
Better than regular brownies – woohoo! Thanks for that. ;) So happy that you like the brownies! I hope you have a wonderful wedding and good luck with the diet. :) Thanks so much for the feedback!