These Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bars are wholesome and perfect and just everything your summer needs! Made with oats, almond butter, zucchini, dates, and maple syrup. So many feel-good ingredients packed into one bar!
Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bars
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Um totally spaced and forgot to add the almond butter and these were STILL so good! My toddler gobbled them down. Obviously a foolproof recipe and so easy. Can’t wait to try it again with the almond butter! Also I replaced the maple syrup with apple sauce 🙂
Sarah
So yes, I made my favorite zucchini muffins into a bar.
And yes, they are as dense, moist, blondie-like, wholesome (!!) and perfectly sweet as you are hoping they will be.
Zucchini Bars: A Love Story
Let me tell you 7 of the 100+ things I love about these zucchini bars:
- Super easy to make. NO FUSS WHATSOEVER.
- Shockingly nutritious. No refined sugar or flour. All ingredients that you can feel good about – oats, olive oil, maple syrup, zucchini, almond butter, etc.
- Pantry friendly! You probably have everything you need already.
- Breakfasty, but also snacky and desserty. There is no such thing as a bad time for these.
- Delicious served warm or (wait for it) cold out of the fridge on a hot summer day. SO GOOD.
- Extremely popular with the kidlets because they are so yummy.
- Even more popular with the parentals who let the kidlets eat *almost* as many bars as they want because of the aforementioned wholesome factor.
If you can ignore my use of the words kidlets and parentals and just only take the really good things from that list, then you will be tracking with me on the awesomeness of these bars.
These Bars On Repeat All Summer Long (For Real)
We test so many recipes on this website and love them all, but because we’re always trying new things, there are actually very few recipes that earn a repeat-after-repeat, year-after-year place in my real life home kitchen.
I’m happy to tell you that these muffins (the zucchini muffin originals) and now their cousins, the almond butter chocolate chip zucchini bars, have BOTH earned a spot in that esteemed repeat-after-repeat, year-after-year category.
They were a near-weekly staple for us last summer (BIG HIT with 18-month-old Solvi last year, both the making and the eating), and they have been and will continue to be making an appearance in my kitchen all summer long. ♡
These Can Be Made Date Or Date-Free
A quick note about the dates in this recipe:
This “base recipe” which we use for so many baked yummies (apple muffins, carrot muffins, etc.) on POY started way back in the day with a genius idea from Krista and Alana on our team to try using dates in a muffin batter.
The dates make the bars gooey and dense in all the right ways, and they also add some natural sweetness.
That being said, I realize that not everybody loves dates and not everyone HAS dates on hand all the time, so we also included a version in the notes of the recipe for date-free option of these zucchini bars that is still really, really good.
Bottom line: dates or no dates, we can work with it either way!
These are such an essential. They are a total easy summer baking project for, honestly, kind of everyone. Looks like it’s time for me to head home and… um, make another batch.
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Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bars: FAQs
These bars look amazing! Is there a way to make them totally vegan?
Yes! Try using a flax egg (or the equivalent of two regular eggs) here.
How should I store these zucchini bars?
These are best stored in a sealed container in the fridge to maintain freshness.
Do I have to drain out all of the excess water from the zucchini?
After you grate the zucchini, one quick squeeze to get out some of the extra water should do the trick.
Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bars
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 9–12 bars 1x
Description
These Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bars are wholesome and perfect and just everything your summer needs! Made with oats, almond butter, zucchini, dates, and maple syrup. So many feel-good ingredients packed into one bar!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup almond butter
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 8 medjool dates, pitted
- 1–2 zucchini, grated and squeezed once (about 2 cups total, divided)
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- pinch of kosher salt
- chocolate chips (optional, for topping)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Set aside about half of the zucchini and chocolate chips to stir in later. Blend everything else together until a smooth-ish batter comes together.
- Stir in chocolate chips and zucchini. Pour batter into a square baking dish (9×9 or similar). Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the top is golden brown and gently springs back when you press into it.
- For clean cuts, let it cool completely. (Or for hungry bellies, just get into it right warm out of the oven.) I like to store this in the refrigerator but you can serve warm or cold ALL DAY LONG! Snack, breakfast, dessert, all of it. ♡
Notes
For a date-free version, use 1/2 cup almond butter and 1/2 cup maple syrup (and omit the dates). Still delicious!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: zucchini bars, zucchini dessert, chocolate dessert
Need More Zucchini Inspo?
- Lemon Poppyseed Zucchini Bread (this bread just feels good right down to your soul)
- Sweet Corn and Zucchini Pie (one of our favorite ways to use up summer zucchini)
- Creamy Garlic Roasted Red Pepper Pasta (zoodles on zoodles on zoodles!)
- Summery Chipotle Corn Chowder (chock-full of summer veggies – so yummy!)
- The Ultimate Guide to Keeping Produce Fresh (never toss a forgotten veggie again)
Filed Under: All Recipes Baking Bars Chocolate Dairy-Free Desserts Gluten-Free Healthy Snacks Sugar-Free Summer Vegetarian Zucchini
June 17, 2021
Nice to meet you!
I’m Lindsay and I ♡ FOOD. I used to be a teacher, and now making food and writing about it online is my full-time job. I love talking with people about food, and I'm so glad you're here.
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Hello Lindsay.
Loved the recipe. Can you suggest a substitute for eggs. I am off eggs and want to try this recipe without using them. Thanks.
Hi Rakhi! We haven’t tested this, but a flax egg should work!
How much is 8 dates? I have a bunch frozen in 1/2 c pkgs. Thanks
Great question! We think there are 10-12 dates in a cup. So 8 dates would probably be around 2/3 cup.
These are incredible. I plan to make them every week. Thanks for the recipe! I’m obsessed.
I don’t see the amount for chocolate chips listed in the recipe. Thanks! Excited to try these!
We’d suggest around 3/4 to 1 cup. But more or less is just fine too!
This is so timely! I have been wanting to bake something for the kids and this looks delish!!
Enjoy!
So I’ve made these a few times already; making them again today. A keeper
The third item is missing info. Should that say 1/2 cup of Almond butter?
I’m excited to try these! Just curious – should the dates be chopped? It feels weird to put them in whole. Thank you!
We usually put them in the blender whole, but no harm in chopping them!
Thanks for the comment! Very helpful
I love your site but do not like that the printing of your recipes is not dark enough to read. This isn’t happening on other prints.
Hi Judith! Could you let us know what type of device and which browser you’re using when you are accessing Pinch of Yum recipes? This information will help us troubleshoot. Thanks!
This recipe looks Amazing! I am dying to try them.
If I use gluten free oats, will it work as well?
Your smoky beans tacos are incredibly delicious hot and cold!
Thank you!
Yes, gluten free oats will work!
Hi! This looks delicious! Any suggestions if you don’t have a food processor?
Would a pastry cutter work,? I realize it would take much longer!
Thanks!
Great question, Jamie! The bars would probably have a texture closer to baked oatmeal but they would still be delicious!
Ooh these look yummy! If I wanted to do a lemon poppyseed version (using your bread recipe as a guide), would you just swap the chocolate chips for the lemon and poppyseed? Or are there other changes you would make?
Great question, Claire! It’s so hard to say since we haven’t tested this version. We think those swaps would work out well!
I do not see the amount of chocolate chips that goes into the batter with the zucchini.
We’d suggest 3/4 to 1 cup but feel free to use more or less!
So the total amount of chocolate chips is 1.5-2cups? The chocolate chips are missing from the ingredient list (except for the optional topping ones)
So funny that you did this!! The zucchini muffin recipe has been a favorite of mine for a long time. I decided to make them the other day but realized I don’t have a muffin pan since I moved recently! I threw the batter in and 8×8 and it was awesome anyway. I’ll have to try the almond butter version! Big almond butter fans at my house 🤗
We hope you love this version, Alicia!
1/2 cup? Almond butter??
I am assuming chocolate chips are not in the nutritional breakdown?? If they are, what is the amount calculated in?
That’s correct, Carol!
Can I use peanut butter instead of almond butter? Seems like a dumb question to ask since I know they are both nut butters, but the peanut butter I have isn’t a natural peanut butter like most almond butters are, and I know taste is different, so wanted to make sure it wouldn’t ruin the final product. Thanks!
We haven’t tried, but I think it’d be delicious since peanut butter and chocolate are a great pair!
I make your feel good zucchini muffins every other week for the kids and they are obsessed. And now these!!! WOW! So so good.
So glad to hear it, Jana!
Followed directions exactly, turned out really good. I thought it would with the addition of the dates, its super moist and just the right amount of sweetness. I’ll be making this often. Thanks Lindsay!
So glad you enjoyed the bars, Carol!
I’m allergic to oatmeal can I substitute rolled oats with almond flour?
We haven’t tested the bars with almond flour, so it’s hard to say if it will work. If you give it a try, we’d love to hear back!
Do these freeze well? How should I alter the bake time if I want to double the recipe and use a bigger pan?
Yes, these freeze well. We haven’t tried doubling this recipe, so it’s hard to say. I would cook the full 40 minutes, do a toothpick check, and then add on time as needed.
These were super easy and delicious!
So glad you enjoyed them!
Um totally spaced and forgot to add the almond butter and these were STILL so good! My toddler gobbled them down. Obviously a foolproof recipe and so easy. Can’t wait to try it again with the almond butter! Also I replaced the maple syrup with apple sauce 🙂
Thanks so much for the comment, Sarah! So glad they were a hit!
These are incredible. Chewy and perfect at any time of the day. Thanks for the recipe!
So glad you enjoyed them!
We still have frozen shredded zucchini from last summer. Must use it up before the new crop is ready. Your recipe looks delicious. Anxious to get it into the oven and enjoy! Thank you for the inspiration.
Hope you enjoy the bars, Kelly!
Yummy and moist!
So glad you enjoyed the bars!
Do the dates have to be medjool? Is this the recommended date because of moisture content?
Yes, we’d recommend medjool, but any dates will work!
First of all, big thanks for having so many wonderful recipes for us here. It’s a great place indeed to find some of the best dishes to try out with people of all ages. I’m working as a domestic workers skill development manager in Dubai where I need to educate the maids and nannies of various housekeeping things including cooking. So it comes handy for me to choose excellent recipes and let them learn it before they are leaving to their respective employers.
Thanks again and keep going 🙂
Zarah Hakimi
Skill Developer at https://www.tadbeer.ae
Thank you so much!
Could avocado oil be swapped for the olive oil?
Yes that will work!