Velvety, Ultra Chocolatey Zucchini Brownies with Fudge Frosting 🍫

• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• 2 cups flour
• 1 ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 2 cups finely shredded zucchini (make that 2 heaping cups!) - DO NOT SQUEEZE your zucchini
• ½ cup additions, optional, such as chocolate chips, walnuts or combination of both
• ¼ cup butter (4 TBSP)
• 6 tbsp cocoa powder
• pinch of salt
• ½ tsp vanilla
• ¼ cup milk
• 2 cups powdered sugar, plus more as needed

Instructions

1. 1

   Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Lightly oil and dust with flour a glass or ceramic 9x11 inch (23x28 cm) pan. Alternatively, you can line it with parchment paper (I prefer that as you can easily lift your brownies out of the pan once baked and cooled).

2. 2

   Combine the oil, sugar, kosher salt, cocoa powder and vanilla in a large bowl. Whisk until well combined. In another bowl, combine the baking soda and flour. Sift the flour mixture into the oil-sugar mixture. Then gently, with a fork or a pastry cutter, work your dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until they resemble a mealy powder. Do not overwork the dough as you don't want to stretch the gluten in the flour and make the brownie tough or cakey.

3. 3

   Gently sprinkle the zucchini over your flour mixture. With a fork or even your clean hands, gently mix the zucchini into the dough so that each strand is nicely coated. At first, it will look like the mixture is too dry and it will never combine. Be patient. All you are trying to do at first is separate the zucchini strands and get all of them coated with the flour mixture. Stir in your walnuts or other additions of choice. Do not add any water—your brownies will not be dry after they are baked. Adding water or any other liquid will result in a dense, cake-like consistency.

4. 4

   Spread your batter into your prepared baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 32–34 minutes. The time will always vary a bit depending on how much moisture your zucchini had. Start checking after 28 minutes. If you bake it in a larger dish, such as a 9x13 inch (23x33 cm) pan, the baking time will be much shorter (20–25 minutes). The middle should be set and spring back when gently touched. At that point, insert a toothpick—if it comes out with a few moist crumbs, it's perfect, so take it out; however, if the toothpick comes out with wet batter on it, keep baking. Please note, if your toothpick comes out with absolutely no crumbs on it, the brownies are unfortunately likely overbaked and may be cakey. So watch closely as there's absolutely no need to overbake these. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before frosting.

5. 5

   To make the frosting, melt the butter and stir in the cocoa and salt until well combined into a chocolate sauce. In a separate bowl, combine the milk, vanilla and powdered sugar; whisk well to combine; stir into the cocoa mixture. Spread over the cooled brownies and allow to set uncovered for 30 minutes before slicing into squares and serving.