Zucchini Chocolate Brownies with Cashews

Delicious zucchini chocolate brownies, full of cashew nuts and chocolate chips, these are the perfect summer brownies.

ZUCCHINI CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

These zucchini chocolate brownies… so good… so moist…

This is a repost from August 2015.

I made these last week and I chose the recipe just because it contained zucchini and I still have so many zucchini in my cellar waiting to be cooked. Same in 2018 when I made and photographed these zucchini brownies with cashew nuts and chocolate again.

Way too many zucchini every summer, although I don’t grow any vegetables myself. But there are plenty of friends or neighbors who do have their own vegetable patch and everybody always seems to plant too many zucchini plants in spring.

I don’t know why, they all actually know that 4 or 6 zucchini plants are too much for a normal family, if all the plants actually reach maturity and the summer is good, you will have enough produce  to feed half a village (OK, our village is really small…).

Zucchini Brownies with Chocolate and Nuts

I am not that much into chocolate, but I do love brownies. I make some quite often, they are easy to make and I can also be sure that everybody will like them. And I do enjoy adding a bit of a surprise ingredient from time to time, like the zucchini in this case or the black beans in these Black Bean Brownies.

The recipe only needs 150 g zucchini, it is not the world, but still something and these brownies really could not be better. I mean, brownies, everybody loves them, there are so many recipes out there and they are probably all good, but if you, like me, swim in zucchini at the moment, do give these brownies a try, you will not regret it.

How to make zucchini chocolate brownies

This is a simple brownie recipe made with dark chocolate, chocolate chips and cocoa powder, so triple chocolate brownies.

I can assure you that using both chocolate and cocoa will make these brownies unbelievably chocolatey, a chocolate’s lover dream come true. And another brownie recipe full of chocolate, even more chocolate than in the case of the zucchini brownies: Cherry Brownies.

You will not taste or see the zucchini at all, they are there to make the brownies so wonderfully moist. They will also make the brownies more delicate than regular fudgier brownies, these zucchini brownies are more cake-like, but with a moist interior.

Steps to make zucchini chocolate brownies:

• Chop the dark chocolate finely.
• Melt the butter and the chocolate in a small pan. Do this on low heat, stirring often and taking care that the mixture doesn’t get too hot, it should definitely not start to simmer.
•  If it does threaten to get too hot, remove the pot from the heat source and continue melting the butter and the chocolate off the heat. Stir often. Let the mixture cool until you prepare the rest.
• Grate the zucchini and squeeze them in your hand to remove the extra moisture. I recommend weighing the zucchini before grating and squeezing them, and not measure the grated zucchini in cups. A cup measurement is really not reliable in this case, depending on how much you press the zucchini in the cup, the results would be too different.
• Chop the cashew nuts roughly.

• Whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla.
• In another bowl mix together the flour, cocoa and baking powder, sift them over the egg mixture. Fold in.
• Fold in the zucchini, cashews and half of the chocolate chips as well. Chocolate chips are optional, you can leave them out, if you wish, but the zucchini chocolate brownies are even better with the chips.
• Give the mixture to the prepared baking dish.
• Sprinkle the brownie batter with the remaining chocolate chips and bake in the preheated oven.
• Check after about 30 minutes, the toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake should still have chocolate traces on it, the brownies should not become dry in the middle, but remain nice and moist. If there is too much chocolate on the toothpick you can bake the brownies for a few minutes more.
• Leave the cake get cool in the pan. Serve sprinkled with some icing sugar, if you wish.

HOW TO KEEP THE ZUCCHINI CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

The zucchini brownies with chocolate and cashew keep well for 2-3 days at room temperature. Keep them in an airtight container.

If kept airtight in the fridge, they will be OK for a couple of days more.

Zucchini Chocolate Brownies with Cashews

Yield: 16

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Delicious zucchini chocolate brownies, full of cashew nuts and chocolate chips, these are the perfect summer brownies.

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Ingredients

• 75 g/ 2.6 oz/ scant 1/3 cup unsalted butter
• 50 g/ 1.7 g/ 1/4 cup chopped dark chocolate with 70% cocoa content
• 150 g/ 5.3 oz zucchini
• 100 g/ 3.5 oz/ 2/3 cup cashew nuts, roasted but unsalted
• 2 eggs (medium Germany, large US)
• 150 g/ 5.3 oz/ 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 50 g/ 1.7 oz/ 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 5 heaped teaspoons natural cocoa powder, unsweetened
• 1 heaped teaspoon baking powder
• 50 g/ 1.7 oz/ 1/2 cup chocolate chips, divided

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius/ 340 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a brownie pan (20x20 cm/ 8x8 inches) with baking paper.
2. Give the butter and the chopped chocolate to a small saucepan and
   heat gently until melted. Do not let come to a boil. Leave to cool
   for a few minutes while preparing the rest.
3. Grate the zucchini and squeeze them in your hand to remove the
   extra moisture. Roughly chop the cashews.
4. Give the eggs, sugar and vanilla sugar to a bowl and whisk with a
   hand-held mixer until frothy.
5. Mix the flour, cocoa and baking powder together and give over the
   egg mixture. Incorporate and add the butter-chocolate mixture. Fold
   in the zucchini, cashew nuts and half of the chocolate chips.
6. Pour this mixture into the prepared pan and sprinkle with the
   remaining chocolate chips. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, depending on
   your oven.
7. Check by inserting a toothpick in the middle of the cake. It
   should come out still a little moist. Leave the zucchini chocolate
   brownies cool in the pan, take out and dust with icing sugar if
   desired.
8. The zucchini brownies keep well in an airtight container for
   several days.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1 square
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 164Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 34mgSodium: 81mgCarbohydrates: 19gFiber: 1gSugar: 13gProtein: 3g

Nutritional information is not always accurate.