Zucchini Brownies

Even though I've had my fair share of bad luck growing zucchini in my garden, I'll never stop trying. Because no matter what, I always get at least a handful of good, delicious zucchini before my crop dies (I'm shaking my fist at you squash vine borer!). In fact, "handful" may, at times, be a little bit of a misnomer; on more than one occasion we've had multiple handfuls of zucchini (and squash) out of our garden. But no matter how many of them pile up on my kitchen counter, I will never complain. Because they are soooo delicious. And soooo versatile. Five years ago if you had told me that my absolute favorite brownie recipe had zucchini in it, I probably would have called you crazy (and refused to eat one). But seriously--these are the best brownies ever. They are incredibly moist (and probably stay that way for awhile; they never last long enough in our house for me to find out!) and taste so rich that you feel like they must just be terrible for you, but surprise! There's good healthy zucchini in them! (Which is how I justify all my extra helpings.) Even if you don't have an abundance of zucchini from your garden that you need to get rid of, go out and buy some just so you can make this recipe. (Go ahead and go now. I'll wait. And don't tell me you don't have time. I've made these at least three times in the past month--with a four month old. They're super easy. Shredding the zucchini is probably the most time consuming part, and as long as you don't slice a finger open--not that I've ever done that or anything--they shred pretty quickly.)

Zucchini Brownies
(I have no idea where I originally found this recipe, so my deepest apologies for not being able to properly thank the genius behind introducing them to me)

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cup flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups shredded zucchini
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350*. Grease and flour a 9x13 pan. In a large bowl mix together the oil, sugar, and vanilla until well blended. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl. Stir flour mixture into the sugar mixture. Fold in the zucchini and walnuts. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes; if desired, top with a chocolate frosting once cooled.

A few notes. I find that one of the quite large zucchini from my garden will yield about two cups when shredded. If I'm buying zucchini from the store (which--for whatever reason--are always significantly smaller), I usually get two or three. I also never put nuts into my brownies. Never. If you do, I probably won't eat them. Just saying. And frosting--definitely a go on these. I'm not typically fond of frosting on brownies that are like the ones that come out of the box (you know--the ones that get that crack-y little crust on top), but frosting is delish on these because they are a little more like a cake (but still dense like a brownie. If that makes sense. You know what? Just go make these. You'll understand).