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Mix your veggies and chocolate with this healthy Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread Oatmeal Bars recipe! They’re super moist and nutritious but taste like a decadent piece of summer. Plus it’s a whole serving of vegetables!

Mix your veggies and chocolate with this healthy Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread Oatmeal Bars recipe! They're super moist and nutritious but taste like a decadent piece of summer. Plus it's a whole serving of vegetables! Mix your veggies and chocolate with this healthy Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread Bars recipe! They're super moist and nutritious but taste like a decadent piece of summer. Plus it's a whole serving of vegetables!

Picky eaters. We’ve all got em’ in our lives. That, or you are one. (Hi. Welcome. Yes I hid veggies in your baked goodies. Sorry!) I take picky eaters on as a challenge. When I can prove healthy eating, vegetables, or new ingredients can be delicious to a picky eater, I’ve done my job.

One of my best friends is one of the pickiest eaters I know, so when I get her stamp of approval I know I’ve got a winner on my hands. Needless to say, she loves these zucchini bread oatmeal bars and I’m so excited to share them with the masses! If you have a picky eater in your life, you don’t have to disclose that these have zucchini in them. You can just call them chocolate chip oatmeal bars… 😉

Here’s What You Need:

  • oat flour – you can also make your own by grinding up rolled oats!
  • brown rice flour – you can also use regular flour if you’re not gluten-free
  • rolled oats – grab gluten-free if needed.
  • baking powder
  • coconut sugar – brown sugar works too.
  • egg – I haven’t tried a flaxseed egg in this but you could try that to make these bars vegan. 
  • banana – make sure it’s super ripe!
  • unsweetened applesauce – helps keep these bars super moist. 
  • almond milk – or other non-dairy milk of your choice.
  • coconut oil
  • zucchini – the star of the show!
  • dark chocolate chips – I like the Enjoy Life brand.

Why zucchini?

Besides sneaking in some extra vegetables to this recipe, zucchini does play a role! It’s similar to adding bananas to banana bread – it creates a really great texture! Since it’s such a mild tasting vegetable, you will mostly taste the ingredients it’s paired with. On a nutritional front, it adds some great vitamins and minerals like vitamin A and C.

The one thing to note about baking with zucchini is that it is made up of a lot of water! To make sure this recipe turns out, you’ll want to grate your zucchini into a dish towel or several layers of paper towels to squeeze out the excess water.

How to Make Zucchini Oatmeal Bars

STEP 1: In a large bowl, combine the oat flour, brown rice flour, rolled oats, baking powder and coconut sugar. 

STEP 2: In a separate bowl, mix the egg, banana, applesauce, almond milk and coconut oil.

STEP 3: Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir to combine. 

STEP 4: Grate the zucchini and place in a dish towel or several layers of paper towel to squeeze the excess moisture out. 

STEP 5: Stir the zucchini and chocolate chips into the batter. 

STEP 6: Grease a 9×9 inch baking pan with coconut oil and add the batter to the pan. Bake at 350ºF for 20-25 minutes. 

STEP 7: Remove from the oven and let cool for 20 minutes before cutting into bars. 

How to Store Oatmeal Bars

The best thing about these bars is that they’re healthy enough for breakfast and delicious enough for dessert! So basically… they don’t last long in our house. Before storing, make sure the bars are cooled completely. Store in an airtight container on your counter for up to 3 days, in the fridge for up to 7 days and in the freezer for up to 3 months.

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Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread Oatmeal Bars

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Mix your veggies and chocolate with this healthy Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread Oatmeal Bars recipe! They’re super moist and nutritious but taste like a decadent piece of summer. Plus it’s a whole serving of vegetables!

  • Author: Davida Lederle
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 9 bars 1x
  • Category: dessert
  • Method: Bake
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Gluten Free

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1/2 cup oat flour (or ground up rolled oats, gluten-free if necessary)
  • 1/2 cup brown rice flour (buckwheat flour works too)
  • 1 1/2 cups rolled oats (gluten free, if necessary)
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/3 cup coconut sugar (brown sugar will work too)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 large banana, ripe and mashed
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1/4 cup of almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)
  • 3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
  • 1 large zucchini
  • 1/4 cup of dark chocolate chips (I like Enjoy Life brand)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Grease a 9 x 9 inch baking pan with coconut oil.
  3. In a large bowl combine oat flour, brown rice flour, rolled oats, baking powder and coconut sugar.
  4. In a separate bowl combine egg, banana, applesauce, almond milk and coconut oil.
  5. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir to combine.
  6. Grate your zucchini and place in a dish towel or several layers of paper towel to squeeze out excess water.
  7. Stir in zucchini and chocolate chips into batter.
  8. Add batter to pan and place in oven to bake for 20-25 minutes (may need several minutes longer depending on elevation).
  9. Remove from oven and let cool for 20 minutes before cutting into bars.
  10. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

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Meet the Maven

Hi! I'm Davida and welcome to my corner of the internet. I'm a wellness blogger, yoga teacher, certified herbalist, and green beauty lover.

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24 Comments

  1. Made these today. Very tasty! Wrapping them individually in waxed paper and freezing for lunches at work.