Fudgy Vegan Brownies
These are the BEST vegan brownies. They’re easy to make, perfectly fudgy with a rich chocolate flavor and a gorgeous shiny, crackly crust we all love! A totally crowd pleasing and homemade recipe.
10 tries later and we finally have it. The perfect fudgy vegan brownies, completely from scratch! Seriously, these are so good you will never go back to a boxed brownie mix again.
Plus, they’re made without black beans or avocado, just good old fashioned brownie ingredients that you can’t even tell are vegan!
As I’ve been testing this recipe, I’ve done a whole lot of research into what gives a brownie it’s characteristic shiny crust and fudgy center.
There are a lot of theories out there. Some say it’s the sugar, some say chocolate, some say eggs, but I’ve tried so many things and many of them just didn’t work.
Until I tried one unique method: melting the sugar into a bit of water before adding it to the batter. This essentially creates (sort of) an eggless meringue which rises to the top of the brownies as they bake and give a crackly, shiny crust.
It works like a charm to get beautifully fudgy brownies. If you love this recipe and need more of a chocolate fix, try my vegan chocolate cake or vegan chocolate cupcakes.
How to make vegan brownies
In a small bowl, whisk together the 2 tbsp ground flax plus 5 tbsp of water. Set aside to thicken. You can also use 1/4 cup of applesauce in place of the flax if you’re worried about any weird flavor.
I’ve tried both methods and love them equally! Plus, a flax eggs and applesauce are much easier than aquafaba, which we don’t need here.
In a medium pot on the stove, add the sugar and water and whisk together. Heat over medium/low heat. Stir occasionally, but after about 5-10 minutes, the sugar should completely dissolve. You can see the two images below for reference.
Be sure you don’t add any extra water. The water will look somewhat cloudy, but you shouldn’t notice any clumps of sugar. This is key for the shiny crust!
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, stir together all dry ingredients. Once the sugar has completely dissolved, give it a final whisk, then pour it into the dry ingredients.
Add all remaining wet ingredients, including the flax egg, and mix together with a wooden spoon until a batter forms. Careful not to overmix.
Fold in the chocolate chips if using. They’re optional, but they do help the crust get shinier.
Sprinkle with additional chocolate chips if desired. Transfer to an 8×8 baking dish lined with parchment paper to ensure the brownies come out of the pan easily.
If you only have a 9×9, that will work, but I generally recommend an 8×8 for brownies for the best results.
Bake for 35-45 minutes. About 38 was perfect in my oven, but all ovens are different. You’ll know they’re done when a toothpick comes out clean, but bake for longer if you don’t like a fudgy inside and prefer them more cake-like.
Remove from the oven, let cool, then slice into 16 squares & enjoy!
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What kind of cocoa powder should I use?
I’m not loyal to any one brand, but often buy the Whole Foods 365 cocoa powder. Hershey’s and Ghirardelli are all great options.
You can use dutch process or natural cocoa for this recipe. I do not recommend the Trader Joe’s cocoa powder as I do not think it has a rich enough flavor.
Which chocolate chips are best?
I’ve recently been loving the brand Guittard because they are made in a gluten-free facility (I love the semi-sweet chips), but Enjoy Life, Lily’s and Trader Joe’s all have great ones as well.
The chocolate chips are really optional in these vegan brownies, but I will say that the crust does get quite a bit shinier when you include them! Even just a few sprinkled on top makes a difference.
How to keep brownies moist
Honestly, you don’t need to worry with these ones! The method of dissolving the sugar into the water adds a lot of moisture to the brownies and they really should stay moist for several days.
Plus, we have the flax “eggs” and oil which will naturally add moisture to the brownies.
These vegan brownies will keep for 3-5 days in a container at room temperature. I like to warm them up in the microwave for a few seconds so they get gooey and fudgy, then serve with vanilla ice cream!
Pro tip for mixing the batter
Avoid using a whisk to stir the batter. This will force too much air into the batter and can change the final texture. A wooden spoon or rubber spatula is best!
Ingredients and swaps
FLOUR. I of course use gluten free all purpose flour for this recipe, but regular all purpose flour will work just as well if you are not gluten free.
Whatever you use, be sure you spoon and level the flour into your dry measuring cups, don’t scoop from the bag!
SUGAR. You can use another sugar like coconut sugar to make these refined sugar free, but the crust will not get as shiny as what is pictured.
A liquid sweetener like maple syrup will not work here. For best results, I recommend a finely ground white sugar.
FLAX EGGS. You can use flax eggs or apple sauce here, but I prefer the texture of the flax eggs. A flax egg is simple a mixture of ground flax seeds and water.
You may also like…
- Vegan Caramel Sauce
- Vegan Chocolate Chip Blondies
- Vegan Funfetti Blondies
- Vegan S’mores Bars
- Chocolate Mug Cake
- Flourless Brownies
Leave a comment and rating below if you try this recipe and let us know how it turns out! Be sure to follow on instagram for more recipes.
Best Fudgy Vegan Brownies
by: claire cary
Ingredients
Wet:
- 1 ½ cups very finely ground granulated sugar the brand Domino is best
- ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoons ground flax seed OR 5 tbsp apple sauce
- 5 tablespoons water for the flax, separate from the sugar water
- ½ cup oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Dry:
- ¾ cup cocoa powder sifted if clumpy
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour I used gluten free, but regular works too
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the 2 tbsp ground flax with 5 tbsp water. Set aside to thicken. Skip this step if using the apple sauce.
- Some people notice a flavor when using the flax (I never have this issue) so if that worries you, stick to the applesauce. The texture will be slightly different, but still delicious.
- In a medium pot on the stove, add the sugar and water and whisk together. Heat over medium/low heat. Stir occasionally, but after about 5-10 minutes, the sugar should completely dissolve.
- Be sure you don’t add any extra water. The water will look somewhat cloudy, but you shouldn’t notice any clumps of sugar. This is key for the shiny crust!
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, stir together all dry ingredients except for the chocolate chips if using (we’ll add these later).
- Some people notice a flavor when using the flax (I never have this issue) so if that worries you, stick to the applesauce. The texture will be slightly different, but still delicious.
- Once the sugar has completely dissolved, give it a final whisk, then pour it into the dry ingredients.
- Add all remaining wet ingredients, including the flax eggs once thickened or the applesauce and mix together with a wooden spoon r rubber spatula until a batter forms. Careful not to over mix, stir just until combined.
- Fold in the chocolate chips if using. They’re optional, but they do help the top get shinier and add a richer chocolate flavor.
- Transfer to an 8×8 baking pan lined with parchment paper.
- Sprinkle with additional chocolate chips if desired.
- Bake for 35-42 minutes. about 38 was perfect in my oven, but check with a toothpick. Bake for longer if you don’t like a fudgy inside and shorter if you want them really fudgy.
- Remove from the oven, let cool completely, then slice around the edges of the pan and lift out the brownies using the parchment paper. Slice into 16 squares & enjoy! The longer you let cool, the easier/cleaner the cut will be.
Notes
Comments
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Thank you for the recipe.😍 It was really good. FYI in the second close up photo from the top you can see a hair on the brownie!
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Going to be updating these photos soon 🙂
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I used monk fruit sweetener as a substitute for sugar free but came out very dense. Still delicious however! Any recommendations to yield the same fudgy results while sugar free?
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I don’t recommend monk fruit here! The sugar is key for the right texture.
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Hi
I want to try your brownies. Which glutenfree flour do you recommend?-
Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Baking Flour!
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Wow! Absolutely gorgeous! I made these for colleagues at work. I’m not vegan nor gluten free but tried one and they are delicious! I used the apple sauce rather than flax and used coconut oil. They turned out superbly fudge and very tasty. If I hadn’t made them myself I’d have never had guessed they were vegan and GF! Perhaps I’ll be converted and I hope my vegan/GF colleagues enjoy them just as much! Thankyou for a great recipe 😋
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I cut the oil in half and replaced the 1/4 cup I didn’t use with 1/4 cup of coffee. I also increased the apple sauce by 3 oz because I wanted a fluffier brownie. It was really good. I am going to decrease the cooking time by 5 minutes to make it more fudgy. If that doesn’t work, I’ll cut back on the apple sauce. Overall, this is a fantastic recipe.
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I clicked on the button to make 2X and3X the recipe, but the pan size didn’t change. What size pan would I use for 2X? And 3X?
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9×13 for 2x and for 3x I’d do two pans, one 8×8 and one 9×13.
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Cannot believe these are gf and vegan! Some of the best brownies I have ever eaten!!! The only problem was I cooked it for longer than 45 minutes and the top was still bubbly and oily. It made them very fudgy but oily. Still delicious and I can’t stop eating them (like actually it’s a problem)!
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Made these with the applesauce (not the flax seed) to try. So fudgy, but a little different taste from regular brownies. I was looking for a vegan dessert for an upcoming party, and I think these will work great! Can they be frozen if made in advance, or if there are leftovers?
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Perfect! They should freeze well, just let them cool completely, then slice and wrap in plastic wrap. Reheat in the oven until warm through the center!
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Great recipe!!! Used applesauce and turned out GREAT. Will be my go to recipe FOR SURE 😁😁
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Amazing, thanks Karen!
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Great recipe family loved it, it’s a keeper.
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Omg these are bomb!!! I did however use “egg replacer” and did 1/4c oil and 1/4 applesauce to lower the fat a bit. Love these and may try carob next time.
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So disappointed I did the recipe as written minus only a few Tablespoons pb and the rest oil, and half coconut sugar. Baked 30 minutes and they are so dry!
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Those subs you made will unfortunately completely change the recipe. There’s no PB in these, so I definitely don’t recommend adding that. Did you dissolve the coconut sugar in the water? Halving the amount of sugar will definitely change the texture.
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Hi – the flavor was amazing, but mine didn’t get the nice crust 🙁 Could it be because I used very fine light brown sugar? It was thoroughly melted. They were still devoured by all though!! New to your site, look forward to trying many more recipes!
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Unfortunately, yes, that probably had to do with the sugar! The white sugar is key to getting that crackly top.
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Hi there! Is the applesauce sweetened or unsweetened? I’m interested in trying this and wanted to make sure I bought the right applesauce.
Thank you!
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Unsweetened!
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Holy moly! I used regular granulated sugar because it’s all I had on hand, and coffee instead of water because I had some leftover from the morning and thought, why not? And they turned out so rich and fudgy and delicious! Thank you!
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Love the addition of coffee, always makes for such a rich flavor! Thanks Morgan!
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OMG!!! Mine are baking in the oven, but I wish I’d thought of using coffee instead of water! I can just tase the flavour! Thanks for the suggestion!
Also could use a pinch of Cayenne pepper for a Mexican touch!-
Love these ideas! Let me know how they turn out!
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