These decadent, fudgy dark chocolate vegan brownies will quickly become your new favorite brownie recipe!
The best vegan brownies
You will love these decadent chocolate brownies, with no black beans, no tofu or dates, no butter or coconut flour, and no eggs.
I enjoy unusual ingredient brownies, and my Sweet Potato Brownies are super popular with readers. But sometimes you want a budget friendly, basic gooey brownie recipe with simple ingredients.
Sometimes you want a brownie recipe that doesn’t require ordering specialty ingredients on Amazon or making a trip out to Whole Foods.
And sometimes what you’re craving is the fudgy chocolate brownies you remember from childhood, just with better-for-you ingredients so you can indulge more often.
This is the ultimate best vegan brownie recipe for these occasions, with the stamp of approval from even hardcore carnivores!
Also make this Chocolate Mug Cake
Vegan brownie recipe video
Best brownie recipe I have ever made!!!
WENDY
*FEATURED READER COMMENT*
Can you make brownies without eggs?
The biggest challenge with vegan brownies is binding them together and adding moisture without the use of eggs or dairy.
Many of the vegan brownie recipes on the internet call for flax eggs, aquafaba, or ground chia seeds as an egg substitute. Others use silken tofu to add moisture.
These ingredients do work wonders in vegan baking, and I highly recommend you try them out sometime if you haven’t already. But not everyone has flaxmeal or chia seeds on hand when asked to make a last minute dessert for a party or for a vegan friend.
So today, I wanted to come up with a recipe that calls for only pantry staple ingredients and still yields chewy, moist, and sinfully rich chocolate brownies.
If you do feel adventurous, be sure to try my Black Bean Brownies.
They are the most popular gluten free and vegan recipe I’ve ever published, with over 3,000 reviews and 5 million shares across social media.
More vegan brownie recipes
Or if you want a decadent single serving chocolate brownie that can be made in the microwave in under five minutes, whip up this plant based Brownie in a Mug.
Can vegans eat brownies? As the above recipes prove, the answer is absolutely yes.
Dairy free chocolate brownie ingredients
The recipe calls for regular unsweetened cocoa powder, optional Dutch cocoa powder, flour, salt, water, sugar or unrefined coconut sugar, cornstarch, oil, baking powder, pure vanilla extract, and optional chocolate chips.
Cocoa powder – If you cannot find Dutch process cocoa, it is fine to use a full cup of regular unsweetened cocoa powder. However, for the most authentic boxed brownie flavor, I recommend including the Dutch cocoa if you can.
Flour – Spelt flour is my personal favorite for these vegan brownies. Gluten free or white all purpose flour or oat flour also work. Do not substitute coconut or almond flour here.
There is a sugar free and keto brownie recipe included in the recipe box below for those who wish to make paleo brownies with almond flour.
Oil – Vegetable oil, sunflower oil, or melted coconut oil are all good options for vegan baking. Substituting the oil with banana or applesauce is not recommended, because it will yield dense and gummy brownies that lack depth of flavor.
For oil free vegan brownies, make these Healthy Brownies
Topping ideas for vegan brownies
- The pictured brownies are topped with a scoop of Coconut Ice Cream.
- Or serve the chocolate fudge brownies plain or topped with sliced strawberries, cherries, or raspberry jam and Coconut Whipped Cream.
- You can also top them with store bought chocolate frosting (many brands are surprisingly vegan), plant based caramel, or Homemade Nutella.
- Finally, I love this easy chocolate ganache: 1/2 cup cocoa powder, 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup or agave, and 1/2 cup virgin coconut oil, melted. Stir ingredients together to form a thin sauce. Spread over the brownies, and refrigerate or freeze 20 minutes to set.
How to make vegan brownies
Step one: Whisk the water, oil, and vanilla extract. If using flaxmeal, whisk it in as well. Set aside.
Step two: Preheat the oven to 330 degrees Fahrenheit, and grease a baking pan or line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. For thick brownies, use an eight inch pan. For thinner brownies, opt for a standard nine by thirteen inch baking pan.
Step three: In a large mixing bowl, stir all remaining ingredients very well. Then mix in the liquid ingredients to form a vegan brownie batter.
Step four: Use a spatula or spoon to smooth the chocolate batter into the prepared pan. Place the pan on the center rack of the oven, and bake for sixteen minutes. (Increase the cooking time to twenty four minutes for brownies in an eight inch pan.)
Step five: The vegan brownies should look under-baked when they come out of the oven. Let them cool, then refrigerate uncovered. They firm up after a few hours, and the flavor and texture are so much better the next day.
Step six: For freshness, store leftover brownies in the refrigerator, uncovered or very loosely covered the first night. Then fully cover the chocolate baked goods in an airtight container for up to four days.
You can also slice and freeze leftovers with a sheet of parchment paper in between layers of brownies so they do not stick together. Warm up or thaw before serving.
Vegan Brownies
Ingredients
- 1 cup water (240g)
- 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract (15g)
- 2/3 cup oil (130g)
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (80g)
- 1 cup flour (120g) (spelt, white, all purpose gluten free, or oat flour. Or make flourless Keto Brownies)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (90g)
- 2/3 cup white sugar (135g)
- 2 tbsp cornstarch or ground flax seeds (16g)
- 2/3 cup mini chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions
- Whisk the first 3 ingredients, then set aside. (If using flax, whisk it in as well.) Preheat oven to 330F. Grease a 9×13 pan, or an 8×8 pan for thick brownies, or line with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl, stir all remaining ingredients. Then stir in the liquid ingredients to form a brownie batter. Smooth evenly into the pan. Bake 18 minutes, or 24 minutes if using an 8×8 pan. The brownies should look underdone when they come out. Let cool, then refrigerate uncovered (or very loosely covered). They start to firm up after a few hours and are nice and sliceable by the next day. The brownies are richer and sweeter the next day as well. After the first day, refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days, or freeze for up to three months.If desired, top with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting or one of the vegan brownie topping ideas included above.View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
Easy Vegan Chocolate Recipes
3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Balls
I baked these an extra two minutes, let them sit for 3+ hours and they’re still VERY underdone in the middle.
The edges were cooked and tasted delicious and I ate the underdone part anyway but I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.
I usually tend to overbake or underbake.
Any tips or ideas? I never know what “a little undercooked” looks like when I’m actually looking at my own pan.
Help a girl out!!
Hi! Just put them in the fridge overnight and they magically firm up to be easily cut-able while also becoming the perfect fudgy texture!
Hi there! Not sure if you’re still responding, and I apologize if you’ve already addressed this, but do you let them cool before refrigerating? Or is it like part of the process to instantly try and cool?
These are really good. I didn’t put quite as much sugar as was called for. And I really like it that way. They taste like a dark chocolate bar in cake form. Very rich intense chocolate flavour with just a little bit of sweetness. I was very doubtful about adding a whole cup of cocoa, but indeed it worked.
Hi Katie, These look really good! I am wondering, though, if you could recommend one of your brownie recipes for sending through the mail to my grandson at college. I would send them by overnight or two day mail. He says brownies are his favorite homemade “cookie” and I would like to send him some vegan ones. Thanks for any advice.
I know many people have shipped the black bean brownies! The Tinder brownies are my personal favorite though, and I think they should ship well too.
Jason
Thank you, Jason. I’ll check those out.
Hey! I tried out your recipe and it turned out fantastic! I loved how soft they turned out and had the right amount of bounce! They went perfectly with a glass of almond milk! Followed it to a tee- not including chocolate chips or vanilla extract, nonetheless, they were so good! I had to stand and fan them for them to cool down faster so I could eat them! Haha- perfect Halloween treat for me! The only thing would be the baking times, as, at the end of the minutes, mine still seemed more liquid, so I amped up the oven to 375 and stuck them in for 10 minutes. Not dry at all and kept its flavor I presume! Wonderful work and recipe, take A LOT of Pinterest searching to find the perfect one, and this one certainly is! They were soft yet together once they cool down enough, they crumble off in big pieces and only rise a very bit compared to how tall it was in liquid form. Has that side bitter taste, not overwhelming and adds a whole new taste to the brownies! Loved this and will definitely make them again 🙂
These brownies are GREAT! I was running out of ingredients so I used a mix of coco oil + EVOO, and for the milk I used Silk coconut milk and canned coconut milk. Then I used turbinado + brown sugar, white flour, and flax. And I added a dash of coffee at the end.
I didn’t have the 9×13″ pan so I used an 7×11 and it worked fine. After 16 minutes the center looked gooey still so I let it stay in the oven until it looked as baked as the edges. I just tried them and they’re GREAT. I think using eclectic ingredients was a good choice bc the flavors are more interesting.
Hi! I just wanted to ask whether I could substitute the milk with water since I am allergic to nuts and soy and I really want to try this recipe since it looks easy and doable. Will replacing the milk or removing it altogether from the recipe affect the brownies’ taste or texture? Thank you so much for posting this recipe!
Maybe try oatmilk?
Ok, I just made these and they turned out truly totally perfect brownies! I substituted ALMOND FLOUR for the flax and I did not use cornstarch. This is the perfect Brownie! I sprinkled a handful of mini chocolate chips on top and baked them for the prescribed 16 mins at 350 in my trusty 13 in square pam sprayed Corningware casserole dish and then took them right from the oven straight to the fridge, sat them on a large potholder for 1 hour and then divided up 2 segments of 20 eac. and stuck those 2 portions in the freezer. NOW I was making the black bean brownies but I’m sold on these because of the actual brownie flavor! TRY IT! IT’s PERFECT!
I made these (sans frosting) for my husband to take to work for his holiday potluck. They are more cake-like than a brownie but still very tasty! Nice rich chocolate flavor.
What’s an example of unrefined sugar?
Sucanat! https://amzn.to/2QPnQRF