Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bars

By srumbel

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

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup zucchini, shredded very finely (I used a food processor) (120g)
• 1 cup peanut butter OR allergy-friendly alternative (230g)
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp flour (I had success with spelt, white, sorghum, and ww pastry) (50g)
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar of choice or xylitol (120g)
• 1/4 cup or more chocolate chips

Preparation

Step 1

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!

Makes 12-16 zucchini bars