This really is the Best Ever Vegan Brownies Recipe! Fudgy, gooey, perfect squares of chocolate that cut easily and are easy to make. You’ll never buy a boxed brownie mix again!
In the last two days, I’ve made three batches of vegan brownies. That’s right, three. A few weeks ago, I tried some other recipes I was playing around with. All in an attempt to create the most perfect vegan brownies recipe in the world. It has been such a struggle you guys! (And yes I have a freezer FULL of brownies)
All of the recipes were edible (I mean, come on, it’s chocolate people!), but NOT the brownie perfection I was looking for. Either they were too fudgy, or too cake-like (my biggest peeve). Or one batch that cooked fine on the outside but wouldn’t fully cook near the middle.
I had to do some serious brownie research, read about ingredients, what makes a brownie cake-like, what makes them more fudgy, how to create the right balance for what I was looking for, and then think about the best vegan swaps for the result I wanted to achieve.
Finally, just a few days ago, I made one more batch of vegan brownies, after carefully creating the recipe on paper. I was SO excited as the batter tasted incredible, and after baking they looked good in the pan. Still having doubts, I let them cool a bit and then removed them from the pan and sliced them slowly.
When I looked inside and took the first bite, I knew, I had finally created the PERFECT Vegan Brownies Recipe! They are thick and hold together when you slice them. Fudgy, but not overly so, chewy, rich, ooey-gooey and full of chocolatey goodness. No one would guess they’re vegan!
What kind of chocolate chips should I use for vegan brownies recipe?
I used Trader Joe’s semi-sweet chocolate chips because they happen to be vegan and are quite inexpensive. It can be difficult to find chocolate chips that don’t contain dairy, so just check the ingredients list. Enjoy Life is a good brand and you can order them on Amazon. You can also use your favorite chocolate bar and chop it into pieces.
What kind of cocoa powder should I use?
I used Trader Joe’s unsweetened cocoa powder in this recipe, Hershey’s unsweetened is also a good option. I would not recommend you use a dutch cocoa powder, as you will get different results.
What is the best way to cut brownies?
If you are making vegan brownies for a party or to serve to others, it’s important to follow a couple of steps to get really nicely cut brownies. This is true whether they are vegan brownies or not!
It is helpful to line your pan with parchment paper that hangs out the sides for easy removal. After baking, let the brownies cool off for 15 minutes in the pan, then lift them out of the pan with the parchment paper and let cool 15-30 minutes more on a cooling rack. The longer you let them cool, the easier and cleaner cutting will be.
To cut, use a big, heavy knife. Run it under hot water for 30 seconds, dry it quickly and cut the brownies. Clean off the knife in between cuts, and you will have clean brownie squares.
If you like this vegan brownies recipe, you may also want to check out these “best” dessert recipes:
Perfect Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
If you make this recipe, let me know how it goes! Rate it, leave a comment and tag a photo @noracooksvegan on Instagram or find me on Facebook. Enjoy!
Best Ever Vegan Brownies Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons ground flax
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup vegan butter (earth balance brand), melted *see instructions
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup non-dairy chocolate chips OR roughly chopped chocolate pieces
Instructions
- Make the flax eggs by stirring the ground flax and water in a small bowl. Set aside to thicken. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a 7 x 11 pan with parchment paper.
- Melt the vegan butter (earth balance brand preferred), and measure 1/2 cup. I do this by microwaving the vegan butter in a glass measuring cup, in 30 second intervals, until melted.
- In a large bowl, whisk the melted vegan butter and sugars together. Add the flax eggs and vanilla, whisk until evenly combined.
- Over the same large bowl, sift in the flour and cocoa powder. Add the salt and baking powder and stir with a large wooden spoon until just combined, do not over mix.
- Fold in half of the chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth out the top with a spoon or your hands. Sprinkle the rest of the chocolate chips on top of the batter.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes. The brownies may still be bubbling and not look done, but they will firm up a lot as they cool.
- Remove from the oven, allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then pull the brownies out, using the parchment paper and let cool for another 15-30 minutes before slicing and serving.
Video
Notes
- To sift, either use a sifter or a fine mesh strainer also works.
- Coconut oil does not work very well in place of the vegan butter; it makes them very oily so I don't recommend it. You could sub applesauce for the vegan butter if you are oil free.
- If you don't want the brownies as sweet, it is perfectly okay to reduce the sugar, even to 1 cup. They will still turn out well, just not as sweet.
- When you initially take the brownies out of the oven, they will appear underdone and soft, but give them time to cool. They are even better the next day; fudgy and rich. These are NOT cake-like brownies.
- You may also use dutch processed cocoa powder for slightly different results. They will be a little less fudgy, and darker in color.
Nora, I love you for creating this recipe
Thanks!!
Would like cake like brownie recipe
I have tried SO many times to make vegan brownies using countless recipes and failed as many times, but finally here is a recipe that works! I love how simple this recipe is too, thank you so much for saving my faith in vegan brownies ??
You’re so welcome!
I loved how they turned out! Thank you for sharing the recipe and the tip about coconut oil because I kept messing up brownies trying to use it as an alternative to butter. I’m so glad I had recently bought for the first time so plant based butter (Country Crock brand) because it helped make sure my brownies weren’t super oily.
The flax egg does give the brownies a texture or bite to it but it doesn’t bother me because I know what it is and use flax eggs very often but wanted to share that for others who may not be familiar. Also I loved the water to flax ratio in this recipe because the one I usually use has more water in it.
I had to really fold in the cocoa powder because it wouldn’t mix in (I don’t had a sifter).
I appreciate you and highly recommend this recipe.
Thanks so much!! So glad it was good!
I made these last night and the results were a little strange. Some substitutions: I swapped the butter for oil and used an 8×8 glass pan. The brownies were very oily and sunk in the middle. Due to the greasiness, the edges got crispy and the middle was fudgy. They tasted great but the texture was very strange and it was hard to tell when the brownies were done. I know I changed some things from the recipe, but usually swapping out butter and using a different sized pan doesn’t make such a huge difference…
Yes, I can tell you what happened here. Oil doesn’t work great here in place of vegan butter. And making them in a smaller pan made it so they didn’t cook right (that’s why the middle was oily and sunken). Brownies can be a little fussy, and these definitely come out better with vegan butter and a larger pan.
Just wanted to mention (as politely as I can) that if you make substitutions to someone’s recipe, You can’t really give them an accurate rating. Giving 3 stars to a recipe that wasn’t followed is a bit inconsiderate to the writer of the recipe.
*especially when the substitution is specifically not recommended.
I did everything wrong and they came out perfect! I overmixed for sure, realized I forgot the baking powder after mixing so I tried to make a baking powder slurry and just sort of blend it in with my overly thick ball of mix. Had to sub the butter and improvise on the sugar measurements bc I didn’t have much left. I really didn’t check my pantry before diving in and they came out wonderful just like your pics!! I could eat the whole pan myself and I just might lol
I’m glad they came out great!!
Great recipe. Noticed the 2nd day the brownies were EXTREMELY gooey…and while I certainly don’t mind gooey, they didn’t feel like a brownie. SOOOOO…I scooped into little balls, rolled in wheat germ and froze. They made the most AMAZING truffles…I will make this again with the sole intention of making truffles. No need to defost…eat right out of freezer!
I then used your recipe to make peanut butter truffles substituting peanut protein flour for the cocoa…complete YUM!!!!!
Thank you so much for a great recipe
You’re so welcome!!
We love the recipe! Fudgy and delicious and freeze well too!
Thanks so much!!
This recipe was perfect. Best brownies I ever made! I substituted the white and brown sugar for Truvia versions and I used almond flour instead of regular white flour. I also used carob chips instead of chocolate chips, but even with these substitutions they were superb!
I’m so glad to hear that!!
Super bummed because these did not turn out well for me. The outside cooked perfectly, but even after an hour in the oven, the center did not bake properly and eating these brownies was like eating chocolate lava cake. That batter tasted great, though, and the most like a non-vegan brownie I’ve ever had, so there’s that.
I was having a similar issue due to having too much water in the flax eggs and using a fan oven. To solve this I used 75ml of water and baked the mix at 160°C for 40 minutes and it turned out exactly as intended.
Hi I love these Brownies, I am making them for a cake sale next week, do they freeze well? I need to make them in advance to give me time to make all the other cakes!
Yes, they freeze very well! Enjoy!
Delicious….. do you have a vegan blondie recipe?
I don’t have a traditional blondie recipe, though it’s on my radar to do! I do have a recipe for Chickpea Blondies, but it’s not a traditional blondie.
Nora! I am going to try this with gluten-free flour… do u recommend any flour that doesnt taste weird?
I really like Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Flour, and recently I have been using King Arthur’s Gluten Free Flour with good results.
Nora! I did them onit chips at the end but it wasn’t oil at all more dry. Taste still good what shall I do to make it like picture? Moist and shine!
If you used gluten free flour that is why they don’t look just like the pictures unfortunately. I have made them gluten free and while they are perfectly good, they aren’t exactly the same. You could try adding a little more vegan butter if they were dry with the gluten free flour, perhaps 1/4 cup or so. Thank you!
can you substitute the flax egg for something else? I’m all out of ground flax.
Another egg replacer if you have one, or applesauce might work though the texture will be a bit different.
These are truly the best ever vegan brownies. I’ll be writing this recipe down and using it pretty much exclusively as my go-to brownie recipe from now on. So delicious! Insanely fudge; no one would ever think they’re vegan.
Thanks so much for the comment!! So glad you enjoyed them!
Yum! Will definitely make again. Was out of brown sugar & added 1/2 c collagen peptides & turned out a-mazing. Used Dutch cocoa powder too. So nice to finally find a recipe w/o eggs for my egg allergy. Will def try some of your other recipes too!
So glad it was delicious!! Thanks for the comment!
I’m so happy to hear that the texture is soft & chewy. Very mouthwatering ! I just wanted to know if I can substitute vegan butter for margarine.
Yes, dairy free margarine should work just fine. Enjoy!
NORA!!!!!Tried the best brownies recipe, They are sooooooo good. There is no other❤
Thanks so much!
I have not yet tried these, so am giving it 5 stars because it looks yummy. I just got a silicone brownie mold, and my question is this, how long should these brownies bake for in the silicone mold? Any suggestions would be great.
Thank you Nora
I’m not quite sure, how big is the mold? Or do the brownies cook like muffins in individual sections?
Thank you for getting back to me so quickly. Okay, the pan measures 10×12, and each cup (there are 12) measures 3x2x1. Also, how much of the brownie batter should I put in each cup? Baking time? Thank you, Nora.c
Sure thing! Well, I’ve never made them like this before, but I would fill them half full and try baking for about 20 minutes. Hope that helps!
Hi Nora
I made these yesterday using my brownie mold pan, One batch I filled the cups up halfway and baked the first batch at 20 minutes. They were a bit dry but still good. The second batch baked for 15 minutes and they were better. I will still eat them. They taste good in a bowl topped with vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup, whipped cream, and nuts on top (a guiltless treat). The only things I did a little different were using eggs (I have no egg allergens, I just like to eat a little healthier), used swerve, white whole wheat flour, 1 tsp. espresso powder, 1 cup walnuts, and Enjoy Life mini chocolate ships. Next time, I will fill the cups 3/4 full since they didn’t rise much. Otherwise, these were very very very delish.
Thank you for the recipe.
Hi Nora! What kind of changes would you recommend for baking in a muffin tray?
They will just need less time to bake, probably about 20 minutes.
My new favorite vegan brownie recipe!! Thank you Nora!!
I baked these for 40 minutes, gave them an extra 2 to satisfy myself and it was too long. The middle ones were perfect but the outer ones were burned. My bad tho! The recipe was perfect otherwise and I know next time if baked for 35 minutes all the brownies will be amazing. Thank-you, Nora! This was a great Father’s Day dessert. I hadn’t planned on making dessert so I didn’t have anything special on hand but this was very easy to make with pantry staples.
My goodness these came out so good. With a crackley top! Bless you, Nora! I used ingredients i had: swapped vegan butter for ghee. Used wheat flour(atta), and white sugar+molasses instead of brown sugar. Didnt have chocolate chips so I omitted that. Also halved the recipe and cooked in a mini muffin tin. Saving this recipe!
Thank you Nora!
I doubled the recipe and put it in a 13 x 9, do you think I should still cook at 350 degrees?
Yes though it might take quite a bit longer to bake.
These are my family’s favorite. I’ve tried at least 5 different versions since we became vegan, but these are the best!! (just like your chocolate chip cookie recipe was the best!)
You have made our vegan transition a breeze, Nora.
Thank you!!
You’re so welcome! Thanks for the comment!
Correction to my previous comment. I think spellcheck kicked in to change “wouldn’t” to “would” I really wouldn’t call these brownies.
These may be vegan, but I would call them brownies. The recipe says, “The brownies may still be bubbling and not look done, but they will firm up a lot as they cool.” I’ve never heard of brownies bubbling. While they did firm up they did not at all taste done. We tried this recipe for a goodie bar for vegan guests coming to a wedding. I really can’t say I’d serve these with confidence that they’d be enjoyed.