Low Fat Zucchini Brownies

So, this is recipe #1 using zucchinis. I hope you guys like zucchinis because we have SO many I have to figure out how to use them! I saw an interesting recipe for zucchini brownies so I thought I’d give it a try. I wasn’t really sure what to think about zucchini brownies, but I’ve tried black bean brownies and they were awesome and zucchini is in some sweet breads and muffins..so it could work?

Anyway, this recipe seemed a bit risky not only because of the zucchini, but because it was low in sugar and didn’t use any oil or eggs. That being said, it’s really not too bad for you…but it should be edible…I guess that’s important.

Here’s the original recipe with a couple tweaks I made:

Zucchini Brownies (original recipe here)

• 1/2 cup applesauce– I used unsweetened
• 2 small bananas, mashed. I have a TON of overripe bananas in the freezer so this helps me clean it out!
• 1 cup sugar– the original recipe called for 1 1/2 cups and I thought about using half Splenda or Stevia but chickened out. I just reduced the overall sugar.
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups finely shredded zucchini
• 2 cups flour– I used 1 cup all purpose and 1 cup whole wheat

The hardest part was grating the zucchini (which wasn’t hard at all). I grated with a cheese grater but maybe a food processor would be easier?

So, in order to get 2 cups of zucchini, I used 1 1/2 zucchinis. I’ve made bread before and 1 zucchini yielded 2 cups so it’s hard to tell how many actual zucchinis you’ll need. Probably somewhere between 1 and 2.

I greased and floured a 9×13 inch baking pan and cooked the brownies for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

These turned out really yummy. The texture isn’t quite the same as a standard brownie, it’s more like a cake or bread (which is fine by me). I almost wish I threw some chocolate chips in them just to give them a little more oomph AKA make them less healthy :). But they taste great and are a great lower calorie dessert option..or breakfast (my husband had them for breakfast 🙂 ).

So far, zucchini recipe #1 was a success!!

 

Have you used zucchini in dessert recipes before?