Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cookies

So far this summer I’ve shared two tasty new ways to use up garden zucchini: chocolate zucchini muffins and chocolate zucchini cake. Today, I’m adding these chocolate chip zucchini cookies to the list, and I really can’t wait for you to try them.

Why you’ll love these cookies:

Hearty texture and flavor from oats and cinnamon. No peeling the zucchini. A food blender makes quick work of shredding for you, though I also include notes on how to simply use a box grater. Carefully crafted to be soft and chewy, NOT cakey! Chocolate! Plenty of pops of melty chocolate accentuate every bite of these cookies. Load yours up with semisweet or milk chocolate chips, whichever one you prefer.!

Inspired by my carrot cake cookies, this recipe has a hearty oatmeal base that conceals the zucchini beautifully (and yes, that is the point of this recipe!). This recipe is perfect for sneaking some extra veggies into your diet. Honestly, can you think of better way to enjoy veggies than folded into a sweet oatmeal cookie batter? That’s pretty hard to beat!

What You Need

All of the ingredients used in today’s recipe are straightforward, but you should pay close attention to these few:

Zucchini. You don’t need to peel your zucchini before shredding, but you do want to blot it after shredding. If you skip this step, your zucchini cookies will end up cakey. Dark brown sugar. Light brown sugar will work, but my preference is dark brown sugar. More molasses means more flavor! Don’t have any on hand? Take a crack at making your own homemade brown sugar–just 2 ingredients! Cinnamon. This is optional, but I love adding just a pinch of cinnamon to my zucchini cookies. It pairs so nicely with zucchini, just like in my zucchini bread! Oats. Oats pair well with zucchini and add a hearty texture to these cookies. Just like when making my cowboy cookies, you need to make sure to use old-fashioned rolled oats and not instant or quick cooking oats (those could make your zucchini cookies dry). Vanilla. A healthy pour of vanilla extract adds a beautiful depth of flavor to these cookies!

SAM’S TIP: I prefer my zucchini to be more finely shredded (it helps me hide it from the kids more easily), so I use a food processor. I first use the shred blade, then I use the normal blade to chop the zucchini shreds into bits. If you do this too, just be careful you don’t process your zucchini too much, or you could make it very watery. Also, you certainly don’t have to shred yours this way; using a box grater would be just fine.  Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!

How to Make Zucchini Cookies

Prep the Zucchini

Make the Dough

SAM’S TIP: Reserve ¼ cup of the chocolate chips for pressing into the tops of the cookies after baking! Doing this will give your zucchini cookies a pretty, bakery style look. I like to use semisweet chips, but milk chocolate would work here too. Are there any other zucchini recipes you’d like to see? I love hearing what you’re looking for! Enjoy! Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook

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