A vegan version of my favorite brownies! These Vegan Classic Brownies are delicious, chewy, and complete with a delicate, crackly top. I promise you won’t miss the eggs or dairy in this easy recipe!
Vegan Classic Brownies
You all have been asking me for vegan brownies for months now, and I’m so excited to finally have this recipe for you! After lots of trial and error, I’ve landed on a mix of simple ingredients so you can make Vegan Classic Brownies at home when the chocolate craving hits.
I’m going to go ahead and put it out there that I don’t recommend any substitutes for this recipe. Trust me. I tried this recipe with flaxseed meal, aquafaba, egg replacers, chocolate chips, and many different amounts of flour and cocoa powder. I think it wasn’t until my 9th test that I finally figured out the perfect formula of ingredients.
Most importantly, you must use chopped chocolate for this recipe. Chocolate chips will not work. If you’ve made my brownie recipes before, this will seem odd given that I always use chocolate chips to achieve beautiful brownies. But this recipe is different. The eggs have been replaced with corn starch and water, and there is a lot more flour! And you have to use chopped chocolate. Or your brownie batter will boil and bubble, refuse to set, and be a gritty brownie mess! So trust me, and use your favorite vegan chocolate bars!
The ingredients you’ll need for this recipe:
- Solid chocolate bar(s) – I like to use the $5 dark chocolate Pound Plus bar from Trader Joe’s. If that’s not an option, feel free to use your favorite vegan chocolate bars! (I’ve also made these brownies with the Moser-Roth chocolate bars from Aldi)
- Plant-based butter – I’ve had success using both Earth Balance Buttery Sticks and Country Crock Plant Butter sticks
- Olive oil
- Vanilla extract
- Corn starch + water – the magic binder for these vegan brownies!! I’m not sure if arrowroot or tapioca starch will work, so I can only recommend corn starch
- Sugar – feel free to use your favorite granulated sugar. I like to use a 50:50 mix of coconut and raw or regular cane sugar
- Salt
- Baking powder – this will add lift to the brownies since there are no whipped eggs to provide lift
- Dutch-process cocoa powder – this cocoa powder has a darker color and deeper flavor than natural cocoa powder. The Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa is now 100% Dutched and the easiest to find in US grocery stores
- All-purpose flour
Vegan Classic Brownies
Delicious and chewy Classic Brownies made vegan! I promise you won't miss the eggs or dairy in this easy brownie recipe!
Ingredients
- 8oz dark or semi-sweet chocolate bar, chopped (NOT chocolate chips)
- 1/4 cup plant-based butter
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 6 Tbsp corn starch
- 1 cup granulated sugar (can be raw, white, brown, or coconut)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa
- 1 cup + 2 Tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and prepare an 8x8" baking dish with non-stick spray and parchment paper. I like to cut one long, thin strip of parchment paper to cover the bottom + two sides of the dish. Then fold the excess over the two edges and trim with scissors, keeping about a 1/2" of excess paper.
- In a microwaveable bowl, add the chopped chocolate, plant butter, and olive oil. Heat in 15-30 second intervals, stirring between each, until the chocolate is all melted and smooth; set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the warm water and corn starch. Use a firm spoon to mix the two until they reach a thin, uniform consistency - it's normal for it to be goopy and thick at first.
- Add the corn starch mix to a large bowl, along with the sugar. Mix for about 30 seconds. Then stir in the vanilla extract. Add the melted chocolate and mix until totally combined.
- Stir in the salt and baking powder. Then sift in the cocoa powder and flour. Use a large spoon or spatula to mix the ingredients all together, until no flour pockets remain. The batter will be more like a sticky cookie dough. It will be a lot thicker than traditional brownie batter.
- Spoon the batter into your prepared baking dish. Use your fingers to gently spread, press, and smooth the batter into the dish, making an even layer of batter.
- Bake the brownies at 350°F for 20-25 minutes or until the center looks firm and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out with a few big crumbs.
- Allow brownies to cool completely before lifting them up and out of the baking dish with the parchment paper "tabs". Slice the brownies into 9 or 16 equal pieces.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature.
Notes
- After multiple tests for this recipe, I recommend you only follow this recipe as written
- You must use chopped chocolate bars and NOT chocolate chips. When this same recipe was made with chocolate chips, the batter boiled in the oven and never set
- I like to use the Pound Plus chocolate bars from Trader Joe's here in the US. Both of their "dark chocolate" bars are free of dairy
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
16Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 193Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 8mgSodium: 113mgCarbohydrates: 26gFiber: 1gSugar: 20gProtein: 1g
calculated nutrition information may not always be accurate
Did you make this recipe?
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Can I use almond flour or oat flour as a substitute?
Hi Kristi! I haven’t tried either of these, so I’m not sure how they would turn out. I think oat flour is a better bet than almond flour, though.
Hi, I have a question, when you add the chocolate + butter + oil mix to the main mix?
Hi Sofia! I’m so sorry I missed adding that step – it’s in the recipe directions now! After mixing in the vanilla, you’ll stir in the melted chocolate mixture (before adding the flour and cocoa).
Hi, these brownies look awesome!! I’m planning to give them a try but I have a question. At what stage do you add melted chocolate, butter and oil mixture?
Thanks so much, Jena! Ah! I’ve added that step to recipe directions – after mixing in the vanilla, you’ll add the melted chocolate (before adding the dry ingredients) 🙂
Was so excited to make these that I couldn’t wait for the reply lol. I added the melted chocolate before adding the dry ingredients. It came out awesome!! Crisp on top and fudgy inside! Also, I used white whole wheat flour and baked them in mini muffin pan. Will be making another batch soon. Thank you for sharing!!
Oh, yay! I’m so glad the recipe worked out for you! 🙂 And how genius is the mini muffin pan?! Edge pieces all around – YUM.
Hi!
Can I use just 1/2 cup of oil instead of 1/4 oil and 1/4 butter?
Thank you!
Hi! That should work just fine for you 🙂
Can I use butter in place of oil?
Yes, melted butter should work just fine 🙂