These Vegan Zucchini Brownies have the best taste and texture, you’d never know they’re full of vegetables!
I used to be as skeptical as the next girl about veggies in my baked goods.
The church picnic is serving carrot cake? That’s not cake. The neighbor brought over freshly baked zucchini bread? I see those green flecks in there, don’t be trying to trick me into eating your salad.
But guys. I’m converted. Not only can veggies be hidden inside baked goods, but they can also be really GOOD. Like, OMG these brownies I can’t stop eating them and I don’t know what’s happening in my life right now.
What if I’ve been wrong about other things? What if I’m actually really good at singing and The Bachelor is the best show ever?? Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
I shared a recipe for zucchini brownies a couple of years ago, at which time I used a 9×13 pan. Today I’m recommending an 8×8 pan. Which is totally dumb because I hate it when a brownie recipe calls for an 8×8 pan because technically you get fewer brownies.
But. We’re expanding our horizons here. We’re putting zucchini in dessert and baking it up TALL in this little 8×8 pan. That means more fudgy goodness in every somewhat-guiltless bite. If you really want to make a skinny little brownie, head to the original post to see how to pull that off.
This is what your first step should look like. The sugar, oil, and flour mix together to look like wet sand.
After adding the rest of the ingredients, if the batter still looks a dry, crumbly, or like cookie dough (pictured below), you’ll want to add a little more water. I add one tablespoon at a time and mix by hand until a smooth, wet batter is formed.
You can still bake the brownies if the batter is dry, the outcome will just be a little different (although still delicious!). The difference comes from how much water is in your zucchini/how much water you squeeze out. It’s not a perfect science, but it is easily corrected by just adding a little more water.
These brownies just so happen to be vegan. Of course if this is really important to you you’ll want to make sure the sugar you’re using is vegan (believe it or not, not all of it is, here is an affiliate link to my choice for vegan sugar).
And if you’re not vegan? Don’t let the label deter you. These will be the fudgiest most indulgent brownies you’ve ever eaten.
I actually prefer them as they age. That makes them sound moldy. What I mean is, they get even better on day two.
Stick some in the freezer and prepare to have your mind blown. Have I mentioned how chocolatey awesome awesome these vegan brownies are? Awesome.
Recipe
Vegan Zucchini Brownies
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- ½ cup canola oil
- 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 cups shredded zucchini, lightly drained of excess moisture
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ¾ cup vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Coat a 8×8 baking dish with cooking spray.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine sugar, oil, and flour until the mixture resembles wet sand. Turn the mixer to low and add cocoa, zucchini, vanilla, salt, and baking soda. Mix until well combined. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the chocolate chips.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs clinging.
- Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack. Cut into squares and serve.
Christie - Food Done Light says
Love that you added zucchini to brownies. What a great way to make them a little healthier.
Ginny McMeans says
Perfection at it’s finest! I love this recipe!
Sherri@The Well Floured Kitchen says
Oh wow- these look amazing and so thick and fudgy! I would eat the whole pan. Just to make sure I get my veggie serving in of course 🙂 Pinned!
Emily {Rainbow Delicious} says
I’m also really skeptical of sneaking veggies in baked goods but I think I might actually try these too… they look amazing (plus my zucchini plant is producing extremely well)
Neen says
This recipe sounds great. I’ve been on a zucchini
bread kick lately, but the brownies look even yummier.
Can’t wait to try the recipe.
Allison Page says
Mmmm something fabulous to do with my overabundance of zucchini! These look mouthwatering.
Lindsay Moe says
Thank you!
Marly says
Love this recipe! And those photographs are amazing…pinned!
Lindsay Moe says
Thanks Marly!
Elyse says
I’m confused, I followed all instructions and it isn’t a batter like consistency? Is my zuchini too dry or is it missing a wet ingredient?
Lindsay Moe says
It is a thick batter, but it’s possible that the brand of wheat flour you used absorbs more water than mine. Also make sure you’re not squeezing all the water out of your zucchini, just a quick squeeze with your hands will do. Did you bake them up anyways? I’d be curious to know if they still turned out.
Caitlin & Andy 4 lyfe says
We had the same concern when following this recipe – the “batter” seemed super dry. I hypothesized that it was to do with the ripeness of the zucchini and that more moisture was going to come out while it baked (there was really no moisture to remove after shredding)… so we just baked it as is (although it was tempting to add some more liquid). They turned out great! These brownies were an epic WIN! 😀
Pooja Nahar says
This recipe was amazing! It was a hit in my family. We were never able to make brownies good without egg and now we have a goto recipe. My sister told me there was zucchini and i was so annoyed. Im sitting here eating this as i write this, I cannot even taste the zucchini
Lindsay Moe says
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Lisa says
My daughter’s 4th birthday is coming up and I need to make a dessert she can bring into her preschool class. Catch is it has to be gluten-, dairy-, nut- and egg-free. We are NOT vegan … so this is a whole new territory to me. Can I make these and cook in tiny muffin pans, so they’re all individual, or will it not turn out as well?
Lindsay Moe says
I think they would be great, but you would need to adjust the baking time quite a bit. Just keep an eye on them and take them out when they’re set but not firm. Also please note that these are NOT gluten-free. I have not tested them with gluten free flour, but I am confident that a high quality gluten free flour would substitute just fine here.
Steph C. says
Seriously amazing! Thank you so much for this recipe. I followed the directions exactly and it turned out perfect. I’m taking them to my in-laws Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.
Lindsay Moe says
Yay! I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday.
Karla says
Hello! I’m dying to try this recipe, I just have one question, how many servings come out? Thank you for this delicious post! 🙂
Lindsay Moe says
It depends on the size of pan you use. It calls for an 8×8 here which I would consider 9 very generous portions, but you could also make it in a 9×13 pan (adjusting the baking time) and you could easily get 12-15 smaller portions.
Deborah Mathieu says
I like baking this in 2 small 8X8″ pans.
Put one in the freezer and alway have a “go to” dessert on the ready.
Serve with Kailua & Ice Cream
bethany says
Just made these and they were excellent!! Mine came out like a moist cake so I probably won’t drain the zuccini next time but I haven’t had this good of a dessert since I went vegan.
Cheryl Pugh says
Can I substitute the sugar for honey? If so, do you know how much honey to use in place of the sugar?
Lindsay Moe says
I have not tried replacing the sugar with honey, so I can’t say how much to use or how it would turn out. If you give it a try let me know how it is!
Jaime says
My batter was also pretty thick. I undercooked by about 15 min. Glad I did. I think next time I will half the flour and double the cocoa.
Miranda Wade says
I had the same experience & the resulting brownies were inedible. The right consistency & just like the photos but too little cocoa, too much flour.
Anita says
We’ve made this twice. I missed the second cup of (wheat) flour. The first time we replaced the canola with coconut oil-AMAZING! (Even better the second day.) This time we left out the second cup of flour, again. And replaced the canola oil with apple sauce. Just waiting for them to come out of the oven! Thanks for sharing!!!
Angela says
I only had one cup of zucchini, so I added it to the batter without squeezing out any liquid. And I baked it just under 40 minutes. Still worked! Super yum. Next time, I’ll use less sugar. It was a bit too sweet for me, but the texture was great 🙂
Stephanie says
I’m not usually an advocate of hiding veggies, but the zucchini was virtually invisible. Plus, if I can up the veggie count, I’m all for it. Just for a data point, I shredded the zucchini super fine, used coconut oil, reduced the sugar by 1/3 cup and used a 9×13 pan, and my kids asked for seconds and thirds.
MJ says
My husband, who has been very unimpressed by my prior vegan brownie attempts, couldn’t stop the words from jumping out of his mouth after the first bite: “WOW… these are GREAT!” I prepared the recipe as stated except I baked it in a 9″x9″ pan for about 40 mins. A little overdone but we love crusty edges! This is our new go-to recipe when we want some chocolate chewy goodness. Thank you sooo much!
Renee says
Do you have the nutrition information on these brownies?
M says
I have made these twice- they are great! The first time I used olive oil, because I didn’t have canola oil—it definitely didn’t taste as good. Today I made it with canola oil and it was great! This is a super easy, delicious recipe- I have found both times that even with light draining of the zucchini, I end up having to add a little water (about 1/8 cup) to the batter just to make thin enough to pour into the baking pan, so next time I won’t drain the zucchini at all and see what happens. Thanks! GREAT recipe!!
Ellen says
Oh my goodness, were these good! I have a ton a summer squash from my garden, so I was looking for something to do with it besides zucchini bread or fritters. I made a few modifications to the recipe:
Coconut oil instead of canola. I didn’t bother to melt it. The result was a dry batter, but I figured it would take care of itself. The outcome was incredible. The inside was super gooey, and the outside was kind of sugary-crusty-crunchy. Amazing!
I used a little extra cocoa powder. I might try using less sugar next time as others mentioned.
I used 3 cups of squash because, well, I had so much!
Best brownies ever. My husband and I couldn’t stop saying how incredible they were. Thanks for a great recipe!
Cassidy says
I was pretty sceptical of this in the beginning but these are fantastic! The batter had more of a cookie dough like consistency which made me think I was doing something wrong but they turned out AMAZING! Extremely delicious! Definitely prefer these over regular brownies!
Kelly says
Can’t wait to try these. I’ve been searching for an allergy-friendly brownie and have yet to find a good one, plus I have a huge amount of zucchini. Can’t wait, thanks for recipe!
Sarah says
Making these AGAIN because they are my go to treat when I want chocolate/ sweets/ cake. You should probably repost the recipe so more people find it. I have never had it not turn out. When I squeeze a little too little from my zucchini, I get epic fudgy brownies, when I squeeze a little too much I get the best chocolate cake I have ever had. And you are so right, they do get better on day 2.
Thanks for having an amazing blog that I practically live on when meal planning.
Sarah says
Also, quick question. The blog portion says to use a 9×13 pan and the recipe still says 8×8 for the pan. I made them in the 9×13 pan because I can’t remember what I did the other times I made it and I figured your blog portion was pretty adamant about the importance of having more brownies, but I just want to double check. I will be monitoring this batch closely.
Lindsay Moe says
First of all, YOU ARE SO KIND. Sorry for the confusion on the pan size, I will try to update the post text to clarify. The recipe itself does call for an 8×8 pan, but either will work, you would just need to adjust the baking time. I’m glad you enjoy this recipe, it is a real winner!
Tanya says
I just followed your recipe exactly and the batter stayed dry and crumbly. Very odd :/ So I added some more oil and put in some eggs. Hopefully it turns out. What happened?
Two cups of flour and only half a cup of oil seems like a ratio that woudn’t work?
Lindsay Moe says
I’m sorry that happened. It is a common problem when baking with zucchini because some zucchinis hold more water than others, and it actually just happened to me again the other day when I made this recipe. This is a result of squeezing too much water out of the zucchini. As stated in the recipe notes, the crumbly batter could be baked as-is and turn out differently but still good. The alternative would be to add water a few tablespoons at a time until a wet batter is achieved. Your idea of oil and eggs sounds pretty good, and I’d love to know if it turns out or not!
Tanya says
Thanks for the reply. Yeah that makes sense. They actually turned out really well! I think I added maybe 1/4 cup coconut oil and 4 eggs. Delicious 🙂
Tora says
Made these today, they turned out a bit too cakey for my personal liking, but I think if I didn’t squeeze the zucchinis so much (as noted several times in the comments here) the result would be more fudgy. That said – the flavour is delicious, I added some instant coffee as well, because I love the depth it gives in brownies. Overall I’d say this is a keeper, I will try experimenting with it again!
Lindsay Moe says
Yum on the coffee, I’m glad you enjoyed them!
R bart says
These turned out terribly. Burned, oily, just gross. I took pics but don’t see a place tonsubmit them.
Lindsay Moe says
I’m so sorry to hear that. I have not received similar feedback on this recipe, so I’m not sure what might have gone wrong. You are welcome to reach out to me via the contact page if you’d like help troubleshooting what went wrong.
Judy says
Ace! My vegan daughters were blown away, as was I. Thanks so much!
My changes are:
Half the flour was teff
1 cup sugar not 1.5
The sugar was half soft brown /half white
I didn’t squeeze the zucchini (homegrown so not very watery) and still had to add a little liquid. Might try to squeeze a little more zucchini in next time.
A bit more cocoa too.