Better Than Box Mix FUDGY Vegan Brownies- with Shiny Crinkle Tops!
These ridiculously fudgy vegan brownies are for FUDGE BOWNIE LOVES ONLY! Made with simple ingredients (sugar, flour, cocoa powder, chocolate, and melted vegan butter or oil), these vegan brownies are seriously dense and chocolatey WITHOUT being raw/underbaked with that perfect shiny crinkle top that will make even a cakey brownie lover obsessed. This is better than any store bought brownie mix you’ll find, all made with just a bowl and a whisk.
Forget the box mix brownies- you’re going to LOVE these easy vegan brownies from scratch!
You’ll never be tempted to make another box mix brownie again after giving these ultra fudgy vegan brownies a go.
Like it’s so good, I had to develop a small batch vegan brownie recipe just to avoid eating the entire pan in one go (oh, trust me, it’s too easy to just keep going bite after bite!).
These brownies are my go-to weekend baking recipe for my family, and for a good reason. It’s the base recipe for several of our other vegan brownie recipes (and my inspiration for several of the brownie recipes in my upcoming cookbook!).
And for the most important part: these brownies are fudgy, NOT underbaked and gooey (ick) with a perfect crinkle top that a traditional conventional brownie would bow down to. But how? There are two EASY reasons why these vegan brownies are different than others on the internet
- Sugar content: We’ve slightly increased the moisture in this vegan brownie recipes by using part brown sugar and part granulated sugar. The brown sugar will add a slightly more molasses flavor, while also adding more moisture and richness.
- Sugar dissolution into aquafaba or dairy free milk: This means that the sugar granules are dissolved in the liquid by vigorous mixing- either with a hand mixer or by hand. Dissolving the sugar helps to create a super crinkly and shiny top!
Now, why use aquafaba or soy milk?
These are two of my favorite vegan egg replacements for this recipe, along with ground flaxseed. Together, they work better than what applesauce could achieve (trust me, I’ve tried).
This is because aquafaba or soy milk are most similar to egg white in terms of texture and binding properties, helping to give the brownies structure and moisture. So if you don’t have access to chickpea brine, then you most certainly can use soy milk with near identical results!
Simplest Ingredients to make Vegan Brownies:
The remaining ingredients are just pantry staple finds, but I want to go over why I’m choosing some key ingredients here!
- Ground flaxseed: I’ve tested this recipe with dairy free yogurt and applesauce as well, and I really love ground flaxseed here for the best.
- Dutch-cocoa powder: You can’t just use any cocoa powder here. I recommend using all Dutch-processed for the fudgier texture it will give. All-natural has a bit more acidity (which causes a bake to rise), and will lead to a cakier brownie. I’m purposefully going for FUDGY with this recipe, so I’m avoiding cakey all together!
- High quality dark vegan chocolate: my favorite brand to use for this recipe is Endangered Species or Valrhona!
- Dairy-free milk or aquafaba: This is another ingredient that you may not be fully familiar with, but it’s actually quite common! Aquafaba is just chickpea brine, or the liquid from your chickpea can, and it makes for the best replacements of egg whites. So combining flaxseed with aquafaba essentially creates the full “egg” in these brownies! However, upon further testing, dairy free milk, like soy milk, works WONDERFULLY in a pinch (with honestly identical results- I can’t tell the difference so it’s up to your personal preference here!).
The remaining ingredients are so standard: all-purpose flour, granulated sugar (make sure it’s organic for vegan!), sea salt, and vanilla extract! How simple and easy?!
Overview: How to make vegan brownies step-by-step
For the full written instructions and ingredient measurements, see the bottom of this post in the recipe card. You can also hit the “jump to recipe” button at the top of this post! Here, we’ll go over a brief overview of the steps, along with providing visuals for a better understanding of the recipe.
Once you see how simple and easy these vegan brownies are to make, you might just be making them every week!
My go-to trick for knowing when brownies are done.
Use a toothpick to test: if the toothpick comes out with a little brownie batter on it, they’re good to go! If it’s more like a glob of batter on the toothpick, I would give them another 5 minutes and check again.
When you remove the brownies from the oven, the tops of the brownies will be soft– that means they’re definitely fudgy inside! As they cool, the brownies will become firmer, yet still remain fudgy when you take that first bite. That’s why you need to wait at least 30 minutes before slicing into them!
You are just going to LOVE these super easy vegan brownies! Truly, this will be your go-to brownie recipe, I’m sure of it!
Happy brownie baking!
Bake these brownies alongside me in this video:
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If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!
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BEST Cocoa FUDGE Vegan Brownies with Shiny Crinkle Tops!
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 28
- Total Time: 38 minutes
- Yield: 16 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These ridiculously fudgy vegan brownies are even better than any store bought brownie mix you’ll find, all made with just a bowl and a whisk. They’re moist, fudgy, and with perfectly shiny crinkly tops, all thanks to dissolving the sugar into aquafaba or soy milk! Trust me, this will be the only brownie recipe you’ll use from now on!
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp ground flaxseed mixed with 1/2 cup coffee (you can sub water) or 1/2 cup (100 g) unsweetened applesauce, room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100 g) brown sugar
- 1/3 cup (80 mL) aquafaba or soy milk, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 cup (113 g) vegan butter or coconut oil, melted
- 6 ounces vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup (50 g) high quality Dutch-processed cocoa powder*
- 1 2/3 cup (200 g) all-purpose flour or gluten free 1:1 baking flour
- Additional 1/2 cup (80 g) vegan chocolate chips
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350F and line an 8×8″ or 9×9″ pan with parchment paper. Whisk together the ground flaxseed and coffee in a small bowl, and set aside to thicken.
- Dissolve the sugar: In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, brown sugar, aquafaba or soy milk, vanilla extract, sea salt, and flaxseed mixture. You can use a hand mixer to make it faster, but whisk vigorously until the sugar granules are completely dissolved. This is crucial, as this gives the vegan brownies their crinkle top. Set aside.
- Heat the chocolate: Heat the vegan butter until melted and hot in a heat-safe bowl (I do about 45 seconds). Then add in the chocolate chips. Allow the chocolate to sit for a few seconds to start melting. Then add in the cocoa powder as well, and whisk until the chocolate chips have completely melted and the cocoa powder is integrated into the mixture.
- Make the brownie batter: Use a rubber spatula to spoon the chocolate fudge mixture into the dissolved sugar mixture. Whisk until combined. Then add in the flour and gently whisk JUST until the flour is completely incorporated. The brownie batter will feel really thick. That’s okay! Continue whisking just until the flour is incorporated. Add in the chocolate chips, and fold into the brownie batter to evenly distribute.
- Bake: Spread the batter into the pan to the edges. Place the pan into the oven and bake for 28-30 minutes if using a 9×9″ pan, 30-32 minutes if using an 8×8″ pan, or until the toothpick comes out NEARLY clean. It’s okay if the middle is still a bit wiggly. It will solidify more as it rests. If you bake these brownies longer, they will be more cake-y than fudgy.
- Rest: Remove from the oven and let sit for 30 minutes in the pan to cool.
- Slice and serve! Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Notes
Gluten free: You can use gluten-free 1:1 baking flour or oat flour to make these vegan brownies. If using oat flour, please be sure to use the gram measurements (weighted measurements) rather than cups. I use King Arthur Measure for Measure gluten free flour for a general gluten free flour blend. Same baking temperature and time applies!
Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder: Please try not to use cacao powder over Dutch-processed cocoa powder here! The fudgy texture comes from the way the cocoa powder is processed in what is known as “Dutch-process.” For brands, I love either Valrhona or Ghirardelli 100% cocoa Dutch Process cocoa powder!
Storage: I recommend slicing the brownies, then storing them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. This will help them remain fudgy and soft! Alternatively, you can absolutely store them in the fridge (also in an airtight container) for up to 5 days. You can also freeze these vegan brownies for up to 3 months.
Hi!
I was wondering if I could use coconut sugar in place of the granulated sugar?
Thanks!
Hi Katelynn! Yes, you can- it’ll affect the flavor a bit but will still work!
So good and fudgy! I really love these brownies – my only concern is I didn’t see a measurement for sea salt so I did a 1/4 tsp and hoped for the best lol.
Oh I’m so sorry about that! Yes, that’s totally fine! Glad you enjoyed, and thanks for the review 🙂
I made these with Bobs gluten free 1:1 baking flour and they came out incredible. They did not taste gluten free plus the use of Dutch process cocoa powder made them extremely fudgy and chocolatey. Super delicious 10/10 🙂
This is wonderful!! So happy to hear this, that’s my goal!! Enjoy, and thanks for the review 🙂
i’ve baked these 4 times i believe & they always come out wonderful! sometimes i replaced the granulated sugar for about 75g of a stevia granulated sweetener, & each time i’ve used aquafaba & unsweetened apple sauce. when using stevia it didn’t get that signature crinkle top but once using real cane sugar it did! both are scrumptious though!
also i never included the 6oz of chocolate that’s used to melt into the butter.. i’m just lazy lmao but i promise it’s still so delicious! thank you so much , my loved ones n i adore these brownies <3
Oh my goodness I’m so happy to hear it works with the stevia!! That’s awesome!! Thank you so much for this wonderful review 🙂 This is so wonderful! Enjoy!!
They came out better than any other brownie recipe Ive tried before. I used oat milk instead of the aquafaba and coconut oil instead of butter. I also used about a 1/4tsp of salt. The oil needed much more time to heat up for me than listed in order to melt the chocolate, I had to put it on a double boiler after. This was the first recipe to tell me the tip about fully mixing in the sugar and I think that may be the reason none of my brownies have turned out well before. All that being said they took a solid 50 minutes to bake until it wasn’t fully wet batter in the middle. They also came out much thicker, my dish is about 9×9 so I’m not sure what was different.
I made this and it was delicious. I had everything but flax seeds so I skipped it, also skipped the aqua something, and it still came out super fudgy and yummy!!!
The only thing is its a bit too much sugar. maybe next time I’ll add half coconut sugar instead, do you think that’ll work? ty:)
These were really delicious brownies! I doubled the recipe as I wanted to take them into work and no one could tell they’re vegan.
Because I doubled the recipe and baked them in a bigger pan I think it took more like 40 mins for them to be ready.
I also noted that there is salt mentioned in the instructions but no salt in the ingredients and no measurements. For double the recipe I added 1tsp of salt (so 1/2 tsp if you’re making 1 batch). I used soy milk rather than aquafaba and applesauce rather than flaxseed/coffee Definitely found it much easier and quicker to use an electric mixer for every step. I used grams to measure everything (recommend using grams rather than cups for more accurate measurements).
Thanks for the recipe!
I’m not vegan, but I am gluten free and allergic to eggs which makes it REALLY hard to find recipes. I tried this recipe with butter and oat flour I made myself with my blender (I sifted it before using). They came out great! No crinkly top but that might be my fault for not mixing enough. They took a little longer than 30 minutes. Finally, I brownie I can eat!
Would love to try these. Can you sub dates for the sugar?
Oh so I’ve actually tried these with date sugar and it was a bit wonky- the date sugar made the batter really thick and not spreadable, and so the crinkly top didn’t really appear once baked. However, I’ve made these with coconut sugar and maple sugar (NOT maple syrup, but granulated maple sugar) and both maple sugar and coconut sugar work wonderfully!
Excited to try this recipe! Will this work in a muffin tin to make them bite sized?
Hi Sarah! They absolutely will! They’ll definitely bake more quickly, so keep an eye on them- I’d say 10-12 minutes, but watch how they do in the oven with an oven light. Enjoy!
I tried this recipe using the gluten-free option, and it was delicious! You can’t even tell the difference from a classic brownie. 5/5 stars! 🍫
This is so wonderful!! Ah so happy to hear it!! Enjoy and thank you for the review 🙂
I’m looking forward to making your brownies, but I am trying to find vegan chocolate chips with sugar that are is processed with animal bones—in other words, truly vegan. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks in advance.
Hi Marsha! Yes!! Enjoy Life is all vegan 🙂 Pascha is as well!
These brownies were good! I didn’t like the texture of them fresh very much, I could almost taste the flour like it was raw but it wasnt, the tooth pick came out clean. The texture and taste was fine frozen though! How could I make these a little more cakey but still fudgy at the same time?! I used bobs red mill 1 to 1 flour but I did buy measure for measure and haven’t tried that yet.
Thanks!
Hi Payton! Oh I’m so glad you liked them! I think the issue might have been the bob’s- I don’t recommend it with any of my recipes really (which is why I usually call out to use King Arthur measure for measure- it works WONDERFULLY!). If you ever try them again, I recommend using KA if you can!
Can these be frozen?
Yes! I freeze them all of the time 🙂
Made these for my son in college for finals week. They were perfect. I have never been successful with the crinkly top and these came out beautifully!
these brownies are amazing! I’ve tried different homemade recipes and they don’t taste right. but these! man-o-man. so good and rich! this will be my go-to from now on!
I always like to read the reviews before choosing a recipe , I gave it a try , some viewers commented that this might be too chocolaty I didn’t add the chocolate chips . My chocolate was dark chocolate good quality almost zero sugar , my Dutch cocoa was also a very high quality cocoa . I weighed all the ingredients to be precise , once I added the flour it got very thick very fast , I have to watch your video again to see if yours was very thick , I used a narrow longer dish I though this was a lot of dough for the 8×8 dish I didn’t want super thick brownies. I baked them for 28 minutes I might have over baked them by 3 minutes , I am not totally mad both ends edges are very crispy which I like a lot . Next time I might reduce the flour and use 1 1/2 cup . Chocolate taste is spot on , I was afraid it would be too sweet , I guess it depends what kind of chocolate you use . Milk chocolate is very sweet mine only add 5% sugar, the brand is Enjoy Life dark chocolate chips I think it’s 69% cocoa . They are very good nice chocolate treat , what I like I cut them in smaller size which is prefect when you want a sweet treat from the freezer . I freeze all my bake goods and eat them when I need a sweet trea. Thank you it’s a great recipe . I added a ganache over .
These look so yummy! I was wondering if I can use flax egg replacer the same as I would just ground flax seeds.. thanks!
I’m actually not sure because I’ve never used an egg replacer! I’m so sorry!
Hi! Can I use aquafaba from a can that contains salt?
Yes you can! I always do!
These are delicious! My man LOVED them. I liked them. I might have had overly high expectations on the ‘fudgy’ factor and perhaps one of my minor subs changed the texture because mine were definitely were more cake-y, especially around the edges. I didn’t overmix or overbake (only 28 min exactly in an 8×8 pan) but I did sub coconut sugar for the brown sugar (drier) with an added tablespoon of molasses (in attempt to add back in moisture). I also used whole wheat pastry flour instead of all purpose cuz that’s all I had, and I probably should have scaled it back to like 1.5 cups instead. They were definitely ‘shiny’ in the middle, though not with the signature crinkle (because of coconut sugar i’m assuming). All in all a great recipe!
Hi Lindsay!! Oh my gosh, so happy you liked them!! So the dryness definitely came from using the whole wheat pastry flour- you were smart to add back in the moisture with the extra molasses, but the whole wheat will always dry out the brownies more! I would try to use the all purpose next time, and a scale is best to ensure that you’re not measuring too much flour! I hope that helps! Let me know how the next round goes 🙂 and thank you again for trying them!
Hi – I love your recipes! In the brownie, Instead of applesauce, could I use plain yoghurt at all and get the same results? Thanks!
Hi Jasmine! Absolutely! This will still work beautifully. Thanks so much for being here!
Can you use ground flaxseed meal instead of just ground flaxseed?
Hi Kristen! Yes! You absolutely can. 🙂
I wonder if anyone has used molasses sugar (dark) or almond flour??
Hi Annette! I haven’t tried this recipe with Molasses sugar and honestly don’t work with almond flour much if at all, so I couldn’t even predict how that might come out! So sorry!
I want to make these this weekend but can’t find the Dutch processed cocoa here in the Caribbean where I live. I do have Cacao and carob powder. I know you advise against using these but it’s all I have access to at the moment. What will the difference be if I use the cacao or carob powder instead?
Hi Sandy! You can totally use the regular cocoa powder, they just won’t be as fudgy as with the Dutch processed cocoa. 🙂
I love the crinkle top. What exactly is it in this recipe that makes it crinkle?
The high sugar content! I do believe the aquafaba helps it too- but I have tested these with soy milk for those that don’t have chickpeas, and the results are similar- not EXACTLY the same, but very close!