These healthy brownies use healthier fats and wholesome whole wheat flour, while still delivering the delicious taste and texture of a traditional brownie.
Delicious yet good for you!
Healthy Brownies
When I started writing a recipe for healthy brownies, I decided to take a somewhat conservative approach. I wanted the brownie to taste as close as possible to a traditional brownie, but with added health benefits. This required a couple of changes to the standard brownie recipe:
- Changing the fats to a more healthy kind by exchanging butter for olive oil.
- Using whole wheat flour instead of standard flour.
Other recipes for healthy brownies that I’ve looked at seem to have many different ideas of what constitutes a healthy brownie. For some, it’s whole wheat flour. Others like to add mashed up fruits and vegetables, such as avocado, applesauce, or bananas. Some attempt to completely eliminate sugar or butter. And then there are recipes for healthy brownies that are written to accommodate sensitivities such as gluten or lactose.
In terms of flavor and texture, other healthy brownie recipes claim to measure up to a traditional brownie, but in many cases that just isn’t the truth. Fruits and vegetables can add different flavor notes that aren’t in your standard brownie, and removing too much fat or sugar changes the texture of the brownies completely. So, I’ve done my best to deliver the brownie flavor and texture that you expect, while giving you a little more peace of mind about its health impact.
And how do these healthy brownies taste? Other than being a little chewier than the average brownie (thanks to the oil and to the whole wheat flour, both of which increase chewiness), you’d hardly know the difference! Ten people taste tested these, and the most common comment was, “If you hadn’t told me, I’d never have known they were healthy!”
If you’re looking for more healthy brownies, you should also try this recipe for Applesauce Brownies. They’re super soft and work great as a quick snack!
(And if you’d like a traditional brownie, I suggest you try this Easy Brownie Recipe or this Chocolate Brownie Recipe. For the ultimate in brownie indulgence, try my Ultimate Deep Dish Brownies!)
Healthy Brownies
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil you may substitute another vegetable oil
- 2 TB water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder plus 2 TB unsweetened
- 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 2 large eggs
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 325 and prepare an 8 inch square pan by lining it with parchment or aluminum foil.
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In a large bowl, combine the oil, water, and vanilla extract. Beat together with a whisk or fork until combined.
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Add the sugar, salt, cocoa powder, flour, and eggs. Stir until just combined.
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Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth out evenly. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with moist crumbs but no wet batter on it. Set pan on a rack to cool.
CakeSpy
Love the idea of whole wheat flour in a brownie. Nice and nutty – a little virtuous, but not TOO virtuous 🙂
Katie
It turned out well, even though I’ve always been suspicious of “healthy” brownies! In fact, in my original draft for this post, I wrote that I didn’t want to make a brownie that tasted like rot. 🙂 It didn’t, and people really liked it. Thanks for stopping by!
debbie
I am a little confused with the quantity of flour as there seems to be a mistake…. 1/4 plus 2TB cup whole wheat flour…..i am presuming that it should read 1/4 cup plus 3TB whole wheat flour…..guess i will find out when i make these in a few minutes.
Katie
Hi Debbie! I’m so sorry for the typo. It is indeed 1/4 cup plus 2 TB of whole wheat flour. I’ve fixed it just now. If you like healthy recipes, you should check out my Applesauce Brownies, too. They have only 2 tablespoons of butter- the rest is replaced with applesauce.
If you get a chance, do let me know how they turned out. I’m always interested in feedback!
Milena
OMG I love you for this recipe. Such good brownies! I’ve been looking for a healthy (and cheap) brownie recipe and this is it! Certainly going to my book <3
RivBaker
I’ve made these a bunch of times and it is always a hit and so very popular.
A couple notes:
I have found it needs about 30 minutes of baking. As well it’s a good habit to sift the cocoa powder to remove clumps. And the easiest way for me to make it was by mixing the dry ingredients in a bowl before adding to the wet less mixing time and less clumps to sort through making for a better brownie.
Katie
Great tips! I wrote the recipe with a variation of the “dump and stir” method to keep it simple, but mixing or whisking the dry ingredients together is a favorite technique of mine- one that I’ve used in quite a few recipes. It’s a great way to make this recipe even more perfect. 🙂 Oven times tend to vary by as much as ten minutes depending on calibration, so it’s always best to check for doneness with a toothpick or cake tester.