You won't taste the zucchini in these chocolate zucchini cake-like bars. It just adds the moistness to make these brownies delicious.
I've included a range for the amount of sugar. That's because I don't like my zucchini bars too sweet. If you sprinkle the top of the bars with powdered sugar, the sweetness hits your mouth immediately, and you don't need as much sugar in the zucchini bars themselves. Plus, these zucchini bars have chocolate chips in them too, so the inside has an extra touch of sweetness, as well.
But if you're looking for a more traditional zucchini cake or zucchini bar cookie flavor, you might want to go with the full 1-1/2 cups of sugar. Play around with it a few times to see how you like these bars best. They'll bake up fine, regardless of which end of the range you choose.
These chocolate chocolate chip zucchini bars are the perfect healthy after school snack for kids (and adults, too). Serve with a nice tall glass of milk or a hot cup of tea.
Chocolate Chocolate Chip Zucchini Brownies
- 1 to 1-1/2 cups granulated white sugar
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1/4 cup plain non-fat yogurt
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 cups grated zucchini
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (such as Ghirardelli 60% cacao chocolate chips)
- powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 13 pan with nonstick cooking spray. Beat oil, sugar, non-fat yogurt and vanilla together in a large mixing bowl until well combined. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together flours, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Fold dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Stir in zucchini, walnuts and chocolate chips.
Don't be alarmed if the batter seems really stiff at first. Just give it a few minutes to soak up the moisture from the zucchini and then it'll look like typical brownie batter.
Spread batter into the prepared pan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center of the brownies comes back with just a few crumbs on it. Remove from oven and allow brownies to cool. When zucchini bars are completely cooled, sprinkle powdered sugar over the top. Cut into squares and serve immediately.
Makes 24 zucchini bars.
Per bar: 161 calories, 8 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 0 mg cholesterol, 22 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 2 g protein, 1% Vitamin A, 3% Vitamin C, 1% calcium, 5% iron
