The Best Years in Life Healhy Recipes

Featured Recipe

Delicious Zucchini Brownies with No Gluten or Refined Sugar
(The Best Years in Life) Got a craving for something sweet, chewy and chocolatey but want to want to eat healthier than what you get at the grocers? How about some delicious moist, chocolate brownies that are free of gluten and refined sugar, contain healthy zucchini and which can even be made ovo or lacto-ovo vegetarian depending on what milk selection you choose.

Note: If you want to use regular all purpose non-gluten free flour (bleached or otherwise), it is important to know that this recipe has been modified to use coconut flour, which cannot be substituted one-for-one with regular flour when baking. If you want to do that, go to the original recipe listed as a source at the bottom of this recipe. There is also a link at the end of the recipe to an article about baking with coconut flour.

Ingredients:

For the Brownies

2/3 cup of coconute flour
2/3 cup coconut milk
4 beaten eggs (preferably cage-free organic eggs)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt or sea salt
1/2 cup organic coconut oil (or extra virgins olive oil)
1 1/2 cups coconut sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups shredded zucchini (1 large or 2 small zucchinis)
3-5 tablespoons water
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional

For the Frosting:

3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 cup coconut oil*, melted (or, to make a full vegan recipe
2 cups powdered coconut sugar**
1/4 cup coconut milk or organic milk (raw goat milk would be awesome!)
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch of pink Himalayan salt or sea salt

*An awesomely healthy substitute would be to use coconut and red palm oil shortening.

**You can easily make powdered coconut sugar with a coffee grinder set to "fine" grind.

(As always, The Best Years in Life recommends choosing organic content and fresh content as much as possible for the healthiest recipe. Also, wash all fruits and vegetables before cutting or adding to the recipe.)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9×13? baking pan with foil and spray with cooking spray. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

3.Using an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the oil, sugar, and vanilla until well combined. Add the dry ingredients and stir. Fold in the zucchini. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes so the batter can absorb the moisture from the zucchini. Then, if your mixture is still very powdery, add up to 5 tablespoons water (start with 1 tablespoon and work up from there, stirring well after each addition). The batter will be very thick but shouldn’t be powdery. (It partially depends on how wet your zucchini is!) Add walnuts, if desired. You may need to use your hands to work the water in instead of a spoon. The dough is super thick, like cookie dough. Do not add too much water! Spread in prepared pan.

4. Bake 25-30 minutes until the brownies spring back when gently touched.

5. To make the frosting: Whisk butter, cocoa, salt, and powdered sugar. Whisk in milk and vanilla. Spread over cooled brownies. Cut into squares and chill to semi-set. The frosting hardens slightly on the top but stays wet and gooey underneath.

6. These brownies are best stored in an airtight container and eaten within 2 days. Chill them to make them last an extra day. They’re what I call “fork” brownies because they are so gooey.

Notes

Due to differrences in the consistency and amount of zucchini, you may need to adjust the batter by either adding a bit of coconut flour if the batter is too thin or adding up to 5 tablespoons of water if it is too thick. Ideally the brownies will be moist chewy and not cakey.

To learn more about baking with coconut flour, see: http://nourishedkitchen.com/baking-with-coconut-flour..

Original recipe and image source (as modified): https://www.crazyforcrust.com/zucchini-brownies/

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