It’s summer time which means the farmer’s markets are flooded with all the summer squash. We try to eat almost only local and in-season produce (with the exception of bananas, which, I don’t know why, but California does not grow) which I get every Saturday morning from our neighborhood farmer’s market. The advantage of sourcing your produce from the farmer’s market is that you always know what’s in season based on what’s available. And to me, using primarily fresh and seasonally ingredients is one of the most important factors to living a healthy lifestyle.

Hm, maybe I got off topic talking about my love of farmer’s markets, the point of this post is really to share this Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cookie Bar recipe that I’ve been seriously obsessing over since the first time I made it. I guess the point was: It’s summer, there is a ton of zucchini everywhere, and I made this sweet zucchini recipe that’s pretty dang tasty and well, I think you’ll enjoy it too.

These cookie bars are moist, wonderfully chewy, and have that perfect amount of sweetness to either be a light dessert or an on-the-go breakfast. They are super easy to make and in just one bowl (!), are low carb, are made with no added oil (if that matters to you), and only have good for you ingredients! I made these sugar free using Just Like Sugar but feel free to sub with equal amounts of coconut sugar, Lakanto, or regular cane sugar. For the chocolate chunks I used a chopped up bar of Alter Eco’s 85% Deep Dark Blackout, which only adds 6 grams of sugar to the recipe and a handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips for the top. But feel free to use whatever chocolate chunks/chips you like!

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cookie Bars

paleo friendly (gluten/grain/dairy free, paleo friendly, low carb, no added oil, sugar free option)

These summery Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cookie Bars are so moist and chewy and have that perfect amount of sweetness to be either a light dessert or on-the-go breakfast. They have only good for you ingredients and you wouldn't even know there's a whole cups of zucchini packed in there!

freshlydafna.com

Course Dessert, Snack

Ingredients

Wet Ingredients

3/4 cup Just Like Sugar (chicory root fiber)*
1/2 cup nut/seed butter*
1 egg
3 tbsp nut/seed milk
1 tsp vanilla

Dry Ingredients

3/4 cup almond flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
2 tbsp coconut flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp sea salt
1 cup shredded zucchini
1/2 cup chocolate chips/chunks (optional)

Instructions

Heat oven to 350 and prepare 8x8 baking pan by lightly oiling or lining with parchment paper.
In the bowl of a stand mixer beat together all the wet ingredients until well mixed and fluffy.
Add in the dry ingredients and mix until just well combined.
Scrape down sides of the bowl and add in the shredded zucchini and stir briefly.
Then add in the chocolate chips or chunks, if using, reserving some for topping and stir again until everything is just well distributed, ensuring not to overmix.
Dough will be a bit thick and sticky, this is good and normal, the zucchini releases a lot of moisture while cooking. Using a rubber spatula spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
Top with reserved chocolate and bake for 23-24 minutes, testing with a toothpick for doneness.
Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes, then move to cooling rack for a bit longer to allow to easy slicing.
These will last a day or so in the fridge, afterwards move to freezer.

Recipe Notes

Sweetener: Sub equal amounts of Lakanto, coconut sugar, or cane sugar

Nut/Seed Butter: I used cashew, just make sure that whatever butter you use, that it's well mixed beforehand and not excessively oily or hard.

If you make these I’d love to see! Share a pic or comment below or tag a photo on instagram @freshlydafna with #freshlydafna