Healthy Zucchini Brownies a Two-Bite Treat
Make a healthy version of an old-time favourite: Fudgy brownies, filled with zucchini, flax and whole wheat flour.
These are healthy compromise brownies. They’re sweet and fudgy but made healthier with zucchini, ground flax, whole wheat flour and much less sugar than your average brownie recipe. Molasses helps to make them taste more chocolaty and chocolate chips add nuggets of sweet and extra texture to each bite.
Lower in fat but still fudgy:
Baking with vegetables is a good way to add nutrition to your brownies, cookies and muffins, and vegetables help to keep baked goods moist. Zucchini is versatile because it is tender and doesn’t have a lot of flavour on its own. And if you like to count calories, you’ll find these zucchini brownies are filling at just 106 calories each.
Zucchini brownies are easy for kids to bake on their own:
Healthy zucchini brownies are perfect for the school lunchbox. They’re also easy for kids to bake on their own.
You’ll be tempted to bake them longer than 40 minutes. If you want fudgy brownies, stick to the 35-40 minute range. They’ll still be yummy if you bake them for 45 minutes, but they’ll be more cake-like.
PrintHealthy Zucchini Brownies a Two-Bite Treat
Healthy Zucchini Brownies: healthier than your average brownie. Made with flax, molasses, whole wheat flour and grated zucchini. Low-cal, low sugar.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 60 minutes
- Yield: 36 brownies serving(s) 1x
- Category: Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup grapeseed oil or melted butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp. vanilla
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 5 Tbsp. Crosby’s Fancy Molasses
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat or spelt flour
- ¼ cup ground flax
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- 1 ½ tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. salt
- 2 cups shredded zucchini, excess liquid squeezed out*
- ½ cup + 2 Tbsp. chocolate chips
Instructions
- Line a 9”x 9” pan with parchment paper or grease it well.**
- Whisk together butter, sugar, vanilla and molasses. Add egg and mix well.
- In a separate bowl, whisk flours, flax, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
- Add this mixture to the wet ingredients and mix well.
- Fold in the zucchini and ½ a cup of the chocolate chips.
- Spread in prepared pan. Sprinkle over remaining 2 Tbsp. of chocolate chips and press them in a bit.
- Bake at 350 F for 35 to 40 minutes
Notes
*Grate the zucchini on the large-hole side of a box grater. A handful at a time, squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
** This recipe works well in a 9″ x 13″ pan too. Adjust baking time accordingly.
Nutritional info: Per brownie (when made with butter).
- Calories: 106,
- Fat: 4 g,
- Saturated Fat: 2.4 g,
- Cholesterol: 12.4 mg,
- Carbs: 15.8 g,
- Sugar: 9.1 g,
- Sodium: 109 mg,
- Fibre: 1.4 g,
- Protein: 1.8 g,
- Potassium: 125 mg
Mary Folkins
Can these be frozen?
Crosby Molasses
Yes! -Marie from Crosby’s Kitchen
Sarah
I really like having the nutrition info. Thank you! Is there any way it can be included when printing? I see it in the recipe, but when I go to print, it doesn’t appear. Thanks!
Crosby Molasses
Hello Sarah, thank you for your comment. The ”print” option only prints the content in the grey recipe box. You can print the nutrition info separately using MS Word, for example. -Marie-Pierre at Crosby’s Kitchen
Sarah
Okay, thanks! Perhaps that could be a feature added to the recipes as it is super helpful.
Karen
I made it in a 9 x 13 pan and it turned out perfect. So moist and delicious. I also substituted unsweetened apple sauce for the oil.
★★★★★
Nancy
I have made this recipe many times and they are delicious. But I found that a 9×9 pan was way too small and seemed more like cake so I use a 13 x 9 pan, works good! Thanks for the nutritional breakdown! I don’t think it was included when I copied the recipe from here previously. All your recipes I have tried have been excellent but I do count calories so the breakdown is a big help. Thanks again.
Crosby Molasses
Hi Nancy, Thanks for the tip about pan size. I’ll add that to the recipe so others know that it’s a good option.
Karen
This sounds delicious but I wondered if I can substitute anything for the ground flax. Thanks
Wendy
Instead of the sugar….
Crosby Molasses
Hi again, I haven’t tried replacing the sugar with a liquid sweetener. You’d have to play with the dry ingredients a bit to balance out the extra liquid otherwise they’d be too wet. You could start by reducing the sugar and go from there…
Wendy
Have you tried it with honey or maple syrup?
Crosby Molasses
Hi Wendy. I haven’t tried this recipe with honey or maple syrup but I bet it would be delicious.
LPV
Ok, so this is a yummy way to use the garden zucchini. :) Now to just stay with eating one brownie.
Lynn Purdy
A useful use for zucchini! It is not easy to just eat one brownie. I like to give some away to neighbours, it saves me from eating them all.
Diane Lyman
Wish it could be sent by mail