Try Something New Tuesday: Zucchini Brownies

After last week's epic fail, I wanted to make sure this week's Try Something New Tuesday was a success. So I went with what I do best: chocolate.

I had recently been eyeing this recipe for Zucchini brownies. Ever since I learned how to shred veggies with my food processor, I had been looking for the chance to do it again. This seemed like the perfect opportunity.

First, I recruited two helpers.

We put the littles down for naps, and then we got busy.

Here's the ensemble.

We started things off with my favorite new past time: zucchini shredding! The girls were as impressed as I was. 

After shredding the zucchini, I decided to give it a couple of extra pulses in the food processor to make the zucchini more discreet.

Next, we combined the oil, applesauce (I like to substitute half the oil in recipes with unsweetened applesauce), 2 tsp. vanilla and sugar.

We stirred that until it was well blended.

Next we added the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. 

We stirred that until it was well combined. The batter was relatively dry at this point which I had read in the recipe's reviews was normal. A lot of your moisture comes from the zucchini.

Finally, we added the zucchini.

The batter became much more moist once this was stirred in. We spread the batter evenly in a greased 9x13" pan.

We baked these at 350 degrees for about 24 minutes. I had read in the reviews that it was important not to overbake, so I decided it would be better if they were a little undercooked. 

Next came the hard part: we had to let them sit and cool. And just stare at them. Without eating any. I even stuck them in the freezer for awhile to try and speed this process up. When they were sufficiently cooled, we got to work on the icing. We considered making our staple Best Ever Brownie Icing recipe, but we decided to get a little crazy and use the one that came with the recipe. 

First, we melted the butter and cocoa in a medium bowl and stirred until smooth. Then, we let it cool for a couple of minutes.

Next, we added the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla. I ended up adding about 1/2 cup extra powdered sugar because the icing seemed a little thin to me. Maybe I didn't let the butter/cocoa combination cool long enough? At any rate, the extra sugar certainly didn't hurt!

We spread the icing over the brownies before cutting.

Oh. My. These brownies did not disappoint! I'll let the photos do the talking.

The kids and I ate well over half the pan the day we made them!!! Hey, they have zucchini in them so that makes them healthy, right?!? Seriously, the little ones didn't even notice that the zucchini was there. If your child is particularly sensitive to new textures, you could puree the zucchini instead of shredding it.

I will point out that these brownies are more cake-like than fudgy, but we loved them all the same. This is definitely a recipe we plan to make again. I didn't bother calculating the nutrition on these because, quite frankly, I didn't want to know!

Zucchini Brownies

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1-1/2 cups white sugar (I used a little less; I think you could easily get by with 1 cup)
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (I used 1 cup whole wheat and 1 cup all-purpose)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 cups shredded zucchini (I found that 2 medium zucchinis was about right)

Icing

• 6 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla

~Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13" baking dish. In a large bowl, mix together the oil, applesauce, sugar and 2 tsp. vanilla until well blended. Add the flour, 1/2 cup cocoa, baking soda and salt. Stir until well combined. Mixture will be fairly dry. Fold in the zucchini. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Bake for 20 - 30 minutes being careful not to overbake. Let the brownies cool. To prepare the icing, melt together the 6 tbsp. cocoa and butter in a medium bowl. Set aside to cool. Add the powdered sugar, milk and 1/2 tsp. vanilla. Stir well to combine. Spread over cooled brownies.

Question of the Day:

Do you like to hide veggies in food?