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Summer is here which means you absolutely need a recipe for the Best Zucchini Brownies! Get ready for chocolate zucchini bliss that’s soft, sweet, and topped with a chocolate-y glaze. A new take on my classic brownie recipe with a few minor adjustments, enjoy!
Zucchini Brownies | Yum!
Brownies that have a vegetable inside of them that doesn’t look like they have a vegetable inside of them have never looked so appetizing! I tell ya, everyone and their dog is going to be on their way out to pick up a zucchini just so they can make these Zucchini Brownies tonight. So so good, especially with the pourable frosting. YUM!
Main Ingredients Needed
Gather up these ingredients to make the fudgiest zucchini brownies ever! The exact increments and directions are all listed in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Light Olive Oil – you can also use canola oil or coconut oil for a different type of flavor.
- Dark Chocolate Chips – the bitterness of the dark chocolate helps balance out the sweetness.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – another semi-bitter ingredient. But it helps make the brownies super chocolatey too!
- Granulated Sugar – to make it sweet!
- Eggs – more specifically one egg and one egg yolk. Moisture and structure!
- Vanilla – always a good choice to add in cakes, cookies, and brownies!
- Zucchini – use larger zucchini for drier results and smaller zucchinis for more moisture. Either way, you need to wring out extra moisture.
- Baking Soda – to help the batter rise.
- Salt – to enhance and balance out flavors.
- Flour – for structure and filling!
Chocolate Glaze Ingredients
The cherry on top of these brownies is the chocolate glaze! It perfectly compliments zucchini brownies. Here’s what you need:
- Butter – for flavor and texture.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – it’s a chocolate glaze after all.
- Dark Chocolate Chips – to tie the brownies and glaze together we used the same chocolate flavorings.
- Milk – to thin it out and make it creamy.
- Vanilla – to compliment the chocolate flavoring.
- Powdered Sugar – structure and sweetness for the glaze!
Love Zucchini desserts? Check out these other treats! Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes, Lemon Zucchini Cookies, Zucchini Bread, and Morning Glory Muffins.
Tips and Tricks for The Best Zucchini Brownies
How good do these look? AND! Do you see any green? I don’t! Here are some tips and tricks to make the best zucchini brownies ever.
- Shredding Zucchini. You don’t need to peel your zucchini before you grate it. Also, you can either grate your zucchini normally or on the smaller side. If your kiddos are sensitive to green, go for the smaller kind to sneak those veggies in.
- Squeeze out your Zucchini. Whether you are using smaller or bigger zucchinis you’re going to want to wring out your zucchini well!
- Add-Ins. You can add in other things as well as zucchini. If you want more chocolate, add some chips into the batter. Or some walnuts would be super good with this recipe. Add-ins are a great way to get a little more bite to your brownies.
How to Make Zucchini Brownies
Because this zucchini brownie recipe is baked in a sheet pan it bakes up super quickly. For the full recipe, see the recipe card down below!
Prep
Make the Batter
Bake
Chocolate Glaze
Make this chocolate glaze while the zucchini brownies are baking!
Melt butter, cocoa powder, chocolate chips, and milk together and simmer gently.
Remove from heat, then whisk in vanilla and powdered sugar.
Once brownies are pulled from the oven, pour hot frosting over bars immediately. Spread to smooth, if needed. Cool before cutting into pieces and serving.
How Long Do Zucchini Brownies Last?
When stored in an airtight container these brownies can last for two days. But to make them last a little longer pop them in the refrigerator. This can extend their shelf life by a couple more days.
They also can feed a crowd! Because of their shelf life and capacity to feed lots of people, these zucchini brownies are a great make-ahead recipe! Make a pan or two for parties and get-togethers.
Freezing Zucchini Brownies
Try freezing these zucchini brownies to enjoy them any time! Zucchinis are a summer vegetable and so this recipe is a summer specialty. But you can enjoy these brownies later in the year by preparing ahead of time.
Bake the brownies accordingly and top them with the glaze. After cooling completely, cover in plastic wrap a couple of times. Then top it all off with some aluminum foil. These zucchini brownies stay good for up to three months in the freezer!
More Brownie Recipes to Try!
- Mint Brownies
- Hot Fudge Brownie
- Brownie Bites
- 3-Minute Brownie in a Mug
- Oreo Brownies
- Pumpkin Brownies
- Cheesecake Brownies
Swoon!!
If you have an extra 10 minutes to throw these together, I’d highly recommend it. They’re dark, rich, sweet, fudgy and you can’t even tell the zucchini is there. Perfect for any occasion.
Here’s the printable, friends. Enjoy!!
The Best Zucchini Brownies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup light tasting olive oil or canola oil
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup zucchini grated and wrung out
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all purpose flour
For the Glaze:
- 1/4 cup butter
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 9 1/2"x13" baking pan {1/4 sheet pan size} with parchment paper, lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray, and set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, melt the oil, chocolate chips, and cocoa together over medium-low heat. Remove from heat and stir in sugar, eggs, vanilla, and zucchini. Stir in dry ingredients, then pour into prepared pan. Spread out evenly and bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle. {A few moist crumbs is fine.}
- While brownies are baking, melt butter, cocoa powder, chocolate chips, and milk together and simmer gently 1 minute. Remove from heat, then whisk in vanilla and powdered sugar.
- Once brownies are pulled from the oven, pour hot frosting over bars immediately. Spread to smooth, if needed. Cool 5-10 minutes before cutting into pieces and serving.
[…] This recipe is adapted from Lauren’s Latest. […]
can you use a brownie mix in box and just add the zucchini?
Looks very good, but without nuts it’s just flat cake.
Can you leave the sugar out hubby is diabetic
Omfg!! I’m making these
I think you mean “wrung” out zucchini.
hey! can i use sunflower oil? can’t wait to try this beautiful recipe!!
Hi! Your daughter is simply funny and your brownies look amazing and cannot wait to try them, however, I have a silly question. What does “rung out” zucchini mean?
After it is grated, squeeze out the extra moisture.
Made these brownies today they were wonderful. Thank you for sharing.
I made these this afternoon and I modified the recipe a little. I used coconut oil and also coconut sugar instead of granulated sugar. I also used Gluten Free flour. This recipe is a keeper for sure. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Ana
I made these brownies last month and have been day dreaming about them ever since .. incredible recipe.
I want to make them again but am curious .. I grated and froze the last of my zucchini. I’m thinking if I wring it out once defrosted and it will work in the recipe. Anyone out there make it with perviously frozen zucchini?
I have used frozen zucchini and apples and carrots on multiple occasions. It has never been a problem. 🙂
These were absolutely incredible, truly the best brownie I’ve ever had! I was short on oil, so used all butter. Also, I didn’t have the dark chocolate chips so substituted Ghirardelli bittersweet baking chocolate. Semisweet chips worked fine for the glaze. This will become my new go-to brownie recipe. Quick & easy, but gourmet results!
Simply awesome recipe! I made this about a week ago and they stayed moist until the last brownie was consumed today! I made one change (actually by mistake) and used a 9×9 glass baking pan. The cooking time was longer than noted in the recipes due to this (closer to 25 minutes). Everyone who tried them loved them! I will absolutely make this again.
These turned out great!! I cannot say that about any other brownie that I have tried, lol. I used coconut oil instead of the olive oil. This will be a staple in my kitchen! Thanks for the great recipe!
[…] with flour type. I looked at a lot of recipes for zucchini brownies and landed on a variation of this one from the Lauren’s Latest blog. You can frost or glaze the brownies, but they are so rich all […]
[…] drew inspiration from several recipes I found online including The Best Zucchini Brownies, Chocolate Zucchini Brownies and one at […]
These were quite possibly the best thing EVER!! Especially with the glaze–mmmmmmm!
There are a couple of standard baking techniques missing though that I think make a difference in how they come out. One is melting the chocolate over a double boiler (very important!) And the other is sifting the dry ingredients first or whisking to fully incorporate before adding them to the yummy wet stuff.
But seriously. Amazing. Thank you!
Hey Lauren!
I made these brownies last week and, except for using semisweet instead of dark chocolate and vegetable oil instead of olive/canola, I followed your recipe exactly. The general consensus was that they tasted like fish… Any suggestions on what may have gone wrong?? I’m an experienced baker and generally love zucchini, so I’m sort of at a loss. Thanks in advance for any input!
I made these today. I did use vegetable oil and semisweet chips. Mine did not taste like fish. Don’t know why yours would taste like fish unless your oil was turning rancid?
I’m late to comment here but I’m curious. Were they brownie still warm when eaten? While I wouldn’t say the taste was fishy I did find that there was an odd flavour when I had my first bite of the still warm brownie. I’m not sure if it was because it was warm or because of the seed I some how ended up baking into the brownie. 🙂
Brownies look delicious !!! How do I replace eggs in the recipe?
Oh my goodness, these look and sound amazing!
xx Kelly
Sparkles and Shoes
So, I just made these brownies…..I am certain that I just died and went to chocolate heaven! I have never tasted anything so delicious! Thank you, thank you, thank you for this recipe!
These are amazing! I used coconut oil and gluten free flour. Very chocolatey and a great way too use up zucchini!
My daughter flipped out two days ago when I covered her feet with sand… I couldn’t figure it out, but then she explained, “I don’t want my feet to die.” Oh boy.
Any idea what the nutrition content would be, for those of us who are counting calories?
I checked it for you 🙂
Estimated values per 1 brownie (58 g):
Energy (calories): 246 kcal
Protein: 2.3 g
Fat: 13.43 g
Carbohydrates: 30.13 g
Fiber: 1.7 g
Sugars, total: 21.85 g
Cholesterol: 27 mg
Omega 6 : Omega 3 = 2:1
Many other values you can check on HappyForks.
Each brownie has 246 calories? What size is that?
[…] The Best Zucchini Brownies from www.laurenslatest.com these look AMAZING- really good step-by-step guide and photos. Maybe not so good for my diet :(( […]
I usually end up with more zucchini than I can handle over the summer since it grows like wildfire in my parents garden. This sounds like a delicious break. While I love zucchini, there’s only so much I can take before being overloaded. I can’t wait to try these!
[…] Might give these chocolate zucchini brownies a try this […]
Lauren,
Great way to get veggies into the kids. These look so decadent.
I think your daughter will outgrow this phase. Try not to get bummed about it, she doesn’t want you to die.
Annamaria
[…] on the smaller side. Not to fear though, I’ll be cooking up zucchini fritters, zucchini bread, zucchini brownies, and anything else zucchini you can think of with those monster zucchini! So let me know if you […]
I just made these and oh my WOW! They are amazing and easily some of the best brownies I’ve ever had!!!
All I can say is WOW! Made them this morning to bring to a friends house, not sure they will make it. I substituted coconut oil for the canola oil, no coconut flavor for Robin. Love these!
I love how easy it is to sneak veggies into desserts! These look yummyyyy
This recipe looks great and I will try on first day off. Aren’t there so many wonderful reasons that children are precious gifts from Above? We have to smile and enjoy because it is interesting to watch them grow. Enjoy.
Haha, I’ll promise anything for after my death 🙂 Love these brownies – zucchini does amazing things with chocolate!
Oh my gosh, zucchini brownies are the best! I’ll make these next (If I can get out of my chair (too many “veggies” make for snugger chairs or is it wider hips?)
I figure you get a serving of veggies per brownie, right? So 2-10 a day are good for you. hehehe. Thanks Lauren, keep up the great work!
As far as Brooke goes, well all kids go through it, and most outgrow this stage fairly fast. (We’re still waiting for my brother to out grow it, he’s 50!) It’s actually a compliment, she LOVES everything about you!!!!
I made these today (with coconut oil) and used HALF the sugar! It was plenty sweet. I think I would have not liked them with the amount of sugar in this recipe. Looked at the amount of chocolate chips and thought this should be sweet enough with half the sugar. And it was. Do yourself a favor and try. I do love them. Haven’t made the frosting but will next time (and probably also use less sugar).
ahhhhh, these look SO wonderful…
Totally amazing! I wish I could sneak one right now!
Sold!! These look super dense and rich.
Kids crack me up, that was hilarious to read. These do indeed look like the best, amazing pics too!
These look amazing! Do you think we could sub the canola oil for coconut oil? Can’t wait to make these this week!!
Sure! It’ll have a a nice coconut flavor too!
I have a 10X15 jelly roll pan and a 9X13 cake pan–which do you recommend? I do not have a 1/4 sheet cake pan. (The jelly roll pan is not very deep–when I’ve made Texas sheet cake in it, not able to pour frosting cause it rose too much)
A quarter sheet pan is the same length and width of a 9×13″ cake pan. The cake pan just has higher sides. (The recipe at the bottom of the page mentions that you can use a 9×13″ pan or a quarter sheet pan, but it wasn’t mentioned earlier in the post.) Hope that helps!
Your daughter is hilarious! I love this recipe. Are you going to come up with more that you can sneak in veggies?
I saw these on your IG feed and I knew they must be like the fudgiest brownies ever! I would have never guessed you added zucchini! LOVE it!
droooling over your pictures 🙂
Can we substitute applesauce for the oil in the recipe? These look yummy!
What a good idea!! Did you try it yet?
My grandmother, who always thought she was going to die the very next day, would always hand us grand kids a roll of masking tape when we would visit. “Put your name on what you want”, she would say…we heard it for decades. And she wouldn’t let you leave until you at least claimed one item. It became a running joke to see every item she owned with a piece of masking tape and someone’s name written on it. She lived to be 94 =o)
Lauren, Just pulling bread out of the oven when I saw these, They look Delicious!!
That is hilarious about your daughter although I’m sure she doesn’t really mean it. And I hope it’s not anytime soon! These brownies look amazing and that icing, oh my gosh. NEED THIS! Pinned 🙂
That is slightly morbid, but also slightly hilarious about your daughter!
And these brownies? Yes! I have never tried zucchini in a brownie, but it makes a heck of a good muffin. And with chocolate? Perfect! Pinned!