Chocolate Chunk Zucchini Blondies that are gooey and sweet, loaded with salted dark chocolate, speckled with green, and so easy to make. Vegan, gluten-free, oil-free!
Make greens as decadent and un-salad like as possible?
Challenge accepted. Completed. Conquered. Couldn’t have been more of a success.
Hidden under the guise of buttery-rich almond butter oat blondies with the perfect crackly top surface interrupted only by melty dark chocolate chunks and flecks of sea salt, no one would ever guess you visited the produce department while grocery shopping this ingredient list. Even my macro lens all up in that post-bite blondie closeup is barely giving it away.
But greens don’t come in a better form than Chocolate Chunk Zucchini Blondies.
Just because I went all organic dark chocolate and flaky sea salt on you, don’t think these are fancy or complicated to make. The ingredient list includes:
- Almond butter. Or cashew is really good too!
- Coconut sugar. This is essential for the crackly top, maple syrup or dates just won’t do it.
- Flax eggs. Or regular eggs will work too.
- Oat flour AND rolled oats. For a lil extra texture.
- Shredded zucchini. Which the food processor makes reallyreallyfast!
- Vanilla extract.
- Salt! Plus more on top.
- DARK CHOCOLATE. In and on top.
For the chunks, I chopped a dark chocolate bar from my fave chocolate brand, Hu Kitchen. The ingredients are flawless, taste is amazing, and they aren’t crazy high in sugar (thank you!). Not gonna lie, my consumption frequency of their Vanilla Quinoa Qrispy bar is getting a little out of hand over here lately. Don’t send help though.
Feel free to not tell a soul you share these with that there’s anything green going on here, and just let them revel in salty-sweet blondie bliss. Feel free to ignore the rules, break these babies out of the pan while still warm (sometimes extra crumbly is a worthwhile risk), and top them with vanilla ice cream. Or feel free to chill them overnight, let the fudginess intensify to a denser-but-extra-delicious level, and share them with no one but yourself.
And yes, ALL OF THE ABOVE is the only logical answer here.
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Chocolate Chunk Zucchini Blondies that are gooey and sweet, loaded with salted dark chocolate, speckled with green, and so easy to make!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (125g) almond butter
- 1/4 cup (60g) nondairy milk
- 2/3 cup (85g) coconut sugar
- 2 flax eggs (2 tbsp ground flax + 4 tbsp water)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup (100g) shredded zucchini
- 1 cup (120g) oat flour
- 1/2 cup (50g) rolled oats
- 2 tsps baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 60g chopped dark chocolate (my favorite is Hu Kitchen)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- Whisk together the almond butter, nondairy milk, coconut sugar, flax eggs, and vanilla.
- Add zucchini, and stir to combine.
- Add oat flour, oats, baking powder, and salt. Mix to form a thick dough.
- Fold in the dark chocolate (save some for sprinkling on top).
- Spread batter into a baking dish (oiled or lined with parchment paper).
- Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350ºF. The edges should be lightly brown when they are done.
- Remove from the oven and cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. You can eat them warm – they are delicious that way – but much more fragile and crumbly.
- Enjoy! (Try a sprinkle of flaky salt on top, or serve with ice cream)
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week, or freeze for longer storage.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bar
- Calories: 161
- Sugar: 11g
- Fat: 8g
- Saturated Fat: 2g
- Carbohydrates: 20g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 4g
Keywords: vegan, gluten free, bars, chocolate, salted, oat flour, dessert, snack, oil free
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I was planning to chop chocolate for a cake I’m making this afternoon so now I may as well chop enough for these too 😉 Hu is fantastic! I have been wanting to get my hands on the new Earl Grey Cashew Butter bar!!! Oh, and based on this recipe, it’s official that zucchini is my favorite vegetable! I mean, I haven’t seen kale or spinach or peas work this kind of magic in dessert 😉
I MUST FIND THE EARL GREY TOOOOOOO!! I want to try all their new flavors, might just order soon I’m not sure I can wait for them to show up in stores any longer😆 But yes, there bars are amazing. And also definitely yes, you should chop all the chocolate and bake all the cake/blondie/delicdeliciousous things!
I tried the recipe and this tastes so amazing, thanks for making this and telling us the complete recipe.
YAY!! I am so happy you enjoyed these, Rohit🤗🤗 Thank you for the wonderful feedback!
Are these more on the cakey side or the fudgy side?
More soft and cakey! Especially when freshly baked, they do get denser after you refrigerate. If you want them to be more dense/fudgy though you can reduce or leave out the baking powder😊
What size baking dish did you use?
9×9 inch! This one to be exact: https://www.crateandbarrel.com/everyday-square-baking-dish/s183124
Making these on friday! Is the nutrition based on cutting the recipe into 16 bars?
Thanks!
Yes it is! And yay, I hope you love them 🙂
Tried the recipe, fantastic!
★★★★★
YES!! I am so happy you loved them, Rhonda🤗
These look amazing! And the only way to sneak zuccini to my DD is in cake! I can’t do nuts. What could I use to replace? 1:1 coco oil? (Can’t do sunbutter either :/)
Hmm yes I would try coconut oil, but less of it–about 1/3 cup. Haven’t tested it yet but that would be my best recommendation 🙂
excited to make this…do I squeeze the liquid out of the zucchini?
Nope, not necessary here! Hope you enjoy 🙂
Delicious! Gooey, moist, flavorful, nutritious, easy to make. Perfection.
★★★★★
Oh I sam so happy to hear it🤗 I love them too, perfect description!
Was wondering if I would use buckwheat and almond flour instead of oat?
★★★★
Yep that will work!
So I made these bars today but instead of using oats and oat flour, I used 1 cup of Almond meal and 1/2 cup Buckwheat flour. I also only put in 1/4 of coconut sugar since we really need to watch our sugar intake.
It is so yummy. I did need to cook it for 25 – 30 mins. 20 mins was not long enough.
I am so happy I found your website. So far every one of the recipes I have tried have turned out great. My husband and I are happy to have a gluten free desert that is not hard as a rock or not cooked throughly.
★★★★★
Whoa yours sound AMAZING😋😋 Thanks for sharing, and I am so happy you both are enjoying the recipes!
Wow! Loved them so much, I definitely have to use vegetables more often as ingredient in desserts. As always I used honey as sweetener (this time from pines, which happened to fit soo well!!) & can only recommend making them as soon as possible <3
★★★★★
I am so happy you loved them Sohpie, thanks for the feedback! I love how you can just sneak in the green stuff and honestly not even know it’s there🤗
I made these with every intention of giving them to my aunt as a ‘hope-you-feel-better-soon after surgery treat’ but after cutting into them, I thought it would be best to test one for quality assurance 😉 Well, then Willow had to try one and begged for another! They’re that good 😍😍 She even knew about the zucchini being in there and wasn’t phased by it…so that’s a huge win! These were SO easy to make and not having to squeeze out the water from the zucchini was a nice bonus. I couldn’t part with any of the Hu chocolate bars 😂😂😂 so I used chocolate chips instead. I love how gooey and perfectly sweet these are…and it’s taking every ounce of willpower to not grab another one. I’m off to deliver the remaining bars! Will have to make another batch soon ❤️❤️❤️❤️
★★★★★
I am so happy you guys loved them and managed to save at least a few to share–success! But most importantly I am proud that saving Hu Bars mean there are actually Hu Bars left and that is very impressive🙌😆 My mom would make zucchini bread all the time when we were little and when she would bring it to our class parties she had to call it “spice bread” lol. Zucchini really is undetectable in baking, but the thought can really throw kids so I’m glad Willow was willing to give them a try🤗 Thanks for the feedback dear😘
dear Natalie,
I want to thank you for this amazing recipe! I was looking for a paleo zucchini bread recipe that asked for the ingredients I currently had in my pantry and came upon this one. I was so surprised by how simple it was to make and how perfect the bread turned out, especially because I made several rogue substitutions. I halved the sugar and used plain white sugar instead of coconut, and left out the 50 g rolled oats and instead added a 1/4 cup almond flour. And yet, the bread came out perfectly moist, fluffy, mildly sweet, and the most bread-like texture that I have ever achieved so far without using any grains! Thank you so much for this amazing recipe!
That is wonderful to hear, Kelsey! I am so intrigued by your subs too, that it worked even without the oats–thanks for sharing. I love this recipe too, one of my favorite ways to use zucchini for sure💚
Just made these this morning to bring to my night shift today, and I don’t know if they’re going to last! They’re incredible, I can’t believe how simple and healthy the ingredients are.
PS. I love your blog and your instagram <3
★★★★★
YAY!! I am so happy you tried these Annie, so how long did they last?😉 Appreciate the lovely feedback, and I hope you enjoyed them🤗❤️
I am so pleased with this recipe! I love the texture and the flavor is superb! I did add about 1/4 tsp of cinnamon and nutmeg just got a little extra something-something. Since you described these as soft and cakey, I made the blondies in a muffin tin (for grab-and-go convenience) and they make the yummiest muffins! Thanks for a solid recipe, Natalie!
★★★★★
Oh I love those fall-apropos spice additions, and I am so so happy you loved the recipe! Great idea to make them as muffins too, easier to grab and you get more of those crispy edges😋 Thanks for sharing Melanie!
Wow I’m finding so many recipes to try here as I explore your website! I found you through Hu recipes, and am so glad that I now have recipes to finish up the extra zucchini in the frig and the Tcho 99% Dark Chocolate Critters I bought on an impulse, but never knew what to do with them.. Oops just checked those critters and the expiration date is 4/18/19, but they’ve been sitting unopened in the cupboard all this time.. Do you think they might still be good for your No Bake Vegan Chocolate Cream Pie or should I toss? Thanks!
Forgot to ask.. if I make muffins, how long would you recommend baking them for? And how high can I fill the muffin tin with these?
Since this is a blondie recipe even if you bake as muffins they won’t be fluffy, still more chewy and dense like a cookie. But will totally work! I’d recommend about 20 mins or until golden around the top edges. Hope you enjoy!
Hmm a whole year plus old seems like a little too long if you ask me on the chocolate, I’d recommend buying fresh chocolate for this recipe or especially for the pie. But I am so so happy you found me, welcome Joanne! And please do let me know what you decided to make first, excited to hear 🙂
Thanks for the welcome! Too bad about the critters though.. it’ll go into the compost bin so not a total waste. I’m going to make this recipe first before the zucchini in the frig goes bad and will use Hu gems also for the same reason.. I got a little over enthusiastic with my Hu gems purchase. 😉
Haha worth being VERY excited about, this gems are my absolute favorite chocolate too🤗❤️ I hope they turn out perfect!
I tried this recipe tonight to the point before adding in the chocolate, and the batter is fairly runny compared to your batter. It’s actually pourable, and definitely not a thick dough. I used 2 eggs instead of the flax eggs, and followed everything else to the letter. My almond butter was a little thinner than yours though. Any suggestions on how I might still salvage this? Should I add more oatmeal flour or almond flour or… ? And how much more should I add? Thanks! I’m hoping I can leave the batter until I hear from you.. is that okay?
It will probably be fine! It just the difference of eggs vs flax eggs is my guess that makes the batter more liquid, but once you bake it all good. You could add like 1/4 cup more oat flour but probably not necessary. Sorry it was 1am my time when this came through, so idk if its too late now😬
It was late here too, so I decided to wing it and added 3 tablespoons of almond flour and 2 of oatmeal flour.. made for a dense and chewy blondie, but still tasty. As I mentioned, my almond butter was a bit on the runny side too so that might have contributed, and I realized that I measured the 1 cup oatmeal before making flour out of it.. should I have measured after? I’m not sure if it makes a difference.. This might also be good cut up into small pieces, then dipped in chocolate for bite-sized treats.. 😉
Well I am happy you went with it and they turned out pretty good! Less extra flour will make them more rich/gooey and less chewy next time. And yes you do want to measure the oat flour after grinding. Oooh I love that choco dipped idea, chocolate is always a good plan in my book!
Hi Natalie, do I need to wring out the zucchini?!
Thanks
I usually let it drain for a minute after grating on a towel and give it a little squeeze so its not super wet, a little moisture left in is okay though 🙂