Black Bottom Zucchini Brownies

TommyGato's Note:

I've enjoyed zucchini cakes, cobbler, and breads that I've found here and hope that you'll enjoy these moist, cake like brownies--they disappear fast here! I love them with the glaze but they're very good without it too. My garden is in zucchini overload and I thought this recipe would be helpful to other zucchini lovers. The brownies were inspired by Monica Resinger's Black-Bottom Zucchini Bars and the glaze is based on a recipe from the Cake Doctor's book.

• Total Time: 45 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 15

For the Brownies

• 1⁄3; cup canola oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cups fresh zucchini (finely shredded and drained)
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup cocoa
• ½ cup walnuts (optional) or ½ cup pecans (optional) or ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

For the Glaze

• 1⁄3; cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1⁄3; cup canned milk (half and half if you prefer)
• 2⁄3; cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9 x 13 baking pan.
2. Stir the first 4 ingredients by hand until well combined. Drain any liquid from the shredded zucchini, add and mix until completely coated.
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder soda and salt and add it to the zucchini mixture. Stir until the dry ingredients are evenly combined and add any optional ingredients.
4. In a separate bowl, mix half of the batter with the coca then spread evenly over the bottom of the baking pan.
5. Spread the remaining batter over the top until the chocolate batter is covered.
6. Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned and the center tests done.
7. Cool for about 5-10 minutes, while you prepare the glaze.
8. Combine sugar, butter and canned milk in a small pan and stir occasionally on stovetop until it begins to boil.
9. Stir continuously for 1 minute while the mixture boils then remove from heat and add the chocolate chips.
10. Stir until smooth and spread evenly over brownies (add a little more butter if needed for good spreading consistency).
11. After brownies have cooled and the glaze is set, cut and enjoy!

Reviews

[LonghornMama]

Tasty! Brownies were a little dry so I'd suggest watching the baking time, and for some reason I had difficulty with the topping, ended up having to add powdered sugar to make it thick enough for a glaze. The family gobbled them up and never suspected they were eating zucchini. Thanks for sharing the recipe!

[soccermom]

Delicious--I grated the zucchini and was generous in measuring closer to 2 cups into the recipe. I used an 8x8 pan and the bars were light and fluffy. the chocolate layer & glaze made a great variation for my family

[happyhousewife]

These were fantastic!!! But I did bake them in an 8x8 pan instead of the 9x13. We liked them much better this way!!! And I omitted the walnuts for chocolate chips. Thanks:)