Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies
Zucchini chocolate chip cookies are quite simply amazing. I have been using this recipe for years now, and it has always been a family favorite. Where the recipe came from, I’m not sure. But I’m certainly glad I found it, because it is a well used recipe!
This is such a fun recipe for me because it is both simple and delicious. The zucchini adds some moisture to the cookies, without adding any real flavor to it. Who wants a dry chocolate chip cookie? I think that is the fastest way to ruin what should be a delicious cookie.
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Zucchini is also quite nutritious and low in calories. It gives us a healthy dose of potassium and vitamin c.
Have you tried making these zucchini chocolate chip cookies? Come on in and let me tell you about them!
Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies Ingredients
Butter, ½ cup, or 1 stick, softened
Sugar, 1 cup
Egg, 1
Flour, 2 cups
Baking Soda, 1 teaspoon
Cinnamon, 1 teaspoon
Salt, ½ teaspoon
Zucchini, 1 cup, grated
Chocolate Chips, 1 cup or 1 bag
Nuts, 1 cup, optional
Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies Directions
Using a box grater, grate one zucchini. I usually go for a small to medium size zucchini. They produce a lot more than you would expect! But that also means you can use more in other recipes or measure out and freeze any extra. I measure it out in 1 cup amounts for freezing.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a baking sheet with a non-stick cooking or baking spray.
In a mixing bowl, add all the dry ingredients together and mix well. This would be the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
In a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together on a high speed until it has a light and fluffy consistency. I usually let mine go for about three minutes.
Add in the egg next and continue mixing until the egg is incorporated. This should take less than a minute. If you need to, scrape the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula to make sure everything is well mixed.
Turn down the speed on your stand mixer and start slowly adding in the dry ingredients in small amounts. If you dump it all in, it will explode and go everywhere.
Bake for 15-17 minutes until golden brown. The cooking time will depend on the size of your cookies, so keep an eye on them around the 14 minute mark and determine if they are ready to come out or need to go longer.
Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to rest on the cookie sheet for a few minutes. Otherwise they will crumble and fall apart.
Once they have cooled for a few minutes, transfer them to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Recipe Notes
My favorite way to make these around the holidays is with dark chocolate and mint chips instead of just plain ordinary chocolate chips. These can be made with any kind of chocolate chips though.
Since the zucchini doesn’t add any real flavor, that makes this recipe incredibly versatile and you can certainly play around with whatever fits the specific holiday. I’ve made them with dark chocolate and mint chips, semi sweet chocolate chips, peppermint chips, and even cranberry chips. The possibilities are endless.
The original recipe I was given called for 1 cup of chocolate chips. I’ll be honest here and tell you that I’ve never measured out chocolate chips in any cookie recipe I make. I always open the bag and use the entire thing. One batch equals one bag of chocolate chips for me. But if you prefer, you can certainly measure them out. It is totally up to you.
Zucchini is primarily water. I don’t know how much, but that is why it adds both moisture and nutrition to your cookies. But that means that they will spread out a bit more than a traditional cookie when baking. If the dough looks too runny for you, add in some extra flour and mix again. Start with a small amount, like ¼ cup of extra flour and eyeball it from there. It is going to look wet either way, but it shouldn’t be runny.
Sometimes this happens for me, sometimes not. It all seems to depend on the zucchini. That does create a variable in the recipe, but you can always add more flour and it’ll do just fine. Don’t be afraid to play around with this recipe, as you really can’t go wrong with it.
Why I Love This Recipe
Zucchini chocolate chip cookies are one of those recipes that is really quite simple yet versatile. I love that any kind of chocolate chip will work in this recipe, and that makes it a really fun holiday cookie.
These cookies are the perfect holiday cookie. I’ve made this for many holiday parties and family gatherings over the years. It intrigues people when I tell them that there is zucchini in these cookies. Which makes them want to try it just to see if it is as strange as they think. Nope, not strange. Just delicious and those who have tried them are hooked.
I’ve had many family members ask me for the recipe or ask to take some home from a party. I always end up making extra, just so they can take some home for later. Which is quite the compliment! That is my favorite part of holiday parties and family gatherings, is when people want to take some home for later.
I also get a great laugh when I make these. My husband, Nathan, loves them and that always makes me happy. But he always accuses me of trying to sneak vegetables into his diet when I make these cookies. Oh hey, a cookie! Don’t mind the green stuff in there… When he asks me this, I try to put on the most devious smile I can and say, just eat the cookie. They’re delicious. I mean, if he’s going to say that, I might as well take it and run with it, right? That is the joy of being married for as long as we have.
Discussion
Have you tried making this delicious zucchini chocolate chip cookies recipe yourself yet? Are you a fan? Did you change the type of chocolate chips used? What is your favorite dessert? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
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34 Comments
Heather
This is so neat! I’ve never made cookies from scratch, but I really want to try this recipie since I love sneaking veggies into my treats! I may use white chocolate chips since that’s the only type of chocolate I like, but I love the idea of adding mint in as well! Thanks for sharing!
The Prepping Wife
I’ve never tried it with white chocolate. Let me know what you think of it!
Sabrina
Wow that sounds great, i’ll totally try it 😍
The Prepping Wife
They are amazing! I think you’ll really like them. Let me know what you think once you’ve made them.
Cynthia
These look so good! I’m definitely going to try them sometime! I love using zucchini in baking.
Suzanne (FibroMomBlog)
I love zucchini bread- so I bet these cookies are amazing! I can’t wait to try to make them.
The Sunny Side Lifestyle Co.
I never would have thought to add zucchini to cookies! My 12-year-old is an avid baker and always looking for new recipes. I’m definitely going to pass this one along for her to make. Makes me feel a little better about eating a cookie 🙂
The Prepping Wife
I think she will love this recipe and even be inspired to try different kinds of chocolate chips in it! The versatility of this recipe is fantastic, in my opinion. Let me know what she thinks and what kind of chips she does use. I’m very curious if she uses something I haven’t tried!
Melody
Zucchini is such a healthy substitute for carbs. We make zucchini bread and I’ve also had zucchini pasta. This will make a tastier choice than my bread and pasta. Something for an upcoming weekend.
Melissa
These look delicious. I’m growing a zucchini plant in my garden this summer so these should be perfect. I already told my husband I am making these for him. He is not excited, lol.
Lyosha
I need to try that! It sounds like a perfect treat to me. Pinned and saved.
Trish Veltman
Zucchini are so versatile. Years ago I had a courgette-cake in a cafe and it was so moist and delicious.. I’ll have to try these cookies.
Despite Pain
I haven’t tried zucchini in anything baked before. Carrots, yes, but not zucchinis. On the to do list. And yes, totally agree – does anyone actually weigh choc chips? Throw them all in. Nothing worse than a choc chip cookie with only a couple of choc chips in it. They need plenty.
The Prepping Wife
Carrot cake is on my to-make list! That is going to be a fun one since I’ve never attempted it before. I love carrots though, and cream cheese frosting is simply amazing to me. Lol. I swear I could just eat the frosting most of the time. I make my own whipped cream at home to go with pumpkin pie, and Nathan inhales that. We all have our own thing, I guess. Lol.
Despite Pain
Yes, do make carrot cake. It’s delicious. Think we’re related – my favourite part is the cream cheese frosting.
Snehal
Chocolate cookies are my fave! Will try your variant of zucchini chocolate chip cookies. Looks healthy and yum! 😋
Sarah
These look great! I love zucchini! My favorite is chocolate zucchini cake 🙂 I will save this recipe!
omoh felix peters
you never stop to amazing me can there ever be and end to your amazing delicious meal i dont think so always wetting my appettite
Charmaine Daisley
These look so good and the zucchini makes it even better. It looks like something I will enjoy, but because I’m diabetic I’ll probably have to swap the sugar for a substitute sweetener and use a gluten free flour. I think I can get away with a few dark chocolate chips in there.
Lindsay Brown
This looks like a great recipe and I am totally going to use it this summer! I grow my own zucs and am forever searching for zucchini recipes as they just run rampant in my gardens and i find by the end of summer I have an overload of zucchini!
Zucchini + chocolate chip cookies = a tasty treats that my kiddos will love! Also, no more zucchini waste in the garden! Hawzaa!
Rachael Marini
Never in a million years would I have thought to add zucchini in a cookie! Going to try this for sure!
jerry godinho
my favorite food blogger making me hungry again with all these amazing mouth watering recipes and love the blog and love the pics and love the way you make your presentation thanks
Live Learn better
Great recipe you have here. Even though its very tough to switch to something this healthy after years of eating those high calorie cookies. Nevertheless, I will try it out.
Thuy
I have never made cookies with zucchini before, but that sounds awesome! I want to try this in the summer time and see if it will be a successful treat at BBQ’s!
Tracy C
We love zucchini bread, and I have made it with chocolate chips. However, I’ve never thought about using that batter (or similar one) for cookies. What a great idea!
Subhashish Roy
Chocolate chip cookies are my all time favorite amongst cookies and loved learning about the process of making them. I wonder at all the different dishes that you keep sharing.
Debra Roberts
I grow zucchini’s the size of baseball bats, so I’m always looking for things to make with them that are out of the ordinary! These look delish!
ladyRhoda
I always struggle with zucchini My pastries always come out heavy but like you suggested here perhaps i need to add the flour at small amounts at a time.
Britt K
This sounds like such a delicious recipe! We grow zucchini in our garden every year and always wind up with far more than we know what to do with, giving plenty away to family, friends and neighbours. I have made zucchini loaf in the past but I’ve never tried making cookies with it. I am DEFINITELY saving this to experiment with (and add my own twist) after we start harvesting this year! Maybe I’ll even be able to surprise some people with delicious home-baked cookies!
The Prepping Wife
When I have an abundance of zucchini, I grate it and measure what it needed for a batch of cookies, then freeze it. It is so easy and thaws pretty quickly to be used in the cookies. I do recommend labeling the freezer bag with measurements.
Debra A Roberts
I’m so glad I’m not the only one who eats raw cookie dough! I got a kick out of the “sneaking in the veggies”. My husband is horrible about veggies and the only way I could pull this recipe off is if he’s not home when I make them! If he so much as suspects there’s zucchini in the cookies, he won’t touch them!
Kelly Martin
I love chocolate chip cookies and zucchini but I’ve never thought of combining the two together! These look great Erica and almost guilt free! I’ll have to give them a try.
Doris Jean
This is really a twist to a classic.. Some of your recipes are so creative. I’m always trying to be more healthy but I love sweets!!! This recipe is definitely a must try for me. If I like it…I owe you big time 😁
The Prepping Wife
I really hope you love these cookies as much as I do, Doris!