One Bowl Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bars

For those days where you’re craving a heathy sweet treat, but don’t have time to deal with a million dishes, one bowl recipes become your new best friend. My One Bowl Oatmeal Chocolate Chips Zucchini Bars are an easy, healthy, one bowl recipe that happens to be gluten-free, and absolutely delicious. These bars are loaded with toasty oats, creamy chocolate chips, chopped nuts, and of course, zucchini, for a perfect bar that is filled with flavors, textures, and better-for-you ingredients!

If there’s one baked good that doesn’t get enough love, it’s zucchini bread. Call me crazy, but it’s true! Everyone loves banana bread, but I like to think of zucchini bread as banana bread’s cool, but shy, little sister. She doesn’t get as much attention as banana bread, but tastes just as good, if not even better. Which is why I’m here to show you just how delicious zucchini bread can be!

But what could be better than zucchini bread, other than zucchini bars? These bars are perfect for taking on-the-go or stuffing into your kid’s lunch boxes for a perfectly sweet treat. And the best part is, nobody will be able to tell that there’s zucchini inside!

And that’s because these bars taste like the perfect combination of walnuts, chocolate chips, and toasted oats. Once the chocolate chips melt, they blend beautifully with the zucchini to create a flavor profile that is not too-sweet. In case nobody has told you yet, let me be the first to say that these zucchini bars don’t taste like zucchini! If you don’t believe me, try them for yourself and see just how amazing they are.

What You Need to Make These Gluten-Free-Friendly Bars

• Zucchini: Of course, you need zucchini in order to make these zucchini bars! The key to getting these bars to the perfect consistency and texture is making sure to remove as much moisture out of the zucchini as possible. And if you don’t like the taste of zucchini, I promise: you won’t even notice it!
• Rolled Oats: Oats are full of fiber and whole grains, making these bars both delicious and nutritious.
• Gluten-Free Flour: To keep these bars gluten-free, we’ll be using a 1:1 gluten-free flour. My favorite flour is by Bob’s Red Mill, but any gluten-free flour blend works!
• Coconut Sugar: Coconut sugar is one of my favorite ingredients because it’s perfectly sweet and has a lower glycemic index, making it a better-for-you option.
• Baking Soda: A touch of baking soda ensures that these bars will rise!
• Vanilla Extract: Vanilla extract is essential for any good dessert recipe, and these bars are no exception.
• Sea Salt: A pinch of salt ensures that these bars don’t end up too sweet.
• Egg: The egg helps the bars maintain their light and fluffy texture. If you want to make this recipe vegan-friendly, you can replace the egg with a flax egg!
• Coconut Oil: You’ll want to make sure that the coconut oil is melted, so that the dough can come together without being too crumbly.
• Walnuts: Walnuts and zucchini bread go hand-in-hand and are absolutely delicious in these bars!
• Chocolate Chips: And, of course, these would not be chocolate chip zucchini bars without the chocolate chips. My favorite chocolate chips are by Hu, and you can use code KALEJUNKIE for 15% off!

How to Make This One Bowl-Wonder Dessert

The best part about these bars is that they come together in just one bowl, meaning there’s minimal cleanup required after! To make these bars, start by preheating your oven to 350 F. Next, prepare the zucchini by washing and grating it. Then, once the zucchini is grated, place it into a mesh bag or cheesecloth. If you don’t have either, you can wrap it tightly in paper towels. Squeeze out as much moisture as you can from the zucchini, then set aside.

Next, in a large bowl, mix together the oats, gluten-free flour, coconut sugar, baking soda, sea salt, vanilla extract, egg, and melted coconut oil until they’re fully combined and a dough is formed. It will be crumbly but that is okay! Then, add in the zucchini, walnuts, and chocolate chips and mix until fully combined.

Once the dough is finished, set it aside and line an 8×8 baking dish with parchment paper. I like to spray the inside of the pan with a little bit of oil, in order to ensure that the parchment paper sticks to it. Then, add the dough to the dish, pressing it down until it’s evenly spread across the pan.

Bake the bars for 26-28 minutes, or until the tops of the bars are golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Once they’re done, remove the bars from the oven and let them cool completely before removing them from the baking dish. This is very important so that the bars hold together!

Finally, once the bars have cooled, remove them from the pan and slice them. You can make 9 larger bars, or 12 smaller bars, if you prefer. Then, serve and enjoy! Store any leftovers in an airtight container, in the fridge, for up to one week.

If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a review and rating below! To see more recipes and behind the scenes, follow along on Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube! I’m also now on Pinterest, so stop by and take a look at what’s new.

** Photography by Tanya Pilgrim