Zucchini Brownies – A Couple Cooks

This zucchini brownies recipe comes out ultra moist with deep chocolaty flavor! Bookmark this one for a deliciously simple treat.

What do you make when you’ve made all the zucchini bread and zucchini muffins? Zucchini brownies, of course! Stop what you’re doing and gather the ingredients for this recipe that will have your friends and family running for another piece. The brownies come out ultra moist and gooey, with a deep, rich chocolaty flavor. They’re simple to make and you won’t believe the amazing flavor and texture!

Ingredients in this zucchini brownies recipe

The secret to rich and moist brownies? Zucchini! Turns out, adding shredded zucchini to brownies makes for an incredibly moist, gooey texture (which is what we prefer in a good brownie). It also lets you get away with not using eggs, which makes this zucchini brownies recipe accidentally vegan! Here are the ingredients in this recipe:

• Granulated sugar
• Neutral oil
• Zucchini
• Vanilla extract
• Cocoa powder
• Dutch process cocoa powder
• Cornstarch
• All-purpose flour
• Baking soda
• Kosher salt
• Chocolate chips

The flavor key: Dutch process cocoa powder

This zucchini brownies recipe uses a combination of two types of cocoa powder to achieve the deep, dark chocolaty flavor. The key? Dutch process (dark) cocoa powder, a special type of cocoa powder is treated with an alkali to make it pH neutral. This gives it a darker color and milder flavor. It makes the flavor ultra chocolaty, with deep rich notes instead of the lighter fruity notes that you’ll get with regular cocoa powder.

Tips for zucchini brownies

Zucchini brownies are as straightforward as a standard brownies recipe! There are just a few things to note for success:

• Use a metal pan for baking. This makes for the most consistent bake and a better rise than a glass pan.
• Finely grate the zucchini. This allows this green vegetable to meld seamlessly into the texture of the brownies.
• Do not drain the zucchini! This recipe is optimized for undrained zucchini, using the moisture in this vegetable (which is 94% water!).

Some notes on cooling and cutting

It’s important for recipes like brownies, muffins and quick breads to cool completely. This sets the texture and allows them to hold together better. The flavor is also generally better at room temperature. These zucchini brownies don’t hold together if they are very warm, so make sure to let them cool completely.

For best results, cool for 1 hour in the pan, then remove the brownies from the pan with the foil and allow to cool on a baking rack for another 1 hour until cooled.

To get clean slices, but through the brownies once they are cooled and clean off the knife after each cut.

Brownie variations

If you love non-standard brownies, you’ll love these zucchini brownies! A few other variations you’ll love:

Leftover storage info

These zucchini brownies hold up well over time! Store them refrigerated for up to 1 week. You can also store at room temperature, but they are so gooey that refrigeration is best: plus, they’ll last longer.

More zucchini bread and muffins

There are so many ways to mix up zucchini bread! This chocolate zucchini bread is our absolute favorite, but a close second is lemon zucchini bread: it’s zingy and bright! It’s the exact opposite of this bread but nearly as satisfying. Here are a few more zucchini recipes: