You’re either going to love me or hate me for this post. Why? Because this grain-free chocolate cake which just so happens to have zucchini in it is AMAZING. You will love how rich and chocolaty it is, how moist and tender. You will be utterly amazed that this cake has no flour of any kind and that there is zucchini in it. Zucchini! It is sweetened with maple syrup and that’s all. After your first bite, you might exclaim, “Three cheers for Pamela!”
Orrrrrrr, you will find this cake, which is more like a cross between a brownie and cake, completely irresistible and TOO amazing. You will walk by it on the countertop and find the uncontrollable need to even out all the edges until you are left with a mere crumb. But you’ll convince yourself it’s healthful! It contains almond butter and zucchini. Zucchini! And you will not be able to stop eating it. The next time you make it you will freeze most of it so that you are not tempted by its chocolaty goodness and inhale three-fourths of it before the kids get home. But you cannot stop dreaming about this cake so you find out it even taste good FROZEN because there is no waiting when it comes to this cake. And after you eat all of the frozen cake, you might exclaim, “I curse the day I met Pamela! Darn this chocolate amazingness!”
And that’s what I’m talking about.
Even Mr. Picky himself went crazy for this cake. I actually came clean and told him there was zucchini in here and he didn’t care!! If you are nut-free, don’t sweat. Substitute sunflower butter in an equal amount and it will work perfectly. Sunflower butter does have a slightly nuttier flavor, almost like peanut butter. But I when I made the cake with sunflower butter for some nut-free people, they couldn’t detect it. Make it. Devour it. Love it. Share it. Tell me all about it.
Grain-free Chocolate Zucchini Cake Recipe and VIDEO
Ingredients
- coconut oil or butter for greasing pan
- 1 cup creamy, unsweetened, unsalted almond butter, raw or roasted, or sunflower butter for a nut-free cake
- 1/3 cup pure Grade A maple syrup or raw honey
- ¼ cup raw cacao or cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine ground sea salt
- 1 teaspoon instant coffee powder, optional
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups of shredded zucchini, about 2 small
- 1 cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 x 8 or 9 x 9-inch pan. If you want to remove the cake from the pan in one piece, line it with unbleached parchment paper as well.
- In a large bowl combine the almond butter, maple syrup, cacao powder, salt, coffee powder, egg, vanilla, and baking soda until smooth.
- Stir in zucchini and chocolate chips.
- Pour into prepared pan and bake until just set and a toothpick comes out clean or with dry crumbs. Do not overbake. A 9 x 9 pan will take 35-45 minutes. An 8 x 8 pan will take 40-50 minutes. Allow to cool before serving.
Notes
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!
I just made this today and substituted the egg with a “Chia seed egg” to make it Plant based. It was so delicious and moist. I could not believe how the zucchini disappears. Excellent recipe!
Great!!! I know, isn’t awesome how the zucchini is undetectable?
I LOVE these brownies but I also love nutritional information. I’m really concerned with what I put in my body and would have loved to have this information on hand.
Hi! I get it. I use an app called my fitness pal, and there’s a free version. You can input recipes into the app and tell it how many servings from the recipe, and it will give you the combined nutritional values for a serving from the different ingredients. I love this feature of the app. I know it’s not ready-made and done, but if she doesn’t get a chance to come back and answer with the nutritional info, you could find it out this way. Hope that’s helpful!
Thank you!
Delicious cake- host asked me to bring a healthy dessert… & everyone loved it, including my teenager! Thank you so much!!
I am so grateful to have discovered your cookbook in the library, bought my own copy & then signed up for your dinner planners. Your recipes are always winners for my family & that is a tough standard. Thank you!!!!
Oh, just make my day why don’t you!
I saw you make this on Home & Family a few weeks ago and have already made this 3 times! Everyone who has tried it, loves it! My husband think it’s better than our family’s favorite chocolate cake; I do too!! This is a keeper!!!
I made this on Sunday and it is AMAZING. I did it in cupcake tray and it worked perfectly. Thank you!
Terrific!
Hi Pamela,
Your zucchini brownie recipe lools delish.
Can you please provide the nutritional values ? Important when it comes to recipes offering a healthy alternative.
Thanks so much.
Sorry for the silly question, but would this recipe work well to make both mini cupcakes and standard cupcakes? Would I need to make any adjustments and how many do you think one batch would make? Thank you!!
Not a silly question at all! Yes, you can make cupcakes or mini cupcakes. I am going to guess you can get 9-10 standard cupcakes out of this recipe and there are different sizes for mini muffin tins, so I don’t know. CHeck the cupcakes at the 20-minute mark.
Hi Pamela! Been watching people make this all week during the pandemic and am excited to try. How critical is the nut butter? Do u have any subs for it? Many thanks, stay safe and healthy!
Hi! Nut butter is totally critical here. You can use any kind of nut butter you want. You can use tahini which will give it a sesame flavor. You can use sunflower butter, but the cake will have a dark green color to it. You can probably use a product called Granola Butter, but I haven’t tried that.
My son cannot have eggs. What is a good substitute?
I actually made this vegan with a flax egg – 1 Tablespoon ground flax meal mixed with 3 Tablespoons warm water. Allow to sit on the countertop for 10-15 minutes before adding to the batter. 🙂
For the second year in a row my son requested this cake for his birthday cake. He’s 11 years old now. None of the invited children know how healthy it is. All they know is how delicious it is.
Ahhhh!! Love it!! How amazing is that! Good job, mama 🙂
I made this cake many times, thank you for this wonderful recipe. Now, I would like to make it vegan. I read your comment about flex-egg but wondered if an apply sauce or mashed banana will work? And how much to substitute one egg? Thank you!
Gosh, I have no idea since I haven’t tried it. I imagine it would work with either, but there’s the possibility of the cake being a little denser. 1/4 cup of applesauce?
I made this tonight and oh my word…it was delicious! I froze individual slices for later. A great recipe I’ll be using again and again. Thank you!
SO glad! It also stays well in the fridge for the week. Although it’s less tempting in the freezer 😉