
Incredibly moist and fudgy, dark and decadent brownies that are made with NO butter or oil, whole wheat flour, and have a good heaping of zucchini hiding inside that you can’t even taste. Perfect to trick your kids into having a healthy dessert- and grown ups will LOVE these zucchini brownies too.
I like my brownies dark, fudgy and wicked. I didn’t think I’d like them made with whole wheat flour and zucchini. Boy, was I wrong. I had leftover zucchini from this amazing recipe, and I could have gone the typical zucchini fritter route but I did a little google search and stumbled upon this gold mine of a recipe. My daughter can smell a dessert that’s been made healthy from a mile away. It’s actually uncanny how she can tell if I’ve used whole wheat flour or some other trick. This fooled her! And because of that and how incredibly tasty these are, these will become a regular in my house.
The cast of ingredients:
You need grated peeled zucchini. I had leftover cores from the stuffed zucchini recipe I had made a few days before that I had stored in a ziploc bag in the fridge. I just processed them in a food processor until finely grated , but you can just peel and grate whole zucchini.
You also need eggs, vanilla, coconut sugar or regular, baking soda, salt, whole wheat flour (or regular), chocolate chips, cocoa powder, and yogurt. The original recipe calls for applesauce but I didn’t have any on hand and I saw a reviewer had tried using yogurt instead so I did the same. Worked out perfectly.
The original recipe also calls for Dutch processed cocoa powder (usually European brands and darker in color than natural cocoa powder), but I used Hersheys natural cocoa powder and again, turned out great. I wouldn’t skimp on the sugar here, the semi sweet chocolate and cocoa powder combined give a really intense chocolate flavor and you need that 3/4 cup of sugar to balance it out.
The method:
So easy. No mixer required, no creaming, no melting. You basically stir together the wet ingredients (eggs, vanilla, yogurt) then add the coconut sugar, mix and let it sit 5 minutes for sugar to dissolve. In a separate bowl, you mix together your dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder). It’s a good idea to sift our cocoa powder if it has any lumps. You then add wet to dry ingredients, stir until just combined, then fold in grated zucchini and chocolate chips. Don’t over mix so you don’t get tough, cakey brownies. The only thing that might give you any trouble is grating the zucchini which is why using a food processor is a great hack.
The bake:
The oven should be preheated to 180 C or 350 F. Your prepared batter goes in an 8 inch square pan that’s been lightly greased and lined with parchment paper. The original recipe calls for baking 30-35 minutes but I baked this only 20 minutes. You basically bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist sticky crumbs. Not wet goo, nor should the toothpick be dry. The reason I checked earlier than the stated time was that some comments on the original recipe said their brownies were cakey, and I one culprit of cakey brownies is over baking. For me 20 minute was perfect, The zucchini brownies were fudgy and glorious, with slightly cakier more set edge pieces. Allow to cool before slicing, or just dig in warm- no judgement here!

Storing your brownies:
I stored these in an airtight container in the fridge since they have more moisture than regular brownies. Any time I wanted a piece, I’d microwave it for 10 seconds and eat it warm and gooey. They’ll last 2 days tightly wrapped at room temperature or 5 days in the fridge.

Zucchini Brownies
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup coconut sugar (or regular)
- 1/4 cup yogurt (or applesauce for dairy free)
- 1 cup whole wheat flour or regular
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder (natural or dutch process)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2-2 cups peeled grated zucchini (200 g to 300, I used 200) I used the inner part of baby marrow from another recipe
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips plus extra for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 C (350 F). Grease a 8×8 inch baking pan and line with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, mix together eggs, vanilla, coconut sugar, and yogurt or applesauce until well combined. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes so coconut sugar dissolves.
- In a separate bowl mix together flour and cocoa powder (sift the cocoa powder if it is lumpy), baking soda and salt until well combined and no lumps remain.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just combined, then fold in zucchini and chocolate chips.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan, sprinkle extra chocolate chips on top, then bake 20-25 minutes. A toothpick should come out with sticky crumbs on it but not totally wet goo. If you over bake, these will be cakey.
Notes
Nutrition
If you like chocolate, you might be interested in these recipes:
Unbelievably Moist Chocolate Bundt Cake
For more healthy desserts:
Chocolate Avocado Smoothie Bowl

Did you make this? Tag @everylittlecrumb on Instagram or hashtag #everylittlecrumb and I’ll share your images!
Rawan says
This turned out sooooo much better than i expected! Everyone LOVED it and no one could guess it had zucchini 😂
Farah Abumaizar says
So happy you enjoyed the recipe Rawan! Thanks for leaving a comment!
Jacqueline says
These zucchini brownies really do look rich and decadent. Love the idea of the hidden zucchini! Can’t wait to try them!
Farah Abumaizar says
I hope you like them as much as we do!
Milica Vladova says
I could have never guessed these delicious desserts contain zucchinis! Yummm!
Farah Abumaizar says
Thanks Milica! You can’t even taste the zucchini
Annie @ Annie's Noms says
These look soooo rich and fudgy! I can’t believe there’s no butter or oil, they look incredible! This is a great way for kids to get some veg.. oh and me because I need hidden veg too haha!
Farah Abumaizar says
Yes it was so nice having something so chocolatey with zero guilt!! Thanks Annie !
Dannii says
Such a great way to give a treat a little veggie boost.
Farah Abumaizar says
Chocolate conquered all am I right!
Michelle Miller says
Ah I love a good zucchini-based dessert! Such a great trick, isn’t it? Great recipe!!
Farah Abumaizar says
Thanks Michelle! Definitely a great trick 😍