ZUCCHINI BROWNIES

Say whaaaa?!!

I know, right… A vegetable in a brownie? What’s next? A tomato in a cake?? Well… to be honest, I already have a recipe for that, just need to polish a bit more here and there, since that tomato cake recipe was from my late grandmother. HA HA!

It was the BESTEST cakest everest!! 😀

I just need to tweak it a bit more into a healthier gluten free version for me. And you, of course. How could I forget you?

So anyways, for those of you who think a zucchini is some Italian pasta, well, it’s not. It’s a vegetable, much like a cucumber, but so different in texture and taste.

I’ve used it to make raw dips, and Zoodles (zucchini noodles). I’ve roasted them and baked them, eaten them raw, I just love zucchinis because of their bland taste. So easy to mould into anything you want it to be. But I must warn you though, zucchinis cry a lot. They weep. They let out water, since they’re such a high water content vegetable . Which in this case is good. To achieve a moist cake.

So this is Zucchini. Or Courgette in some countries.

Okay, without further a do, here we go with that recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

• ½ cup shredded zucchini (peeled) (manually grate or use food processor)
• ¼ cup coconut flour
• ¼ cup almond flour
• ¼ cup GF all purpose flour
• ¼ cup light buckwheat flour
• 1 cup water
• ¼ cup plantbasedmilk
• ½ cup applesauce (apple puree)
• 7 drops Medicinal Flower Vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp flaxmeal
• ¼ cup Coconut Oil
• ¼ cup raw cacao powder or unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup xylitol or sugar of choice ( I just prefer xylitol)
• 1/16 tsp pure stevia powder,
• ¼ cup mini chocolate chips, optional

DIRECTIONS:

Firstly heat your oven to 180 celcius ( around 350 F)

Combine all your flours in a bowl with the baking powder and cacao or cocoa, and xylitol and stevia + salt and flax meal.Mix.

Now add water and plantbased milk ( I used almond milk) and mix until incorporated well . Add the Vanilla extract, applesauce, and coconut oil last and mix some more with your spatula.

Pour into a baking tin and bake for around 25 minutes.

(You need to check though, if you have an oven that has not been calibrated in a long time, It may take a little longer. )

Add the optional chocolate chips just before baking. I used ¼ cup vegan choc chip on one side and just a tablespoon of vegan carob chips sweetened with stevia on the other side, because my parents also wanted some cake as a treat, and they have just recovered from being hospitalized from heart attack and high blood pressure (I know, right?? But they have been so good, I thought they deserved a treat ☺ )

Note:

I used Medicinal Flower extracts not because I am endorsed, I just LOVE this product. They are high quality, no nonsense, no alchohol extracts with such a range of flavors to choose from. They even have coffee WITHOUT the caffeine. They have a special way of extracting it, that makes it that super special. I love companies that do things with LOVE.

I also used xylitol, because I don’t believe in putting to much sugar in my diet, especially when it involves my children and parents. Xylitol is taken from the birch sap and is so so so much lower on the glycemic index, although it is still a processed food.

Okay, do try it out and see how you go. I hope you try it and tag me on my instagram

Have fun!!