Zucchini Brownies

Today’s clever recipe comes from Simply in Season by Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert (kindly lent to me by my lovely friend Kathy – many thanks!). When I first spied it, I was truly intrigued. What a sneaky thing to do; hiding all those veggies and healthy ingredients in a batch of seemingly decadent brownies. Take THAT kids – Hahah! But don’t let the concept turn you off. These ultra moist brownies are rich, dense and delicious. I must say my daughters were slightly skeptical at first, but the results certainly speak for themselves. Besides, they were having too much fun feeding zucchini slices into the food processor to waste time arguing. Ah, bliss..

Yields 24 brownies.

SODIUM CONTENT: 6 mg per brownie

INGREDIENTS

1 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 t. Ener-G sodium-free baking soda (available online at healthyheartmarket.com)
3 c. shredded zucchini (1 medium zucchini)
1 egg
3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. Stonyfield Farm organic lowfat vanilla yogurt
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 c. semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13-inch pan and set aside.

Measure the flours, cocoa and baking soda into a mixing bowl and whisk well. Add the zucchini, egg, sugars, yogurt and oil and stir well to combine. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to make certain everything is incorporated. Last, stir in the chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Place pan on the middle rack in the oven and bake 35 minutes. Remove from oven and place pan on a wire rack to cool. Cool fully before cutting into bars. Store leftovers in an airtight container.