Here are the brownies I promised you if they worked out. And they worked out with bells on. They were rich, moist and had these enormous lumps of chocolate in them. That was because I didn’t cut up the chocolate very small. My friend’s teenage son said they were the best brownies he had ever eaten but wanted to know what the green bits were in them. I guess I could have peeled the zucchini so no trace of them remained. He appeared to accept the vegetable content of the brownies with nonchalance.
I have created my own gluten-free flour mixture to make my life easier. I make it up and keep it in a large Tupperware container so it is ready when the baking bug bites me. If you wish to make any of these or my future baking recipes, it would pay to make up this mix as well.
This is the mix:
2 cups brown rice – Purchase here
3 cups white rice – Purchase here
1 cup sorghum flour – Purchase here
2 cups potato starch – Purchase here
1 cup tapioca flour – Purchase here
5 tsp xanthan gum – Purchase here
And now the recipe.
How funny – I am baking a courgette loaf today but not quite as healthy as yours. I hadn’t thought to add chocolate chunks so might just try that out. Lovely as usual.
I like the idea of vegetables in our baking. There’s something wholesome about it and therefore satisfying in a way that baking from just butter, sugar and flour isn’t.
I like your gluten-free flour mix! A good mix of protein and starches for binding. I read somewhere that a good gluten free flour mix is about 40/60 protein and starch mix. Can I also replace xanthan gum with guar gum?
Anyway, I will definitely be trying out your brownies – minus “most” of the guilt. Deeeee-licious!
I wonder if mine has that mix. I will have to do the calculations and maybe adjust. Yes, you can use guar gum.
Lovely pictures and gluten free cake 🙂
Thanks, Maria.
I love the quote! I’ll print it, frame it and put it on a wall in my kitchen 🙂
Good idea! Not that we have to convince ourselves that chocolate is good for us. LOL.
I love the texture and moisture that zucchini gives to a quick bread, so I’m certain these brownies are divine!!! My kiddos would question the specks of green, too!
I can’t believe how many vegetables I have used in my baking in the last year. However, there are a few I couldn’t imagine using!
You are a healthy genius. If they’re healthy I can eat more right? Okay that’s not right. They look so moist and yummy, I just want to take a big old bite, or ten.
Thanks, Kim. Healthy genius? I’ll take that.
Ten bites would be about right.
These brownies look wonderful! I’ve hidden grated zucchini in chocolate muffins before and no one could tell ;).
Veges can be hidden quite nicely. My family never guess what I have used and I have used some strange things in the past.
We often use zucchini in breads, but I don’t think we’ve ever used it in brownies (I know I haven’t, though possibly my wife has — though I don’t think so). Great idea! And I love finding chunks of chocolate in anything! Great pictures, great recipe — thanks.
I guess zucchini in breads is less unusual because it is savoury anyway but the taste disappears completely so it’s fine in sweet baking too. Yes, chunks of chocolate are a definite plus.
Thank you for sharing your gluten free flour mix Suzanne
I need to look for a couple of ingredients and I really hope I can find them to give this a try
You can always buy them from Amazon if you can’t find them locally. You can use guar gum instead of xanthan gum if that’s easier to find. They both do a great job of holding the baking together.
Emma-butternut pumpkin sholud be limited to 1/2 cup( that would be butternut squash in the US) and the US info on our (big round orange) pumpkin shows it as a mannitol source BUT the Australian info straight from Monash University in Melbourne says Pumpkin is OK so I think for you in Aussie pumpkin as you call it, is low in FODMAP. Tofu, because of the way it is processed makes it okay-low FODMAP and some soy milks too are OK such as SoGood is low in FODMAP and Bonsoy in 1/2 cup serving is low in FODMAP too, while Vitasoy, is high in FODMAPs. So MANY details to work out, right? Hope that helps a bit!Kate
Let’s be clear here. We can have 1/4 cup of butternut pumpkin and 1/2 a cup of the common round orange pumpkin called jap pumpkin. That is on the Monash University app.
As for soy milk, you can only drink the ones that are made from the soya protein, not the whole bean and there are not many of them so it is best to avoid soy milk.