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Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bars

4.96 from 21 votes

These homemade soft and chewy chocolate chip zucchini bars are great for a healthy dessert or snack.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bars - Ingredients: 1 cup zucchini, 1/4 cup chocolate chips, 2 tsp vanilla, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 tbsp... Full recipe: https://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2014/11/03/chocolate-chip-zucchini-bars/ @choccoveredkt, & gluten-free options. Secretly healthy chocolate chip zucchini bars. Recipe link: https://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2014/11/03/chocolate-chip-zucchini-bars/
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There’s NO oil required for these chocolate chip zucchini bars ♥

It’s a safe bet that if you invite me over, I won’t show up empty-handed.

The reality of being someone who makes desserts for a living is that I always have way too much food in my apartment, and there’s no possible way I can eat it all by myself (although I do a pretty good job!).

On Saturday morning, I made four batches of these chocolate chip zucchini bars, playing around with the ingredients until I came up with the perfected recipe that yielded bars with a deliciously soft and gooey blondie texture.

Leftover Zucchini? Make Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Blondies

The zucchini adds moisture to the recipe, enabling one to cut back on the fat without sacrificing flavor.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bars
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With batches of zucchini bars now threatening to take over my kitchen, I was happy for an excuse to carefully package them and take some with me to a Halloween party.

Using up leftovers + finding a large group of taste testers for my recipe free of charge + making people happy with a homemade dessert = win win win.

Chocolate Covered Katie 2014 picture

This year I went as a biker chick, complete with a faux leather jacket, spikey stilettos that I grew to abhor as the night progressed, and an adorable chick hat handmade by a sweet lady on Etsy.

(And now I am just a little obsessed with Etsy…)

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays because it involves three of my favorite things: puns, costumes, and eating copious amounts of chocolate.

zucchini bars

Not that I don’t already do that last one every other day of the year…

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bars - Ingredients: 1 cup zucchini, 1/4 cup chocolate chips, 2 tsp vanilla, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 tbsp... Full recipe: https://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2014/11/03/chocolate-chip-zucchini-bars/ @choccoveredkt
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Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bars

These soft and chewy chocolate chip zucchini bars are great for a healthy dessert or snack.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Yield 12 – 16 bars
5 from 21 votes

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup finely shredded zucchini (I used a food processor) (120g)
  • 1 cup almond butter or allergy-friendly sub
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp flour (I had success with spelt, white, sorghum, almond, and ww pastry)
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar of choice or xylitol
  • 1/4 cup or more chocolate chips

Instructions

  • Zucchini Bars Recipe: Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan and set aside. In a medium bowl, gently heat the nut butter if it is not already stir-able, then stir in the zucchini and vanilla. Set aside. In a separate mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt, baking soda, sugar of choice, and chocolate chips. Pour dry ingredients into wet and keep stirring—it may seem dry at first, so be sure to break up the nut butter and stop occasionally to scrape it off your spoon. It will eventually get gooey like cookie dough. Transfer the batter into the pan, and smooth down evenly. Press chocolate chips into the top if desired. Bake for 10 minutes. When you take the bars out, the top will look set but underneath they will still be quite undercooked. This is good! Leave the bars to cool for at least 20 minutes, and they will firm up during this time. They taste even sweeter the next day!
    View Nutrition Facts

Notes

Also be sure to try these popular Chickpea Blondies.
 

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Published on November 3, 2014

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Chocolate Covered Katie is one of the top 25 food websites in America, and Katie has been 
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ABC's 5 O’Clock News. Her favorite food is chocolate, and she believes in eating dessert every single day.

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136 Comments

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  1. Lucy says

    I’ve never baked with zucchini before- can you taste it in the finished bars? Thanks!
    PS: Katie you should make granola! I bet I know what your first flavour would be XD

  2. Jodi@prairiekuchen says

    Took my 2 kids trick or treating and carved a pumpkin. I had good intentions of dressing up with them and making it a family ordeal – but I had all I could do with getting them dressed up 🙂

  3. EVA says

    I’m not gonna lie, I’m “goth” metalhead, and to me you look like an emo middleschooler! Ha! At least that’s what middle school around here looked like.

    This year, I had a fever but wanted to sit outside and watch the wee ones in their costumes. UNFORTUNATELY Chicago was hit with high wind warnings and it was literally hailing every 15 minutes. So, I just ate on Halloween paper plates for dinner from the dollar store as my “celebrating”. So lame!

      • EVA says

        I don’t remember saying it was a bad thing, actually. It’s Halloween and that’s what I interpreted her costume to be; so what? It brings me back in time to my days of middle school! Back to the last years of my trick-or-treating! YEESH.

  4. Olivia says

    Hey Katie! These look delicious! Love your costume too. I went as a doctor this year! It was thrown together last minute, but I popped the lenses out of some really big, goofy reading glasses and added a fake fuzzy mustache so it looked pretty funny! I’m so glad to hear you shop on Etsy, I love it too because I love to support handmade art! I dont want to go advertising on your site but I got excited when you mentioned Etsy, I wanted to show you my own Etsy shop because it’s kind of related to your site – except instead of your passion for making edible food, my passion is making tiny (non-edible!) food! This is mine:
    https://www.etsy.com/shop/livvylee
    Also, have you seen the handmade insulated cloth food baggies that zip up? You can wash them and reuse them instead of wasting the disposable plastic baggies. Those are definitely my next Etsy purchase because they’re so cute!

    Olivia

  5. Diana says

    You are BRILLIANT! I made them today because I had bought zucchini because it looked good at the store but I had no idea what to do with it. And then I came on your blog and saw this recipe and it was like it was meant to be!
    And they came out just as good as I imagined. They are gooey and SO good. I followed the recipe to a to except using almond butter. ❤️❤️

      • Stephanie says

        Mine were total goo…. I mixed it back up with one egg and baked again, now they’re like a real bar… ?? Did I do something wrong? I was surprised there wasn’t an egg on your recipe…

        • Jason Sanford says

          Hmmm, I didn’t have that issue when I made these, but maybe you just got an extra watery zucchini or something? Also they do need time in the fridge to set. Happy you were able to fix yours with an egg, but if you ever don’t want to use an egg, you can also just try putting them only loosely covered in the fridge overnight so they’ll firm up that way 🙂

  6. Brianna says

    Okay so i just made these this afternoon and they turned out amazing! I made a couple changes however to make them grain free!!! First I substituted the 2/3 cup of sugar for 2/3 cup of maple syrup. Second, I used 1/4 cup of coconut flour instead of the 1/4 and 2 tbsp of regular flour. I also cooked it a bit longer, but didn’t track how much extra time it took. Anyway they were delicious! I will definitely make it again!

    For halloween I re-used my costume from last year, I was a big-booty grandma. I’m pregnant this year so i went as a pregnant grandma, and used the butt padding i had as extra belly, to make me really pop out!

  7. Sarah says

    Have you used PB2 in any of your recipes? I am just wondering if it bakes the same as regular peanut butter…Thanks!

  8. trajayjay says

    You know those coloring book activities that are labeled 1, 2, 3, and so on. Then they ask you to color it according to the number. I dressed as one of those except gorier. I think lots of ppl loved it. I certainly did.

  9. Katie Darvin says

    Do you think that we could use a yellow zucchini so it is less noticeable? they look soooo good and I could trick my friends into eating healthy blondes! mwah-ha-ha-ha

  10. Sarah says

    Saw this recipe and immediately made a batch! So yummy and definitely gooey! I used crunchy peanut butter which added a bit of a crunch also.

  11. Hannah says

    This recipe is a keeper! They were really easy to throw together and the only thing I needed to buy was the zucchini. Your recipes always turn out fantastic and these bars were no exception. My daughter liked them too!

  12. Jennifer says

    Just made these and they rose up about twice as high as yours. I imagine they’ll still taste awesome, though. I used honey instead of sugar. Should I have changed up the cooking temp/time any?

  13. Shaun Marsh says

    OMG… this will be made this week!!!! This looks fabulous and perfect for the start of our winter. Thanks for posting it.

  14. Roz says

    These look delicious! Courgettes and chocolate are 2 of my favourite things.. so I can’t wait to try them 🙂

    Just one question though, if I’m making them with Stevia instead of Sugar or Xylitol, how much do you think I should use? I know Stevia is much sweeter, just not sure how much sweeter! 🙂

  15. Christina McCormick says

    Hi Katie,

    Just baked these bars and they are SO YUMMY!!!

    Thanks for working so hard to create it.

    I was curious though, in nutrition facts for this bar says it’s for one bar out of the 16. Did you mean out of the total 6?

    Thanks!

  16. Alyssa B says

    What would some good subs for peanut butter be? Do you mean like a different kind of nut butter, or something else?

    • Anna says

      Yes, any nut butter will do. I used almond butter with good results. If you can’t have nuts, then you can use sunbutter

  17. Sally Walker says

    Katie, I love your recipes. Thanks so much for sharing. I had to cook these a lot longer, 20 to 25 minutes. They are yummy though.

  18. lori says

    Made this yesterday for a party – huge hit! I am the only one who needed allergy-friendly and it’s a critical group but huge success!!! I did cook for extra10 mins to get them to firm up more. Fabulous recipe! Looking forward to experimenting with the sugar now to see how stevia would be….

  19. Karla says

    Hi Katie, I made these bars last week and they were soooo good. You don’t feel the zucchini at all. I think this recipe is great for kids :).

    Thanks for sharing!

  20. Vanitha G says

    I must have mucked up the proportion of ingredients because I ended up with a gooey mess. It was delicious though. I doubled the quantity and baked it for quite a bit but something went wrong. I just couldn’t cut it in squares because it was just too soft. On a brighter note, I’ve purchased your book and waiting for it to be delivered.

    • Chocolate Covered Katie says

      Unfortunately some recipes just do not work correctly when doubled in exact quantities, especially if using the same baking time. But all is not lost for yours… just let them sit in the fridge overnight and they will probably still firm up. Be sure to report back with results if that works for you!

  21. janice esposito says

    Got your new book and love it. Have made a few things so far. Recipes are quick and easy to follow and I appreciate that I can make and eat something healthier since I don’t do dairy,refined sugar or gluten.
    Thank you for your work of art.

  22. Holly says

    I made them today and they were fantastic! I used creamy peanut butter, all purpose flour, regular sugar and dark chocolate chips so probably not the healthiest way to make them but it’s what I had on hand and everyone loved them.
    I squeezed the zucchini juice out prior to reading the comments about not doing that, but it worked fine.

  23. Liz says

    these look amazing! Do you like a low carb flour substitute would work? Like almond flour or coconut flour? And if so how much?

    Thanks!

  24. pamela says

    I haven’t tried them yet, the pan is in the fridge until the oven is clear of a roast… Are they supposed to be super thin? I always end up doubling your recipes and, it still seems like not enough. I have a 9×11 pan and for the depth of blondie I am used to, only got 3/4 of the pan. Do they rise? Should I flatten it out to fill the pan?

  25. Destiny says

    Made these today and they turned out so good! I used some shredded zucchini I had in my freezer from last summer and it worked just fine?

  26. Mary says

    I am looking for the recipe for the regular choc chip zucchini bars, not the blonde choc chip zucchini bars. Somehow I can’t find it. Are they one and the same?

  27. Briana says

    Just made these today and they were delicious! I added some crushed walnuts on top which added a perfect crunchy element to these gooey bars. I have been loving all of your recipes and I’m so inspired to eat healthier:)

  28. amy says

    I made these bars, i love baking with zucchini, thought these were good, a little too underdone. Baked for 10 mins and after 40 minutes of cooling they are extremely too soft to cut into a bar, will make again but add few mins to baking time. Thanks for new recipe!

    • Unofficial CCK Helper says

      If underdone next time, you can also place the tray in the fridge overnight and they’ll firm up!

  29. Tori Huddleston says

    Katie, I have followed your blog for a long time and have tried many different recipes by you! I have loved them all but last week I tried the zucchini blondie bars and was amazed at how delicious they turned out!!!! I used half peanut butter and half crunchy almond butter and it was amazing! My husband and I have made them three times in less than a week and have shared with friends who also loved them!!!

  30. Lynnie says

    5 stars
    Just wanted to let you know you have saved me. I have a garden full of zucchini and this recipe is going to help me use it up. What a great idea and super tasty, too. Thanks, CCK.

  31. Beverley Tavio says

    Can almond flour be used here? I’m always trying to cut carb content. This looks delicious and I want to try it – so if not almond flour, which flour is lowest in carb?

  32. Florence says

    5 stars
    Just made these and used coconut flour instead of grain flour. Awesome! It’s gluten free and soooo yummy! What a great recipe.

  33. Regina says

    5 stars
    Made these tonight and they came out AMAZING!! So chewy and gooey like brownies! Also added some walnuts and honey in place of sugar. Will definitely make this again 😉

  34. Sue says

    5 stars
    These are great! My only mistake was using demerara sugar, which is too coarse and it stayed crunchy (which is fine if you like that sort of thing). Next time I’ll use regular brown sugar, or break up the demerara sugar in the blender first.

  35. Cassandra says

    5 stars
    I saw a recipe for zucchini carrot coconut craisin cookies! Wondering how all these will go into your recipe? Also wondering if the recipe could be eaten raw like bliss balls?

  36. Lola says

    Hey Katie, these look amazing! Just a question – do you recommend substituting a liquid like maple syrup or honey for sugar? If so, how much ? Can’t wait to try them!

  37. Kathy says

    Just wondering if I were to use stevia in these brownies, how much would I use??? I am reading Stevia is sweeter than regular sugar, and I don’t have any Xylitol. Thanks

  38. Kris says

    Hi.. Zuchini is a very wet ingredient when grated, even if finely. I assume that you don’t want us to wring or squeeze the excess water? Thanks in advance for your reply– if anyone besides CCK has an opinion, please let me know. I’d like to make these soon!!!

    • Kathryn says

      Hey, I know I might be too late, but to answer your question- use the shredded zucchini as is, with the liquid. I did and they are awesome! Plus, someone else asked too and Katie said she also kept the liquid 🙂

  39. Tami says

    I baked these today. They really seem very under cooked. I even left them in the oven for a few extra minutes too. The taste is great but it’s like eating raw peanut butter cookie dough. Not like there is anything wrong with eating cookie dough…but it would be the kind of dessert you serve with a fork or spoon…not like a bar or something you can hold and eat from your hands

    • Kathryn says

      Did you let them firm up for a while before trying to cut? I let mine cool about 15 minutes, then I put them in the fridge overnight and they were perfect!

  40. Kathryn says

    Oh my goodness, Katie! Why did I wait so long to make these?? I just made them the other night for my son’s lunchbox (and I wanted some), and they are amazing! Literally amazing! I love them almost as much as your Gooey Chocolate Chip Brownie Bars and those are my absolute favorite, so…Thank you!

  41. Bella says

    This recipe, in my opinion was ok.. While the bars just completely taste like peanut butter (the zucchini seems to get lost in the recipe), they are very good. I followed the recipe to a “tee” and they just didn’t firm up enough. When you bite into them, it’s like eating a mouthful of gooey peanut butter. I think calling it a “blondie” is a stretch. They are more just like peanut butter bars.

  42. tara says

    I’m curious Katie, why do you use spelt flour? I was looking it up and it has less fiber and more sugar than whole wheat flour (hard red spring). I know it’s better than white flour/common wheat though.

  43. Jenn says

    I never leave comments but I HAD to for these. I had all the ingredients in the kitchen so I decided to give them a try and OMG…they are so SO delicious!!!! Decadent, soft and melt in your mouth…and you would never know there’s zucchini in them.
    Thank you for this incredible recipe Katie??

  44. Nisba says

    Would it be possible to replace the sugar with honey? I don’t get stevia where I live (India), but I’d like to make this as healthy as I can. Thanks in advance!

  45. Heather says

    I just made these and they look and smell delicious. I’m concerned that they are not cooked enough. The top center of the bar still feel doughy. Did I do something wrong? Should I bake them longer?

    • Jason Sanford says

      Some ovens take longer than others, so maybe yours need a little longer. But if you stick them in the fridge overnight, they should firm up to a good texture!

  46. Ash says

    I made these with 1/2-1 cup of oatmeal to turn them into breakfast-worthy bars. Not that I don’t find them to a fantastic breakfast as they are. I just have to downplay my chocolate obsession for the sake of my husband and toddlers.

    “It has zucchini and oatmeal. OF COURSE they’re a healthy breakfast. And yes. It’s a healthy breakfast you could eat every day Dear. And it’s totally acceptable to eat a whole pan to yourself….. No, maybe I don’t need to be eating them in the kitchen pantry or hidden in the fridge….” 😉

    • Ash says

      I should also add that the oatmeal makes a great addition if you want a firmer bar.

      No waiting necessary, and you can spoon it straight out of the pan in all it’s melty-chocolaty peanut-buttery amazingness.

  47. Phoebe says

    These are my favorite recipe I’ve tried from CCK so far! They turned out a little undercooked – next time I will need to cook them maybe 5-10 minutes more, but they are still delicious! Hopefully they will firm up in the fridge overnight. Couldn’t help myself from eating a whole row.

  48. Shannon says

    Thank you so much for the recipe Katie…made these 3 times already. My son enjoys baking anything with “green sugar.” Just linked to you (hope you don’t mind) on my new blog!

  49. Beth says

    Do you think it would work to wrap individually and freeze them? I made these yesterday. They looked nice and fluffy when I took them out of the oven. When I checked them 20 minutes later, they had sunk and were really gooey. I put them back in the oven for 10 min. and they came out a little too dark and were still not set. This is when I went back to the recipe and realized I should have just put them in the fridge. Oh well, they did firm up over night and they still taste great. Do you normally store them in the fridge?

    • Jason Sanford says

      I like to store mine in the fridge, but yes you can absolutely freeze them. I’ve done that too!

    • CCK Media Team says

      They can, and yes! (It will also work just fine to double them but not double the baking soda if you prefer.)

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