Double Chocolate Zucchini Cake Brownies

Caroline took charge of this recipe and did a fabulous job! The only ingredient I had a hard time finding was the xanthan gum (and by hard time I mean I had to go to a second store... not all that hard). And these came out AMAZING! They taste no different than real brownies and were a huge hit at the party. I think Eric even tried and enjoyed one or two.

We went for the mini-muffin size because it makes it look like you have so much more and they also cook a lot faster (I think ours were in for 15-20 minutes), and who the hell has a brownie pan?!?

Ingredients

• 2 cups good all-purpose gluten-free flour
• ¾ tsp. xanthan gum (omit if using a flour blend that has xanthan gum)
• 1½ tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1½ cups sugar
• ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
• ¼ cup melted unsalted butter or margarine, or canola oil
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• ¼ cup cocoa powder (I used a mixture of part Hershey’s Dark Chocolate, and part Saco dutch cocoa blend so that my brownies would be dark)
• 2 cups shredded zucchini (unpeeled, or peel to avoid green flecks. If large zucchini, discard seeds)
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (dairy-free use Enjoy Life semi-sweet chips)
• Additional ⅓ cup to ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips for topping

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, xanthan gum, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat sugar, applesauce, butter/margarine/oil, and vanilla extract for 30 seconds.
3. Add flour mixture and continue beating for about 1 minute, until mixture resembles wet sand.
4. Add the shredded zucchini, then the cocoa powder, and mix on low until combined.
5. Stir in the 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips.
6. Pour brownie batter into greased 7×11 pan or use a cookie scoop/ice cream scoop to scoop into brownie pan.
7. Sprinkle extra ⅓-1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips over the top of brownie batter.
8. Bake 7×11 pan at 350° for 25-32 minutes, or until brownies are set. (Due to chocolate chips in batter, it is hard to get a toothpick to come out entirely clean).
9. If using brownie pan, bake brownies at 350° for 15-18 minutes or until brownies are set. Let them cool in pan about 4-5 minutes, then gently use a spatula to remove. My little Pampered Chef metal spatula worked great at getting them out.
10. Cool on wire rack.
11. Serve at room temp or warm for about 10 seconds for a truly melty, gooey dessert!

Recipe from http://mygluten-freekitchen.com

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