HEALTHIER ZUCCHINI BROWNIES

Healthier Zucchini Brownies image

A great way to get more veggies into my little boy - and a tasty (nearly guilt-free) treat for me! This is a combination of other brownie recipes I've read, with an eye to make it healthier: less oil and refined sugars, plus whole wheat flour! By pureeing the zucchini and using prunes to get a dark, rich color, no one will ever know there's veggies in the brownies! Who knew that gigantic zucchini would turn into dessert?

Provided by GrrlFriday

Categories Fruits and Vegetables Vegetables Squash

Time 50m

Yield 16

Number Of Ingredients 14

Ingredients

cooking spray
2 medium zucchini, chopped
1 cup prunes
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup natural cocoa
¼ cup vegetable oil, scant
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
½ cup chopped walnuts
1 tablespoon Demerara sugar
½ cup white chocolate chips

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
Puree zucchini in a high-powered blender or food processor. Measure out 2 cups of zucchini puree, then add prunes until level hits 3 cups. Return to the blender and process. Add brown sugar, cocoa, oil, salt, and vanilla extract; blend until totally smooth.
Whisk whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, and baking soda together in a bowl. Stir in nuts. Pour chocolate mixture into flour mixture and stir together as gently as possible; batter will be very thick.
Spread batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth as much as you'd like; this batter will not smooth out much as it bakes. Sprinkle Demerara sugar and chocolate chips on top.
Bake in the preheated oven until brownies just spring back when touched in the middle or a toothpick comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Allow to cool before devouring.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 227.7 calories, Carbohydrate 37.5 g, Cholesterol 1.2 mg, Fat 8.5 g, Fiber 3.6 g, Protein 4 g, SaturatedFat 2.2 g, Sodium 252 mg, Sugar 22 g