These vegan zucchini brownies have a sweet chocolate flavor and the perfect moist, chewy texture. People will never guess they're vegan, or that they're loaded with zucchini!
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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 try to trick me into eating your salad.
But y'all. I'm converted. Not only can veggies be hidden inside baked goods, but they can also be REALLY GOOD. Like, OMG these zucchini brownies, I can't stop eating them and I don't know what's happening in my life right now.
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 scare you. These will be the chewiest, most indulgent brownies you've ever eaten!
Ingredients
- Granulated sugar
- Canola oil
- Unbleached all-purpose flour
- Whole wheat flour
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Shredded zucchini
- Vanilla extract
- Salt
- Baking soda
- Vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips
How to make vegan zucchini brownies
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Coat a 8x8 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.
Top tips
What the batter should look like
Zucchini is a vegetable that can have a lot of water in it. Most recipes recommend draining the shredded zucchini to control the outcome of the recipe.
I have found more often than not that if I drain the zucchini for this recipe I need to add more water back into before baking. If your zucchini seems very watery, let it rest on a towel for a few minutes before using and adjust the batter as outlined below as needed.
Whether you drained your zucchini or not, check the consistency of your batter before baking. Here is a batter that is in the "sandy" stage, and batter that has everything added to it but it is too dry. It's a little crumbly and looks like cookie dough. You could still bake it like this, but would get a slightly different result.
To fix this, add water 1 tablespoon at a time until your batter looks like the one pictured below. It will still be thick, but should be looser, pourable, and look like, well, brownie batter!
Try vegan brownies in the freezer
The flavor of chocolate changes with temperature, and if you haven't tried brownies straight from the freezer, then you're missing out! They're soft enough to eat straight from the freezer, and even better when crumbled over a bowl of butter pecan ice cream.
How to store zucchini brownies
Zucchini brownies will keep covered at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in a zip top freezer bag for up to 3 months.
Tips for customizing vegan zucchini brownies
- Bake in a 9x13 pan to make flatter brownies you can cut into more squares (decrease the baking time as needed)
- Add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon with the flour
- Add ½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans to the batter
- Use a chopped chocolate bar instead of chocolate chips
- Take it to the next level by topping them with vegan caramel sauce
FAQ
You could do either, but I prefer to shred zucchini on the large holes of a box grater when making brownies. If you'd rather not be able to see the strands of zucchini in the brownies, shred it on a smaller hole.
Dutch process cocoa powder is not the same as unsweetened cocoa powder and will not behave the same in this recipe. I recommend only using unsweetened cocoa powder when making these brownies.
More brownie recipes
- Sweet Potato Brownies
- Vegan Mug Brownies
- Vegan Single Serving Brownie
- Single Serve Vegan Chocolate Brownie Cookie
- Cream Cheese Ice Box Brownies
- Grandma's Brownies
- Refrigerator Bakery Brownies
- Dark Chocolate Brownies
If you make this recipe, be sure to rate it, leave a comment, or tag #theliveinkitchen on Instagram!
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 8x8 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.
Notes
Nutrition
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 9x13 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 9x13 pan and the recipe still says 8x8 for the pan. I made them in the 9x13 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 8x8 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.