Aug 19 Courgette Brownies Tweet Yum You would never know these delicious decadent brownies have courgettes in them and so far, friends and family haven’t had a clue what either of the secret ingredients are: the courgettes to add an extra moistness (essential in a brownie); the espresso powder to enhance the chocolate flavour, giving an extra chocolatey taste with no hint of coffee. I love courgette season but OH doesn’t look forward to the masses of his least favourite vegetable turning up everywhere. So, after plenty of ratatouille, roasted courgette quiche, courgette soup, Smoked Salmon with Courgette Savoury Cake, lasagne and Courgette and Ginger Jam, OH was pleased to try courgette in a brownie. I hate to waste food even if the courgettes are growing so fast there are enough for the compost heap, so these Courgette Brownies are a great asset in what OH describes as “The Courgette Wars”. 5.0 from 1 reviews Courgette Brownies Print Prep time 15 mins Cook time 30 mins Total time 45 mins These Courgette Brownies are super moist, delicious & decadent - no one will ever guess there's zucchini in these brownies! Author: Tales From The Kitchen Shed Recipe type: Baking Serves: 12 to 16 portions Ingredients 300 g courgettes / zucchini ½ teaspoon salt 200 g plain chocolate broken into small pieces (I used 70% cocoa) 150 g butter 3 eggs 200 g caster sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 150 g plain flour ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda 2 teaspoons baking powder Optional: 2 teaspoons espresso powder Optional: 100 g chopped nuts (I used hazelnuts) You will need: 1 baking tin 27cm x 18cm (11″ x 7″) lined with baking parchment (with a 5 cm overhang of parchment for easy removal of brownies) Instructions Preheat oven to 180℃ / 160℃ fan / Gas Mark 4 Grate or shred your courgettes / zucchini before chopping the courgette into smaller pieces and place in a colander inside a bowl and sprinkle with salt. Leave to drain while you get on with the Brownies. Place the chocolate and butter in a microwaveable bowl and microwave on high for 1 to 2 minutes in 30 second bursts until melted. Stir until chocolate is nice and smooth and leave to cool. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together using an electric mixer until doubled in volume (about 5 to 8 minutes depending on your mixer) Pour the cooled chocolate mix into your egg mix carefully and gently fold together with a silicone spatula. Fold in the courgettes (and nuts if using) in a figure of 8 movement. Hold a sieve over the bowl of your chocolate mixture and sieve over the dry ingredients. Carefully fold in using a figure of eight movement. Pour mixture into the prepared tin, gently easing the mixture into the corners of the tin and levelling with a spatula. Pop in the oven for 30 minutes. Check to see if there is a paperlike crust on top – there should still be some movement in the centre of the tin. If it’s not ready, bake for another 5 minutes. 3.5.3208 If, when you remove your whisk, there is a trail on the surface of the mixture for a second or two, it's done. Pin Courgette Brownies for later. I’m linking Courgette Brownies to a few challenges this month: The No Waste Food Challenge hosted by Elizabeth over at Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary. Ren’s Simple & In Season challenge over at Ren Behan. Choclette’s We Should Cocoa challenge over at Tin and Thyme. The Simply Eggcellent challenge hosted by Dom over at Belleau Kitchen. And linking to: Fiesta Friday (Visited 22,050 times, 10 visits today)You might also like:Courgette and Ginger JamSpicy Courgette ChutneyCourgette, Roasted Red Pepper & Feta Muffins
I plan ongiving these a go as my son loves brownies and it is an endless battle to get vegetables into him! I have baked some sweet marrow muffins this week and as courgettes and marrows are related may well give it a go substituting marrow as there is a bit of a glut of them here! Reply
Thanks for stopping by Sarah. Marrows would be fine in the brownies, you might want to discard the inner stringy seed middle you get when courgettes get too big. Giving the grated large courgette/marrow an extra chopping would be an a good idea too as marrow skins can get a bit tough. Let me know how you get on. Reply
My attempt at this recipe wasn’t very successful, it exploded out of my 7 X 11″ tin and still looks very soggy after 45mins, should there be some flour in this recipe? Reply
I am so sorry Roz. You are absolutely right, there is 150 g of plain flour missing from the ingredients list. Please accept my apologies for your wasted time and ingredients, I feel terrible as I do proof read my recipes, in this case I simply don’t know what happened. Reply
Gorgeous, and a great way to use up a glut of courgettes! Thank you for sharing with the No Waste Food Challenge! Reply
These brownies looks superb Sarah and just what a brownie ought to be like. I’ve made courgette brownies before and they were good, but not nearly as good as these look. I’ve been making quite a few courgette fritters and pancakes – they are delicious and I defy anyone to dislike them. Something else to try OH with maybe? Thanks for joining in with #WeShouldCocoa. Reply
Thanks Choclette. that means a lot to me, I must admit I was a little nervous submitting a brownie recipe to the ‘Brownie Queen’ 🙂 I like the idea of courgette fritters, definitely one to try on OH! Always a pleasure to link up with #WeShouldCocoa , I’ll try not to leave it so long next time. Reply
Those look delicious and sound so healthy Sarah! Since I don’t cook with eggs, I would probably have to try this out with an egg substitute, but I will definitely be trying it out soon. 🙂 Reply
Thanks Ranjana, look forward to hearing how you get on, really interested in the egg substitute. Reply
What a great way to hide some veggies in a decadent treat. Wonderful recipe and man do I want some chocolate now. Can’t wait for a glut of zuc’s now. Stopping by from Fabulous Foodie Fridays. Reply
Yum! I’ve heard of zucchini brownies before, but I’ve never made one myself. These look rich and tasty! I love your kitchen tips and how you introduced us to your culture by describing the “The Courgette Wars.” Thank you so much for bringing these to the fiesta this week! Happy FF, and have a fabulous weekend!! 🙂 Reply
Thanks Kaila, I’m not so sure OH is pleased I’ve introduced “The Courgette Wars” to everyone but I’ve got some more recipe ideas to keep him happy. Reply
Yummy! Great to hear OH loving these brownies 🙂 It really is a great way to work away all the courgettes! Thanks for sharing them at Fiesta Friday! Reply
These look absolutely tasty! I always love to see how I can “hide” vegetables in sweet treats! I actually saw a black bean and avocado brownie recipe. Thanks for sharing! Reply
Thanks Bobi, black bean and avocado brownies sounds interesting, I’ve tried avocado and chocolate mousse, it was delicious. Reply
Wonderful recipe. We always have an abundance of courgettes. One for us to try. Sally @ Life Loving #foodpornthursdays Reply
Are these seriously in the chocolate family? I am on it! Thank you for absolutely spoiling us at #foodpornthursdays! Reply
I adore baking with courgettes… the bake just gets moister and moister the longer you leave it… not that these brownies would last very long in my house, they’re stunning! Thanks for linking to Simply Eggcellent! Reply
Thanks Dom, brownies don’t last long at the Kitchen Shed either. A pleasure to link up with Simply Eggcellent, look forward to your round up 🙂 Reply
Healthy and delicious (and the perfect way to use up zucchinis!). Thanks for linking up with Fabulous Foodie Fridays! Have a great weekend! xxx Reply
I’m not so sure I would say healthy brownies, lol but they are delicious. Let me know how you get on x Reply
How interesting, I never would have even put courgette in the same sentence as brownies let alone in the same recipe but I’m curious to try it! Thanks for sharing. #FoodPornThursdays Reply