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Enjoy your dessert with veggies too and make these Healthy Zucchini Brownies! They are rich and fudgy, but made without any oil, butter, eggs, or flour.
These healthy zucchini brownies with cocoa powder are great for a variety of lifestyles and diets, and they contain 6 grams of protein and 4 grams of fiber in each brownie.
They are completely vegan and rely on almond butter, applesauce, and maple syrup to sweeten and bind the brownies together. You can freeze them for months, so you always have dessert on hand when a chocolate craving strikes.
If you like baking with zucchini and recipes with zucchini, you will love zucchini chocolate chip cookies and zucchini apple spice muffins!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Packed with Protein and Fiber: Not only are these low-calorie zucchini brownies bursting with chocolate flavor, but they also contain 6 grams of protein and 4 grams of fiber.
- Low Calorie: These brownies with shredded zucchini are under 160 calories each making them a low-calorie dessert.
- Naturally Vegan, Dairy-Free, and Gluten-Free: These fantastic brownies are not only gluten-free and dairy-free, but they are also vegan!
- Same Great Brownie Taste You Love: Vegan brownies with protein and fiber couldn’t possibly taste fudgy and rich, but these do! They are the perfect healthy dessert.
Table of Contents
Ingredients
- Zucchini: Whether you’ve grown an excess of zucchini in your garden or just have some extra from the store, this is the best way to use it up and get more veggies in your dessert.
- Almond Butter: Give your brownies rich flavor, a fudgy texture, and protein by using almond butter in the batter.
- Maple Syrup: Sweeten your brownies naturally with a bit of maple syrup. Honey can’t be a substitute if you want the recipe to remain vegan.
- Cocoa Powder: Rich, unsweetened cocoa powder makes these brownies chocolatey and delicious.
- Espresso Powder: Enhance the chocolatey flavor of the brownies with a little bit of espresso powder mixed into the batter.
- Rolled Oats: Blend oats until they reach a flour-like consistency to mix into the batter. This acts as a binder and absorbs excess moisture.
See the recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts, nutritional information, and detailed instructions.
Variations & Dietary Modifications
- Make Them Nut-Free: If you need your brownies to be nut-free, you can use sunflower butter instead of nut butter. It does turn green when combined with baking soda, but the cocoa powder in the brownies makes it less noticeable.
- Make Them Gluten-Free: Use gluten-free oats to easily make these brownies with zucchini a gluten free treat.
- Skip the Espresso: Want brownies for dessert, but not caffeine? You can skip the espresso powder, though the flavor won’t be as rich. You could also try a decaf espresso powder instead!
- Add Some Mix-Ins: Stir some chocolate chips, chopped walnuts or pecans, or dried berries into the batter for a little extra crunch or flavor.
How to Make Healthy Zucchini Brownies
These healthy flourless zucchini brownies are the perfect dessert when you want veggies and chocolate. Preheat your oven to 350°F and grease an 8×8 baking pan with cooking spray and line it with parchment paper.
- Step 1: Blend the Oats. Place the gluten-free oats in a food processor or high-speed blender and process them until they reach a flour-like consistency.
- Step 2: Combine Wet Ingredients. Combine the almond butter, applesauce, maple syrup, and vanilla in a large bowl until it’s smooth.
- Step 3: Mix in the Remaining Ingredients. Mix in the shredded zucchini, ground oats, baking soda, espresso powder, and salt. Stir until they are well combined.
- Step 4: Bake the Brownies. Pour the brownie batter into the prepared baking pan. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of almond butter over the batter and use a toothpick to swirl it into the top. Bake the brownies for 25-30 minutes at 350°F, or until a toothpick can be inserted into the center of the brownies and be removed clean. Let the brownies cool for a full 30 minutes before slicing them into 12 pieces.
Expert Tips
- Cool Fully Before Slicing: Keep the brownies from falling apart by allowing them to cool fully for 30-60 minutes. Warm a knife in hot water, dry it, and use the warm knife to cleanly cut the brownies.
- Squeeze Out Excess Moisture: Zucchini can contain a lot of excess water after it’s shredded. Use paper towels or a warm kitchen towel to gently squeeze out excess moisture.
- Let Them Cool Overnight: The longer these low calorie zucchini brownies cool and rest, the fudgier they become. If you like very fudgey brownies, let them rest overnight.
- Storage Directions: Keep leftover brownies in an airtight container at room temperature for 4 days, or in the refrigerator for a week. You can also freeze the brownies individually for about 3-4 months. Thaw frozen brownies in the refrigerator for 24 hours before enjoying them.
Serving Suggestions
These healthy chocolate zucchini brownies make the perfect dessert after a delicious meal or as an afternoon pick-me-up. They are full of rich, chocolatey flavor and veggies without any dairy or gluten. These are the perfect dessert for a variety of lifestyles and diets.
- I love a rich, chocolate dessert after an Italian dinner. Use more of your excess zucchini and make crockpot chicken cacciatore for dinner before you slice into your brownies.
- Taco zucchini boats are an excellent low-carb lunch that you can enjoy before an afternoon brownie.
- Chocolate and coffee pair perfectly together. Have a mocha protein shake with a brownie to fuel your afternoon after a workout.
Healthy Zucchini Brownies Recipe FAQs
No, since the zucchini is shredded, you do not need to peel it before adding it to the batter. There are loads of nutrients in the skin as well.
If your low-calorie zucchini brownies are dry, they were most likely overbaked, or there was too much blended oats in the batter. Measure the blended oats using the spoon and fill technique over scooping. It’s important to measure flours correctly when baking.
These zucchini brownies have a lot of moist ingredients, like applesauce, nut-butter, and maple syrup, so you may notice the center takes longer to bake. Let the undercooked brownies bake for another 2-3 minutes until a toothpick can be inserted and removed. The toothpick can have a few moist crumbs on it, but no batter.
More Healthy Chocolate Dessert Recipes
Desserts
Healthy Greek Yogurt Brownies
Desserts
Chocolate Chickpea Brownies
Gluten Free
Raspberry Cacao Brownies
Desserts
Chocolate Avocado Brownies
If you tried this Zucchini Brownie recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you go in the 📝 comments below.
Healthy Zucchini Brownies
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups Zucchini, ~2 small zucchini shredded
- ½ cup Almond Butter, creamy and unsweetened or peanut butter
- ⅓ cup Maple Syrup
- ½ cup Unsweetened Applesauce
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ½ cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons Espresso Powder
- ¾ cup Rolled Oats, or gluten free rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 2 tablespoons Almond Butter , for swirl or peanut butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F and prepare an 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper.
- Place gluten free oats in food processor or high-speed blender and process until ground.
- In a large bowl, mix together almond butter, applesauce, maple syrup and vanilla until smooth.
- Next add zucchini, cocoa powder, ground oats, baking soda, espresso powder and salt and mix ingredients together until well combined.
- Pour batter into the prepared baking pan. With a toothpick swirl in the 2 tbsp of almond butter into the batter.
- Bake 25-30 minutes until a toothpick can be inserted into middle of the brownies and comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan 30 minutes prior to slicing into 12 brownies and devouring!
Notes
- Allow the brownies to cool completely before slicing them with a warm knife.
- Squeeze the excess moisture from the zucchini to avoid watery brownies.
- Let the brownies set overnight to develop a more fudgy texture.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I just made these brownies & they were the best i’ve ever had. I used Justin’s vanilla almond butter in the recipe & their hazelnut butter on top, for the swirl. I couldn’t find espresso powder at my grocery store, so i subbed in instant coffee & used all organic, high quality ingredients for the rest. Please keep these yummy, healthy desserts coming! I recently started following ur blog & i love it. Thank u!!!
Oh so glad you liked them! You can get the espresso powder at Amazon. Link is in the post. It’s worth buying.
So cool! We may be moving to a house with a yard soon and I’m REALLY excited just to be able to grow herbs. Zucchini is even better!
Hopefully you will have better luck than I am!
Careful with what you’re wishing for here ;). By the end of the season you might very well not want to see any more zucchini for a while. Read: we have them in our garden and they grow at an insane speed. Either way, these brownies look amazing.
Haha! There’s good and bad with everything, right?
That’s so awesome you’re growing your own zucchini! I have a small patio garden too and it is so rewarding to grow your own food, even if it’s just a little bit.
These brownies look amazing! I love sneaking greens into my chocolate. 🙂
I’m trying! So far…things aren’t looking so good. My plants are looking sad. I sure hope they come back to life.
Zucchini plants are the best for gardens – they grow so well! I like to make a chocolate zucchini cake, so I bet these brownies are equally delicious…and way better for me! 🙂
Oh yum! I’ve put zucchini in a lot of things but never a cake I bet it’s really good.
Zucchini is great but it can take over your garden leaving you with more baseball bat sized zucchini then you will ever know what to do with! These brownies look soooo good, almost like fudge. You can’t go wrong with adding espresso either!
That’s exactly what I want! I eat a ton of zucchini.
My mom grows zucchini… I can’t keep anything alive either. I love that you used espresso powder in the brownies! yum!
Espresso powder is the best for baking!
My neighbor across the street has a zucchini garden and there is an insane amount of huge zucchini over there! I was given some once and barely scratched the surface and had to throw many out. I should’ve shredded and froze but it was too late!
I’m jealous of your neighbor! I have one zucchini plant and it’s not looking so good.
All of my favorite things! No, I can’t grow anything, can’t even keep herbs alive. My mom just got me a mini cactus for Easter! Haha! It came with a tag that said, “I thrive on neglect”!
Now that is funny!
I too have a black thumb. We are going to try again in the new place, which has a balcony. I can tell you right now that nothing will make it..
Some of my plants are already dying. 🙁 Hope you have better luck!