Learn how to make Flourless Brownies that are gluten free and have NO weird ingredients! These rich, dark, chocolate brownies are so easy to make but they’re a truly decadent dessert.
Flourless Brownies baby! 💕
Can you believe it took me 9 times to get these brownies just right?! But it was oh-so-worth it. These Flourless Brownies are seriously fudgy and oh-so-chocolately, but the best part? They take only minutes to make and are completely gluten free!
If you love fudgy brownies, you’re gonna go crazy for these!
I’m not gonna lie, developing this recipe was hard work. If you follow me on Instagram, you would have seen me share my many, many brownie fails on my Instagram Stories. I never thought making a decent Flourless Brownie would be so challenging.
But it’s all behind me now because we’ve got the best brownie recipe right here. Made with NO weird ingredients, no black beans or avocado, no expensive gluten free products, just plain ‘what-you-already-have-in-the-pantry’ items. Perfect!
When I was working on this recipe, I was determined to come up with an easy Flourless Brownie recipe. At first, I thought I could tweak my Flourless Chocolate Cake recipe, which uses whipped eggs for its deliciously fudgy texture and meringue topping.
But even with a few tweaks, it produced brownies that had a super thick (too thick) meringue topping. So I moved on to tweak my classic Chocolate Brownie recipe that uses real chocolate. But the results were shocking. Using only cocoa powder instead of flour resulted into a very wet, oily brownie that had no substance.
So I switched over to a cocoa-based brownie, like my favourite One Bowl Cocoa Brownies. I experimented with using oil instead of butter, the ratio of eggs, the types of sugars and the amount of cocoa.
And this is the result. A truly rich and fudgy brownie that’s easy to make and even easier to eat.
Here’s why every ingredient is so important:
Butter: I use melted butter in this recipe. I also tried oil but the taste of oil was just too strong and also affected the texture of these Flourless Brownies. If you want an oil-based brownie, you can try my Olive Oil Brownies or my Coconut Oil Brownies.
Caster sugar: We use caster sugar for sweetness and to help make that crinkly top. This brownie needs quite a bit of sugar to keep the right texture and balance out the bitterness of the cocoa. You can use granulated sugar instead of caster sugar if you like. Read more about caster sugar here.
Brown sugar: In addition to sweetness, brown sugar adds extra flavour thanks to the molasses. It also adds moisture which is important when constructing a truly fudgy brownie.
Vanilla extract: Adds extra flavour.
Eggs: I tried this recipe with 2, 3 and 4 eggs. I tried mixing everything together, beating the eggs separately and whipping the egg whites. I found to get the best result, it works well to beat the eggs briefly with a fork before adding to the remaining mixture. It helps break up the yolks and add just a little air into the mix. This is important when you are trying to get that crinkly brownie top. Four eggs was also best for moisture and stability.
Cocoa powder: This brownie uses extra cocoa for stability, flavour and texture. It helps to make up for the lack of flour.
Chocolate chips: I love to throw in some chocolate chips for extra chocolatey goodness since there is no real chocolate in the base of this brownie.
Sea salt: To balance the sweetness.
More Brownie Recipes to try:
- Vegan Brownies
- Chocolate Raspberry Brownies
- M&M Frosted Brownies
- Double Chocolate Oreo Brownies
- Rolo Brownies
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Hungry for more? Join me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter for more amazing recipe ideas.
Let’s Bake
Flourless Brownies
Deliciously rich Flourless Chocolate Brownies.
Ingredients
- 75 grams (1/3 cup) unsalted butter, melted
- 200 grams (1 cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
- 90 grams (1/2 cup) brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs
- 80 grams (1 cup) cocoa powder
- 75 grams (1/2 cup) milk chocolate chips
- Pinch of sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Grease and line an 8-inch square pan with baking or parchment paper, ensuring two sides overhang.
- In a large mixing bowl, add melted butter and sugars and gently whisk together. Mixture will resemble wet sand. Add the vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl, add eggs and whisk using a fork for 30 seconds or so, just to break up the eggs and get a bit of air in them. They should have a few bubbles on top.
- Then add eggs to butter and sugar mix, sift in cocoa powder and stir gently until combined. Add chocolate chips and a pinch of salt. Pour the brownie batter in the prepared tin and place in the oven.
- Bake brownies for approximately 30-35 minutes or until they no longer wobble in the middle. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing. Store the brownies in the fridge for extra fudgy-ness.
randy E thill says
It took me hours to find a recipe to try that even looked like what I wanted. My intention was to make some with 1/4c rice flower and many eggs…as I used to have an old Hershey’s recipe that was fantastic, but I saw yours…made with cocoa (not melted chocolate chips, thank you) and I had to give it a try! They turned out very satisfying and are as much of a texture-fooler as the flourless cookies I always bake. Thanks so much for listing and sharing the recipe!
I do have one question, as it isn’t really clear to me how to determine when the middle doesn’t wobble? by touch or by wriggling the pan a bit? I think I maybe overcooked mine as the edges were a bit crispy.
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Randy, thanks for the kind feedback. I’m really glad you enjoyed the brownies. And great question. I usually check by giving the pan a little jiggle like you suggested. Since brownies are usually left in the pan to cool since they’re so fragile, they can continue to cook around the edges – resulting in dry or crusty edges. One way I’ve tried to prevent that recently is by placing the brownie pan in an ice water bath once baked. It helps to cool the pan quickly and stop the edges from overcooking. I’ve found it works really well if you want to give that a try.
Greg says
Hi Jessica, hope you and all of yours are well.
We made a little alteration to your recipe and it worked out really well.
We had some lemons so instead of the cocoa we put 90 grams of gluten-free flour in the mix and some juice from the lemons. We also made some lemon icing and drizzled it in top.
Hey presto, absolutely lovely lemon slices. Obviously more cake like than brownie but we figured your recipe was so good it couldn’t go wrong. 😊
Thank you for teaching us and take care
Greg. 👍
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Greg, wow! Turning brownies into lemon bars? That’s so clever! I’m so glad it worked out for you.
Iona says
Just made this, it’s an easy recipe and absolutely gorgeous.
Jessica Holmes says
Love hearing that! So glad you enjoyed it!
Kate says
These are delicious! Our family love a brownie and these are good. I made them with dairy free butter for a friend who is both dairy and wheat intolerant. They are sticky and chocolatey and divine 💕. Thank you for another amazing recipe!
Jessica Holmes says
So glad to hear that Kate! Thank you for the lovely feedback.
Greg says
Hi Jessica, I just had to comment again. Couldn’t help myself 😊
I’ve made these 5 times now and they have been absolutely beautiful each time. And so easy to do.
I’ve also recently been advised to avoid lactose so last time I made them I used a dairy free baking block instead of butter, I wasn’t sure how they would turn out but shouldn’t have worried!
The recipe is that good they were perfect.
I just hope I don’t have to give up eggs soon too. Then I would be stumped. 😁
Thank you again for this recipe.
Take care
Greg
Jessica Holmes says
That’s so good to hear Greg! Thanks for the kind feedback. And, just in case you do ever need an egg-free brownie, I’ve got you covered.
Greg says
Hahaha excellent.
Think I’ll try that one next so I’m ready…just got in case.
Thanks Jess 😊
Greg says
These are absolutely amazing!
After recently adopting a gluten free diet this recipe has given me faith in other gluten free recipes 😊
If you were given one to eat without knowing you would swear they were made from flour. Thank you. 😊
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so happy to hear that Greg! Thank you for the kind review!
SA says
I left one tiny piece uncovered overnight and it was AMAZING. Real proper brownie.
Before that, I ate about a 1/3 of the pan an hour to three hours after it was done but was disappointed because it tasted like a chocolate egg. Had a craving for chocolate anyway so just finished it. Kids had the rest.
But with a bit of patience and delayed gratification this is a real 10/10 recipe.
Jessica Holmes says
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Elrike says
I added a bit of caramel extract and we only had 60 gram of cocoa powder so i used a bit of corn floeer and also did not add choc chips but added some coffeee so now i wait
Jessica Holmes says
Hope you enjoy them!
Nicole says
Hi I made these brownies today and they turned into a kind of carmel:(
I made these before and they were delcious. Any ideas on what caused this
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Nicole, hmm not sure. Did you make any changed to the recipe? Perhaps they were just underbaked?
Sasha-lee du Plessis says
Ah yum! Made it, came out perfect! Really NOT one of those recipes you waste your ingredients on!
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! So happy to hear that!
Angie says
I made this recipe for my friend who is a coeliac so this was absolutely perfect! The only tweak I made was I added white and milk chocolates to the recipe! Delicious! 1/2 cup of white choc chips and 1/3 cup of milk! thanks for the great recipe I’ll definitely be making it again so simple and quick. It’s everything a decadent brownie should be – crunchy top and fudge centre.
Jessica Holmes says
So happy to hear that Angie! Love that you added chocolate chips too.
Izzy says
Can you add Baking Powder to this?
Jessica Holmes says
If you like, but it may change the texture and make the brownie more cakey.
Meaghan says
Hey there!
Thinking of making these but was wondering how much baking powder you would add for a double batch. I do love fudgey brownies but the folks I am making them for don’t much so was hoping to make them a bit cakier.
Thanks!
p.s. Have only made your basic chocolate chip cookies and they were the best I ever made!
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Meaghan, this recipe does make quite a fudgy brownie since it has no flour. If you want to make these cakier, you could add 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and bake them for a few extra minutes. But another recipe, like my Big Batch Brownies might be better? So glad you enjoyed my cookie recipe!!
Sharon says
Hi
Can you freeze this once baked?
Jessica Holmes says
Yes you can!
Audrey olsson says
We didn’t have vanilla extract at home
And we didn’t have brown sugar and chocolate but we improvised and it was delicious
Jessica Holmes says
Glad you enjoyed it Audrey!
Marilyn says
Yummmo, made this last night. It’s got a bit crunch and fudge like, we really like it, will definitely make again!!! 😋😋
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! So happy to hear that Marilyn!