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.
Wow! Just wow!
Great base recipe! 🙂 I substituted the dairy free spread for cashew butter & a small drizzle of coconut oil, plus the white granulated sugar was subbed for soft brown sugar – the combination of these made for a more caramelised, creamy & nutty flavour which was a hit with everyone. I also used a combination of dark vegan chocolate & ‘Glalaxy’ salted caramel vegan milk chocolate. I thought these changes made the brownie chewier, and gave it more depth of flavour.
Hi Loulou. Thanks for sharing your great ideas and feedback! I’m glad that you love the brownie recipe!
Hi Nora. What can I use instead of ground flax?
Thank you! Love all your recipes!
Hi! I haven’t had great luck with anything else, but you could try another egg replacement. Maybe someone else can chime in if they’ve tried something else. Thank you!
Hey we used bobs red mill egg replacer instead and it worked perfectly fine. I just looked at how many flax eggs she made and then adjusted for mine accordingly. I’m sure it would be fine will applesauce or bananas as well.
Thanks for this recipe as I’ve tried many brownie recipes over the years. I have been making these brownies every Christmas for a few years now as I like the double chocolate chewiness of them. I recently got a mini muffin pan and would like to make 2-bite brownies this year. Do you know how long I should bake them for? In previous years the brownies were burnt on the outside edges (used a metal pan) so I may need to reduce the temperature and baking time. Thanks.
Probably only 12-15 minutes, but I haven’t tried it with this recipe to know for sure. Make sure to bake in the center rack of your oven, and it sounds like possibly your oven runs a little hot, so maybe turn the temperature down 25 degrees and see if that helps. Thanks!
Sooo good! I used gf flour and they came out really crispy and fluffy. I increased the time by 10 minutes but they are so good!
Wow these were delicious! We have an egg allergy here and this is the second recipe of yours we’ve tried and super in love with both of them. Can’t wait to try more!
I cooked them in a 8×8 glass pan for about 40 minutes and they were cooked perfectly. The middle was a little fudgy but the top looked like it was drying out so I didn’t cook them any longer but they tasted absolutely delicious! Brownies have been hard to do with the allergy but I found our new recipe!! Yum yum yum!!
I’m so glad they worked out for you, Jonni. Thanks so much for your wonderful review and feedback!
Hi Nora! Can I substitute applesauce for the flax egg?!? I’m all out. Thanks!
Hi Cassandra. I haven’t had great success with anything else, but you could try applesauce. My Eggless Brownies are super good and don’t use flax seeds, you might want to try those instead.
Hi Nora! I absolutely love this recipe and have made it several times and it’s always a hit. I’m going to be making it for a bigger group- have you tried doubling it and using a larger pan, and if so what dimensions and bake time?
Thanks Kelsey, I’m so glad to hear you have enjoyed the brownies before and they are a hit! I actually haven’t ever tried to double it so I’m not 100% sure. I wonder if a half sheet pan would work (10×15, like a jelly roll pan). I’m not quite sure about the time though, they might take 45-60 minutes, but I would just keep an eye on them. Hope that helps!
My boy has quite a few allergies. Thank you for the best brownie recipe ever! 👌
You are welcome! I am glad he’s able to enjoy these brownies! Thank you for sharing your inspiring feedback!
We liked the recipe, but I found it to be a bit sour and also salty, plus a bit too sweet. I’m assuming that it was sour because of the margarine being somewhat old, and/or it was the chopped up dark chocolate bars. The salt was a combination of your recipe and the salt in the margarine. 2 cups of sugar is too much, especially with the amount of sugar in standard choc. chips. When I try it again, I’ll eliminate the salt and try to have unsalted margarine on-hand since I’m sodium-sensitive.
Hi Nora!
I have an issue in my batter recently has consistently ended up dry and extremely thick, not pourable at all. I was able to make it slightly more pourable with about 1/4 cup of water, but is there another way to fix this? I’ve followed all of the measurements down to the letter, so I’m really unsure as to what’s happening!
Hi Dawn, the brownie batter is very thick with this recipe, it’s not thin like cake batter or even non-vegan brownie batter. Adding liquid is okay but it will make the brownies more cake like after baking. They will bake up moist and thick, even though the batter seems too thick. Hope that helps!
Great ideas with the holidays around the corner!
I hope you enjoy! Thanks April!
This was my first time ever making vegan brownies. This recipe was a success! Very chocolatey and sweet! Next time I will dial back on some of the sugar. I highly recommend this recipe! Thanks so much Nora!
You are welcome! Thank you for your wonderful feedback! I’m thrilled you loved the brownies!
Hi Nora love this chewy brownies thanks for the recipe ❤️
Hi! I made these for the first time tonight and the flavour is amazing! I developed an egg and dairy allergy a few years ago and this is the first brownie recipe that actually tastes like egg brownies! However… I cooked it for the full 45 minutes and the edges are too crispy but the inside is sooooo soft and fudgy. I’m not sure if it’s fully cooked (doesn’t run but it’s deifnitely soft) but at the same time the edges are minutes away from being burnt. Did I do something wrong?
That sounds correct, you need to let the brownies cool for quite some time; they firm up a lot as they cool. Then they become perfectly fudgy but cooked through in the middle! Hope you enjoy them.
Hi Nora! I made these brownies today and followed everything step by step. I baked them for exactly 35 mins in a 7 x 11 metal pan. They were nice and fudgey on the inside but the top and edges came out very crispy and hard…should I reduce cooking time? Thank you!
It sounds like the oven might have been a bit too hot. Next time, try lowering the temperature to 325ºF or keep the temp the same but wrap the brownie pan with foil to slow browning on the edges. Hope this helps!
Hi Nora!! These are amazinggg! Once I discovered this recipe (2 years ago) I never used a different recipe!!
I want to try making them with non vegan butter and einkorn flour. What do you suggest as far as measurements for these replacements?
I would really appreciate your advice!!
My husband doesnt like vegan butter or all purpose flour.
Thank you so much for the wonderful feedback, Paula! I have never tried making these with einkorn flour or regular butter, so it’s hard to say if they’ll work or not and how much of each you’ll need. Einkorn flour doesn’t absorb liquid as quickly as all purpose, which means you’ll probably need less butter. Sorry I couldn’t be more of a help!
Hello 🙂
A bit late here but I did make these with non vegan butter the second time I made them (vegan butter is hard to buy where I am) and I wouldn’t recommend it – the butter seems to melt and combine differently so they ended up quite oily with pools of butter on top/at the edges 😐
I would recommend sticking with vegan butter if possible since it doesn’t make a difference to the taste in this recipe but does stop the brownies getting too oily
This recipe is amazing! My work has a bbq every Thursday and we do some baked goods. I was making the Costco box brownies however I hadn’t been able to get them in a while so I tried a recipe (not this one) online trying to make brownies from scratch for the first time. They were a terrible oily mess. I said, “try again”. Another Google search brought me to this recipe and I’ve never looked again. The people at work cannot believe they are vegan because they taste and have the same consistency as the Costco box brownies. If I could give it more stars I would!
Hi Lyndsey. It makes me really happy to hear how much everyone loves the brownies! I’m glad you found the recipe! Thanks for your awesome feedback and review! Wishing you happy cooking!
Do you have any suggestions for making these oil-free? My husband had a stent put in 8 years ago so we are trying to only eat oil-free recipes.
Hi Bonnie. You could sub applesauce for the vegan butter to make them oil free.
Wonderful! I doubled the recipe and used a 13×9 they are amazing!!!
Hi Audrey. Thank you for your fabulous feedback! I’m thrilled you loved the brownies!
Hi Nora, I want to make this for Christmas. Can i make it during the week and freeze it? If so do I bake and freeze?
Sure, you can bake the brownies, then freeze. Make sure you let them thaw long enough before serving! Room temperature thawing the day before is fine.
Lovely velvety texture and fantastic chocolate flavour. I subbed spelt flour for wheat, used a total of 1.25 cups sugar, and added walnuts. So good!
I still prefer the texture of the Chewy Chocolate Brownies, but both recipes are winners. Thanks, Nora!
You are welcome! I’m glad you loved the brownies – both recipes! Thank for your ideas and wonderful feedback!
This recipe is great!
I do feel like it has changed though?
Is there a cup of milk missing??
Nope, it’s been the same for a very long time! Glad you like it. 🙂
Made these brownies last night and the flavor is soooo good but they are sooooo gooey/fudgey….wondering if maybe it’s too gooey, even cutting them this morning. The only pans I have in the correct size or close to the correct size were glass, I baked them even longer than what was recommended and the middle just didn’t seem to firm up enough…thoughts?
Hi Kate. Are they runny in the center? The brownies will look underdone and soft when they first come out of the oven but should firm up after cooling fully. You could place them in the fridge overnight to help them firm up. Hope this helps!
I let them cool overnight and in the fridge but they are still gummy, I used a glass pan to bake them in and I’m wondering if that’s the problem. I increased the baking time too but it didn’t really help
Glass pans don’t distribute heat as quickly as metal but are still fine for baking brownies. If you try them again, either leave them in the oven for an extra 5 to 15 minutes or try turning the heat up to 375ºF.
I made these according to the recipe. They were deemed by my 4-year-old nephew as being “the best brownies ever”. The adults enjoyed them too! Great recipe. Super simple and quick to put together.
Hi Rebecca. Thank you for taking time to share your wonderful feedback and review! I’m glad your nephew, and everyone else, enjoyed them!
Baking these right now as a bday gift for a friend…in a really pretty gift pan too, just in case the brownies themselves don’t turn out right haha.
Is there truly no liquid in these other than the melted butter and flax eggs though??
I’m really grateful for Modern Times vegan beer right now, bc the sugars/butter/”egg” mixture was SO stiff and dry that the flour & cocoa wouldn’t mix in…
Beer to the rescue! 🙂
Hi Christine. The batter is supposed to be thick and fudgy, which means you don’t need much liquid in the batter. But if it was too stiff or dry, adding a little extra liquid was the right call!
Hi 🙂 I’m making these for the 1st time .I was wondering how much water to the
4 tablespoons of ground flax should I use. ? Thank you love your stuff
Hi there and thank you! It’s in the recipe instructions, 1/2 cup. 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
These are delicious! I used an 8×8 pan, so they are very thick (and fudgey!), perfect for adding some d/f ice cream on top. I substituted monk fruit granules instead of granulated sugar, which is new for me. I wasn’t sure if it would be sweet enough, but the brownies are just as sweet as I imagine they would be with regular sugar.
Hi Katie. Oh yum, brownies and ice cream! Sounds delicious! I’m happy you love the brownie recipe! Thank you for sharing your experience, ideas, and feedback! Happy cooking!
Did you change the cooking time for the 8×8 pan?