Vegan Brownies

These vegan brownies are incredible!

They have a thin, crinkly upper crust that breaks off as you bite into it, and it’s slightly crisp yet melts as it touches your tongue.

The interior should be a combination of fudgy, melty, and chocolatey, with a relatively dense and chewy texture, but not excessively so.

If you agree, you will love this triple-chocolate vegan brownie recipe. These are the best brownies we’ve ever had, and no one will be able to tell they are vegan.

Dark chocolate

For the best brownies, you’ll need some good quality dark chocolate bars; we recommend 55% to 75% cocoa content.

Dark chocolate is generally vegan; however, read the ingredient list if you want to be sure.

Cocoa powder

We use unsweetened dutch processed cocoa powder because it adds a richer flavor and a more intense dark color than natural cocoa powder.

Dark chocolate chips

As for the chocolate bar, use dark chocolate chips with 55% to 75% cocoa content and without dairy.

Vegan butter

Vegan butter or dairy-free butter is our fat of choice. There are many brands on the market, and we recommend picking one that comes in a stick form and has a firm consistency.

We like Violife, Earth Balance, Om Sweet Home, Miyoko’s, Fora, and Melt Organic.

We can’t recommend using coconut oil as we haven’t tested it.

Sugar

We use white granulated sugar; you can also use brown cane sugar.

We have not tried other sugars, such as coconut sugar or palm sugar, so we don’t know if they produce the same quality vegan brownies.

Flour

All-purpose flour is perfect for this recipe.

Substitute a 1-to-1 gluten-free flour to make gluten-free brownies. They’ll be a little more crumbly, though.

Aquafaba

Aquafaba is simply the water from a can of chickpeas. We use it as an egg replacement as it has similar properties and doesn’t have a taste. Aquafaba does the following:

• It incorporates tiny air bubbles, making the brownies taller without using baking powder.
• It makes the brownies melt as you bite into them, thanks to the bond it creates with the sugar.
• It creates that beautiful heavenly glossy, and crinkly top.

We’ve tested several recipes, and aquafaba is superior to all other egg replacements, including flax eggs.

Vanilla extract

We like to add a hint of vanilla to the vegan brownies.

Salt

Salt enhances the chocolate flavor.

Note: since we are using dutch processed cocoa powder, there’s no need to add espresso powder to this recipe.

Melt the chocolate

Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C. Butter an 8-Inch squared cake pan and line it with parchment paper. The parchment should hang over the edges for easy removal.

Coarsely chop the chocolate bar with a knife.

Add hot, almost boiling water to a pot and put a heat-resistant bowl over it. The bottom of the bowl should touch the hot water. Add in the chopped chocolate and vegan butter.

Tip: Do this off the heat; it’s easier. You can warm the water with an electric kettle and add it to the pot. We don’t recommend melting the chocolate in the microwave or directly on the stovetop. It can easily get ruined.

Stir it with a spatula until completely melted. It should take about 2 minutes. Set aside.

Make brownie batter

To a large mixing bowl, add the water from a can of chickpeas (aquafaba) and the sugar.

Beat with a hand mixer or stand mixer with a whisk attachment for 3 to 5 minutes or until the liquid turns white, foamy, and with high viscosity.

Tip: this step is essential. The high viscosity with sugar well dissolved produces the crinkliest and glossiest top and the meltiest brownies we’ve tested.

Pour in the melted chocolate and butter mixture, salt, and vanilla extract, and whisk with your hand mixer for 30 seconds or until fully incorporated.

Sift in the flour and the cocoa powder. Whisk the dry ingredients for a few seconds until the brownie batter is combined. Scrape down the edges of the bowl with a spatula and fold it in.

Transfer the brownie batter to your prepared cake pan. Level it off, then sprinkle it with dark chocolate chips.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, then let it cool down for at least 30 minutes in the pan.

Pull the parchment paper to take brownie out of the pan, let cool down well before cutting it into squares.

Serve vegan brownies as they are, with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Getting a white foamy and sticky/viscous liquid is key to making excellent brownies with a crinkly shiny top and a fudgy yet light and melty core.

Set a timer and beat aquafaba and sugar with a hand mixer for at least 3 minutes, best if 5 minutes.

Questions

Make ahead: vegan brownies are excellent to make ahead because they keep well for several days at room temperature or in the fridge and months in the freezer.

Room temperature: keep brownies wrapped in plastic or an airtight container in a dark corner of your kitchen for 3 days.

Refrigerator: to extend their shelf-life, store them wrapped in plastic or an airtight container in the fridge. They keep for 5 to 6 days.

Freezer: let brownies cool down completely, then wrap them in plastic wrap individually if you want to store single portions, then put them in a freezer-friendly container, and freeze for up to 3 months.

Thaw: defrost at room temperature for an hour more as needed. To speed things up, do so in the microwave, at low temperature, in 15-second increments.

More Chocolate Dessert Recipes

Calling all chocolate lovers, if you like baking with chocolate and cacao powder, get more sweet inspiration from these sweet recipes:

• Easy chocolate cake with ganache and a single-layer cake.
• Chocolate cake donuts with glaze, they whip up in just 5 minutes.
• Vegan chocolate pound cake: takes just 5 minutes to prepare!
• Chocolate brownie cake with 5 ingredients and no eggs.
• 10-minute chocolate custard with just 5 ingredients and dark chocolate pieces.

If you’re curious about egg-free desserts, check out these vegan dessert recipes with easy-to-find ingredients:

• Vegan lemon bars with an easy vegan lemon curd and a thin shortbread crust.
• Easy vegan lemon cake: perfectly light, airy, and tangy with a lemon cream cheese frosting.
• 8-ingredient apple cake with sweet and tender apple pieces in a perfectly fluffy cake.
• Vegan carrot cake: a single-layer easy carrot cake with a moist and light crumb.
• Easy vanilla cake with vegan frosting, a single-layer and easy version of vanilla cake (coming soon).
• Lemon blueberry cake: prepared in 5 minutes and baked in 30 minutes!

For many more easy dessert ideas, check out our desserts category page.