Chocolate Zucchini Cookies are a super soft, yet completely fudgy chocolate cookie loaded with chocolate chips! Every bite is a little bit of chocolate heaven!
Why You’ll Love Chocolate Zucchini Cookies!
Zucchini Cookies are even better than zucchini bread! There I said it!
They’re already in single size servings and let’s face it, zucchini bread isn’t exactly healthy! I mean these cookies probably don’t really fall into the healthy category either but since they have vegetables in them I’m totally counting it and serving them for breakfast!
Don’t judge me! If you’ve ever grown zucchini in the garden you know all about stuffing it in every single recipe! That’s life in the summer.
These cookies are moist, fudgy, and oh so chocolaty thanks to chocolate cookie dough PLUS chocolate chips! If that’s not enough for you feel free to add white chocolate chips too!
Everything you want to know about zucchini cookies!
Table of contents
Zucchini Cookies Ingredients
For this recipe you’ll need pretty simple ingredients! Although I love giving you guys options for substituting for ingredients this recipe is pretty cut and dry. I’ll give you a few ideas though.
- BUTTER – use real butter
- SUGAR – brown and white
- EGGS – use whole eggs
- VANILLA – real vanilla is best
- FLOUR – all-purpose, you can try whole wheat or gluten-free although I haven’t tried it so I can’t say exactly how it will turn out
- COCOA – Dutch-processed is what I use
- BAKING SODA, BAKING POWDER, AND SALT – pretty simple! You can use Kosher salt if you’d like. I use iodized table salt for this recipe.
- ZUCCHINI – measure after it’s grated. Use green or yellow. Peel it if you’d like, but you don’t need to.
- CHOCOLATE CHIPS – milk, semi-sweet, or white chocolate
How to make Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cookies
Making this recipe is pretty much like any other cookie recipe. Let me walk you through the steps to show you the in’s and out’s of it.
STEP 1: Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
STEP 2: Grate zucchini. Set aside.
STEP 3: Cream butter and sugars until fluffy, about two minutes.
STEP 4: Add eggs and vanilla. Beat two more minutes.
STEP 5: Add baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix for one minute.
STEP 6: Add cocoa and flour. Beat just until combined. The dough will be stiff.
STEP 7: Add grated zucchini and chocolate chips. Mix only until incorporated.
STEP 8: Drop dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet in 2 Tablespoon sized cookies.
STEP 9: Bake for 10-11 minutes. Be careful to not over bake.
STEP 10: Let cookies cool on the sheet of a minute, then remove to a cookie rack to finish cooling.
Other Easy Zucchini Recipes
My guess is that if you have one zucchini, you have a lot of zucchini! Here are a few other recipes to use up your summer squash crop!
- Zucchini Meatballs – Italian style
- Breakfast Cookies – made with oats, super healthy!
- Pumpkin Zucchini Muffins – with chocolate chips
- Fudgy Zucchini Brownies – with icing
- Texas Sheet Cake – perfect for crowds
- Grilled Summer Squash – in a foil packet
- Picnic Cake – the best streusel on top
- Summer Vegetables Omelet – use up all the summer veggies
- Summer Vegetables Pasta Salad – a healthy and light summer main dish
What’s happening on the farm?
Today Carson asked me if we could have pancakes for breakfast in the morning. I told him I was thinking about making zucchini pancakes and he asked why we can’t have normal pancakes.
Like I said, in my Zucchini Brownies post, I have zucchini running out my ears. ‘Tis the season for everything zucchini and I love it!
In fact, I was thinking about zucchini while I was driving the tractor yesterday. Zucchini is supposed to be a healthy vegetable, and it probably is. It is until we drown it in chocolate, butter, or cheese. Zucchini is one of those foods we love but we hide it in our food. It’s like we are always trying to find a sneaky home for the stuff.
Sometimes I add veggies to my normal recipes and don’t tell the boys about it in hopes they won’t notice. These cookies though…they are so yummy I didn’t even have to pretend like they aren’t loaded with veggies!
The boys devoured the whole batch in no time and knew about the zucchini too. There is something magical about chocolate. Maybe I will start adding chocolate chips to salads and see if Branson will eat them! Okay, they probably aren’t that magical.
Grab my Chocolate Zucchini Cookies Recipe!
Zucchini cookies recipes are one of the best ways to use up your crop! Chocolate dough, plus chocolate chips are irresistible! Pack them in lunches, eat them for dessert, or serve them for breakfast!
Chocolate Zucchini Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 2/3 cup all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup cocoa
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup butter room temperature
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 whole egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 1/2 cup zucchini shredded
- 2 cups chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Grate zucchini. Set aside.
- Cream butter and sugars until fluffy, about two minutes.
- Add eggs and vanilla. Beat two more minutes.
- Add baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix for one minute.
- Add cocoa and flour. Beat just until combined. The dough will be stiff.
- Add grated zucchini and chocolate chips. Mix only until incorporated. As the dough sits the zucchini will start releasing some of the water in it and the dough will become thinner and "wetter". The last batch of cookies might be flatter than the first, because of the amount of time the zucchini sits in the cookie dough before baking.
- Drop dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet in 2 Tablespoon sized cookies.
- Bake for 10-11 minutes. Be careful to not over bake.
- Let cookies cool on the sheet of a minute, then remove to a cookie rack to finish cooling.
Dawn Descheemaker says
These were absolutely delicious!! They were moist and light and fluffy chocolatey yummy! I replaced 2/3 C of all purpose flower with 1/3 C gluten free and 1/3 C buckwheat to add more fiber and reduce gluten. . .they were so good we had a hard time stopping eating! I also (accidently) fine grated the zucchini. . .couldn’t even detect them(which my grand kids would love lol. Thank you for sharing!
Amy Engberson says
I love that you fine grated the zucchini! We have to do whatever we have to do to hide veggies from the kids!
Keri says
Yummy and easy recipe! Just like your other zucchini cookie recipe. Will definitely be making it again.Thank you for sharing
My subs for my next batch… 1/4 cup applesauce in place of most of the butter but added 1 tbsp oil. Added 2 tsp oat fiber to flour. Subbed 3/4 tsp tsp stevia for 1/2 white sugar. Used only 1 cup of chips. Mixed in mixer. Make smaller next time, only got 22 cookies, they turned out huge. Baked only 10 minutes
Amy Engberson says
Thanks for the substitution ideas! Let me know how it goes!
Keri says
Next batch turned out great! Family and a few neighbors enjoyed them.
Amy Engberson says
We love these cookies! They’re so fudgy and decadent!
Tiffany says
These are delish! Soft and chewy. Even my zucchini phobe 15 yro liked them. My batch made 56 cookies. I used a cookie baller. Also I missed the cinnamon but they still taste great! I squeezed my garden zucchini out several times and drained the water and I didn’t have any problem with flat cookies. Will make again! Taking to work tomorrow!
Amy Engberson says
Your coworkers are going to love you! This is a great recipe for converting zucchini haters into lovers!
Lynne Beland says
Just finished making these and loved them. I made them larger than was recommended and left them in for 3 minutes longer than it was called for and they turned out great. I get to eat all of them because my husband and grandson don’t like zucchini. Oh well, their loss. Thanks for posting the recipe. Will. make these a lot from now on.
Amy Engberson says
Sometimes it’s nice to be able to keep the whole batch to yourself! Haha! I’m glad you loved them as much as we do!
Marybeth says
I just made these and they look nothing like your pictures. They did not flatten out at all – they stayed in a ball shape. I used monkfruit sugar and coconut palm sugar. Everything else was as per the recipe. I flattened some of them with a fork after they had been baking awhile. They don’t seem to stay together very well – fall apart and are crumbly. I probably won’t make these again. They do taste okay.
Amy Engberson says
I’m sorry to hear that they didn’t turn out for you. I’ve never tried using monkfruit for this recipe so I can’t say whether that would be a factor in making them crumbly. Using “older” zucchini can also make them a litte bit dryer. Other than that it’s hard to say what went wrong without being there.
Barb says
Like a good brownie. If you want sugar free, use 2 eggs and 1/2 the sugar amount substituted with Splenda.
Amy Engberson says
Thank you! I’m glad you loved these cookies as much as we do! Thanks for the sugar-free suggestions, my husband is trying to eat less sugar so this is perfect timing!
Susan J. Newton says
When does the cinnamon get added to the batter? I sneeked it in with the zucchini because I got that far in the process when I noticed I had it left over! But the cookies turned out so so good! Thanks for the recipe…
Amy Engberson says
Yay! I’m glad you enjoyed the cookies! You can add the cinnamon with the other spices next time! It sounds like it worked out adding it when you did anyway!
Marsha Mahne says
These cookies are SO GOOD!!!!! Easy to make as well. Have a fudgy taste. Great way to use up surplus zucchini this summer.
Thank your for sharing the recipe.
Marsha
Amy Engberson says
You just can’t go wrong with chocolate! And it’s a great way to get kids to eat veggies! Gald you enjoyed them!
Bernice G says
This recipe doesn’t have any baking sofa or power?
Amy Engberson says
I just updated the recipe to include baking powder and soda. Sorry about the inconvenience.
Chelsea says
I just made these and they are quite flat. Maybe because of using frozen shredded zucchini? Should I have added baking powder or soda?
Amy Engberson says
I wouldn’t adjust the amount of either the baking soda or baking poweder. I’m guessing your zucchini has too much liquid in it causing the cookies to flatten. Be sure to wring the zucchini out before using it. I’m not experienced in using frozen zucchini because I prefer to bake zucchini cookies and bread and put them in the freezer as baked goods rather than as frozen zucchini. It makes quick and easy snacks later on!
Melissa says
I haven’t made these yet, but I noticed you said you wouldn’t adjust the amount of baking soda or powder. That implies to me that there should be some in there, but the recipe doesn’t list any. Is that correct? No baking soda or baking powder?
Amy Engberson says
Yes! I just edited the recipe to include baking soda and powder. How did I forget that part?