Healthy Fudgy Brownies – Gluten Free, Vegan, & Refined Sugar Free
These gluten free and vegan brownies taste amazing and have the perfect fudgy texture! Who knew making brownies from scratch could be so simple and delicious? The best part is that these are healthy brownies using natural sweeteners and healthier flour options!
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I am so excited to be sharing this brownie recipe today! Not only are they fudgy and delicious, but they are gluten free, vegan, and refined sugar free!
I did not think this was going to be possible and after my first attempt I almost gave up. It was a bubbly, oily, nightmare.
Two more attempts and a lot of ingredient adjustments later and magic happened in my oven!
I did a TON of research to get this recipe figured out.
It seemed like all of the gluten free brownie recipes called for a lot of eggs which wasn’t an option because I’m allergic.
So can you make brownies without eggs?
The answer is Yes! By making flax eggs.
Flax egg substitute for brownies:
- Just mix 1 tablespoon of ground flax seed meal with 3 tablespoons of water and let sit for 5 minutes or so.
- This will substitute 1 egg.
Flax eggs really are the best egg substitute I have found for most recipes.
It does start to get tricky when a recipe calls for something like 4+ eggs. So I had to adjust the recipe to make it work for just 1 flax egg.
I also wasn’t sure what kind of flour would work best with the vegan recipes I found.
It seemed like the brownie recipes that claimed to be really fudgy required melted chocolate to make them that way and I really wanted a refined sugar free brownie option.
So I was feeling stumped until I remembered how delicious the double chocolate muffins I make are and they use almond flour and oat flour.
The almond flour and oat flour give a great texture to baked goods so I thought they might work well.
Making almond flour brownies would also provide a lot more nutrients than traditional brownies. The oat flour is also a great source or fiber.
I also remembered that I have an awesome recipe for refined sugar free chocolate.
I thought that might make a perfect substitute for the melted chocolate everyone else was using in their recipes. So I got to work.
Like I mentioned before, my first attempt was a disaster! My coconut oil to almond flour ratio was way off and caused the brownies to be a bubbling liquid mess.
This was a huge bummer because it was a big waste of ingredients.
Normally if I don’t get a recipe right on the first try, the food is still at least edible, but that was not the case this time.
However, I was quite proud of the fact that I saw the outcome and knew exactly what to adjust for the next attempt.
So that same day, I made brownies 2.0 and they were sooo close! They were fudgy and delicious, but they were a bit too thin and a little too fudgy (yes there is such a thing as too fudgy!).
So a couple days later, I attempted brownies 3.0. I doubled most of my ingredients and cut down on some of the liquid in hopes of getting a thicker and a little less fudgy brownie.
VICTORY!
They were exactly what I had envisioned and tasted just as amazing as brownie 2.0 but were thicker and the perfect fudgy texture.
I can’t wait to take these brownies to the next family get together because I bet no one will even know they are gluten free, vegan, and refined sugar free brownies. They are that good!
So let’s make some!
HEALTHY VEGAN GLUTEN FREE BROWNIE RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
To make these healthy gluten free and vegan brownies, you will need:
- Finely ground almond flour: Low in carbohydrates, provides protein, fiber, and lots of other nutrients.
- Finely ground oat flour: Helps give the brownies a great texture and provides additional nutrients.
- Cocoa powder: To make the brownies chocolaty of course!
- Coconut sugar: Coconut sugar is a great healthy alternative to brown sugar. You can use brown sugar in it’s place if desired.
- Maple syrup: For additional sweetness and flavor. You may also use honey or agave if you prefer.
- Ground flax seed meal and warm water: This is an egg substitute. You may use 1 egg instead of this if you do not have an egg allergy.
- Coconut oil: A healthier alternative to vegetable oil which is used in traditional brownie recipes.
- Baking powder
- Vanilla
- Salt
- Chopped nuts or vegan chocolate chips (optional)
HOW TO MAKE GLUTEN FREE VEGAN BROWNIES:
- Preheat your oven: 350°F.
- Make your flax egg: In a small bowl, combine flax meal and water and set to the side to thicken.
- Make your chocolate sauce: Melt coconut oil in a another small bowl and add the rest of the chocolate sauce mixture ingredients and stir until no clumps remain.
- Mix your dry ingredients: In a large bowl, add all of the dry ingredients (except optional nuts/chocolate chips) and whisk well.
- Add sugar and vanilla to flax eggs: Once the flax mixture has thickened, add coconut sugar and vanilla and whisk until combined.
- Combine all liquid ingredients: Add chocolate sauce mixture to the flax, coconut sugar, and vanilla mixture and whisk until combined.
- Mix together liquid and dry ingredients: Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and add 1 tbsp of water. Stir until the batter is smooth.
- Fold in extras: Optionally fold in chopped nuts or chocolate chips.
- Bake: Pour into an 8 x 8 greased pan and bake for 23-25 minutes.
- Cool: Allow the brownies to cool before serving.
Now you have some delicious homemade healthy brownies to enjoy!
I hope you love these gluten free, vegan, and refined sugar free brownies as much as I do!
Fudgy Brownies – Gluten Free, Vegan, & Refined Sugar Free
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 25 min
- Total Time: 35 min
- Yield: 9 1x
Ingredients
Chocolate Sauce Mixture
- 1/4 cup refined coconut oil, melted (or avocado oil)
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
Flax Egg Mixture
- 1 tbsp ground flax seed meal*
- 3 tbsp warm water*
- 3/4 cup coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
Dry Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cups finely ground almond flour
- 1/3 cup finely ground gluten free oat flour*
- 4 tbsp cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup chopped nuts or vegan chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a small bowl, combine flax meal and water and set to the side to thicken.
- Melt coconut oil in a another small bowl and add the rest of the chocolate sauce mixture ingredients and stir until no clumps remain.
- In a large bowl, add all of the dry ingredients (except optional nuts/chocolate chips) and whisk well.
- Once the flax mixture has thickened, add coconut sugar and vanilla and whisk until combined.
- Add chocolate sauce mixture to the flax, coconut sugar, and vanilla mixture and whisk until combined.
- Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and add 1 tbsp of water.
- Stir until the batter is smooth. Optionally fold in chopped nuts or chocolate chips.
- Pour into an 8 x 8 greased pan and bake for 23-25 minutes.
- Allow the brownies to cool before serving.
Notes
You can use 1 egg instead of the flaxseed meal and water if you do not have an allergy to eggs.
If you don’t have oat flour, you can blend up gluten free rolled or quick cooking oats in a blender into a fine flour.
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SHOP THE RECIPE:
Here are some items I used to make this brownie recipe.
Pyrex Glass Mixing Bowl Set | Measuring Cups/Spoons | Pyrex Glass 8″ Pan
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What can I use instead of oats as I’m intolerant to them
You could try using a gluten free all purpose flour instead of the oats. Sorghum flour would also be a good substitute.
I picked at the uncooked mixture before it went in the oven and it was really good. But I couldn’t get the mixture to resemble a batter, it was more of a crumble.
I used spelt flour (its what I had) and a little more water than 1 tbs (perhaps 2/3) but it still didn’t come together.
I also didn’t melt the oil to a liquid, more a very, very soft wax. Any tips please?
Hi Kerry, I’m sorry to hear that the batter didn’t come together for you. I haven’t tried making these brownies with spelt flour so it’s possible that was part of the problem. You also need to be sure to melt the oil to a liquid. Its a pretty thick batter when you make the recipe as written so if you don’t melt the oil you might not have enough liquid causing the batter to be too thick. If you want to try using spelt flour again I would suggest using less than what the recipe calls for and make sure you melt the oil. I hope this helps!