These are the best vegan brownies that you’ve ever made! Perfectly gooey with a crackle top and loaded with chocolate flavor all while easy to make!
There’s a lot of debate about what are the best brownies, but we are here to say that for at least us these are the best vegan brownies that we’ve had.
Some people like fluffy, more cake like brownies, but if you are looking for those, it’s not going to be here, we’re sorry.
To us, vegan brownies should be gooey and almost melt in your mouth when you bite into them. They do not crumble and they are loaded with intense chocolate flavor.
These a sweet, rich, and pure bliss of everything you could want in a vegan brownie recipe.
Whether you are a crispy edge person or a gooey center lover, you will be able to enjoy pieces from this recipe. Best of all, these are dairy free and egg free brownie without the compromise.
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THE BEST VEGAN BROWNIES INGREDIENTS:
Below are notes about the ingredients before we get into the full recipe located lower in this post on how to make these vegan brownies recipe:
- Ground Flax – when you combine ground flax seed with water and let it sit, you get this gelatinous mixture that mimics in baked goods what eggs do
- Vegan Cane Sugar – Cane sugar is what we are using. If you want to learn more about why your sugar may not be vegan, you can learn more by clicking on the link. We actually combine the sugar with water and heat it to make a simple syrup. When you add this to the dry ingredients, it blooms the chocolate giving it a more intense flavor
- Flour – we are just using all-purpose flour for this recipe. When measuring flour, make sure that you are not packing your cup.
- Cocoa Powder – the first layer of chocolate for this delicious recipe. We prefer to use a dutch processed cocoa powder. The better quality of your cocoa powder, the better your vegan brownies will be at the end.
- Powdered Sugar – for a touch more sweetness and without having to add any baking soda or powder, we love how this turned out together
- Espresso Powder – while this is an optional ingredient, it enhances the chocolate flavor and we highly recommend adding it
- Vegetable Oil – oil is needed for texture and richness. Brownies need a fat source in order to create the perfect texture and without it, you will end up with a mess of crumbles.
- Vegan Chocolate Chips – use a semi-sweet vegan chocolate chip for the best texture
SUBSTITUTIONS AND VARIATIONS
Below are notes about the ingredients before we get into the full recipe located lower in this post on how to make these vegan brownies recipe:
- Ground Flax – we have subbed this recipe with applesauce and vegan egg replacer here, but we prefer the flax egg. However, both subs will work. ½ cup of applesauce or enough vegan egg replacer for 2 eggs.
- Powdered Sugar – Powder sugar – Since powder sugar contains cornstarch, it is a great option to help thicken the brownie batter. This helps with dodging the chemical additives while encouraging that great box brownie taste everyone loves.
- Vegetable Oil – canola or grapeseed are good substitutions, as is vegan butter melted. If you are oil free – you can sub the oil for applesauce (same amount) but the texture will be completely different. If using vegan butter, you want a high fat vegan butter (mostly all oil and water is not the first ingredient).
- Walnuts – totally optional, but if you love walnut brownies, definitely chop them up and add them in
- Vanilla Extract – sometimes it’s fun to play around with the extract, maybe mint or orange for a different taste
Tips for How To Make Vegan Brownies:
If you want the absolute best, fudgey vegan brownies, then you’ll want to follow these tips:
- Follow the measurements and instructions pretty please. Baking is a science, especially when making the best vegan brownies. Every step has a purpose to ensure that at the end you have a delicious vegan brownie recipe.
- While we don’t do it in the video or the recipe, if you are not super comfortable baking, we highly recommend sifting the dry ingredients into the bowl. This loosens the ingredients and make sure there are no clumps.
- Make sure to line with parchment paper and grease your pans. No one likes brownies that can’t come out of the pan. It’s one of the most frustrating things and doing these two things will helps.
- Make sure that you evenly distribute the batter so your brownies cook evenly.
- This batter is not as thick as dough, but it is thicker and not runny – see video below for texture before pouring into pan. Do not try to adjust ingredients.
- Don’t over bake them. These are fudgey and gooey. Just because a toothpick doesn’t come out clean doesn’t mean they aren’t done.
- When the brownies are cooked, remove from oven and allow to cool completely before cutting. Cutting too soon does not give the brownies time to set up and can alter the final texture.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Yes! Use a gluten free flour instead of all-purpose. We like a 1:1 blend like Bob’s Red Mill or King Arthur the best.
Otherwise, you will want to make sure to use safe chocolate chips (like Enjoy Life) and a soy free vegan butter.
These amazing vegan brownies will last for 3-5 days if stored in an air tight container. They do not need to be refrigerated.
Yes. These vegan brownies may be frozen. We recommend a freezer safe container and to consume within 3 months of first freezing them.
Yes, you can double this recipe if you need more and you have two separate baking dishes.
We really love the Enjoy Life brand because they are free from so many allergens.
However, the Organic Top 8 Free chips from Wal-mart (Great Value brand) are accidentally vegan and they have a slightly better pricer point and still taste great.
You want to have a semisweet chocolate for vegan brownies that is at least 67% or less cocoa.
You can either remove ½ cup of the cane sugar or remove all of the powdered sugar but do not do both options. You need to leave one.
You want your brownies to cool completely for the optimal texture. Ideally, this is going to take 2-3 hours before you can cut into them for the best texture from the outside edges to the center. However, if you want to speed up the process, you can refrigerate the brownies for 30 minutes once the pan is cool enough to touch.
What can I serve with vegan brownies?
So you made and love these vegan brownies (we know you snuck a piece), but you also need to know what to serve with it! Here’s some ideas:
- Easy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Chocolate Banana Bread
- Easy Vegan Double Chocolate Muffins
- Vegan Chocolate Sticky Buns
Pin the best vegan brownies for later!
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The Best Vegan Brownies
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon ground flax seed
- 5 tablespoon water (74ml – used with flax)
- ½ cup water (118ml – used for simple syrup)
- 1 ½ cup vegan cane sugar (300g)
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (180g – use GF if needed – see post for details)
- ¾ cup dutch processed cocoa powder, sifted (60g)
- ¼ cup powdered sugar (33g)
- ½ tablespoon espresso powder, optional
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup vegetable oil (118g)
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup vegan chocolate chips, divided (130g)
- ¾ cup walnuts, chopped (Optional) (85g)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/ 176C. Line an 8×8* pan with parchment paper with overhang and grease the pan with cooking spray.
- To make flax egg – In a small bowl, whisk ground flax seed and 5 tablespoon of water. Set aside.
- To make simple syrup – In a sauce pan over medium heat, add cane sugar and ½ cup water. Stir to combine, heat for about 6-8 minutes, and the sugar has dissolved completely. (DO NOT add more water. DO NOT let come to a boil or the mixture will evaporate)
- While waiting, in a large bowl, add in the flour*, cocoa, powdered sugar, espresso powder (if adding), and salt. Whisk together.
- Once simple syrup is ready, while hot, add it along with vegetable oil, vanilla, and flax egg. Combine with a spatula just until combined. Do not overmix. Batter should be fudgy and pourable. See video for reference.
- If adding walnuts, add now along with ½ cup vegan chocolate chips. Fold to combine. Do not over mix.
- Pour batter into greased pan. Top with remaining ¼ cup chocolate chips. Bake for 35-40 minutes. A toothpick may not come out clean since they are fudgy.
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely before slicing. The brownies need time to set up. For a firmer brownie, place in fridge. Slice in 16 equal sized pieces (or desired size)
- Store leftovers in an air tight container.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
This post was written on 9/26/2021 and updated on 1/7/2021.
Caroline
These are simply the best brownies ever- vegan or not! I accidentally omitted the powered sugar the first time I made them and they still turned out wonderfully. I have continued to omit it because I thought they were so darn good. I also thought vegan brownies were a lost cause but these are incredible. Thank you!!
LarishaBernard
so happy to hear that you are enjoying them so much!
Amanda
Best vegan brownies!! So so good!
LarishaBernard
Glad you enjoyed!
Nancy
These came out so good!! Very easy recipe to follow. Both vegan and non vegans loved them.
LarishaBernard
So glad to hear that!
Jewels
I’ve made these several times. They are so good. I will continue to make them, and so should everyone else.
Thank you.
LarishaBernard
So happy to hear that!
Carlotta
So, I stumbled across this recipe and I was wondering if you’ve done a brownie-botton cheesecake? My favorite restaurant back in NYC used to make it, but since moving to GA I haven’t been able to find anything close to it. Can you possibly help? I’d greatly appreciate it.
~Peace
LarishaBernard
We haven’t but that’s a great idea, writing it down
Emily
The BEST brownies EVER!!!! They are winners among vegans and non-vegans, everyone relishes every bite! The first time I made them I completely forgot to use the powdered sugar, and they came out amazing… So I’ve made them like that ever since! I use coconut sugar instead of cane, and I chop up chocolate instead of the chocolate chips!! These are so amazing, thank you so much for this recipe! I would have never thought to use or make a simple syrup! So clever and creative… so yum!
LarishaBernard
So happy to hear that you enjoyed them so much!
Krista
Love them! And so do my kids! Thank you.
LarishaBernard
So glad to hear that!
Vivian Burbano
This is definitely the best vegan brownie recipe ever! I have tried different vegan recipes but I either ended with a cake or something else but not a brownie. But this recipe was perfect, my family couldn’t believe they were eating vegan brownies, they couldn’t tell the difference from a regular one. My family and I agreed that these brownies are much better than the regular brownies version. Now, I’ll be making a lot more vegan brownies! Yummy! Thank you for sharing your amazing recipes and for making them so easy for the world to make them too!!! You guys are the best!!!
LarishaBernard
So happy to hear that it was a hit for everyone!
Nancy
They are just perfect!!! Absolutely delicious and definitly the best vegan Brownies!
LarishaBernard
So glad you loved them
Rhonda McMillon
I am not vegan but these are the ABSOLUTELY BEST BROWNIES I have ever had. Probably will not make another kind. Thank you so much for sharing these Great Recipes.
LarishaBernard
Love that they impressed you so much!
Allie
This is literally the greatest vegan brownie recipe out there — I have tried them all (almost)! Whether you are vegan or not, these brownies will blow you away. So simple, so thick, and the perfect texture. This will definitely be a recipe we pass down to our kids!
LarishaBernard
So happy to hear that and honored you’d pass it on to your kids!
Jen V
These are the best brownies I have EVER had, vegan or otherwise. So chocolatey, chewy, gooey, and downright magical. I am throwing away all my other brownie recipes. And never buying a boxed mix again. Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe and the hilarious video to go along with it!
LarishaBernard
Haha love it, so glad you enjoyed!
Sara
Incredible and perfect.
LarishaBernard
Glad you enjoyed!
Breck
Literally the best vegan brownies ive ever made. They turned out perfectly with no need for recipe tweaks, and they had that flaky top that ‘real’ brownies have.
LarishaBernard
We’re so happy that you loved them
Dylan Daniels
Have made this recipe 5 times now and I love it more each time!!!! Such a great vegan dessert option, even brought it to thanksgiving dinner to all non vegans and everybody was in love and asking for the recipe! Highly recommend
LarishaBernard
So glad to hear that it’s been a hit for you so many times