The most delectably easy flourless Almond Butter Zucchini Bars! These gluten free, one-bowl bars are made with wholesome ingredients and satisfy any sweet tooth.
I didn’t know everything in 2013, but I sure as heck had my dessert hat on straight!
Ya see, these fantastical Almond Butter Zucchini Bars were originally published in 2013, i.e. the golden days of blogging. Back when like, no one had a blog. The internet was such a different space! The iPhone pictures for the old version of this post were LOL-worthy and needed a serious update (as did the post copy); so here we are! I know you have buckets of fresh zucchini oozing from your refrigerator and trunk and sock drawer so I’m gifting you with the best way possible to use it. Also, try slicing and freezing it to add creaminess to smoothies!
The only thing I changed about this naturally gluten-free Almond Butter Zucchini Bar recipe was decreasing the nutmeg to 1/4 teaspoon, which is perfect for me. And yes, 2 teaspoons of cinnamon is correct! Don’t skip it. As far as an egg substitute in this recipe for my vegan friends, unfortunately I don’t have one. I tried this recipe with a flax egg and it was all crumbly. I used pure maple syrup for the sweetener, but honey should work well too. The chocolate chips are “optional” because chocolate-haters still deserve to love this recipe but honestly, I don’t get you.
The best part about these Almond Butter Zucchini Bars is just that—they’re made with ALMOND BUTTAH as the base rather than flour. Kinda like my epic Pumpkin Bars and Fudgy Raspberry Almond Butter Brownies, ya dig? Obviously I love me some flour (hi, fluffiest pancakes ever) but I’m equally excited by a recipe that’s ridonculousy moist and oh so fluffy from nuts. The thought! I use Kirkland’s creamy almond butter from Costco in this recipe but any drippy almond butter should work, like Trader’s Joe’s creamy almond butter for example. Also, does anyone else own this 4.5 pound bag of chocolate chips? Cuz you know I do! They’re dairy-free and super affordable and TBH you can never have enough chocolate in the house. Oh, and they only have ten ingredients. And one bowl. You’re welcome!
Nosh on these bars for snack, dessert, breakfast, dinner, you do you, honey. These Almond Butter Zucchini Bars are absolutely fab with a cup of hot (or iced!) coffee but I love them equally when enjoyed after dinner with chilly almond milk whilst watching The Americans.
Happy dance!!!
- ¾ cup creamy almond butter (the drippy kind)
- 1 heaping cup grated zucchini (1 small-medium zucchini)
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- ⅓ cup chocolate chips (optional)
- Pre-heat the oven to 350F. Spray an 8 x 8 pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Stir together almond butter, zucchini, egg, maple syrup and vanilla in a large bowl until combined.
- Stir in baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Fold in chocolate chips.
- Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.
Yum, this looks good! I’m going to need to pick up a zucchini soon!
Stephanie @ Legally Blinde recently posted…Veggie Bake
Add it to your grocery list, Stephanie! These are a must-make 🙂
Alexis recently posted…Paleo Almond Butter Zucchini Bars
These look yummy.. can you suggest something to bind it other than one egg..egg replacer or another idea would be welcomed
Hmmm you could try a flax or chia egg (1 tbsp flax/chia mixed with 3 tbsp warm water. Let it “gel” for 5 min.)
Alexis
My son is has gluten, dairy n peanut/almond allergies. Can I use sunflower butter or cashew butter in place of almond butter? I would really like to try this recipe.
Also, where can I find that huge bag of dairy free chocolate chips?
Thanks!
Donna
Hi Donna, I haven’t tried it with another nut butter. As long as it’s drippy, not solid, I’d imagine it would work. I linked to the bag of chocolate chips, which you can buy at Costco or on amazon. Trader Joe’s chocolate chips are also dairy-free. Enjoy!
These bars are A-MAZING!!!! I wish I had doubled the batch– they are that good! Thanks Alexis for another great recipe! 🙂
Wahhhooooo!!!! I love a good success story 🙂 I wish I could come to Chicago and bake with you guys!
You had me sold on these with the title! I have made chocolate zucchini muffins before, but I love your addition of almond butter. These sound super tasty :).
Hannah @ CleanEatingVeggieGirl recently posted…Tempeh and Veggie Burritos
I lovelovelove chocolate zucchini muffins! I always make the ones from Happy Herbivore and add chocolate chips. Beyond heavenly.
Those are exactly the muffins that I was referring to! Happy Herbivore rocks :).
Hannah @ CleanEatingVeggieGirl recently posted…Fruit Pizza Whole Wheat Pancakes
Haha great minds DO think alike! Love me some happy herbivore 🙂
Alexis, these sound fantastic! I love baking with zucchini. And almond butter – how can you go wrong? one of my favorite butters 🙂
Sally recently posted…Chocolate Cupcakes with Mint Chocolate Chip Frosting.
Thanks, Sally! I’m pretty much head over heels in love with them…there’s no denying it. You’re right–you really can’t go wrong with almond buttah!
thanks for the sneak peek! Christen and I made them Sunday and they are beyond good!! I just wish we had made two batches!
Any time, Care. I’m so glad you liked them!!
These look delicious!
Matt @ The Athlete’s Plate recently posted…Maddie
Thanks, Matt! They’re darn tasty.
I just can’t get my head around green monsters but hiding veggies in a zucchini bread? Now THIS is something I am on board with! Do you think subbing in peanut butter for the almond butter and honey for the maple syrup would work? I’m trying to work with what ingredients I currently have at home!
Khushboo Thadani recently posted…A yum weekend
I wondered about the peanut butter thing, too! I wouldn’t recommend subbing because the magic thing about almond butter is its ability to NOT make things taste like super almondy. It just makes them super moist! I think using peanut butter would turn these into peanut buttery zucchini bread, which doesn’t sound too fabulous to me. I also don’t know if the texture would work. So basically I’d recommend sticking with almond butter but let me know if you try it out!
I know this post was from a few years ago, but I substituted peanut butter for the almond butter, since it was the only kind I had on hand, and they still turned out fabulous! The peanut butter didn’t overpower the taste at all and they were as soft as could be!
what a great idea: zucchini and almond butter! i’m sure the flavors complemented each other! i just made granola bars (not Paleo) with almond butter, yielding great results.
Yummmm I’m excited for that granola bar recipe!
Well hello sweet and delicious Browuffin…. That’s my word for Brownie & Muffin! Ha Ha Ha! These look JAM PACKED with health and loads of fiber to keep you FULL and… REGULAR! Weeee! 😉
GiGi Eats Celebrities recently posted…Angelina Jolie and Kale: Separated At Birth
Hahah Browuffin–I love it!! These are most definitely jam packed with a goodie or two 🙂
These look amazing! I gave up sweets for Lent so these look like the perfect thing to satisfy my cravings 🙂 What else do you recommend adding to these bars besides the chocolate chips?
These will definitely satisfy your craving, Amber! Feel free to just leave out the chocolate chips. They’re a yummy addition but they’ll still taste fabulous without them! I bet coconut would be good too.
Hi! Just made these and they are outrageous! I have such a sweet tooth and try to eat as clean as possible and this was the perfect treat. Mine came out a bit mushy though. Are they suppose to be like that? Any suggestions?
They are a bit mushy by nature but you could definitely increase the baking time by five minutes or so! Mine were super moist as well. So glad you liked them 🙂
I’ve been excited to try out this recipe for a while and I finally did….delicious! The only thing I did different was that I added 1 heaping Tbsp. of cocoa powder because I only had a few chocolate chips and really wanted the chocolate flavor. I’ll definitely make these again.
Fabulous idea to add cocoa powder! This is one of my favorite recipes on the blog for sure 🙂
These are great! I have made them five times in the past month! I have been having a chocolate craving, so today I added 1/4 c. cocoa powder to the mix. Delish!
I’m so glad you’ve been enjoying them, Elisabeth! Great idea to add cocoa powder, too! YUM.
Alexis recently posted…Chocolate Chia Peanut Butter Bites
Made these three times already and loved them! I made them with a quarter cup each of chocolate chips, walnuts and coconut…cannot get enough! Thanks so much for the recipe!
Fabulous to hear, Fiona! OMG–the addition of chocolate chippers, walnuts and coconut sounds amazing. I’ll have to try that soon!
These are in the oven right now… Yeah!
Hope you love ’em, April!
I do, so so much! I am already plotting when to make my 2nd batch (which I will share with my work friends – the first batch, all mine!). My fiance has been gobbling them up – so that is a true testament to how delicious they are. So easy to make and made our apartment smell divine. New favorite recipe! You rock! Love your blog. 🙂
That makes my day, April! Thanks so much for the sweet comment. They really do make the apartment smell fabulous!
I made these last night and they were delicious!–I used honey instead of maple syrup I am on a gluten free diet and have been trying a variety of new recipes–this is a keeper. I brought one to work for my boss to try and he loved it too. Thanks for the recipe.
That’s so great to hear, Missy! They’re such a fab treat. Glad to know your boss enjoyed ’em, too 🙂 Baking with almond meal and almond butter is the best discovery, especially for those who eat a gluten-free diet.
OMG Thanks! I love this website and I can’t wait to try the recipes!
Thanks so much! Hope you like them 🙂
I’ve made these several times now and tried them with sunflower butter–if you haven’t tried it, it’s fabulous!
I’m overjoyed to hear that, Missy! Since TJ’s has been out of almond butter forever, I’ve been using sunflower butter way more. I love the flavor, so I’ll have to try it out!
Thank you, Alexis, for sharing your expertise and your love of healthy food. I love that I stumbled onto you!! My dessert the last two nights consisted of your strawberry-chia seed pudding, and your zucchini almond butter bars. My only issue is that these recipes taste so good that I need to be careful and not chow down on too much of this delicious healthiness!
Thanks for your sweet comment, Dennis! You are SO welcome. I really need to whip up a batch of that chia pudding…it’s been too long!!
These came out great–very interesting flavor. I added a tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder. YUM. Thanks for posting the recipe!
Glad to hear they turned out well! Adding cocoa powder sounds like a delish addition 🙂
What an awesome recipe! How do you store them and how long do they last? I need a yummy healthy go to snack for my 2 year old and this sounds perfect!
I made these vegan by using a flax egg, and they turned out perfectly!!
I’m so glad to know that works! Thanks, Kendell!
LOVE these babies. Made them twice so far. The first time, I squeezed out the extra water from the zucchini and they seemed a bit dry. The second time, I just threw the shredded zucchini in and the bars were so moist. Thank youuu
Fabulous–so good to know!!
These look delicious! Will veganize and free it of sugar and hopefully have it taste/look just as good!
x
Hope they turn out well!! Enjoy 🙂
I just found this recipe on Run To The Finish under Almond Butter Recipes and I am in love! I’m going to the store to buy almond butter immediately because these HAVE TO HAPPEN. I’m not even Paleo or Gluten Free or any of that jazz, they just look really gooey and yummy and guiltless. Thanks for sharing and I love your site!
Kathryn @ Chicks Dig Running recently posted…Strawberry and Mint Summer Salad
Hey Kathryn! So glad you like the recipe! I’m not paleo/gluten-free either, but it’s always so fun to experiment 🙂 Enjoy!
Am I missing something? Just made these, followed the recipe to a tee and ended up with warm mush at the end (incredibly tasty mush but mush all the same). Even cooked it for an extra 5mins. Is there meant to be almond meal in this as there is none listed in the ingredients?
Hmmm I haven’t heard of this happening before. The recipe usually works as is! Not sure what happened here :/ I hope it works out next time!
I just wanted to say thank you! and I think I am officially in love with these muffins. I wandered over here from Pinterest and this post was featured on the page… I clicked and it was lust at first sight 🙂 then I actually made them since I had all the ingredients and the relationship blossomed…. I may never look at another snack bar muffin again…
There is no way these can be healthy. They have all the warmth and comfort of my Moms zucchini loaf with a LOT less of the guilt! I attempted to make my own almond butter with my vitamix for the recipe and even though I would call that part of the venture a fail (basically made almond meal with coconut oil to hold it together) I still used it and it was still amazing. I’m glad I read the comments before trying because I was going to use PB instead but that probably would have been pretty weird and over powering. I am currently moderately obsessed with your blog, and have about 15 tabs open with different recipes I can’t wait to try! Thanks for sharing 🙂
They ARE in fact healthy! I’m so excited that you liked them! Enjoy the 15 other ones 🙂
Oh. My. Gosh. These bars are to DIE FOR!!!
Yayy!!! I’m so glad they turned out well for you, Barrie!
Hey Alexis!
I was just wondering, if I wanted to make this in a loaf pan, at what temperature and for how long should I bake it?
Thanks in advance! 🙂
could I sub in mashed ripe bananas for the syrup/honey? If yes, how many (1/4c)?
Could you replace the honey with mashed bananas instead
Made these this morning and it was a hit with my kids and coworkers. Just fyi – I didn’t strain the zucchini and I used honey. I had to cook it maybe 10 minutes longer than the recipe said in my convection toaster oven. But it was well worth the wait. I love me some almond butter!
I’m not sure these will last long enough in my house for me to test this out, so I was wondering if these freeze well. I want to take a double batch for my sons bake sale, but they require that the items freeze and defrost well. 🙂
I have no doubt they would freeze and defrost just perfectly! And trust me, if I don’t freeze the goods that come out of my kitchen they’d be gone within hours 🙂
I’ve frozen them before and it worked fine! I freeze pretty much everything 🙂
Love this recipe! Its great that it isn’t too sweet and perfect for mornings on the go!
Thank you so much!
Yummmmm! I only have a jar of maple caramel almond butter that, unfortunately, is not the drippy kind. But as soon as I have a jar and zucchini, I’ll be making these!
I made these for my kids and we all loved them. They were delicious. I always like zucchini bars but these were so much better than most. I’ll be making them again.
This looks absolutely delicious!
I’m gonna make it for my mum’s birthday on Saturday.
Also just wondered what’s you favorite guilty-pleasure dessert at the mo?
Keep up the great work:-)
Matt recently posted…Nostalgic? – Check out these Slush Puppie machines to use at home!!!
Hi Alexis! I love the bars. I baked some over the weekend using your recipe. Thankfully, they turned out right. My son loves them. Thanks again!
Andy Bishop recently posted…Zesty Lemon Cheesecake Recipe
So glad to hear, Andy!
I NEED to make these!! I’m looking at the pictures and ingredients list and basically drooling! Best snack ever!
They’re so tasty! Hope you love them 🙂