Simple Vegan Brownies

Thank you so much for such an easy, quick vegan recipe with on-hand staple ingredients! These were made as an experiment for our grandson’s birthday, to see if they’d be pleasing, and they sure are! They’re crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside, which gives nice variety. The original plan was to make brownies and spread strawberry jam on top. The little dip on the top is the perfect spot for the jam. (It doesn’t add much to the flavor, but is a bit prettier.) Also due to this, strawberry extract replaced the vanilla. Other ingredient changes: Refined coconut oil replaced the margarine, and 6 Tblsp. of water were used with the flaxseed meal, since the usual ratio is 1 Tblsp flax to 3 Tblsp water. Some commenters said it was too dry — perhaps these 2 changes would help them. About a handful of chocolate chips was used, too. Although it seemed the cupcake liners were seemingly filled about 3/4 full, it made 10. The paper stuck to them, though, so it’s good to read that others have successfully used an 8″ x 8″ pan — or the muffin pan could be greased instead of using liners. (But that’s more cleanup.) Blessings and success to you!

I made these today, and these are the bomb. I can’t believe how few ingredients it took to make dense, fudgey vegan brownies. This recipe is definitely going to be on repeat. Also, I made it with an all-purpose GF flour because my stepson has to avoid gluten, and these were amazing. The vegan margarine is key. I won’t go back to oil-based brownie recipes. I also made a thick frosting for these with vegan chocolate chips, a bit of coconut oil, and some coconut milk.

Also, I ended up spreading the batter into an 8-by-8-inch glass baking dish, and they baked perfectly in 23 minutes. A total keeper, this recipe!

Thank you so much!

These were delicious!
I followed the recipe and added 2Tbs instant coffee (I always find it makes cocoa taste more chocolatey) and sprinkled cocoa nibs on top.
They were so goid, really hit the spot.
Thanks for a great recipe, definitely a keeper!

Mine didn’t set up in the oven? What did I do wrong?

There is something missing in this recipe…. like a liquid. It was so dry it just crumbled. I’ve been a vegan for years now and I know how to bake and theses were inedible. Did you leave something off the recipe?

So good and super easy to make! I didn’t have any vanilla extract so I subbed with the same amount of maple syrup and it was delicious! Perfect Wednesday night pick me up :)

These are mine and my husband’s favorite brownies to make. We always add in chocolate chips and bake them all together in one pan instead of individually. So yummy.

I made these with 6 tbsp of aquafaba from a can of low sodium chickpeas and they turned out great! The chocolate flavor is very rich and they aren’t too sweet either.

This will be my go-to recipe for brownies…. rich, decadent and a delight to share with family and friends! I used an 8X8 pan and they turned out PERFECTLY!

Unbelievable!! So fudgy! Made them and ate with non dairy ice cream.

Absolutely delicious and my non-vegan boyfriends favorite type of brownies and he’s a basically a brownie connoisseur.

Wow! These are amazing – so much flavour, nice brownie texture and soooo easy to make. I highly recommend these. I did the version with 1/4 cup of chocolate chips and 1/4 walnuts.

I love all your recipes – thank you so much for writing these easy to use and delicious recipes. We make the Banana Bread waffles almost every week!

Couple of swaps:
1. Coconut Oil (melted) instead of the vegan butter because it’s what I had. I loved the coconut flavour it added – worked really well.
2. I used the mini muffin tin instead of the full size and baked them for approx 8 mins.

I made these today to satisfy a need for chocolate on a Monday night :). I used coconut oil, for lightness, and real eggs (I haven’t had luck making flaxseed eggs and I was not going to risk it!). They came out really good!!! Just what I needed.

Dana,
Thank you so much for all that you do. I have made many of your recipies and they all turn out wonderfully (this specific one I switched the Earth balance with coconut oil – solid).

Anyway. Wanted to share with you that this service made my transition to veganism much easier than I believe it would have been otherwise. I appreciate the passion that shines through every creation you have shared with us all.

Also, thank you so much for keeping this service free. It is so appreciated and does not go unnoticed! May your life be filled with an ever deepening awareness of the love that exists in every particle of creation (especially those particles existing in the edible creations you share with us!) Much love! ???

Oh heck yes! I am a newbie vegan (9 days old) and was craving something Chocolate. I have never made brownies before, but I’ve eaten lots, and this one ranks with the best of them! I baked the recipe exactly as listed, baked for 24 min. Muffin tins = the smartest idea ever for portioned brownie bites.
This recipe was a home run and I’m pretty sure I’ll be making it weekly in the future!

I’ve searched for years for a good vegan brownie recipe and finally found a truly legitimate, tastes like the ‘bad’ brownies recipe! These are delicious! I made the first batch with regular cocoa powder and added chocolate chips and walnuts. I used an 8×8 glass baking dish instead of of muffin tin and baked it 25 minutes. I think it could have used, maybe, 5 more minutes. I made another batch a couple of days later and used the super duper dark Hershey’s cocoa powder and chocolate chunks and walnuts in the 8×8 pan and cooked it 30 minutes and feel that it was slightly overcooked. Also, for both batches, I would add little more sugar — but that may be me. I like them just a tad sweeter. Having said that, these brownies are to die for. AMAZING. I’m very grateful to the recipe creator because life without brownies sucks and that was the life I was facing. I won’t compromise my vegan principles and this recipe allows me to stick to those while devouring delicious brownies. Win win!

These are awesome. I make them a lot.
My boyfriend makes icing for them sometimes. He’s made peanut butter icing and a caramel icing for them as well. It’s awesome. We use your recipes a lot. Thank you!

Just because of what I have on hand, I use regular cocoa and and brown sugar, plus I put the batter into a bread loaf pan. These are the BEST brownies I have ever had the pleasure of making, I could just eat the batter straight. So much so that I only cook it to the point of somewhere 1/3 close to being done. Thanks for this recipe!!

I tried these brownies with coconut sugar and it was awesome. Everyone loved it. Thanks for the recipe.

Mmmm!!! Yes!! These were incredibly easy to make for that late-evening chocolate craving! I mixed in cacao nibs, chopped walnuts, coconut flakes, and swirled in a little bit of tahini on top of a few and wow…just perfect! Thank you for this quick, delicious and adaptable recipe! I will definitely make these again and already have shared the recipe :)

Incredibly easy and delicious. My boys asked me to use almond extract instead of vanilla, which was a fun change. As promised by the blog title, these are minimalist and require everyday ingredients. Ours came out perfectly baked with a soft, (prepare for the unfortunate word) moist center. Delish!

Made these brownies! They were great, but I did make a few changes. I added about a 1/2 cup of Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips melted (because I like chocolate) and used a vegan egg substitute that I found in Germany. This was my first time using a store bought vegan egg substitute, but it was a natural and organic product that uses Johannisbrotkernmehl (yes, this is one word in German), flax seeds, and sunflower seeds. Also added some chopped vegan chocolate into the batter. Turned out amazing!

I looooooove that your recipe section allows to to change the number of people the recipe is for!!!!

These brownies are fabulous! I have never tied a recipe from you that I didn’t love. Thank you so much for all your vegan help. Sometimes I use coconut oil instead of vegan butter and they have a slightly different but wonderful taste. I have also used half the vegan butter and half applesauce for those watching fat content .

Delicious! Just got done making these. :)

My batter was a little too thick as some other commenters have mentioned, so I added about a 1/2 C of Almond Milk and a dab of oil. Also used chia eggs instead of flax eggs.
Cooked for just under the 22 minute mark and they came out superduper moist and chocolatey!

Loved them! Thank you!

Made these tonight and I had to stop myself for finishing them all! Followed the instructions and added chopped hazelnuts to the tops before baking. I used liners and divided the batter into 8 muffin tin cups. The best vegan brownies I’ve either made or purchased since going vegan a year ago. Thanks Dana for another winner!!

These brownies are so unbelievably moist! I added a broken up 1/2 of a vegan chocolate bar and some walnuts in the batter and then baked it in a 9×9 cake tin. Boy oh boy, the recipe came out tasting like lava cake!

These are the BEST vegan brownies… actually wait THE BEST vegan dessert ever! I make it at least once a week and all my friends (vegan or not) LOVE them. Thanks for this recipe!

Perfect recipe. I added coconut flakes every time I made these and sometimes added raw cacao nibs for an extra crunch. I have experimented with coconut oil and found it to yield moister brownies than making it with vegan butter. Next time, I am making this with the Miyoko’s vegan butter instead of earth balance, as some friends do not like coconut.

These were by far the BEST brownies I’ve EVER had!! They were easy to make, very moist and absolutely delicious. Permanently apart of my recipe box now.

These are super simple to make. I have made them three times in the last three weeks. Haha! I love the idea to put them in a muffin tin so they are a little crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle. These will be my forever go to brownies. Thank you!!

I made these last night and they were perfect! I added crushed walnut and baked for 20 minutes. Thanks for the awesome recipe!

Made these today in preparation for my son’s birthday. They are awesome! Sooooo tasty, chewy and chocolatey. I actually might finish this batch myself and make some more!!

I made alot of modifications to this, and it turned out very well! Very moist, dense and just like healthy versions of the store bought kind. Below are my substitutions (all equal parts unless stated otherwise):

Apple sauce sub for vegan butter
Chia eggs sub for flax eggs
Raw cacao powder sub for cocoa powder
Organic spelt flour sub for all purpose flour
Stevia (only 1/2 cup) sub for sugar

I also added about 1/4 cup of coconut milk to wetten it up a bit, as it was a tad dry while I was mixing it.
Very happy with the outcome! Especially because I’ve had that apple sauce in my fridge forever and was dying to use it up. ?

HI! I am a college student and I keep trying to make vegan brownies but always fail. But these turned out amaaazing!! I used a vegan egg instead of a flax egg and put in a tablespoon of almond milk to my batter! They are perfect even my non vegan brother loved them ! Thank you :)

These are amazing! Some people are saying they didn’t turn out, but they certainly do for me. They are my (non-vegan) husband’s favorite.
The recipe is right on and very simple. Adding chocolate chips is what makes these gooey and delicious (I only add a few to each brownie or it’ll get too gooey!).
Of course you need to keep an eye on them in the oven if this is your first time making this (as with any baking) and if yours are turning out too dry or dense, it may be the way you’re measuring your ingredients.
Anyway, thank you for the recipe! I have tried a few vegan brownie recipes and this is the best!

Its difficult to find brownie recipes that have easy ingredients.
These brownies are delicious, its something between a chocolate cake and an Oreo.
Baked them many times now and they are always a success.

So happy with this recipe! Easy to make and they baked in about 23 min for me. I added about a tablespoons worth of extra water since it looked a little stiff and folded in vegan chocolate chunk chips. Soft and chewy. Good treat for Valentine’s Day!

These brownies are delicious and super easy! I have yet to meet a minimalist baker dessert recipe that I don’t LOVE. Thanks for sharing!

These are so good! I am doing the microbiome cleanse right now so I sub-ed coconut oil for the butter(equal to the recipe), Monkfruit sugar for the sugar (equal to the recipe) and coconut flour for the four (use a bit less about 1/4 of a cup). The second time I made them I added a bit of coconut milk and a small dollop of sugar-free coconut yogurt. Totally keto and super good, even my smoker, doesn’t believe in yoga boyfriend liked them!

I love your recipes, every time i want inspiration i look at your recipes and tailor them to fit my own liking. i love that they are all vegan and i hope to see more inspiration from you in the future. is there a specific brand of vegan marshmallows that would be good to use in these brownies?

These brownies were amazing! Thank you for making the recipe so easy! I’m new at being vegan, and was facing my first dinner party. Dessert was terrifying, because most of my go-to recipes were heavy on eggs. I substituted the vegan butter for a half cup of blood orange olive oil. Served them with an orange based sauce. Delicious! My carnivorous guests and vegan skeptic husband loved them. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Delicious! I made these with maple syrup and they turned out perfectly. I was impressed with how fudgy these were. A new favorite!

These are so good! I added some chopped walnuts and vegan chocolate chips and they were amazing!

I’ve made these a few times and I’m certain I do something wrong each time – my batter never looks as nice and liquidy as yours does in the image above, instead it forms an oily doughy blob that I kind of mold into a pan. Doesn’t matter – they cook well enough and taste great. Today I was too lazy to microwave my butter (yeah, you read that right…. too lazy to microwave…) so I just used an apple sauce and vegetable oil mixture to make up the volume and my batter wasn’t an oily blob – still didn’t look as perfect as yours, but that’s okay. Here’s my kicker though – I wanted to add something in today, I usually don’t, so I didn’t have any of the typical add-ins – I went exploring and ended up adding some frozen raspberries and I’m in heaven. I’d forgotten how much I love raspberries and chocolate and your brownie recipe is the perfect fudgy compliment to those raspberries. Yuuummm! :-D

Incredible. I’ve made between 10 and 15 of your Recipies by now and everything has been incredible. Even the dishes my non vegan parents have tried have received rave reviws. Thank you so much for sharing your culinary knowledge! <3 #ediblegifting

I just made a double batch and they turned out lovely. My mix was quite thick and dry so I added a half cup of water- I had only regular cocoa, so this may have been the issue. Beautiful soft crumb and crisp outside. Lacks the strong hit I assume you get from Dutch – pressed cocoa but chocolatey enough to hit the spot. I will definitely chuck in some chocolate chips next time and might try replacing some of the sugar with muscavado sugar or adding some coffee. Thanks for the recipe!

I love the recipe…it was quick, easy and good. I really appreciate the share.

Wowza! I am new to vegan baking and these were freaking fantastic! My family cannot get enough of them! So much for my healthy vegan choices! Hahahaha but we all deserve a little treat every now and then. This one is a keeper! Thanks!

Simple recipe with fabulous results! I used coconut oil for the fat content, cut the sugar back to 1/2 cup, and used spelt flour…. with delicious outcome. Great aroma, texture and favour. Thank you for sharing!

I made these but subbed the sugar for coconut sugar and flax seed eggs for 2 small mashed bananas (I didn’t have flax seed) I also just baked it in a brownie tray. My daughters thought it was delicious! Thanks for the recipe!

Best.Brownies.Ever. My fiancé has been vegan for over 10 years and I finally jumped on board. I was craving brownies and didn’t feel like going out to gather ingredients that were hard to find and I stumbled upon this recipe. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about 7 ingredients are less thinking there wasn’t going to be much flavor in here. Man was I wrong… I’ve been craving Nutella and realized there was room to add nuts into the recipe and then I thought about adding more chocolate flavoring as some mixes add fudge to the recipe. I melted down 1/3 cup vegan chocolate chips I already had and added 1/3 cup chopped hazelnuts and these came out AMAZING! I was weary of cooking them for the full time as I like my brownies fudge and dense. I cooked them for 20 min and then toothpick checked then and added the 2 min and perfecto! These are delish. Def making a batch for my work and seeing what they think. Job well done! You’re killing it girl! Keep up the great work and let the recipes flow! ???????

Just made this! Perfect, taste just like butter/eggfull brownies. Super easy to make and super delicious. Thank you for an amazing recipe, Dana

These were AMAZING!! Thank you so much!! Perfect for my chocolate cravings ??

I made these last night. Somewhere along the way I made a booboo (maybe the vegan margarine I used… maybe the fact that I don’t sift and measure, or maybe because my chia eggs were too thick) and they were quite dense and my batter seemed quite oily and didn’t look as lovely (and perfect) as yours did in the photo. They tasted great though and I added some chocolate mint frosting to them later. Taste is what it’s all about though, right?? :-)

I’m not a baker. I can’t be trusted with measurements. I’ve also had middling success with flax seed, so I used NeatEgg instead and baked these in mini cupcake tins for 12.5 mins. Awesome, awesome, awesome – just perfect, especially if you like crusty-edged brownies. Trust.

I subbed coconut oil for the earth balance, and a quarter cup of applesauce for the flax eggs. These turned out moist and delicious!

I substituted kirkland coconut oil for the earth balance butter, and added the chopped walnut option. Enjoying with a coffee. Satisfied :)

Excellent recipe! Loved these easy vegan brownies. I subbed some applesauce for part of the butter and added a teaspoon of instant coffee granules to the wet ingredients. I baked them in a mini-muffin tin and got 24 cute little muffins in about 15 minutes baking time. Thanks so much!

I tried making these with applesauce instead of vegan butter and egg replacer instead of the flax eggs. DO NOT TRY IT. The brownies turned out very dry and flavourless. Not the fault of the recipe, just don’t use these replacements!

So, I am incredibly late to the party but just tried these and they are beyond excellent! Made them for friends coming over tomorrow but fear I may have to make an extra batch… I modified the recipe slightly in that I added about 6tbsp coarsely ground coffee to the (vegan) butter to let it infuse, which I strained out after it was melted and instead of vanilla I added rum extract. The flavour is beyond intense and luscious.

Been cooking, or baking mostly, several things from your site for a while now. You’ve become an absolutely go-to for marvellous vegan baking. Thnx so much for your excellent recipes, great writing and stunning photography!

First time I baked a vegan brownie successfully after turning vegan for a year! This recipe was great, the flax seed was totally undetectable. However my first and second batch(more fudgey) turned out quite different because of the amount of water i used in the flax egg. I think the flax egg is the cause of a lot of batter texture issues i’ve read here. You can adjust the overall batter texture by adding soy milk or water. I baked it for 10 minutes because my oven is really weird and the heat goes out of control. But it turned out well! I added macadamia nuts and everyone loved them. Can’t even tell they are vegan!

LOVE these brownies. Very easy and I always have the ingredients on hand. I do, however, use dark chocolate cocoa instead. They are SO decadent!

I had heard good things about The Minimalist Baker from a friend a few months ago, so when I saw this recipe online while trying to fix a chocolate craving, I decided to start here. So glad I did! This site is definitely becoming my go-to for vegan baking.

Made this once, found myself looking up this recipe to make again! Definitely a keeper along with many others you publish, thank you!

These were delicious! I subbed almond flour to make it GF ( I used about 1 1/4 cup. I just kept adding until the batter looked right.), used vegan chocolate chips, and added 1/4 tsp. cinnamon powder. They tasted heavenly!! I will definitely make these again.

These were ahhhhmazing!! Was craving something chocolate-y, and these were beyond perfect. Baking them in the muffin tin was something I’d never done with brownies before. They came out crispy on the outside with chewy, decadence inside. Baked for 20 mins since my oven is fussy. Thank you for this recipe that is sure to become a staple! :)

I followed the directions to the letter; the batter was dry; added 2 tbs of oil and water to mix it more ; ended up with rocks. the batter from the beginning would not become wet. Again I measured everything and followed the recipe. had to throw the whole batch out.

While I have little to know interest in eating vegan, I know your recipes are not going to disappoint. Whilst rocking my baby to sleep tonight I said to myself “I need to make brownies” and searched your website. I’ve already made your black bean brownies (Ah-mazing, obviously), my food processor is out of commission (hopefully everyone heard of the Cuisinart recall…) so I wanted a simpler option of yours. Thankfully you have plenty of brownie options! I made these in less than 30 minutes, in one bowl, substituting your non-butter with European butter, 1 real egg instead of 2 flax eggs and almond extract instead of vanilla. As expected, your recipe turned out as delicious and easy as I had hoped. YUM! These are hitting the spot tonight, I’ll definitely be making these again :) Thank you! – Charlie

this recipe turned out great! i loved it. my only issue was that the batter was a bit doughy, so i added a tiny bit of water and it was perfect. thanks!

I just made these tonight and added vegan white chocolate chips. Amazing! This will be my go to brownie recipe from now on. Thank you!

These were sooo yummy! This batch made 7 and I’m trying to restrain myself from eating them all at once. The only change I made was subbing coconut oil for butter. It gives it that yummy coconutty flavor. These were a little crisp on the edges and moist and chewy in the middle. Thanks for satisfying my chocolate craving!

Oh my! I bought your cookbook, and was looking for a recipe, but didn’t see a brownie recipe in it (the cookbook is awesome, by the way!). But, I have been craving a good brownie for about 2 weeks. This recipe is amazing! If you didn’t know, you would never guess there are no eggs or butter in it! I did use Nutive shortening (Red palm and coconut oil) as my butter substitute. It is also ingenious to use a cupcake pan so you get that crispy outside. I LOVE this recipe and will use it AND recommend it over and over!

Ummm these are AMAZING. So decadent, so few ingredients. Love!