Peanut Butter Zucchini Brownies - Gluten Free Recipe

Do you ever get this overwhelming urge to throw on an apron, bring out the flour, cups, bowls and mixers and make something delicious?

Maybe you even get giddy at the idea of finding that “perfect” recipe to make for your family. You know, the one that will put a smile on your hubby’s face after a long day of work, or make your favorite little one jump up and down for joy.

But then you remember…you can’t cook. Or bake for that matter. And well, then the anxiety kicks in. In fact, if you're like me, you are a major mess in the kitchen.

I grew up thinking toast was supposed to be black. That it’s normal to start fires in the kitchen. And when your mom says put the chicken in the oven at 350…you put the chicken in the oven at exactly 3:50 pm. *what can I say, I’m blond!*

So after some seriously epic cooking failures lately…like brick brownies, soupy cookies and hairy bread…you can imagine my delight and surprise, when I created this marvelous little thing called “Peanut Butter & Chocolate Zucchini Brownies.”

I know, it sounds gross. I mean, who in the world puts zucchini in a brownie. On purpose. But it works. I modified the original recipe, because I wanted to save money and make it healthier.

The original recipe calls for almond butter…which is really expensive. And it’s impossible to find almonds that are gluten free, unless you want to pay $30 or more a pound.  Since I don’t have a money tree in my backyard, that wasn't an option. Plus, organic peanut butter is actually healthier and sweeter than almond butter!

I knew they were a hit when I took them to the radio station and Terri 'The Recipe Lady' (check out her recipes, they are all yummy) went gaga over them! She's even featuring them on her radio show, how about that! Pretty nifty, right?

“Peanut Butter & Chocolate Zucchini Brownies”

Ingredients:

• 1 cup crunchy organic peanut butter (No sugar added, just pure peanut butter. Don’t use creamy, it will make them runny.)
• 1.5 cups zucchini. Which equals one small zucchini thinly sliced and diced. Use a potato peeler to take off the skin, then set your mandolin slicer at its thinnest setting. Once shred, dice the zucchini “pillow” pile (below) into tiny pieces.

Here's the pretty little zucchini pillow that I diced up to tiny pieces!

• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp of vanilla
• 1 tsp of baking soda
• 1 tsp of cinnamon
• 1 tsp of nutmeg
• 1.5 cups chocolate chips

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Combine all ingredients and mix together with beaters
• Pour into 8x8 baking pan (greased)
• Bake for about 45 minutes

IMPORTANT: The brownies are a bit squishy when they first come out of the oven, so let them sit overnight to “cool” and dry out a bit before you eat them. They are amazing brownies; you can’t even tell they have zucchini in them! Plus, they're gluten free, which is perfect for our family! Makes an 8x8 pan of chocolate peanut butter goodness.

So what are you waiting for? Get baking my friend!