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Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bars – this easy one bowl zucchini bar recipe isn’t quite a cookie or a cake but it’s a delicious soft and sweet dessert full of zucchini and chocolate! Made with SPLENDA® Naturals Sugar & Stevia Blend, they’re lower in added sugar too!
I just went shopping and spent over $200 on school supplies – for one kid, and that’s not even including all those things we hear about in the first few weeks of school (i.e. Picture Day, PE uniforms, fundraisers, oh my). I even stuck to the list we got when we went shopping and only got a few things that weren’t on there, like earbuds I know she’ll need (instead of using the communal head phones) and a world map she wanted so she could mark off the countries she’s been too (I’m trying to encourage her love of travel).
I’m very excited for school to start but I know within a month I’ll be longing for the easy summer days…and that’s when I’ll make desserts to remind me of June and July…like recipes with zucchini! Zucchini is everywhere online now, and it’s super cheap in my grocery store so I love adding it to everything: bread, brownies, coffee cake, even pie! Years and years ago I made a zucchini bar recipe that I absolutely loved and when I went to find it on this blog it was nowhere to be found. I decided I needed to remake these bars and instead of adding tons of calories with icing, I used mini chocolate chips instead.
Chocolate > Frosting, if you ask me.
Easy Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bars are made in one bowl and are soft like cake but sturdy like a cookie. And they taste delicious!
Plus, not only do these bars use up summer zucchini, but they’re lower in added sugar. I lightened up one of my favorite summer desserts by swapping regular sugar with SPLENDA® Naturals Sugar & Stevia Blend. The blend is made with cane sugar and stevia leaf extract and looks and acts like sugar with half the calories. I may be spending all my budget on school supplies, but I’m not spending all my caloric budget on these bars, that’s for sure.
Remember: I’m trying to lose 10 pounds before I turn 40. EEK!
The best part about these zucchini bars? They’re a ONE BOWL recipe!
That’s right, only one bowl and a spoon, along with a pan for baking. The result is a gooey chocolatey zucchini bar: lower in added sugar AND full of zucchini. That’s a win for me!
Tips for zucchini bar success:
- I used one large zucchini for this recipe. All of the ones I’m finding at the store right now are huge! If it’s off season, you may need two smaller ones.
- You can use regular chocolate chips instead of minis, if you prefer.
- The pan used in this recipe is a cake roll (i.e. jelly roll) pan. It’s a 10x15x1″ pan. You can use a 9×13″ pan but baking time will be affected.
Enjoy!
Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bars
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 2 cups (248g) all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (177ml) vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ½ cups (approzimately 152g) shredded zucchini 1 medium or 2 small
- 1 ½ cups (255g) chocolate chips (mini or regular size)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 10x15x1” jelly roll pan or spray with nonstick cooking spray. (You can also use a 9x13” pan, but they will be thicker and take longer to bake.)
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl.
- Stir together sugar, oil, and eggs until smooth. Stir in dry ingredients. Fold in zucchini, then stir in chocolate chips. Spread in prepared pan.
- Bake for 28-35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool before slicing into bars.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days or freeze for up to one month.
Recipe Notes
- To swap Splenda Baking Blend: use 3/4 cup in place of the granulated sugar.
Recipe Nutrition
I’m sharing SPLENDA® Sweetener Products in my life as part of a sponsored series for Socialstars™” #SplendaSweeties #SweetSwaps
Do you think there is a way to incorporate pumpkin (or applesauce) into this instead of so much oil?
I think I would go half oil and half applesauce. That shouldn’t hurt the texture and should actually give the flavor a bit more ‘zest’
These look great and they are healthy since they have zucchini in them!!! 🙂
these are easily one of the best zucchini desserts I have seen…SO yummy!!
I would eat half the pan. Seriously these look like my jam! I bet they were perfect!
I had a similar Target run and uniform store run last week. And today was told she doesn’t have enough stuff for camp and we are going back to the mall. Never ends!
If i do not want to use the artificial sweetner I assume i can use the same amount of sugar instead and it will be fine. Thank you for the recipe. I made a chocolate cake, and two kinds of bread last week with zucchini and still have tons more in the freezer. And yes what i made was amazing.
Wondering the same thing. THanks!
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