These zucchini brownies are moist and rich and insanely delicious. You’d never guess they’re hiding zucchini! Topped with a chocolate fudge frosting.
We’re getting on a roll baking with zucchini. These zucchini brownies are so good no will ever guess there’s zucchini in them.
We’ve tested this theory and there is always big surprise when someone is told that the fudgy brownie they just ate contains zucchini!
If you look very closely you can see some tiny green flecks but no one is looking that close, they’re just ecstatically scoffing a brownie and exclaiming about how good they are.
And if you have an abundance of zucchini at any stage, then you’ll want to get busy baking (or cooking) with it. Check out our zucchini bread, zucchini fritters, zucchini muffins and zucchini soup and our ultra decadent chocolate zucchini cake.
How To Make Zucchini Brownies
Full instructions and measurements can always be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Sift all purpose flour and cocoa powder into a mixing bowl and add white sugar, salt and instant coffee and mix together.
- Add shredded zucchini, oil, egg and vanilla and mix into a thick batter. If you have any trouble getting it mixed in, then leave the bowl for a minute, and then come back to it. The zucchini will release more moisture into the batter and when you come back to mix it will come together easily.
- Transfer the batter to a 9×13 baking pan (sprayed with non-stick spray) and smooth down with the back of a spoon so that it reaches all the corners.
- Bake at 350°F for 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean. Moist crumbs are fine, wet batter is not.
- Allow to cool slightly and then pour over chocolate fudge sauce. Allow to set on the counter and when set, cut into squares and enjoy.
Chocolate Fudge Sauce
- To make the chocolate fudge topping, melt butter in a saucepan and then add white sugar and milk.
- Stir continuously until it reaches a full boil, then remove from the heat and add chocolate chips and stir vigorously until they have melted and you have a smooth chocolate sauce. It will start setting really fast, so immediately pour it over the top of the warm brownies and let it set completely.
Recipe Tips
Freshly Shredded Zucchini. The zucchini should be freshly shredded. If you shred it in advance it will dry out and you won’t have all the moisture that you need for this recipe. You can shred it using a food processor (our favorite) or a box grater.
There is no need to peel the zucchini first and also no need to squeeze out any excess moisture. If you have any water pooling at the bottom of your food processor after shredding, then leave that behind, but otherwise don’t squeeze or blot the zucchini, we want all the moisture for our batter.
Instant coffee: This just enhances the chocolate flavor of the brownies, it doesn’t make them taste like coffee at all. However, you can omit it if you want to.
The chocolate fudge topping is optional, but highly recommended!
Chocolate chips: You can use any chocolate chips that you like for your chocolate fudge topping. We used milk chocolate chips but semi sweet or dark will also work fine.
Make sure your baking pan is deep enough. It should be a 9×13 baking pan, but what we have found when we measure them is that some pans claiming to be 9×13 are actually smaller! So you need a true 9×13 and it also needs to be deep enough to allow for your topping as well. So when your brownies are baked, there still needs to be a little room on top for that chocolate fudge topping.
Storing and Freezing
Keep your brownies stored at room temperature in an airtight container for 3-4 days or in the fridge for up to a week.
They are also freezer friendly for up to 3 months.
More Delicious Chocolate Desserts
- Best Ever Fudgy Brownies
- The Most Divine Chocolate Cake
- No-Bake Chocolate Tart
- Homemade Hot Chocolate
- Chocolate Zucchini Cake
- Biscoff Brownies
Zucchini Brownies
Ingredients
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour Measured Correctly*
- 1 cup Cocoa Powder Unsweetened
- 2 cups White Granulated Sugar
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 Tbsp Instant Coffee Optional
- 2 cups Shredded Zucchini Packed cups (280g)*
- 1 cup Canola Oil or Vegetable Oil
- 1 Large Egg
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
For the Chocolate Fudge Topping:
- ⅓ cup Butter
- ⅓ cup Milk
- 1 and ½ cups White Granulated Sugar
- 1 cup Chocolate Chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and spray a 9×13 baking pan with non-stick spray.
- Sift all purpose flour and cocoa powder into a mixing bowl and add white sugar, salt and instant coffee and mix together.
- Add shredded zucchini, oil, egg and vanilla and mix into a thick batter. If you have any trouble getting it mixed in, then leave the bowl for a minute, and then come back to it. The zucchini will release more moisture into the batter and when you come back to mix it will come together easily.
- Transfer the batter to your prepared 9×13 baking pan and smooth down with the back of a spoon so that it reaches all the corners.
- Bake for 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean. Moist crumbs are fine, wet batter is not.
- While the brownies are cooling, prepare your chocolate fudge topping.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan and then add the sugar and milk.
- Stir continuously until it reaches a full boil, then remove from the heat and add chocolate chips and stir vigorously until they have melted and you have a smooth chocolate sauce.
- It will start setting pretty fast, so immediately pour it over the top of the still warm brownies and let it set completely.
- Cut into squares and enjoy.
Video
Notes
- Measure the flour correctly using the spoon and level method, spoon it into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife. Don’t scoop it and don’t pack it into the cup. Alternatively, weigh it on a food scale. Click ‘metric’ below the list of ingredients to get the correct weight in grams.
- The instant coffee just enhances the chocolate flavor of the brownies, it doesn’t make them taste like coffee at all. However, you can omit it if you want to.
- The zucchini should be freshly shredded. If you shred it in advance it will dry out and you won’t have all the moisture that you need for this recipe. You can shred it using a food processor (our favorite) or a box grater. There is no need to peel the zucchini first and also no need to squeeze out any excess moisture. If you have any water pooling at the bottom of your food processor after shredding, then leave that behind, but otherwise don’t squeeze or blot the zucchini, all the moisture is needed for the batter.
- The chocolate fudge topping is optional, but highly recommended! You can use any chocolate chips for this or chopped chocolate. We used milk chocolate chips but dark or semi sweet will also work great.
- Your 9×13 baking pan should be deep enough to account for both your brownies and your chocolate fudge topping. When your brownies have gone into the pan and smoothed down there should be some space left on top for the topping.
- Keep your brownies stored at room temperature in an airtight container for 3-4 days or in the fridge for up to a week. They are also freezer friendly for up to 3 months.
Very good but very rich with the frosting which is a recipe I’m planning to use to top other things as well Mine took 35 min to bake though but they were still fudge I use GF flour too
Thanks for sharing Virginia!
These are amazing! So fudgy and delicious and the chocolate topping is a game changer! Thanks so much for this recipe, bookmarked for regular use!
So glad you enjoyed them Janet! And I totally agree, the chocolate topping is the bomb! 🙂