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eggless vegan brownies recipe

One Bowl Fudgy Vegan Brownies

Nicole Vranjican
Chocolatey vegan brownies with a salted almond butter swirl! Dairy Free, Eggless, One Bowl Recipe!
5 from 5 votes
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Course Dessert
Servings 9 brownies

Ingredients
  

  • 3/4 cup natural almond butter check to make ure the only ingredients are almonds and salt
  • 1/2 cup applesauce unsweetened
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup
  • 3/4 cup raw cacao powder
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt I use Morton's
  • 1/4 cup vegan chocoate chips I use and recommend Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Mini Chips

Instructions
 

Prep

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare and 8x8 square pan by lightly greasing and/or lining with parchment paper.
    Tip: I typically grease my pans with a little refined coconut oil.

Mix

  • In a large mixing bowl, add the almond butter, apple sauce, and maple syrup to a bowl. For sweeter brownies, see the notes below 👩🏻‍🍳
    Then sift in the cacoa powder and whisk vigorously for a full 30 seconds until the mixture looks like a river of glossy, smooth chocolate.
    *pause to contain your excitement and then...
    Add the flour, baking soda and salt. Mix just until combined and fold in the chocolate chips. Be careful not to over mix at this stage (see the video above for a helpful tip).

Swirl (optional)

  • Dollop the top of the bronwies with 9 1-2 teaspoon sized dots of almond butter. Then use a knife or a chopstick to swirl the almond butter into the batter.
    Get creative here but Pro Tip: it's better to under swirl than over swirl, as over swirling sometimes means you won't be able to see the design as much once it's baked.
    For a thicker, more visable swirl you can mix the almond butter with a spoonful of powdered sugar. This will make it thicker and the swirl will be more pronouced, it will also change the flavor slightly.
    Instead of a swirl, a handful of chopped walnuts and/or chocolate chips is also delicious and pretty!

Bake

  • Transfer the batter to your prepared baking dish and smooth out the top. Bake for 18-20 minutes.
    Remove from the oven and cool completely in the pan before slicing.
    Tip: It's tempting to cut into hot brownies but they're actually not done cooking when they're out of the oven. Once you remove the pan from the oven, the center is still basically hot fudge so it needs to cool down slowly in order to be sliceable.

Serve

  • Once cooled, cut into 9 squares and enjoy!

Notes

The Tahini Version!
  • 1/2 cup runny, light tahini
  • 1/2 cup apple sauce, unsweetened
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup
  • 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup raw cacao powder
  • 1/3 cup flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/4 cup vegan chocolate chips 
 
Topping (optional)
  • 1/4 cup vegan chocolate chips
  • 2 tsp refined coconut oil
 
Same instructions as above but instead of a swirl, I bake these brownies plain because the tahini doesn't show up the way that almond butter does because it's too thin. After baking, I decorate the top by melting the chocolate chips and coconut oil together in the microwave and drizzling it on top of the brownies. 
Note: These need to bake a little longer. I usually check at around 18 minutes but I typically bake them for 22-25 minutes depending on your oven. 
Which one to make? 
The almond butter brownie is great for dark chocolate lovers, because it's rich and sweet but not too sweet. The tahini version has a combo of maple and brown sugar so it has a touch more sweetness and some lovely depth of flavor. I truly love both so let me know which one ends up being your favorite! 
Cacao, Cocoa, or Dutch Processed Cocoa
This recipe was created and tested using raw cacao powder so that's what I recommend using for best results. You can also use cocoa powder but not Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder (which is delicious but it won't work here) because the brownies won't rise if you use it in this recipe. 
Can I sub Peanut Butter for Almond Butter? 
In most recipes yes, in this, weirdly no! Nut butters can often be used interchangeably in cooking but baking is a little different. Measurements and ratios matter a lot, even in simple recipes like this one.
I've made this exact recipe with peanut butter and the texture was very different. Peanut butter and chocolate tastes delicious together but the consistency of peanut butter is different than thin, drippy almond butter and it made for drier, crumbly brownies. If you don't have/want to use almond butter, opt for the Tahini Version of this recipe in the Notes above! 
Keyword almond butter brownie recipe, brownies, cacao vs cocoa, dairy free brownie recipe, eggless brownie recipe, vegan chocolate