Make ultra-gooey, fudgy vegan zucchini brownies with no eggs, flour, oil, or refined sugar (and you can’t tell!). They’re super chocolatey, easy to make, and loved by kids & adults!
Before you shy away from the idea of zucchini in brownies, remember carrot cake exists (and it is amazing!). After making an ultra-moist zucchini chocolate cake, I knew this veggie would be perfect to make ultra-chocolatey, fudgy, gooey brownies with hidden nutrients and heaps of moisture (no eggs needed!). Mission accomplished—and no one knows it’s there!
Better yet, this recipe uses simple pantry staples and is naturally vegan, gluten-free, flourless, and free from most ‘empty calories’ like refined sugars and oils. Instead, oats, nut butter, and coconut sugar pack in nutrients while keeping things decadently delicious. Kids (and most spouses!) won’t taste the difference, especially with optional chocolate chips! It’s so easy, too. I literally just toss everything in a food processor, but a bowl works, too. There’s no need to squeeze the zucchini either – just shred, mix, bake, and enjoy.
Ready to explore more hidden veggie brownie recipes? Try my sweet potato brownies, black bean brownies, pea brownies, and chickpea brownies.
The Ingredients
The Dry Ingredients
- Oats: Use ‘oat flour’ or make your own by grinding oats in an electric coffee/spice grinder or high-speed blender. Use certified gluten-free oats if necessary.
- Sugar: I use unrefined coconut sugar, but regular sugar or sugar alternatives like erythritol will also work in these zucchini brownies.
- Cocoa powder: Use unsweetened cocoa powder or cacao. The latter contains more nutrients but is more bitter.
- Leavening agents: This egg-free brownie recipe uses baking powder and baking soda.
- Chocolate chips: Use semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips/chunks (or sugar-free chocolate). Omit them for a refined sugar-free, oil-free recipe for zucchini brownies.
- Coffee powder: Optional, but great to enhance the chocolate flavor.
- Salt: To deepen the chocolate flavor.
The Wet Ingredients
- Zucchini: (aka courgette) Medium zucchini works best – no need to peel OR squeeze/drain.
- Nut butter: (or seed butter) To add natural richness and oils – almond butter, cashew butter, peanut butter, or sunflower seed butter.
- Milk: Use any. I use plant milks like soy or oat milk. Coconut milk adds extra moisture and richness.
- Vanilla extract: Use natural vanilla for the best flavor.
Recipe Variations and Add-Ins
- Other add-ins: Add to or replace chocolate chips with chopped nuts and/or dried fruit (like raisins, cherries, cranberries, etc.). Avoid ‘wet’ fruits.
- Flavor enhancers: i.e., cinnamon, nutmeg, orange zest/ extract, chili powder, etc.
- Protein powder: Sub a few tbsp oat flour. Don’t add too much, as it can dry out brownies.
- Toppings: Swirl in nut or seed butter, fruit jam/jelly, or vegan salted caramel sauce on top before baking, or sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
- Frosted zucchini brownies: Like the sweet potato frosting from my zucchini cake or nut butter chocolate ganache from my chocolate avocado cake.
Please read the recipe card below for the full ingredients list, measurements, complete recipe method, and nutritional information.
How to Make Vegan Zucchini Brownies
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C), and grease or line a 6×9-inch (15x23cm) loaf pan with parchment paper – a slightly larger one works too, for thinner brownies.
- Use medium-large holes on a box grater or a food processor shredding disk to grate the zucchini.
- Process the dry ingredients, except chocolate chips, in a food processor (or a large bowl).
- Add the wet ingredients and pulse or whisk/stir into a smooth batter.
- Fold in the chocolate chips, then transfer the batter to the pan and sprinkle with more chocolate chips.
- Bake the chocolate zucchini brownies for 35-40 minutes (35= fudgier brownies)
- Let the brownies cool completely (they firm up as they cool) then slice, and enjoy!
Serving Suggestions
While there’s nothing wrong with having a chocolate chip zucchini brownie on its own, level up your treat by enjoying it warm (microwaved 20-40 seconds) with:
- Ice cream (vegan strawberry ice cream, peanut butter banana ice cream, vanilla, etc.)
- Coconut whipped cream and berries
- Fruit compote and vegan cream
Top Recipe Tips
- Weigh ingredients: Grams are most accurate to guarantee the best results.
- Zucchini shred size: Medium-coarse shredded zucchini will add subtle texture, though finer shreds will work and practically ‘melt’ into the bake. Adjust to your preference.
- To save time: Shred the zucchini in seconds using a food processor shredding disk.
- Don’t overbake: They continue to cook from residual heat out of the oven, so take them out when there are set edges with a slightly underdone, jiggly middle.
- Let the brownies cool: These vegan, gluten-free zucchini brownies are fragile out of the oven, but firm up over time. Cool for at least an hour.
More Vegan Chocolate Recipes
- 2-ingredient chocolate cake
- Vegan chocolate pie
- Cheesecake Brownies
- No-bake caramel brownies
- Vegan chocolate mousse
If you try this vegan zucchini brownie recipe, I’d love a comment and ★★★★★ recipe rating below. Also, please don’t forget to tag me in recreations on Instagram or Facebook with @elavegan und #elavegan – I love seeing them.
Vegan Zucchini Brownies
Video
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups (135 g) rolled oats, ground into flour (see notes)
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sweetener (see notes)
- ½ cup (90 g) dairy-free chocolate chips + more for the top
- ½ cup + 1 tbsp (50 g) cocoa powder unsweetened
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ⅓ tsp salt
- 1 tsp instant coffee powder (optional)
Wet ingredients:
- 1 ¼ cups (200 g) shredded zucchini tightly packed
- ½ cup (120 g) nut butter of choice (see notes)
- ¼ cup (60 ml) plant-based milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- I recommend using a kitchen scale for this recipe. You can watch the video for visual instructions.
- Line a 6x9 (15x23 cm) or a slightly bigger pan with parchment paper or grease it with vegan butter or oil and preheat the oven to 360 °F (182 °C).
- Process all dry ingredients (except the chocolate chips) in a food processor.
- Add all wet ingredients and blend again until the batter is smooth.
- Finally, add the chocolate chips and stir with a spoon.
- Pour the batter into the pan and add more chocolate chips on top.
- Bake for about 35–40 minutes. For fudgy brownies, stick to 35 minutes or less; for cakier brownies, go for 40 minutes or more. Baking time varies with pan size. Test after 30 minutes with a toothpick – if it comes out clean or slightly crumbly, they’re done; if sticky, bake longer.
- Let the brownies cool completely. They will firm up once they cool and taste even better on day two! Enjoy!
Notes
- Granulated sweetener: You can use coconut sugar, organicr sugar, or a sugar-free sweetener like Erythritol.
- Oats: I used rolled oats for this recipe which I processed in an electric coffee/spice grinder to make oat flour. You can use regular rolled oats or gluten-free oats and process them in a blender (or grinder). Of course, you can also use 135 grams of store-bought oat flour.
- Nut butter: You can use almond butter, cashew butter, peanut butter or sunflower seed butter for a nut-free version. If you don't have nut butter, you could use 1/4 cup of oil instead.
- Store: Keep leftover brownies covered in the fridge for up to a week. You can also freeze them!
- Nutrition facts are for one of eight brownies (1/8 of the recipe).
Nutrition information is an estimate and has been calculated automatically
„Simple and Delicious Vegan“ Cookbook by ElaVeganCLICK HERE to order!If you are using Pinterest, feel free to pin the following photo:
I’ve just try this recipe… and they turned out amazing!!! I am actually blown-away by how good they are: soft, moist, super chocholat-y. I’m in love jajaja, i’ve made several brownies in the past and this one go right to the top.
I used 1/4 oil instead of butter (cause didn’t had any) and add a little less sugar and put some agave syrup, also add chopped dark chocolate and some peanuts on top :p the smell is mesmerizing
(I pray to your blog, the recipes are always on point and super well explained, I truly appreciated, it is my favorite. I don’t know why i haven’t written you before!? Anyways, I treasure ur blog, thank you Ela 🙂
*english is not my native so, i hope i didn’t flop too much on grammar)
You are so kind, Victoria, thank you very much for your sweet comment. I am so glad you like my recipes. 🙂
Hi, is it ok to use regular non-vegan butter instead of nut-butter? I have a severe nut allergy but I want to make this for a celiac friend. Thanks a bunch, can’t wait to try the recipe!
You can, but as mentioned in the recipe notes, you can also use sunflower seed butter or 1/4 cup of oil. 🙂
WOW! I don’t have sunflower oil at home so I used the light olive oil I keep for frying and baking and oh-my the result was delicious! I’m definitely making this again. I put 125gr of brown sugar cause I’m trying to cut it down a bit and I also skipped the chocolate chips because they’re sorta pricey where I live (Spain) and I figured they weren’t essential. If you make it for a celiac It’s important to make sure the oats and oat-milk are gluten-free, since it’s apparently not always the case. Thanks a lot for the recipe and for the super quick feed-back. Imma be sending the link to my celiac friends and family
Thanks so much for your amazing feedback, Julia. I am so glad they turned out delicious. 🙂
Even though my batch didn’t come out as good as I would have liked, I’m still giving it five stars because I think the substitutions I made are at fault. The batter tasted amazing before I baked it and so was surprised when the end result wasn’t as delicious. I only had 1 c of zucchini instead of 1.25. I used coconut sugar, which tends to run a little less sweet, in my opinion. Cacao nibs instead of chocolate chips. Ginger apple butter instead natural applesauce. Sugar free sunbutter for my oil. Had I not used the account nibs and more zucchini I think the baked result would be better. And I should checked the oven earlier than 35 because they’d be gooey rather than cakey. But I would totally use this recipe again and try a second time because the batter was super tasty.
Thanks for your feedback, Sara! I think with the chocolate chips, you would have really enjoyed them. 🙂
Hi! Would love to make these brownies! Was wondering if we should squeeze the excess water from the zucchini or not?
Thanks!
Hi, no, I didn’t squeeze out the excess water. 🙂
Thanks!
Good afternoon! I’ m looking forward to preparing this recipe:) could I use hazelnut butter in this? Thanks for clarifying!
Yes, that is totally fine. 🙂
These are delicious! No one would guess the ingredients. The whole family loved them. I only baked them for 28 minutes to keep them gooey and they were perfect. Thank you for the recipe!
Wonderful! Thanks for your great feedback, Kristi! 🙂
These are so amazingly perfect! Even my teenagers who have been a bit critical of my WFPBNO diet loved them! We live in a remote area with limited options so I subbed Agave syrup for the granulated sweetener, eliminated the plant milk, and dropped the cook temp to 340 to keep the agave from over browning/burning the outside of the brownies. They were ooey gooey perfection! I also cut them into 15 slices so about half of what the recipe calls for and they were still more than satisfying!
That’s wonderful, Stacy! I am so glad you love them. 🙂
This is a regular snack/dessert in our household and one of my kids favourites! So easy & quick to make. Thank you, Ela 🙂
Hi Sol, I am so glad you like the brownies. 🙂
I tried using coconut oil instead of nut butter. The batter came out really dry, so I added more nut milk and it tastes like baked oatmeal. not my favorite thing.
Sorry to hear you didn’t like the recipe, Kaitlin. 🙂
What can I substitute instead of oat flour?
Hello, you can use regular flour or spelt flour, if you aren’t gluten-free. One reader tried sorghum flour and another one tried buckwheat flour without issues. 🙂
Hi Ela! When using regular flour or any other is it the same ammount of oat flour? Thanks ❤ i really love all your recipes
Yes, for this recipe can use regular flour in the same amount. 🙂
Hi Ela,
Can i use this zucchini brownie recipe to make the brownie cheesecake?
I never tried it, but it might work. 🙂
I am generally not a great baker but I made these and they came out perfect, moist, delicious! I followed the recipe exactly and could not believe how amazing these turned out. Thanks for such a great and easy recipe!
Hi Anna, I am so glad you liked them! Thanks for your great feedback. 🙂
I just made this tonight because I’m up to my ears in zucchini and it turned out amazing! Thank you so much for the recipe, I’ll definitely be making this again.
Yay, that’s awesome, Nicole! Thanks for your feedback. 🙂
I have sooo much zucchini from my garden right now…so the list of recipes I’ve looked up are endless. I made this one and my oh my. I love it. I did sub the oat flour for sorghum flour instead…just because I didn’t have oat flour. I used carob powder in place of the cocoa powder (allergic to caffeine). Used Missy J’s carob chips! I also used half vanilla almond nut butter/peanut butter. I probably baked it for about 41 minutes and it is the perfect texture…next time will make a frosting to go on top.
That’s awesome, Taylor! I am so glad you liked the brownies. Thanks for your feedback. 🙂
These look great. And smell just like my fudge brownies! I used amlond flour and almond butter. They’ll cool and then and set up in the frig overnight. Can not wait to eat them!
Sounds great! Enjoy. 🙂
Riquísimoooo, lo ame!♥️ Mega húmedo
I am so glad you liked them! 🙂
I made this recipe this weekend and everybody loved it! I almost never bake and it came out perfectly 🙂 Thanks Ela! I will definitely make it again.
That’s so good to hear, Anne-Sophie! Thanks for your great feedback. 🙂
This recipe is INSANELY good. I’m by no means good at baking, but this was easy. I used oat flour, coconut sugar, a mix of peanut butter and tahini, oat milk and I didn’t have chocolate chips so I used smashed dark chocolate. I doubled the recipe for the tray I had so I’ve frozen some, it has been very popular so I already know freezes really well. I’m over the moon I’ve found this recipe. Next batch I’m going to add some nuts on top.
Yay, that’s awesome! I am so glad you love the brownies. 🙂
Absolutely delicious! I tried the recipie and realised I had no butter, so I used 1/4 cup of castor oil and miam miam miam!
I also tend not to like things too sweet, so I only used 60g of brown sugar instead of the 150g suggested and it was perfect! Will try with even less next time.
Thank you!
Hi Goody, did you mean coconut oil? I am glad you liked the brownies. 🙂
Oops, translation error, I meant rapeseed oil!
Thanks for clarification! 🙂
Hello Ela,
Thank you for this fantastic recipe. Can I use muffin molds and make a couple of cupcakes instead of proper brownies?
Yes, that should be fine, but bake them for only about 25 minutes. 🙂
This will be my third attempt at vegan zucchini brownies, and I’ll have to say, third time’s definitely a charm! I made the mistake of not including a flour-like ingredient on my first attempt. And the second recipe actually called for 1 cup of coconut flour, which completely obliterated the batch and outcome (I think it might have been easier to swallow sandpaper than that last batch); and which reading the comments here, is discouraged. But the third? Ohh the third. Let’s just say that this one will now be the default. Who needs to make brownies with the traditional, inflammatory ingredients when you can make these? With your recipe, I used coconut sugar, which has recently become my go-to for a healthier baking sweetener, and added a generous dash of cinnamon (because cinnamon makes everything better). I changed nothing else and used all natural almond butter for my nut butter of choice.
I used a blender to grind the rolled oats into oat flour, and I think the outcome was great, given this was my first time making oat flour. Though it is possible that the mix could have been even further blended for a finer flour, as there were some straggler oats that were not blended, and the brownie had a slight grit to it (similar to but not quite like cornmeal). Not sure if there is a recommended solution for making the finest possible oat flour.
Thanks so much, Ela! This recipe is surely a game changer.
Melody
Hi Melody, I am so glad you liked my recipe. For a finer oat flour, simply blend it longer, that will do the trick. 🙂
Thanks for the tip, Ela! I will try to blend longer next time. But I should add that, the following and subsequent days, there was no noticeable grit whatsoever. Must be that when the brownies cool completely (I’ve stored them in the fridge), the texture settles quite well. Texture is perfect, so much so that one can’t even tell that non-traditional ingredients were used. And I definitely agree with others here — they are even richer the following day, if it is even possible for something that is already so great to improve!
That’s awesome, Melody! Thanks for your great feedback. 🙂
These brownies were delicious! I didn’t realize all oats weren’t gluten free and didn’t have time to order GF oats from the store…so I actually ground up Cheerios last minute and used them instead of oat flour. It turned out so good!!! I was shocked it actually worked. Lol. Will def make these again!
That’s so interesting, thanks for sharing. 🙂