Family Favorite Zucchini Brownies

Sunday nights in the summer always meant zucchini brownies at my house growing up. We'd eat zucchini daily over the summer. I have two zucchini favorites and one of them is these brownies. It makes a whole sheet and my family could down them in less than 12 hours, we'd eat them for dessert, before bed snack, and breakfast the next day. And then we'd eat the unwanted edges before lunch. That's how much we love them. The texture is pretty cakey, but not dry and spongy. It's like the perfect cake, all because the zucchini makes it not as dry. But, we still call them brownies instead of cake, and I don't quite get why?...haha! My other favorite is what we called "squished squash" growing up and it's stuck. I think it's technically a zucchini mousse sort of thing? It's steamed zucchini with sour cream, parm and cheddar cheese, and salt and pepper. It's amazing. And, I could eat it every. single. day. We're moving away from family soon and I'll be pretty bummed when I can't pick fresh veggies out of my family's garden.
I can't believe that summer is winding down. We have hiked all summer, hung out with family, and just hung out. My husband has been working like crazy. He is a temporary worker for the Forest Service, and hikes for 40 hours each week, plus overtime almost EVERY SINGLE WEEK! Like 50-60 hours each week, he is hiking straight up the mountains. And it amazes me because, I don't think I could do that. When we hike for 5 hours, I am pretty much dead by that point. So, I am excited to be able to spend time with him when school starts. We are wanting to do one more fun trip before school starts. I'd love to hear any ideas if you have any!


Frosting thickness is always a discussion at my family's house. My dad likes a very thin layer of icing, and we all love the thicker frosting on these browies, except for him. Of course, he'll eat them because they're just that dang good. So, we switch up the frosting every once-in-a-while to please him a bit. I just throw all this stuff in my handy KitchenAid and it's another one of those easy recipes! I use the recipe from Live Well Bake Often's cupcake frosting and half it.


Note: this makes a whole cookie sheet!!

Ingredients
Brownies
2 cups sugar
1 cup cooking oil
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 cups shredded zucchini (wash and peel and then shred)
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 cup cocoa
3 tsp. vanilla

Frosting
1/2 cup butter (softened)
3-4 Tbsp. heavy cream (you can use milk, but cream gives a richer taste)
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Pinch of salt



Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350℉
2. Wash and peel zucchini, set aside
3. Mix sugar and oil, add in eggs, milk, and zucchini until combined
4. Add dry ingredients and vanilla until it's completely mixed together
5. Pour on a cookie sheet  (if you have a deeper cookie sheet, use that!)
6. Bake for 20 minutes
7. Let cool 
8. Mix frosting by combining ingredients together, in order
9. Spread frosting over brownies after they're cooled

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