Triple Chocolate Zucchini Cookies
These cookies. You guys, these cookies. They are magnificent and so utterly surprising (meaning not cakey at all – just pure blissful chocolate richness) that I’m hoping and praying I can easily find zucchini all the year round without having to take out a high-interest loan in, say, January to afford it. Because you better believe, I’m going to be craving these cookies in January. And beyond.
I am in love, love, love with these babies. Often times baked goods made with zucchini end up being moist and light and kind of bouncy (you get me?) and that’s a really great characteristic in something like chocolate zucchini cake, but when it comes to me and my chocolate cookies, I want them soft and slightly dense and rich and chocolatey and completely unbouncy.
These amazing chocolate zucchini cookies are not like cake at all, thank the good heavens. In fact, their texture reminds me a lot of these superiorly soft and delicious egg-free double chocolate cookies. Which means I’m completely undone by the deliciousness and can’t resist them. Not at all. And the zucchini, a wonderful addition, is there but not really in your face there, if you know what I mean.
If you’ve seen me lament on Instagram about not quite getting a fudgy zucchini brownie perfected (after what’s now been six batches), methinks that this batter spread into a baking pan may actually do the trick. I’m itching to try just that as soon as I can pawn some zucchini off the next person I see. And when I can stand to see another zucchini brownie in my kitchen again. That may be a while considering all the fails of this week.
Back to these cookies, though. Here’s my stern advice: Don’t even consider putting zucchini in anything else until you make these. They are that good. Plus, I just showed you how to drain zucchini without breaking a sweat. No excuses.
One Year Ago: Frozen Mint Lemonade Slush
Two Years Ago: Freezer Beef and Bean Burritos
Three Years Ago: Peach-Orange Smoothie
Triple Chocolate Zucchini Cookies
Ingredients:
- 2/3 cup (4.5 ounces) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
- 2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup (.75 ounces) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons, 4 ounces) butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/4 cup (2 ounces) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (3.75 ounces) packed light brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup shredded and drained zucchini (about 4 ounces)
- 1 cup semisweet, bittersweet or milk chocolate chips
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line baking pans with parchment paper, silpat liner or lightly grease with nonstick cooking spray.
- Melt the 2/3 cup chocolate chips in a small bowl in the microwave (1-minute intervals at 50% power stirring inbetween taking care not to overheat) or in a double boiler on the stove until just melted. Set aside to cool to warm room temperature (as in, a finger dipped in will feel like tepid bath water but should certainly not scorch your finger with heat).
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a large bowl or in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together the butter, granulated and brown sugars, for 1-2 minutes until light and creamy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix another minute or so. Stir in the zucchini.
- Pour in the melted chocolate and mix until well-combined.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until a few streaks of flour remain. Stir in the chocolate chips until everything is just incorporated.
- Scoop the cookie dough into tablespoon or so sized balls and place about 2-inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets.
- Bake for 10-11 minutes until just set.
Notes:
Here’s a quick video on draining zucchini. If you start with about 2 cups of shredded zucchini, you should end up with about 1 cup after draining (although it will depend on the exact zucchini – both size and variety and water content).
Follow @melskitchencafe on Instagram and show me the recipes you are making from my blog using the hashtag #melskitchencafe. I love seeing all the goodness you are whipping up in your kitchens!
Recipe Source: adapted just a bit from iambaker.net (included weight measures, altered the method adding the zucchini earlier, and a few other minor changes)
These look amazing! I had way to many zucchini in my garden this summer, so I grated and froze it in 2 cup portions – and now I know why! I’m going to make these for the staff at my school – I think they will love me!
I just made these and they are so chocolaty gooey delicious. My husband had 5 cookies before I could finish cooking all the dough. Thank you.
These were sensational…I’ve made so many chocolate zucchini everything, but the only thing chocolate about them was the color. These were densely rich in chocolate flavor…used mini chips…and I did drizzle with some icing only because I made them for a football game and wanted to add the team colors. Three days later, as we ate the last morsel, they still tasted fresh. I did accidentally flip the amounts of white vs brown sugar)…they were firm but soft…making them great for dunking or eating alone. Will try them again soon the right way and compare.
I made these cookies tonight and they were tasty, but they were cakey and you could see the zucchini in them. I didn’t weigh out the flour, but I use measuring cups. Do you think that the cakey-ness could come from water in the zucchini? Maybe I didn’t have it dry enough, do you really think it is too much flour?
It’s possible the cakey texture was from zucchini too wet – but it also could be from too much flour if you may have packed the flour into the cup a little more.
I just made these and OMG they are amazing!!!! I don’t even care that they’re not as pretty as yours, because they taste so freaking amazing, so moist and chocolaty, I can’t even believe how great they are. Can’t wait to bring some to work tomorrow. Thank you for giving me a delicious way to use up my garden zucchini!!!
these were great light and fluffy. Will be making them again.Thank you for the recipe.
Hey there! Great recipe! Mel, I was wondering if you had ever tried to freeze the cookie dough to use for later?
I haven’t but I’m guessing it would work pretty well!
My 12 year old son made these for us last night, they are SO good. It was his first attempt at baking, and he did great! They are a little cakey, but its just like a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie, but an all chocolate version. One of our new family favs for sure! We used coconut oil instead of butter, delish!
These totally fulfilled my chocolate craving and helped me use up some of the zucchini I was given! Thanks Mel for yet another fabulous recipe! You are my “go to” food blog 🙂
I made these cookies today and they are already at the top of my favorite list of baked goods with zucchini. I used your method of measuring flour and they turned out great. Thanks for all of your amazing recipes and your great baking advice. You are amazing!
I loved these cookies, but they turned out VERY soft, almost like a glob of brownie. I wonder what I did wrong…..didn’t bake long enough? I want to make them again, but not before you answer my question about why they are so soft. Too much zucchini, or what?
Hi Nancy, it’s nearly impossible for me to know what went wrong without being in the kitchen with you but if they are overly soft, my guess is that possibly your zucchini needs to be drier or use a bit more flour. Did you weigh the ingredients or measure them in cups?
Just finished making these and they are so delish! Very tender and ooey gooey cookie. Yum! And yes, I weighed my ingredients.
And I laughed at the comment from the guy who said the only thing zucchini is good for is for feeding pigs. I happen to LOVE zucchini, but year after year, my pigs won’t touch it for the life of them……
I’ve been thinking about these since you posted the recipe. I finally made them today, and oooooooooooh my goooosh they are fantastic! I followed your recipe exactly, using the weight measurements listed. I do think you are right about this being the reason people’s cookies are not turning out perfect. When I weighed my 2 cups of flour, it was more like 12 ounces, so I took 2 ounces out. And my 1 cup of zucchini weighed WAY more than 4 ounces (I am a packer), so once again I took a bunch out to equal your posted measurements. With my Pampered Chef medium scoop, I got just over a few dozen cookies. I did have to bake mine more like 12 minutes. These are dense, chocolaty gooness. I made them for a play date this afternoon, but now I want to hoard them for myself.
Thanks for checking in on these cookies, Melanie! I’m so happy you loved them (and by the way, I laughed out loud at your laugh out loud response to the the pigs and zucchini line of thought). I agree that over-measuring flour can really make the difference. I did a post on it a long time ago but methinks I should do a little refresher course. 🙂
We liked these a lot, but as others noted, they didn’t look pretty like yours. They flattened less. And I agree a scoop would help–they were pretty sticky to handle. I also had to bake them about 15 minutes. I think maybe even a bit more time would have helped–they were still pretty soft inside. Maybe I wasn’t precise enough in my measurements? (I did wring out the zucchini well though-tried the potato ricer method, but not sure that I prefer it to just using a kitchen towel). But…they were delicious! Very chocolatey and rich. Thanks!
I made these last night and they did not look like your picture. I was bummed. They were great tasting except they were like mini cakes. Is there something you did different? I followed the directions exclusively.
Hi Krissie – for you and others that are having cookies turn out too cakey, I’m pretty sure it’s because the dough is overfloured. Did you measure with every day baking measuring cups or use the weights given in the recipe? Not everyone has a scale, which is fine, but if you think you might pack too much flour into the measuring cup, try measuring with a lighter hand.
Although I love your blog and think you are a fantastic writer, I have to say I did not like these cookies, which is weird, because how could I go wrong with all that chocolate? The shredded zucchini just added an “ick” factor, and the cookies were cakey.
These were delicious, Mel! Very chocolate-y and indulgent. I found the cookie dough a little sticky to work with, but that just made me want one of the cookie scoops you shared a few weeks back. I’ll be making these again soon.
Made these today. Super yum. I used the weight measurements for everything, but mine weren’t the same beautiful crackled looking cookies as yours. Longer cooking time maybe? Or maybe I made them too small? I got about 3 dozen instead of 2, so maybe that was it. Any suggestions? I just love the way yours look! Also, what do you use to shred your zucchini? I think my zucchini must have been bigger pieces (just used a normal cheese grater, which is what I normally do with my zucchini) and I could see the zucchini in my cookies – little white pieces that showed on the top. But really, they were so yummy, none of that matters too much!
Hi Mollie – hmmm, not sure why the differences. I probably made them slightly bigger than yours – that might make a difference. I used my 2-tablespoon scoop (#40). I usually use my food processor for shredding zucchini and it gets it pretty finely shredded.
These were yummy, fudgy, and delicious! Thanks so much!
Hi Mel! So I made these cookies the other day and they were tasty, but still a little cakey. Any suggestions on what I could do to improve them? Less flour? Dryer zucchini? I’m at about 3250 ft above sea level if that helps. Any advice would be great! Thanks.
Hi Stephanie – did you weigh the flour by any chance? If not, it could be that there was too much flour – you might try measuring with a lighter hand. Usually to get 5 ounces of flour per cup, I fluff the flour up really well in the bin, scoop in the cup and level off (or you could spoon it in and level off).
If you are still looking for a zucchini brownie recipe, I made these last summer and if memory serves they definitely fall more on the fudgy side (cakey brownies are the worst!) http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/chocolate-chip-zucchini-brownies/
Mine didn’t turn out nearly as pretty as yours (maybe because I used GF flour), but the taste is incredible. So chocolatey and delicious!
Oh.my.goodness. These were so good. We make a zucchini brownie with peanut butter frosting but I am way more of a cookie person and these only took about a day to disappear. Thanks for sharing!
Holy Cow! These are the most amazing cookies EVER!! Have just tasted one straight from the oven (it is 11.14 am in QLD Australia ) and I am in CHOCOLATE HEAVEN. I have been a huge fan of yours for the last year or so, and have tried lots of your recipes however this is the first time I felt I just had to tell you how amazing all your recipes are. I would eat them all except hubby did see me start to make them so I guess he would wonder where they all went!! Thank you again you are amazing ; )
Thank you!
These look delicious. I will have to try them. Just wanted to let you know I made some zucchini brownies from the King Arthur Flour website that were good, especially warm.
I finally figured out how to make chewy zucchini brownies! My recipe is super basic (1/2 c. oil, 1 1/2 c. sugar, 2 tsp. vanilla, 2 c. flour, 1/2 c. cocoa, 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1 tsp (or 3/4 tsp) salt, 2 c. coarsly shredded zucchini (not drained), and 1/2 c. chopped walnuts). Mix the oil, sugar, and vanilla together well, then stir in the combined dry ingredients. The key is to BARELY fold in the zucchini. As in it doesn’t even look like batter at all, with lots of dry crumbs everywhere. The zucchini lets out so much moisture during baking it magically becomes chewy brownies, but with a delightful crispy top/edges. Seriously the best ever! I made it again and tried to mix it more thoroughly until the batter actually looked like batter, and the result was the familiar good-but-not-great dense cakey brownie. Baked at 350 for 25-30 minutes until the brownies spring back when gently touched. Good luck!
Thanks for the suggestion, Lori! I’ve actually tried that recipe and didn’t have great results but I think maybe I’ll use your suggestion to barely fold in the zucchini. I’m pretty certain I was overtaxing. Thank you!
Made these yesterday because they look so good. They were barely Meh. I think my tablespoon must be smaller than yours, and I found it really hard to know when they were done. I varied baking times for each sheet, and they all turned out with a weird crumbly almost dry, but not, texture? Idk weird. Won’t make them again.
These look delicious! We really like your egg-free double chocolate cookies, so I’m pretty sure we’ll love these as well. I usually shred and freeze any extra zucchini that we’re given. Have you tried this? I was wondering if you think it might work to thaw and wring it out like you’ve shown, to use in this recipe? I know the frozen zucchini works well in soup, but that’s because it doesn’t matter what the texture is like since it gets puréed in the end.
Hi Nicole – good question. The great thing about recipes that call for drained zucchini is that frozen zucchini (that’s been thawed) works well because you can control the liquid (as in, squeeze it all out). I haven’t had as good of results with frozen zucchini, thawed, and used in recipes that don’t drain it because it seems to have a lot more water content than fresh zucchini.
Mel, are you adding the weights per requests of readers or because you have come to feel that weighing your ingredients for more exact measurements yield a better result? I have resisted weighing because I am lazy, but curious as to your opinion!
Different strokes for different strokes, but from my standpoint, about the only thing zucchini is good for is to feed to pigs.
“folks,” not strokes 🙂
Those look fabulous! If anyone gifts me some zucchini this year, I am making these AND chocolate zucchini cake =)
Anything triple chocolate will be made immediately! In fact I’m giving to do it right now. Have you ever been to Babby Farms? If not look them up, I think your kids would love it. Anyway, that’s where we are going this morning and I think triple chocolate zucchini cookies would be the perfect thing to bring with us.
I’ve never been there, Jackie – but it looks fun (their website, at least). I’ll probably try to take the kids before school starts.
These look fab. And of course they are 100% healthy because they are a vegetable cookie. 😉