Not only are these the fudgiest brownies ever, but these grain-free and dairy-free fudge brownies are entirely date sweetened and have a healthier peanut butter chocolate fudge frosting!
First of all, I just have to say this – if you put these brownies in the fridge, they are like straight up fudge. Seriously. They do not taste grain-free! I took these pictures when the brownies were at room temperature because it was sunny (a rarity around here at this time of the year!) and I was sleepy and wanted to nap. But now I’m kicking myself for not waiting so you could see what they look like refrigerated!
I’ve been working on this recipe since I started grain-free baking about a year and a half ago. But the other day I realized… there’s no fat in there. Why have I never added fat?!
The brownies below are the fat-free version. Or I guess I should say the added-fat free version. If you want to make those, just omit the coconut oil from the recipe. I’m sure these would also work well with only 2 tablespoons of oil! The oil-free version is good and all but why have fat-free good brownies when you could have the best ever fudgy brownies?!
I used coconut oil in these brownies and don’t know if any other fats would work. So go with coconut oil! And I only have access to refined coconut oil (which has absolutely no coconut taste) so if you use unrefined, I don’t know if it’d have a slight coconut taste or not. But even if it did, I bet these would still be delicious!
The most amazing thing about these brownies is that they’re entirely date sweetened! No honey, no coconut sugar, no maple syrup. Just dates!
You whip the batter up in the food processor, meaning that the dates are totally processed to a paste and nobody will have a clue that there are dates in there!.
I don’t normally like recipes with just coconut flour in them, but these are an exception. And I’m afraid that there are no subs for coconut flour here. You have to use coconut flour. It’s expensive but you use so little at a time!
I also used Dutch process cocoa powder, just because that’s all we have over here. When I was in the US this summer and did some baking, I was a little surprised by the difference between Dutch-process and normal or even Hershey’s dark cocoa powder. I definitely recommend getting some of the Dutch-process kind! It just makes baked goods taste more intense and somehow more developed. If that makes any sense.
I’ve also tried these with prunes but I found them a bit gross. You could definitely taste the prunes! Stick with dates. :) I just used normal dates because I’ve never seen Medjool dates around here, so if you want to use Medjool, get out your scale and go by weight.
After posting my healthier Halloween sugar cookies, I asked on Facebook what other Halloween goodies people would like to see healthified. The first answer I got was anything with chocolate and peanut butter – so I jazzed these fudge brownies up with a little peanut butter! It’s in both the batter and the frosting. While you can’t really taste it in the brownies, you can taste it in the frosting, although it’s not super peanut butter-y.
The frosting is the same one I used in my spiderweb cupcakes but I doubled the peanut butter. And the frosting does have a tablespoon of honey in it. I couldn’t make that date sweetened. It just didn’t work.
The frosting is like dark chocolate peanut buttery fudge when refrigerated. When at room temperature, you can see what a mess it is. I didn’t refrigerate my brownies before cutting them, but you should to avoid a mess. And if you don’t want to use peanut butter, you can use any nut butter or maybe even coconut butter (not coconut oil!) And for a nut-free version, I bet SunButter would work just fine!
You can see my pathetic attempt at Halloween-ifying these fudge brownies. At least it was quick, easy, and free of super processed junk! It was just a little white chocolate but you could use anything that’s pipe-able.
If you try these, let me know how they come out! I’d love to hear what you think. :D
Grain-free Fudge Brownies
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 8 brownies
Ingredients
- 80 grams (this is 11 regular, non-Medjool) dates1
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/4 cup natural peanut butter (the kind with no added fat or sugar!)
- 2 tablespoons milk of choice
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup (25 grams) coconut flour
- 1/3 cup (38 grams) Dutch process cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 tablespoons (21 grams) coconut oil
- 1/4 cup (64 grams) natural peanut butter
- 2 1/2 tablespoons (~12 grams) Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon (20 grams) honey
Brownies:
Frosting:
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Prepare a 9" x 5" loaf pan with a piece of parchment paper for easy removal of brownies. If you don't have parchment paper, you can spray the pan with baking spray.
- In the bowl of your food processor fitted with the S-blade, process the dates until it becomes pasty. It'll be spreadable, but not a liquid.
- Add the vanilla, peanut butter, milk and coconut oil and blend until homogeneous.
- Add the egg and pulse just until combined. Do not over mix here!
- Add the remaining ingredients (coconut flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder) and pulse once or twice to get it mostly combined, and then use a plastic spatula and finish mixing it in.
- Bake the brownies for 10 – 12 minutes or just until the top appears set. If you press down into the brownies with your finger, they will be very, very soft.
- Let cool completely before frosting.
- For the frosting, melt the coconut oil, natural peanut butter and cocoa powder in a small pan over low heat. When completely melted and smooth, take the pan off the heat, add the honey and stir until well combined.
- Frost the brownies and place the loaf pan back in the refrigerator to allow the frosting to set (to allow for easier cutting).
- Once the frosting is set, cut the brownies and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Notes
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188 comments on “Grain-free Fudge Brownies (gluten-free, dairy-free)” — Add one!
Holy crap! These brownies are totally awesome, thank you so much for this recipe! I changed a few things around (mostly because I don’t have coconut oil on hand right now) and they still turned out fantastic. Thanks again, I look forward to trying more of your recipes!
I’m so happy that they came out well with your changes! What did you use instead of coconut oil? I’m just interested. :) Thanks so much for the feedback!
I have a serious problem experimenting with recipes for no good reason (often with disastrous results) so I’m not confident this was a legitimate replacement for the coconut oil, but I mashed up some banana and added a little butter instead. It was spur of the moment, but it worked out haha. I also used Medjool dates and may have added blueberries to the frosting haha. Be proud your recipe can stand up to my kitchen shenanigans! ;)
Haha. Mashed bananas and blueberries. Those sound like some slightly odd yet awesome subs. :D I actually tried a variation of these today with quinoa flour. I also tried to convert it for an 8×8 pan because this yields such a small batch. It was awful! Right in the trash they went. So good for you with your funky subs! ;)
Oh! I just saw your other comment. Those are some even more interesting subs! Did they actually taste like brownies? :) It sounds great! Thanks for letting me know about it. So happy that you’re getting some use out of this recipe!
Sooo I may have just made a straight-up banana version of this. Nixed the cocoa powder and instead added two bananas to the batter, twice the coconut flour and two eggs. They are DELICIOUS. Oh god. Just figured I would share my insane experiments with you.
I have these in the oven right now, and just by the way the batter tastes, they are going to be awesome! I’m at the beginning of my paleo/GAPS journey, and haven’t realized the beauty of cooking with dates yet…thanks for a delicious introduction to them!:)
I have to admit that I’m not the most knowledgeable when it comes to baking with dates, either! I definitely need to explore that a little more. :) I hope that brownies came out well! Thanks for the feedback. :)
I tried to use the nutribullet since I dont have a food processor… bad idea lol. It kind of shrank my batter so it made about half of the amount that it should have been but of course it was still delicious! I used raw cacao instead of cocoa and almond butter instead of peanut butter. I also blended in some ghee into the frosting to make it more buttery… OMG. Its kind of the most delicious thing ever. Cant wait to make a larger batter though! (Although more of these could be dangerous) lol. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m so happy that they came out well for you, despite the small batch issue! Almond butter and raw cacao sound like great changes that I definitely want to try. :) Thanks a ton for your feedback and good luck on the next batch!
Made with peanut butter, flourless, fudgy and date-sweetened?! These sound like brownie perfection and I like that you used coconut oil in them, too. Why can you only find refined, though? Organic groceries or even smaller stores tend to carry unrefined in my experience.
Not related to the recipe but I got excited when I read you’re living in Berlin. Germany still feels like blogger no-man’s land at times or at least when it comes to healthy food/ healthy living blogs written in English. So hi from another blogger living in Germany [and hoping to move to Berlin one day]. (:
Oh no. So sorry I missed this comment! I recently found unrefined coconut oil at LPG. Before that, I couldn’t find it at Alnatura, “reform houses” or anywhere else. I gave up looking after a while (I’ve been here for 5 years) so it could be that it showed up a while back. A few years ago, I couldn’t even really find it online and it was unclear if it was coconut oil or coconut butter. So now I’ve got a jar of unrefined! But I use it sparingly. I go through a lot of coconut oil in recipe testing (most of it ends up in the trash) and so I much prefer my 69 cent 250 gram chunks over the 8 euro / 500 gram jars. Do you know where to get it cheaper? :) And neat that you’re also living in Germany! I hope to move away from Berlin one day. Soon. :D Haha. Perhaps we could trade places? ;) And healthy food bloggers based in Germany and who write in English? Hmm. I just checked out your blog so now I know there’s a second person who fits this description. Are there any others? Sorry again for the slow reply!
These are my actual fav brownies to make EVER!! For the issue below about the mixture being super thick, all you need to do is a basic cooking trick and use the back of a damp spoon to smooth the mixture down into the lined pan. The tiny bit of extra liquid doesn’t affect the baking at all. & for those who have the nasty dry dates, just pop them in a tiny bit of hot water to soak for ten mins before hand. Thank you for the best recipe ever!
Wow! Thanks so much for your tips. :) I didn’t even know that nasty dry dates were a thing! I guess it makes sense (since she was referring to a powder). I’m so happy to hear that you like the brownies so much. Thanks a ton for your feedback and the rating. :)
I am about to make these and I think I got the wrong kind of dates. I got chopped ones that have a dusting on them. Will these work? NEVER used dates before so I have no idea and don’t want to waste the other ingredients. Thanks in advance!
So sorry for the slow reply! I’m on vacation and didn’t have access to the comments until now. :( I’ve never seen dates like that (with a dusting) but I’m assuming that they’ll work! Good luck if you do try. :)
No worries! I ended up finding regular dates and those actually blended up…the other ones I had didn’t. Not sure if I did something wrong, they did turn out pretty dry and its hard to swallow them without something to drink! I am definitely making them again though to make sure I measured everything correctly. Regardless of the dryness they were still delish :) Thank you
Oh no! I’m sorry they came out dry. I’m not really sure what could have happened to make them dry because they’re awfully fudgy. I hope they come out better next time! :)
I’m not sure what I did wrong. My dough was VERY thick and didn’t even spread out to fill the pan. It was as though there wasn’t enough liquid in the recipe. Has anyone else had this problem? I followed the recipe with the exception of subbing almond butter and and Medjool dates — I only used 5.
The batter is really, really thick… almost like fudge. Did it bake up properly, though? I don’t think your changes would have caused any problems (as long as you went with 80 grams of dates) so I’m stumped as to what it could have been. I hope they came out! Sorry I couldn’t be more of a help. :(
hi there! i’m interested in making these but its hard to get my hands on the dates near where i lived. is there other alternatives to substitute those? *fingers crossed*
Prunes are the only thing I can think of! I have tried these with prunes but they just didn’t taste as good (but then again, I don’t like prunes ;)) I definitely recommend ordering some dates online! They’re what’s so special about this recipe. If you don’t have dates, you could make any grain-free brownie recipe and use coconut sugar or whatever sweetener you like. :) Good luck!
Hey Erin!
Thanks for the recipe! You inspired me to try this out and the brownies turned out great! I skipped the icing but they were still sooooo good! I even added a bit of protein powder to make them more nutritious and here’s the result: http://thewhitegiftbag.wordpress.com/2014/03/02/flourless-protein-brownies-engl/
You have a new fan :)
x
Christina
Hi, Christina! I’m so happy that you liked the brownies. :) And you added protein powder?! Awesome! I’ll have to go check out your recipe. Thanks so much for the feedback and the rating!
Made these twice now, they are soooooooooo good!
So happy that you liked them, Jen! Thanks a ton for the feedback and rating. :)
I’ll preface this with the fact that I almost never write reviews or comments on recipes. Also, that I have only ever eaten dates in date squares and didn’t care for them but recently thought I should give them another shot. Once I bought a package, I got worried that I’d break my blender/food processor and never did anything with them. Tonight I decided to give it a shot, Googled, and found this recipe. These brownies are INCREDIBLE! I didn’t make the frosting but the brownies are so wonderful on their own that they don’t need anything extra (but I’m sure it’d be a great bonus). I’ll definitely be trying some more of your recipes!
Hi, Ann! I’m so happy that you enjoyed the brownies. :) I also don’t like dates. To be honest, they remind me of roaches and that really creeps me out. ;) So I was shocked when these came out the way they did. Thanks a ton for the feedback and I hope that you’ll enjoy the other recipes!
The brownies are to die for! Made it now 2 nights in a row and in the morning there’s nothing left! My son is a keen cyclist and loves it as it is low GI and low everything else!
Now I’ve discovered your blog, I’ll be baking more of your recipes.
Thank you form us in Sunny (hot!) South Africa!
I’m so happy that you and your son liked the brownies! I hope that you’ll enjoy the other recipes, too. :) Thanks so much for the rating – I love feedback! And hello to you from very cold Berlin. ;)
Yummy, the look so delicious! I was wondering if you knew how many calories this recipe (or just one brownie) holds? Just roughly?
I ask because although I’m on a quest to eat healthier versions of everything but I’m also trying to lose weight so it would be nice to know if this is really high in calories:) Greetings from Iceland;)
Hæ, Amanda! :) I’m geeking out right now that an Icelandic person (although maybe you just live there and aren’t Icelandic?) left a comment on my blog. Iceland is my favorite country and I even learned your super complicated language for one semester in college! Anyway, I don’t have the nutritional info but if you copy and paste it into this neat recipe analyzer, it’ll tell you everything. I hope that helps! :)
Hello
I came across your site and this recipe and made them this morning, they turned out amazing, thank you.
I made them with regular baking cocoa, would they taste richer with the dutch process cocoa? Im new to baking and haven’t used it before. Whats the main differences in the end result?
Thanks
So sorry for the slow reply! I’m so happy that the brownies came out well for you. The main difference in the end result is that the brownies would taste darker and in my opinion, more chocolate-y. If you can’t find Dutch Process or it’s too expensive, get Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa Powder. It should be available everywhere. I hope you’ll be able to find that! Thanks a bunch for your feedback and the rating. :)
These are FANTASTIC, as everything else I have made from your site! Thanks for all of the wonderful recipes!
Yay! So happy that you liked the brownies and all the other recipes, Jen! Thanks a bunch for letting me know and for the feedback and the rating. :)
Thanks for this recipe Erin, these brownies look absolutely delicious! Totally baking them this week. Can’t wait!
I hope you’ll enjoy them, Marie! Let me know how they come out. :)
They were DELICIOUS, this recipe is a total winner!! Do you think I could double the ingredients and use a regular brownies pan (the square one) next time? The batch I made was gone way too quickly!
I’d love to make these in an 8″x8″ pan! When you say loaf pan, are you baking them in a pan like you use for banana bread?
Yes, that type of pan! A 9″x5″ loaf pan is what I used. You can double the recipe and put it in an 8″x8″ but you’ll need to cook them for a few minutes longer. I’m afraid I don’t know exactly how much longer, though! Let us know if you try it out and good luck. :)
Yay! So happy that you liked them! Thanks again for sharing on FB. :) I think doubling and using an 8×8 or 9×9 would be fine. The area of a 9×5 loaf pan is 45 so if you use a 9×9, the area would be 81, which is almost double. So your doubled brownies will be a tiny bit thicker. Sounds good to me! :) Thanks a bunch for the feedback and the rating!
Why not Medjool specifically?
They’re fine – just make sure you go by weight since Medjool are much bigger than the regular ones I used. Good luck! :)
These look SO GOOD. I am so happy they are date sweetened as well as GF and DF because I was just told I have to stay away from all sugar (except fruit sugar). I’ve been trying to find date or coconut sweetened brownies and so glad I found your recipe! Can’t wait to try. Also, I’ve included this in my round-up of favorite recipe pins on my “Friday Favorites” post. Thank you!
Thanks, Alexandra! I hope you’ll enjoy the brownies once you make them. :) And coconut sweetened brownies?! Mmm! I think you gave me a new goal. :) Thanks for including me in your round-up and good luck with the sugar-free baking!
We made these today, they are absolutely FANTASTIC! I have been so disappointed in gluten free desserts, but not any more. Thank you from the bottom of my chocolate loving heart for this recipe. Now to start looking at some of your others, and trying them out to! So happy I found this site.
It’s great that you liked the brownies! I’m so happy that you found the site, too. I don’t have to eat gluten-free (and I only bake GF about half the time) so when you see me post a GF recipe, you can trust that it’ll be super good. ;) Thanks so much for the feedback! I hope you’ll enjoy the other recipes as much. :)
That’s even better, Erin. I am only temporarily GF and my family isn’t at all, so I am looking forward even more to trying your other recipes. Thank you!
That’s great! I hope that your GF time won’t be so difficult. Good luck with it! :)
Can I omit the peanut butter or is it not really that noticeable? I’m not allergic to nuts just don’t really care for the taste. Thanks
Sorry for the slow reply, Deb! I wouldn’t omit it because it does add some fat to the brownies, which helps make them gooey. If there is a type of nut that you do like, you could use that nut butter. Or maybe coconut butter (not oil!) would work. The peanut butter flavor isn’t super strong in the brownies (most of the peanut butter flavor comes from the frosting) but if you really dislike peanut butter, I don’t know if I’d recommend making these.