This recipe for rich and fudgy healthy brownies is so completely delicious that you will never believe the healthy ingredients!
The best healthy brownies
Imagine a homemade secretly healthy brownie recipe that can easily its own in taste and texture against any regular chocolate brownie.
There is no flour, no refined sugar, and more than five grams of protein packed into each and every super chocolatey fudge brownie.
The wholesome brownie recipe can be vegan, oil free, low fat, egg free, dairy free, and cholesterol free, with fiber, potassium, and iron.
Also try this healthy Frozen Yogurt Recipe
Flourless brownie ingredients
These super chocolatey low calorie brownies call for the following ingredients: unsweetened cocoa powder, baking powder, quick oats, pure maple syrup (or honey or raw agave), banana, nut butter, pure vanilla extract, chocolate chips, and black beans.
For flourless and grain free brownies, the half cup of quick oats can be replaced with an equal amount of almond flour if desired.
There is also keto and paleo brownie recipe option included in the recipe.
Feel free to use your favorite nut butter, such as almond butter, cashew butter, or peanut butter. Or for an allergy friendly option, sunflower butter also works well.
Use chocolate protein powder instead of the antioxidant rich cocoa if you want high protein brownies. Just be sure to choose a protein powder with a flavor you already know that you like for baking.
The gluten free brownie recipe calls for a standard fifteen ounce can of black beans. If you want to use cooked beans, measure out one and a half cups after cooking.
I have not tried any other beans or legumes in place of the black beans here. However, I do have a different recipe for Chickpea Brownies if you want to use garbanzo beans.
For the chocolate chips: I like to use Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips in the recipe, or you can use whatever chips you have on hand. My preference is for dark chocolate, but semi sweet, milk chocolate, and white chocolate all work too.
For a no sugar variation, Lily’s dark chocolate chips are a great option.
Or you can even make your own Sugar Free Chocolate Chips.
Liquid sweeteners that do well here include pure maple syrup, raw agave, honey (not for vegans), date syrup, or even keto syrup for sugar free brownies.
Healthy brownie recipe video
Above, watch the step-by-step video
Healthy brownies without banana
The recipe below uses banana to add natural sweetness without added sugar.
If you are allergic to the fruit, do not have any on hand, or just dislike the taste of banana brownies, make these popular Black Bean Brownies instead. It’s a similar recipe, but with no banana.
Or you might also really like these healthy Sweet Potato Brownies.
To answer a common reader question: You might be able to sub applesauce, avocado, or Greek yogurt for the banana if you also add some sweetener to replace the sugar from the banana. I have not tried this substitution so cannot say how it will taste.
Be sure to report back if you experiment.
How to make vegan healthy brownies from scratch
To make the plant based brownies, start by reading through the recipe instructions and gathering your ingredients.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and line an 8 inch baking pan with parchment paper or grease the pan well. Set it aside.
In a high quality food processor, blend everything until completely smooth. You can mix in the chocolate chips either before or after blending, but be sure not to leave them out!
Smooth the healthy brownie batter into the prepared pan. If desired, you can sprinkle some extra dark chocolate chips on top. Place the pan on the oven’s center rack.
Bake the healthy chocolate fudge brownies for fifteen minutes. Let them cool before cutting into bars or squares.
If you want them extra gooey and fudgy (definitely my preferred way to eat brownies!), you can eat them right away.
Otherwise, refrigerate the pan overnight, very loosely covered, and the delicious chocolate dessert will firm up considerably as excess moisture escapes.
They also have a deeper, sweeter, and richer taste a day after they are made.
Chocolate brownie storage tips
Store leftover brownies in the refrigerator for up to four or five days.
Or slice and freeze the brownie bars in a single layer or with parchment in between layers. Thaw the frozen brownies before serving, and enjoy for dessert or snack whenever a brownie craving hits in the future.
Try topping the recipe with cream cheese or chocolate frosting, melted chocolate chips or chocolate ganache, or Banana Ice Cream if desired.
With all the protein, fiber, vitamins and antioxidants, who is to say you couldn’t even eat these wholesome chocolate brownies for breakfast???
Health benefits
When cut into nine servings, each brownie is just 150 calories.
And the recipe contains 5.6 grams of protein and 5.7 grams of heart healthy fiber.
They are low in saturated fat, low sodium, and high in iron, with calcium, quercetin, and potassium.
Plus, the superfood black beans and unsweetened cocoa powder provide nutritious vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
Easy healthy brownie recipes
Healthy Brownies
Ingredients
- 1 can black beans
- 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup quick oats (for low carb, try these Keto Brownies)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup pure maple syrup or honey or agave
- 1 banana (see banana free options listed above)
- 1/4 cup nut butter of choice or coconut oil
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips (not optional)
Instructions
- To make healthy brownies, first preheat the oven to 350 F. Blend all ingredients except the chocolate chips in a food processor until completely smooth. (A blender can work if you must, but the texture and taste will be better in a food processor. I use this food processor.) Stir in the chips. Smooth into a greased or parchment lined 8×8 inch baking pan. If desired, add extra chocolate chips on top. Bake on the oven's center rack for 15 minutes. Let cool before cutting. If they are too fudgy and gooey for your liking, you can place them in the fridge overnight, during which time they firm up even more. View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
Healthy Dessert Ideas
AMAZING. However, I may never make these again and have to stick with the box mix. Because I ate WAY more of these than if they were full fat, sugary unhealthy version. They taste delicious!! I made the fudgy version with 2 tsp stevia and less than a 1/4 cup sugars (mixture of agave, brown sugar and honey). They were still plenty sweet. I may have to try the angry munchkin version next (I lied about not making them again). I like my chocolate DARK and BITTER so I think they will be right up my alley. My favorite chocolate bar is 99% cacao from world market. No
Joke.
Katy this recipe is perfect. I’m always trying to modify things beyond simply subbing oil with apple sauce and it always messes things up. But these brownies are as good…no…BETTER than regular brownie recipes even to “normal” people like my roommates.
Aw lol!
I haven’t tried that chocolate bar, although I think I’ve *almost* bought it a few times! I’m so glad to know another person who gets the dark-chocolate thing… people think it’s gross, but it’s so not! 😉
Katie,
I just discovered your website today. It is amazing! I made the blueberry pancakes for breakfast (with some green food cooling for St. Patrick’s day) and my family gobbled them up.
I then made the fudge brownies, and my daughter, the chocolate freak, couldn’t stop moaning. She said the were the most amazing things ever (I used coconut oil). I had a question though, I cooked them for 18 minutes and they were still pretty much batter, unable to really hold any shape. It didn’t stop us from eating them but I’m wondering what I did wrong? I used th extra firm tofu.
I also made the ranch dip. Yum! I love salad and this is a wonderful creamy dressing!
Yep. I’m a fan. 3 recipes in one day. You are the best!!!
I actually like them gooey… I’m weird! But I only cook for 11 minutes. I don’t think our ovens could be *that* different… if I cooked mine for 18, they’d burn! Did you preheat the oven?
Also, if you take them out of the oven and fridge until cool, uncovered (6ish hours or more), they’ll firm up to a fudgey texture. But still, 18 minutes shouldn’t still be gooey! :-?.
Perhaps it’s time to move ahead with our kitchen remodel and get that new oven installed! They are still gooey, but bring eaten by the spoonful straight from the fridge.
Thank you!
We are going to try your mint spinach ice cream today.
Katie! I am new to your site and I totally luv it already! There are so many recipes I like, I don’t know which to try first. I luv your hair,it is gorgeous!!! You have to post more pics of yourself you are beautiful and I think we all can agree on that! You ROCK!! 8-D
Aww thank you so so much!!
Do you know anything about using coconut flour instead?
I javen’t tried it… I know you’d probably have to use more liquid because coconut flour absorbs liquid. But I’d love to hear if you experiment!! 🙂
I really wanted to like these brownies!!! However, mine came out COMPLETELY different texture than brownies. Of course, I did some moderations so if anyone’s doing the same I can tell you what to expect:
I actually followed the recipe completely except I used white flour instead of pastry. However, I didn’t realize it would be such a small batter, and had prepared an 8×8 pan, so they only covered a thin layer on the bottom. My friend wanted me to make her chocolate pb brownies, so I took the pb mixture from here — http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2011/05/24/peanut-butter-brownies/ — (halving it and making it vegan) and swirled it into the top. The recipe took about 30 minutes in the oven and still was almost completely liquid!! I decided to freeze it, so it’s now a more-edible chocolate mousse-type thing, but still, the parts of the brownie that weren’t even touched by the PB mixture were nooooooothing like the texture here, it was more like a mousse. I only had silken tofu, not “soft,” but when I looked it up online every database said they were the same thing!!!
This is just a warning to anyone who might be looking to see if the recipe would work with any of these alterations.
These are dangerous! I have to take them to work for other people to eat or I would eat the whole batch in a couple of days! Since I have type 1 diabetes, the original recipe has a bit too much sugar for me. So I cut it back to 2 tablespoons, and added 4 packets of Stevia and 1/4 cups of pureed dates and 1/4 of a banana. The results were amazing!!!! So moist and delicious, these did NOT taste like low far, whole wheat brownies! I also added some sugar free chocolate chips that I made using your recipe which just added to the chocolatey amazingness.
This is my first time commenting on your blog, and I just wanted to say thank you sooooo much for your awesome healthy recipes. It’s not easy being a vegan diabetic with a huge sweet tooth. But your recipes are special. I’ve never come across any recipes that are so easy to adapt to low sugar/ sugar free versions while still tasting like the real thing. You rock!!
Aw thank you so so much! I’m so excited you liked the brownies 🙂 🙂
Hi Katie,
I love your blog and all the awesome recipes. Some recipes have the same ingredients over and over, like Coconut oil. It can be kind of spendy. Do you get it in bulk? If you could share where you get your ingredients in bulk that would be so awesome! I am especially interested in coconut products in bulk (unsweetened coconut, coconut oil, etc). Thanks so much!
I buy Whole Foods brand coconut oil, so it’s $6.99 as opposed to 10 or 12 like other brands. And sometimes I’m lucky enough to find a coupon. As for coconut butter, I wait until it goes on sale and then buy an entire case! Case discounts are great :).
So I’m a college student who never bakes anything..I actually made these tonight and they taste better than normal brownies!
🙂 That just made me so happy!
Hi Katie,
Are you supposed to drain/press the tofu first?
I highly (highly!) recommend either silken tofu or Mori Nu silken-firm (Mori Nu is my first choice). If you use either of those, you don’t need to press :). With the mori Nu, just drain the tiny bit of liquid in there, but there shouldn’t be much liquid.
I LOVE your recipes! I make those mock reese’s peanut butter cups often 🙂 I want to make these but I don’ t have tofu. Would an egg work instead?