festive zucchini choc brownies

I love to bake chocolate brownies.

Especially around the holidays.

This year, however, my brownie recipe has been given a fabulous wholesome make over in order to perfectly suit those lovely little hands it will surely find its way into.

This delicious recipe is wonderful not only because it contains vegetables but its free of butter, uses wholemeal flour and thanks to my new found friend agave syrup, is now sugar free.

And keeping with todays health conscious theme, today I opted to forgo the usual cup or so of chocolate chips I would normally stir through the batter and instead used a teeny tiny 40 gram bar of wonderful antioxidant rich dark chocolate to scatter over the top of the brownie.  The results are sublime!  The deep dark brownie is so amazingly rich that it really only needed the smallest hint of chocolate and because of the brownies decadence the tiniest square makes the perfect serve, so this festive treat goes very far!

Please allow me to talk a little about the zucchini.  I beg you not to be put off thinking the zucchini chocolate mix is some weird and wacky combination.  Its truly not.  The zucchini strewn throughout the batter is devoid of any flavour and is there only to add a gorgeous moistness to the brownie crumb.  It also adds to the depth of the brownie creating a gorgeous dense texture.

For a baby led weaning holiday treat these little zucchini choc brownie babies are perfection.

To create these festive zucchini choc brownies simply…

Begin by placing the grating attachment on your food processor.  Grate 2 large zucchini.

Place the usual mixing attachment on your food processor.  Add the zucchini, eggs, extra virgin olive oil, agave, vanilla, wholemeal plain flour, baking powder, cocoa, cinnamon and cranberries and pulse to combine.

Pour the batter into 8 x 8 tin (or equivalent) lined with baking paper.  Sprinkle with chopped chocolate and bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes or so in the tin before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

Cut into squares and enjoy alongside a little fruit for a decadent christmas treat.

festive zucchini choc brownies

adapted from a dash of sass

INGREDIENTS

2 zucchini

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup agave syrup

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 3/4 wholemeal plain flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon, ground

1 cup dried cranberries

40 grams dark chocolate, finely chopped

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius (350 F).  Place the grating attachment on food processor and grate the zucchini.  Place the usual mixing attachment on food processor.  Place the zucchini, olive oil, agave, eggs, vanilla, flour, cocoa, baking powder, cinnamon and cranberries into the large bowl of processor and pulse to combine (scraping down edges when required).  Pour the batter into an 8×8 (or equivalent) tin lined with baking paper, sprinkle with chocolate and bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted removes cleanly.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes or so in the tin before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.  Cut into squares and enjoy x

You might also like…

 choc zucchini loaf

 oat chocolate chip cookies

 baby friendly chocolate mousse