Rich Dark Chocolate Zucchini Brownies

You will need:
-1/2 C Peanut butter or almond butter (or HAZELNUT! what a great idea it would taste just like nutella)
-1/4 C plus 2 TB honey
-2 TB sugar
-1/2 C applesauce
-1 tsp vanilla or almond extract
-3/4 C oats
-1/2 C Hershey Special Dark Chocolate Cocoa Powder
-1 tsp baking soda
-1.5 C shredded zucchini
-Optional 1/2 C Tollhouse Dark Chocolate chips or vanilla chips to make these like an oreo

Preheat your oven and grease an 8x8 baking pan.

Pulverize the oats in a food processor, which should take a couple minutes.  Empty and set aside.  In the food processor with the metal blade, cream the nut butter of choice with the applesauce, honey, sugar, and vanilla.

Next, add the zucchini, oats, baking soda, and cocoa powder.  Pour in greased pan. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top if desired, or any nuts or similar toppings that you may want to add.  Bake 25-30 minutes.

Allow them to cool for a moment and then slice in and enjoy!

The Special Dark chocolate makes these amazingly rich and almost jet black.  It is very conceivable that adding in one egg to this batter would make it hold together slightly better, as it is slightly crumbly.  If you are not a fan of using eggs, the chia seed replacement for eggs is also worth considering.

However, if you want to make it just like this, it does work just fine! Although these are much healthier than a typical brownie, I have been really making them much less healthy by adding a marshmallow icing on top! Do you know how much less guilty I feel about icing a brownie that is made from veggies? The answer is A LOT.

Ladies, Valentine's Day is just around the corner.  Might I suggest making these brownies and topping with bacon and walnuts and dark chocolate chips before baking?  Load that bacon on! Your man will never know the brownie itself is healthy, and the end product should be nothing short of male-approved deliciousness.

Hmm...now that I mention it I think I will make that for myself!

Happy crafting!