A Vegan Brownie Recipe That’s Gluten-free Too!

Jump to Recipe • Print Recipe

I’ve been trying a lot of different vegan brownie recipes lately and one I found on Oh She Glows was the first one I really liked. I decided to give it a few tweaks and the result is this rich and decadent brownie with just a hint of almond crunch. Don’t they look pretty 🙂

Let’s get started!

As usual the first step is to preheat your oven to 350F and prepare your pan. You can use either a 9in x 9in pan, or an 8in x 8in pan for thicker brownies. Spray the pan with a non-stick spray and use a pastry brush to brush it around the bottom and sides (you could use a light coating of oil if you don’t have any spray). Cut out a piece of parchment paper the same size as the pan and place inside. Spray the parchment with non-stick spray and spread it around as well.

Next we’ll prep the almonds. Place 1 cup of whole almonds into a food processor and pulse about 10 times to get the almonds finely ground. You don’t want to run the food processor for too long at any given time because the nuts could start to turn into a paste, so keep the pulses short, about 5-10 seconds each.

Put the almonds into a large mixing bowl and set aside. Next collect all of your dry ingredients and measure/weight them out. I like to use Bob’s Red Mill Brown Rice Flour and Arrowroot Flour, but any brand should do. Make sure you use Natural cocoa (not dutch-processed).

Sift all the dry ingredients into the bowl with the almonds and whisk well to evenly combine everything. I usually use a wire mesh sieve to do all my sifting.

Now we can move on to the wet ingredients. Mix the ground flaxseed
with the water in a small bowl and set aside.

Place the Earth balance into a microwave safe bowl and microwave on half power for about 30 seconds. Give it a stir then add the chocolate chips. Continue to microwave at half power for 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until the chocolate is completely melted. Using half power for short periods of time ensures that the chocolate won’t burn and the earth balance won’t start to sputter all over the place.

Once the Chocolate/earth balance mixture is ready stir in the sugar followed by the rice milk, vanilla and flax/water mixture. You are now ready to mix the dry and the wet together.

Pour the wet mixture into the bowl with the dry stirring well to combine. You can start with a whisk but as the batter gets thick you’ll need a spatula to finish it. The batter will be VERY thick as show below. At the very end of mixing you can fold in the optional chocolate chips.

Pour (more like scoop) the batter into your prepared pan and smooth with a spatula. You may have to wet your hands and dive in to press the batter to all the edges and get it nice and even.

Bake at 350F for about 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for at least 2 hours (if you can let them sit overnight that’s even better) before cutting. Cut into 3inch x 2.25 inch rectangles for a total of 12 brownies.

You can leave these in an airtight container at room temperature for a couple of days, otherwise stick them in the fridge. Since they have no eggs or dairy they last a while….that’s if you don’t eat them all by day 2 :O)

Print

Almond Vegan Brownies Recipe, Gluten-free Too!

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Servings 12

Author Jennifer Rao - Around the World in 80 Cakes

Ingredients

• 1 cup (5.4 oz) whole almonds
• 3/4 cup (4 oz) brown rice flour (dip & sweep method)
• 2 Tbsp arrowroot
• 1/4 cup (0.9 oz) natural cocoa powder
• 1/2 teas salt
• 1/4 teas baking soda
• 1 Tbsp + 1.5 teas ground flaxseed
• 3 Tbsp water
• 6 Tbsp (3 oz) vegan butter (I use Earth Balance)
• 3/4 cup (4.5 oz) vegan chocolate chips
• 1 cup (7.25 oz) sugar
• 1/4 cup (2 oz) rice milk (or other non-dairy milk)
• 1 teas pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup (1.5 oz) vegan chocolate chips (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease and line a 9in x 9in pan with parchment paper (you could use an 8in x 8in pan as well, but the brownies will be thicker).
2. Pulse the almonds in a food processor for 5-10 seconds intervals. About 10 pulses should get the almonds finely ground. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
3. Sift the flour, arrowroot, cocoa, salt and baking soda into the same mixing bowl as the almonds. Whisk well to combine, set aside.
4. In a small bowl combine the flax and water, set aside.
5. Place the vegan butter in a microwave safe container and microwave at half power for 30 seconds (you can also melt the butter on the stove if you don't have a microwave). Add the 3/4 cup chocolate chips and continue to microwave at half power for 30 second intervals, stirring in between each, until the chocolate is completely melted.
6. Stir the sugar into the melted chocolate mixture, followed by the rice milk, vanilla and flax. Whisk well to combine.
7. Pour the chocolate mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix well to combine. The batter will be very thick.
8. Fold in the optional chocolate chips and then spoon into the prepared pan. Use a spatula to spread evenly, you can also wet your hands and press the batter into the pan to smooth it out.
9. Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out somewhat clean.
10. Let cool for at least 2 hours before cutting.