Happy Monday. Just kidding. Who actually likes Mondays?
Not me. Not ever.
To be honest, I kind of need a break. I’ve been working a ridiculous amount lately and I feel as though I need some down time. Since I work a full time job outside of this blog, I really only have the time to create recipes on the weekends. That translates into me working all the time. From Saturday morning to Sunday evening you can find me at Ambitious Kitchen HQ creating absurd messes that I never want to clean up.
FREE Zucchini Recipe E-Book
Sign up below and get a FREE downloadable, printable e-book with my best zucchini recipes (sweet and savory!)
Okay I’ll stop complaining now; thanks for hearing me out. Whatever the case, chocolate is necessary today.
Chocolate with a dose of health.
Meet the Flourless Chocolate Chip Zucchini Oat Brownies.
So increds. So amazing. Words cannot describe this magic.
Ugh I always say that, don’t I?
Okay but really… can you believe that 1 brownie has ONLY 86 calories and 6g of sugar? YES, it’s true.
These are made with peanut butter, honey, applesauce, and zucchini, and guess what? The only thing you taste is chocolate and a slight chewy texture from the oats. I’m quite impressed with myself.
Oh, oh, oh! These are totally gluten free; and vegan if you swap maple syrup for honey and use vegan chocolate chips.
Gotta run! xoxo
More recipes to try:
One-Bowl Fudgy Pumpkin Paleo Brownies
Grain Free Raspberry Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Zucchini Brownies
Vegan & Gluten Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Brownies
Healthy Pumpkin Zucchini Chocolate Chip Bread
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Flourless Chocolate Chip Zucchini Oat Brownies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup all natural unsalted peanut butter
- 1/4 cup honey or agave nectar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened natural applesauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3/4 cup gluten free oats
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (vegan if desired), divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 8x11 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- Place oats in blender or food processor and process until finely ground. Don't worry, it doesn't need to be perfect but it should take a few minutes. Set aside.
- In a large bowl of electric mixer, cream together peanut butter, applesauce, honey and vanilla until smooth. Add in zucchini, cocoa powder, ground oats, baking soda, and salt; mix until well combined. Gently fold in 1/4 cup of chocolate chips.
- Pour batter into prepared baking pan and sprinkle remaining chocolate chips over the top. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until tooth pick inserted into middle comes out almost clean.
- Cool brownies completely on wire rack then cut into 20 squares. Enjoy!
Can you use almond butter instead of peanut butter?
Way too wet. Likely needed to squeeze excess moisture out of the zucchini before adding.
Try these zucchini brownies next – they’re a bit more updated!
Everything is so nicely described that really helped me. I am looking forward for more of such delicious recipes in future too.
I enjoyed these as “healthy brownies,” but not something I would necessarily make again. I felt like all the flavors stood out independently and didn’t really blend together for some reason – the peanut butter, the honey, etc. But thank you for another low-calorie option! 🙂
Ok, I take it back. I took them to Bible study and everyone LOVED them and asked for the recipe! I need to learn to wait until the next day to rate recipes, as they often seem better the next day. And also, I think I’ve just been spoiled by all your delicious recipes and now I’m getting too picky haha,
Haha I’m so glad you ended up enjoying them!! Brownies can taste different after sitting/chilling so no worries 🙂 Thanks so much for your feedback!
DO YOU DRAIN THE ZUCCHINI BEFORE ADDING IT OR WILL IT MAKE THE BROWNIES TOO DRY?
Absolutely delicious! I make these whenever I need a seriously chocolatey, fudgy brownie, and they never disappoint. I can never find applesauce in our grocery store so I use a large, ripe banana instead, and a bit less honey, but it turns out great. So tasty with fresh fruit, whipped cream, ice cream, or just by itself. Definitely a favourite 🙂
such a goodie!!
I felt like I needed to say that I’ve been making this recipe for years and these are THE BEST brownies out there!!! Thank you so much for your minimal-ingredient, less-processed recipes! <3333
That’s amazing!! I’m so glad these are a go-to 🙂 Happy baking!
Just made these, they are great. Super moist, a little fudgy, tender and flavorful.
This sounds amazing! I love your zucchini recipes monique. 1 question, does the water of the zucchini in this recipe need to be squeezed out? Would it be 1.5 cups after or before squeezing the water?
Thanks!
It’s before, and yes you should squeeze it of excess water.
Awesome made with almond butter, whole wheat flour and raw cacao powder, baked for ~28 minutes in mini-muffin tin. Made about 25 good sized minis. This recipe is a keeper, but the raw cacao was too strong and required more honey, so I’ll make some adjustments next time, and there will be a next time!
Glad you hear that you are going to try them again. Yes, raw cacao is powerful!
Those are magical indeed! Tried them this weekend, I just CAN’T stop eating them!
Really great texture, and taste. Thanks!
Loved how easy this recipe was! Not hVing to make a trip to health food store for obscure ingredients is a major plus! Next time I think I’d add a tad more honey, they weren’t sweet enough for me and ended up throwing some icing on which made them a little more ‘guilt’ than I was hoping for;)
Can anyone tell me what kind of zucchini you used? Green or yellow or does it not matter? Thanks
I used green! 🙂
excellent recipe. i used 3/4 cup oat bran and they came out great. took about 35 min in my oven.
Well I have two minutes left of them baking and realized…I forgot to put the oats in. We’ll see what happens! They look good and smell good anyway.
I'm making these for a 2nd time per my husband's request too! These are amazing 🙂
These are phenomenal! they’re also great frozen – who knew?
Any ideas what to add in if you cant use peanut butter as I have an allergy to peanuts.
what do you think would best be substituted for the oats? (some coeliacs react to oats even when processed on gluten free machinery – I’m one of them)
These brownies are very tasty! I have made them with both dark chocolate and mini semi-sweet chocolate chips(non-vegan). I bake them in an 11 x 7 pan for 27 minutes and they come out fudgy and perfect. I love how low sugar these which contributes to their excellent dark chocolate taste and texture. 🙂
Made these exactly as recipe states and they are awesome. Made twice now and are my husbands favorite! Thanks so much!
These look amazing! I was thinking of making them for Passover… Do you think it could go without the oats? Or is it possible to use potato starch or something? Thanks!!
I don’t think so! Potato flour maybe? I’m not sure!
i made these and they were DELICIOUS! I omitted the chocolate chips, added some chopped dates, and also added an egg as someone suggested, and they were moist and fluffy. The zucchini wasn’t obvious at ALL! I’m so happy 🙂 def a repeat!
I tried to make these last night I found the exact same recipe somewhere and saved it . Only difference is butter instead of peanut butter. It didn’t set . Can you suggest where I might have gone wrong? I left it for an hour