Flourless zucchini brownies

I have not made flourless brownies with a secret ingredient in them since the great U2 incident of September 2009. Loved the show, hated the traffic. Ate almost the entire pan of brownies with a friend while waiting to get out of the parking lot. I liked them, but the thought of them still stresses me out. I may still have PTSD from that four hour ride (that shouldn't have taken longer than 50 minutes), but I digress. It is time for a new "secret ingredient" brownie.

I saw this recipe posted on a friend's facebook page this past week. I figured, why not-we have insane amounts of zucchini from our CSA haul last week, and I had just about every other ingredient in the house just waiting to be used. Plus-and this is a bonus-it looked pretty easy. Aside from grating the zucchini, of course, and even that wasn't all that bad. *Almost* a one bowl dish (I used a grater and a plate to hold the zucchini, so I can't really call it a one bowl brownie recipe. Technically.). I was in a baking mood this weekend and wanted to try something new.

As I made these, Adam came downstairs, lured by the smells coming from the oven. Unfortunately (well, fortunately for me), once he discovered that it was chocolate baking, he didn't feel the need to taste test. See, the good thing for me is that Adam doesn't care much for chocolate, so I get to eat all of it in the house. The bad thing for me is that Adam doesn't care much for chocolate, so I have to eat all of it in the house. Normally I wouldn't complain, but I can't justify eating a whole pan of brownies by myself. So I did the next best thing, and I brought them to work.

I'll admit that I was a little bit embarrassed when mention of the brownies made it into today's staff meeting (but welcome to you guys if you're reading this!). I was excited that they were such a hit, though. I loved them too-soft, chocolate-y, a little nutty hint (kind of like a chocolate peanut butter). It uses my new favorite, almond butter, and the only bad thing about that is that I'm now out of it and have to head back to Trader Joe's for more (I enjoy my almond butter and raspberry jam sandwiches on Fridays, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.). These brownies were sweet, but not sickly sweet. Soft and gooey, but not so gooey that they couldn't be eaten without falling apart (unless you ate two straight out of the oven like I did). You can hardly tell that there's zucchini in it, and these brownies work for those who want to eat better but want to pretend they're cheating. They're gluten-free, even (if that's your thing. If it's not, you really don't miss it here anyway). How could you go wrong?

I'll tell you how. When the pan is empty.


 Flourless Zucchini Brownies (recipe obtained from delightedmomma.com)

1 c. almond butter (I love Trader Joe's raw almond butter, and they're not as expensive as some other brands. Sometimes you can luck out at Market Basket too)
1.5 c. shredded zucchini (about 1-2 zucchini)
1/3 c. honey
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 12 oz. bag of dark chocolate chips (the original recipe calls for just one cup. I like my brownies extra chocolate-y!)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place all ingredients into a medium bowl and mix well. Line your 8x8 baking pan with foil or parchment paper, then put baking spray over it to prevent sticking. Pour batter into pan and make sure it is evenly spread out. Bake brownies for about 40 minutes (some ovens might need about five minutes more or less). When a knife inserted into the center comes back clean, they're ready!