Grab a zucchini and make yourself a batch of these soft and moist zucchini bars with chocolate chips in every bite. The moisture from the zucchini keeps these bars fluffy and cake-like, and they get incredible flavor from one of my favorite gluten free flours – oat flour. And adding chocolate is always a good idea, so the chocolate chips were an absolute must!
Making zucchini bars is a fun twist on the classic zucchini bread and the chocolate chips adds a little extra fun. Enjoy for a healthy breakfast or sweet treat that’s gluten free!
For a classic zucchini bread with a twist, check out my Gluten Free Orange Zucchini Bread. It’s soft, moist, and infused with the fresh flavor of citrus. The orange zest and juice really make the flavors pop!
Ingredients in Zucchini Bars
Zucchini – It’s important that after you shred the zucchini that you squeeze excess moisture out with a linen or paper towel. This keeps the zucchini from making things mushy or dense.
Greek Yogurt – I love to use Fage full fat plain greek yogurt for the thick texture and moisture it gives to baked goods. Feel free to substitute with a dairy free option if needed.
Eggs – Gives structure and support to these gluten free zucchini bars.
Coconut Oil – A healthy fat that binds the ingredients together. Make sure it’s melted and cooled before adding to the other wet ingredients.
Maple Syrup & Coconut Sugar – Two refined sugar free sweeteners that give a slight caramel-esc flavor to these bars.
Oat Flour – One of my favorite gluten free flours because of the almost nutty-like flavor. I personally will buy online, but you can also easily make it at home.
Baking Powder & Baking Soda- Helps the batter rise while baking.
Cinnamon – I think cinnamon pairs great with zucchini baked goods. It helps blend the sweet and fresh flavors of these bars.
Chocolate Chips – I used Trader Joe’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips but you can use milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or any brand you’d like. You could even chop chocolate bars and make chocolate chunk zucchini bars!
How to Make Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bars
- Preheat the oven to 350F and line a 8×8 pan with parchment paper.
- Prep Zucchini – shred and squeeze of excess water with a linen or paper towel.
- Whisk together wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
- Add oat flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt to the wet ingredients and stir together with a wooden spoon until just combined. Fold in ⅓ cup chocolate chips.
- Pour batter into a parchment-lined 8×8 pan and top with an additional ⅓ cup chocolate chips. Move to the oven and bake at 350F for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick or knife inserted comes out crumb-free.
How to Grate Zucchini
The key to a great zucchini creation starts with the … zucchini lol. I’m old school and use a hand/box grater to manually shred the zucchini. You can also use the attachments on food processors for this and save some time!
Whether you grate it by hand or with an appliance, I recommend using the second hole size so that the zucchini shreds still have a bit of shape.
Next you’ll want to squeeze / drain the zucchini shreds. I like to wrap the grated zucchini in a kitchen towel and just squeeze, twist, and squeeze again until most all of the water is gone. This keeps your zucchini bars from absorbing all that extra fluid and getting soggy or mushy.
Nobody wants a soggy zucchini bar! It’s a simple step that can make or break the texture (and flavor) of any zucchini baked good.
What is Oat Flour?
Exactly as the name describes, oat flour is flour made from ground oats. It’s a great option for gluten free baking because it absorbs moisture easily and gives a soft and slight chewy texture. Plus you can make it at home and it’s rather cost efficient.
Simply add rolled (or quick) oats to a blender or food processor and blend away. Once the oats are all broken up and ground into a fine flour, it’s done. Use immediately or store in an airtight container for your next baking project. Easy and quick!
How to Store Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bars
These zucchini bars are just as tasty for leftovers when you store them properly. I suggest layering parchment paper between the bars as you stack them in an airtight container. Leave at room temperature for up to 4 days and in the fridge for up to a week.
These also freeze very well and make for a great breakfast or dessert freezer stash. Let them thaw overnight or heat in the microwave until warmed through!
For another tasty bar creation, check out these Healthy Monster Cookie Bars. Soft and chewy Monster Cookie Bars loaded with melty chocolate chips and healthy candies. You can make these vegan cookie bars in one bowl with only 10 ingredients and in less than 30 minutes. Now that’s my kind of dessert!
If you try this recipe or any of the above ones, please let me know by leaving a comment and rating in the boxes below! I always love to hear from you, and it also helps other people find this recipe when they search online for the BEST Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bars 🙂
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 1 cup shredded zucchini squeezed of water and packed full (~1 medium zucchini)
- ⅓ cup full fat plain greek yogurt
- 2 ea large eggs
- ½ cup coconut oil melted and cooled
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients
- 1⅔ cup oat flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup chocolate chips + ⅓ cup additional to top
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F and line a 8×8 pan with parchment paper.
- Prep Zucchini – shred and squeeze of excess water using a linen towel or paper towel.
- Whisk together wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
- Add oat flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt to wet ingredients and stir together with a wooden spoon until just combined. Fold in ⅓ cup chocolate chips.
- Pour batter into a parchment-lined 8×8 pan and top with an additional ⅓ cup chocolate chips.
- Move to the oven and bake at 350F for 30-40 minutes (mine took 35 minutes), or until the top and edges are golden brown and a toothpick or knife inserted comes out crumb-free. Let cool completely before cutting into 9 or 12 slices.
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Hi Casey! Just wanted to write in to say that I’ve made this recipe for four weeks in a row and can’t get enough – so good! Also for the record, it works well with Bob’s egg replacer instead of eggs, for those with dietary sensitivities like me. Thank you!
Great to know that substitution works! So happy you love these bars!! – Casey
So delicious and filling! Definitely help to satisfy this pregnant mama’s cravings
Awww from one pregnant mama to another, SO glad to hear that lol!! The cravings are real haha!! – Casey
Can you use regular white sugar instead of coconut sugar?
Hi Sandy! I haven’t tried that, but it should work just fine! – Casey
looks amazing!!!
can it works with carrot too?? I don’t have zucchini atm.
I haven’t tried before, but I think that should work no problem! 🙂 – Casey
Amazing recipe! Love the idea of turning zucchini bread into bars
So happy you loved these, Zofia!! – Casey