Gluten Free Zucchini Brownies

These are some of the best brownies I've ever had. They are so moist & fudgy & chocolatey! Just writing about them makes me want to go downstairs and grab one (or two!) out of the freezer. I got this recipe from Gluten Free Goddess and made a couple changes to suit our needs and ingredients on hand. 

1 cup almond meal*
1 cup organic sugar  
3/4 cup brown rice flour**
1/2 cup unsweetened organic cocoa powder  
1 teaspoon guar gum (or use xanthan gum)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder  
3/4 teaspoon sea salt  
2 organic free-range eggs, beaten  
1/4 cup organic coconut oil  
1 tablespoon vanilla extract  
1 cup packed shredded zucchini, patted dry  
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F and line the bottom of a 9x9 pan with parchment paper.

In a large bowl bowl, mix together the almond meal, sugar, rice flour, cocoa powder, guar gum, baking powder & salt. Add in the eggs, coconut oil & vanilla. This will be a thick mixture. Add the zucchini & chocolate chips and mix well. Scoop batter into prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake for 25 minutes in order to get that really fudgy texture. Cool on a rack until cool enough to handle. Use a sharp knife to loosen edges and carefully remove from pan to finish cooling. Cut into 16 squares. These freeze wonderfully.

*Note:  I make my own almond meal using this method: Place 4 cups of almonds in a bowl or half gallon mason jar. Add water to cover almonds and then some. They expand while they soak and you don't want them to be out of the water. Add 2 tablespoons of sea salt. Allow to soak 7 hours or overnight. Drain & rinse. Dry nuts 12 to 24 hours in a dehydrator or in your oven at 150°F. Once completely dry, place almonds in a blender (I use a magic bullet) about a cup at a time and pulse them into a fine meal. Do not do this for too long or you will end up with almond butter. Remove any large pieces of almonds and put them in to pulse again with the next batch. It's a bit of a long process but a lot cheaper. This makes about 3  to 3 1/2 cups of almond meal at a cost of around $4. Bob's Red Mill Almond meal is $9.42 at my local Walmart for what looks like less than my batch made.

**Note: I make my own brown rice flour by grinding the rice in an electric grain mill on the finest setting. It works perfectly. Prepackaged brown rice flour isn't super expensive but this way is even cheaper.

These are wonderful with a tall glass of ice cold, farm fresh raw milk. Even my super picky, 3 year old little boy scarfed these right down and didn't even notice the zucchini. My 6 year old daughter knew the zucchini was in there and gave me the "wrinkled up nose look" but once she took a bite, she was sold. I think the biggest problem I will have with these is keeping them around long enough to save some for later.