Healthy Chocolate Brownie

Let me be straightforward — in the past I used to eye “Healthy Chocolate Brownie” with disbelief. All the recipes I
attempted ended up either too cakey and dry or had a very faint banana flavour no matter how much
cocoa I added. It wasn’t until I had carried out a good many unsuccessful attempts (and had a kitchen
that smelled of burnt chocolate more than once) that I found one that actually fulfils a genuine brownie
craving.
Here is the recipe; it has no odd aftertaste and doesn’t have a dry, crumbly texture—just a rich and
fudgy brownie which happens to omit both refined sugar and white flour. If you’re looking for a healthy
chocolate brownie recipe that doesn’t seem like a compromise, then try this one.
You’ll only need a single bowl, take up around 10 minutes of your time, and honestly, the majority of
these ingredients are most likely already in your kitchen.

Why This One Actually Works (When Others Don’t)

It is there that the majority of so-called healthy brownie recipes make a mistake—they reduce the
amount of fat and sugar but never substitute them with an equivalent ingredient. As a result, you end
up with a hole-shaped thing in the place of the original texture.
Instead I use ripe bananas or unsweetened applesauce to provide moisture, almond flour (or oat flour,
whichever happens to be available) to give the cake its soft texture, and honey or maple syrup in place
of white sugar. It’s not complicated, but it works since each ingredient is doing its part. You end up with
a brownie that contains less refined sugar and is more naturally suitable for a gluten-free diet, without it
having the flavour of a science experiment.

Healthy Chocolate Brownies (Fudgy, No Refined Sugar)

Fudgy healthy chocolate brownies made with almond flour, banana, and honey — no refined sugar, ready in 30 minutes, gluten-free friendly

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Servings: 2

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 1 cup almond flour or oat flour for a nut-free option
• ● 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• ● 1/2 cup mashed ripe banana or unsweetened applesauce
• ● 1/3 cup honey or maple syrup
• ● 1/4 cup melted coconut oil or nut butter
• ● 2 large eggs or flax eggs for a vegan version
• ● 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ● 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• ● Pinch of salt
• ● 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips 70% cocoa or higher
• There’s not a single unnecessary element here — the cocoa provides the main contribution when it
• comes to flavour the banana or the applesauce is what prevents these from becoming hockey pucks,
• and the chocolate chips are a must — those small soft spots are in fact about half the reason why
• people ask for more.

Method

 

How to Make Healthy Chocolate Brownies

Step 1

1. Put the oven on 350°F (175°C) and place parchment paper into an 8×8-inch pan. Don’t omit the
2. parchment—believe me, cleaning up afterwards is annoying enough already.

Step 2

1. Start by whisking the wet ingredients. Mix the mashed banana (or applesauce), the honey, the
2. melted coconut oil, the eggs, and the vanilla together in a single bowl until the mixture becomes
3. smooth and shiny.

Step 3

1. Add the dry ingredients, which are almond flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Mix them
2. in until they are just combined. This is the only point at which I would advise you to stop stirring
3. when the mixture looks even; overmixing is what causes brownies to become dense and tough.

Step 4

1. Add the chocolate chips, setting aside a small amount to sprinkle on top before baking. It’s just
2. for appearance, but it does make a difference.

Step 5

1. Pour it into the pan and use a spatula to roughly level the surface — it doesn’t have to be perfect.

Step 6

1. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. About when the 20 minutes have been reached, begin checking the
2. cake with a toothpick — you should see a few moist crumbs on it, not wet batter, but it should not
3. be clean either.

Step 7

1. Allow them to cool in the pan before cutting. Although it’s tempting to cut them straight away,
2. brownies continue to set as they cool, and if you cut them too early you’ll end up with a crumbly
3. mess rather than neat squares.

A Few Things I Learned the Hard Way

1. ● Take them out when they are slightly underdone because it seems wrong to me, but that is
2. precisely what ensures that they remain fudgy rather than cakey.
3. ● The more speckled and browner your banana appears, the better it is – avoid using one that is
4. only just ripe since it won’t sweeten the mixture properly.
5. ● If you want to wait, cool the pan for 20 minutes before making the cuts; this will give you much
6. cleaner slices and result in squares that have a bakery-style texture rather than a crumbly one.
7. ● If you’d like it a bit more indulgent, add a further egg yolk or an extra spoonful of nut butter. It’s a
8. minor alteration, but the difference is noticeable.
9. Easy Substitutions
10. This recipe is flexible, which makes it easy to adapt to different diets:
11. ● Vegan: Use flax eggs instead of eggs. Mix 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed with 3 tablespoons
12. water for each egg.
13. ● Nut-free: Instead of using almond flour, use oat flour, and rather than using nut butter, use
14. sunflower seed butter.
15. ● Lower sugar: Reduce the amount of honey to one quarter of a cup and add a few drops of liquid
16. stevia to even out the sweetness.
17. ● Extra protein: Stir in a scoop of unflavoured or chocolate protein powder and add 1 to 2
18. tablespoons of milk so that the batter remains moist.

Notes

Pull the brownies out when they still look slightly underdone — they firm up as they cool. Overbaking is the #1 reason healthy brownies turn out dry.