These easy zucchini brownies come out rich and chocolatey and stay moist for days (although they don’t last that long in my house). They’re topped with a quick and easy homemade 1 minute frosting for a perfect dessert!
Every year I end up with tons of zucchini which is great for me because I really love it! It’s perfect grilled on it’s own or breaded to make oven baked zucchini fries but I do think it’s especially good in baking. It just adds so much moisture and it seems that baked items with zucchini are even BETTER the next day!
These brownies are super moist and delicious… and you’d never know they have zucchini in them (nor will your kids)! They are rich and chocolatey and just perfectly delicious! Of course these Zucchini Brownies are great the day they’re made but they’re even better on the second day.
One thing you need to know about this recipe is that when you get the flour/sugar combined… just before you add the zucchini the consistency will seem quite dry. Don’t worry, this is expected. Stir in the zucchini and your batter will moisten and as the batter bakes the zucchini releases moisture keeping these brownies amazing. You’ll want to make sure you don’t squeeze or drain your zucchini, you want all of the moisture in there (and no peeling required either)!
I top this with a 1 Minute Frosting recipe that I’ve been using for years! It works perfectly on any cake or brownie recipe that is contained in a pan and requires just a few ingredients you likely already have on hand!
Items you’ll need for this recipe:
* Vanilla Extract * Zucchini * 9 x 13 pan *
Ingredients
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 ½ cups grated zucchini undrained (about one large)
1 Minute Frosting
- ⅓ cup milk
- ⅓ cup butter
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Grease and flour a 9×13 pan.
- Combine oil, sugar, egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder and baking soda. Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and stir well. (It will appear quite dry). Gently stir in the zucchini and spread the mixture into your prepared pan.
- Bake 25-30 minutes.
1 Minute Frosting
- While cake is cooling, combine butter, milk and sugar in a small pan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Allow to boil vigorously for 30 seconds. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips. Immediately pour over warm brownies. Let cool completely before cutting.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Here are some more recipes you’ll love
Lemon Zucchini Cupcakes
Pumpkin Zucchini Bread with Cream Cheese Glaze
And a couple of zucchini recipes from my friends you’re going to want to check out!
- Zucchini Muffins from Crazy for Crust
- Zucchini Cream Cheese Muffins from Wine & Glue
- Blueberry Banana Zucchini Bread from Averie Cooks
I’ve made this recipe every summer in zucchini season. today I’m not making the icing but doing a round pan to make a dinasour cake for my grandsons 4th birthday so green icing. hoping to get some cupcakes as well.
ive done cupcakes for buffets regular sized as well as minis
great recipe
That sounds delicious. I can’t wait to hear how it turns out for you!
Can I use frozen zucchini?
Absolutely! After thawing gently drain and use as normal.
This truly is my favorite zucchini recipe and I grow zucchini in my garden just to make it. They are not as dense as traditional brownies, but so delicious and the 1 minute frosting really takes them over the top. – SWP Employee
I truly enjoyed this recipe. Personally I felt that the recipe needed salt. It’s a good use of zucchini. The frosting is a must have. The brownies are mediocre but with the boiled frosting it reminds me of a Texas style sheet cake. I like it.
The other thing is I would mix the grated zucchini with the oil sugar and then ad the dry mixture to the wet. Because it is very dry at first.
Overall a good summer time recipe
Happy trails and tasty treats
This recipe is absolutely perfect! I have been making it every summer for years now, every one loves it and asks for the recipe. My husband says that it tastes just like the chocolate zucchini cake his grandma made.
I love these brownies and make them often!
This is my favorite dessert.everyone loves it.i have made it 23 times!I added 1/2 cup of pecans to brownies and 1/2
cup of coconut to frosting topped with 1/2 cup of pecans sprinkled on top.
I love SWP recipes but this one is a miss. Definitely more of a cake than brownies. Flavours fine.
Thanks for trying our recipe, Chan! Sorry it wasn’t quite what you expected it to be.
I have made these brownies many many times and they are always a hit!
Although I love most of your recipes, I had a hard time with this one. I would never call these brownies–not even cake-like brownies. They are straight-up cake, lol. The cake tastes and smells like zucchini, something that has never bothered me before. I did pack my zucchini to make the 2.5 cups–maybe I shouldn’t have packed it down? And the frosting, while super easy, was way too sweet! I did use milk chocolate chips though, so maybe the frosting would work better with semi-sweet. Hopefully this helps someone!
I have never tasted zucchini this recipe however, I don’t generally pack the zucchini in this recipe, I place it into the cup. Because of the egg and the moisture from the zucchini, they a slightly cake-like brownie. Thank you for sharing your feedback!
One of my favorite zucchini recipes.
I have tried lots of zucchini cake/ brownies recipes and this is the one my family begs me to make!
So good. Moist, rich. We use it for birthdays.
I just took out of the oven what I thought was going to be brownies. it was just liquid. recipe calls for three cups sugar. That is not correct. I looked at other recipes and they call for half that.
I am really upset by all the ingredients I will throw out. I have been cooking a lot of years so its not that I can’t cook or follow directions. How many more have used the three cups of sugar.?
This recipe calls for 1 ½ cups of sugar in the brownies, not 3 cups. As written, I’ve made this countless times and it does work well for most readers. Hope that helps.
I have done this recipe for over 7 years I guess and still is our favorite. I can’t thank you enough for sharing this great recipe.
can I use box brownie mix and add zucchini and follow your recipe
I have never tried a boxed brownie mix so I can’t say for sure. Maybe another reader has and can offer some guidance.
This is the best chocolate cake ! The family wants it every week
brownies are really good and moist
icing is too sweet I might just put cup of chocolate chips on warm brownies
next time instead of making the frosting
I love melting chocolate chips on top of my brownies too, Carol!
Main page says 3 c sugar and when clicking on recipe it says 1 1/2 c-ugh! I always make these and just assumed the recipe was correct when I googled it. Just an FYI to fix
Hi Cindy, Thanks for letting us know! The recipe card lists 1 ½ cups of sugar (which is the correct amount). I hope that helps.
These brownies are delicious!!