#zucchini

These brownies are sooo good!  They are soft with a fudge like texture.  You cannot taste the zucchini, but it keeps them moist allowing you to use a little less fat than in typical brownie recipes.  I can assure you these will absolutely fill your chocolate craving!

Prep Time 30 Minutes
Cook Time 25-30 Minutes
Total Time 60 Minutes
Servings 9 Brownies

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup gluten-free all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup oat flour (make sure it is gluten-free if needed)
• 1/3 cup buckwheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder (not dutch processed), sifted
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup grated zucchini, skin on
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) coconut oil, melted and cooled
• 1 egg (at room temperature)
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips (I used mini)

Chocolate Glaze

• 1/4 chocolate of choice chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon soft coconut oilInstructions

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grate zucchini on a box grater until you have a generous 1 cup of grated zucchini.  Set in a strainer for 30-60 minutes and allow to drain.
3. Melt 2 tablespoons butter and 4 tablespoons coconut oil in a microwave safe container, or in saucepan on stove top. Set aside to cool.
4. Combine flours, salt and baking powder in a medium size bowl.  Sift in cocoa powder with a fine mesh strainer or sifter.  Set aside
5. In a large bowl whisk together the melted a cooled butter and coconut oil, egg, honey and vanilla.
6. Retrieve your strainer with the grated zucchini.  Push the zucchini up against the sides/bottom of strainer with a wooden spoon or spatula to release excess water.  DO NOT put in a dish towel and completely ring out the water.  You want the zucchini damp (not too wet, but not bone dry).
7. Stir zucchini into the bowl with wet ingredients.
8. Add dry ingredients to bowl of wet ingredients. Fold the wet and dry ingredients together with a spatula until combined.  Stir in 1/3 cup chocolate chips.
9. Prepare your 8×8 metal or glass baking pan by oiling the bottom and edges.  Next cover with a strip of parchment almost as wide as pan.  Make the strip long enough to give you overhang.  This will help you lift your brownies out easily when cooled.
10. Add your batter and smooth out with spatula until evenly distributed in pan.
11. Place into a preheat oven and bake for approximately 20  minutes.  Check on them at this point. I always check anything I bake a few minutes before the baking time is over to ensure it is not over baked.  The toothpick should come out clean or with a few dried crumbs.  I baked mine for 25 minutes.   They could take up to 30 minutes depending on your oven.

Recipe Notes

•If you do not follow a gluten free diet you can absolutely replace the flour above with regular all-purpose flour, white whole wheat flour,  or whole wheat pastry flour.  Whole wheat pastry flour gives baked goods a wonderful soft and fluffy texture.   Also if you are gluten free, feel free to use only gluten-free all purpose for all the flour above.  By no means do you have to go out and buy all three flours.  I prefer the texture from the three combined. Buckwheat flour is very light and oat flour adds a nice texture and taste to the brownies.  You can make your own oat flour by processing old fashioned oats in the food processor for a few minutes.
•You can also replace some of the oil and butter with applesauce or pumpkin.  I was a little short on coconut oil once when I made these and replaced a tablespoon with pumpkin – turned out great!  You can slightly taste the pumpkin though – FYI.
•Honey can be replaced with maple syrup.