Can you double the recipe in a 9x13-inch pan?

You should be able to double the recipe and make the brownies in a rectangular 9x13-inch pan. It should take 45 to 50 minutes to bake at 325°F. The doneness test should be the same.

3 Ingredient Brownies

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These chewy, rich 3 ingredient brownies are naturally gluten free and are made with just Nutella hazelnut spread, eggs, and almond flour.

These chewy, rich Nutella brownies are naturally gluten free and are truly made with just 3 simple ingredients: Nutella hazelnut spread, eggs, and almond flour.

What makes this recipe special
Recipe Ingredients
How to make 3 ingredient brownies
Expert tips
Ingredient substitutions
FAQs
Storage tips
3 Ingredient Brownies Recipe

What makes this recipe special

These amazingly chewy, chocolate hazelnut brownies are made without any rice flour at all, like our black bean brownies. They're not Paleo since Nutella most certainly has refined sugar and milk, but I don't like to put that kind of pressure on my brownies anyway.

If you're a fan of Nutella, you are going to love these brownies—even if you're not much of a “brownie” person. My son doesn't like anything with deep, rich chocolate flavor, and he's said that these are his go-to brownies. He loves the crazy hazelnut flavor of the spread and the chocolate flavor is distinctly milk chocolate-based.

Keeping this to a true 3-ingredient recipe meant that I had to resist the urge to add chopped, toasted hazelnuts to the brownie batter. But the next time I make them if I have (admittedly spendy) hazelnuts on hand, I'm going to add them. And maybe scatter a few semi-sweet chocolate chips on top.

ingredients for 3 ingredient brownies with Nutella in small bowl, small saucepan, and eggs just on marble surface, with names of ingredients written in black bold type

what's in it

Recipe Ingredients

Nutella: Nutella is the perfect balance of toasted hazelnuts ground with cocoa, sugar, milk, and oil. These brownies get most of their flavor and all of their sweetness from Nutella.
Eggs: Three whole eggs add a lot of structure to these brownies. Beating them well with Nutella helps create the chewy texture and that crackly top.
Almond flour: Blanched finely ground almond flour provides the base for these brownies. Make sure you're using finely ground almond flour with the skins removed. I really Diamond brand almond flour; Wellbee's brand is also really good.

How to make 3 ingredient brownies

Make the batter

First, I like to warm the Nutella slightly until it is more runny than it is right out of the jar. It is much easier to beat well that way.
Using a handheld mixer, beat the Nutella with 3 eggs until it's very well combined. Try to pump the beaters up and down a bit to add as much air as you can into the mixture. You can see that it has some bubbles after mixing.
Add the almond flour, and beat again until well-combined.
The mixture will get very thick and may start to climb up the beaters.

same bowl, with 3 raw eggs added (yellow yolks visible)

same bowl with darker brown mixture of Nutella and eggs mixed together, with some bubbles on top of mixture

Transfer to a pan and bake

Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, nonstick aluminum foil, or heavy-duty aluminum foil that you grease well with cooking oil spray.
The brownie batter will be very sticky, and relatively thick. Use a silicone spatula to scrape it into the prepared pan.
Spread the batter into an even layer in the pan.
Bake at 325°F for about 35 minutes, or until the center of the pan of brownies is firm to the touch if you touch it lightly. The “toothpick test” won't work.
Allow the brownies to cool to room temperature in the pan.
To make slicing them cleanly easier, refrigerate them still in the pan, until more firm.
Lift the brownies out of the pan using the lining. Use a sharp knife to slice into 9 equal squares.

8-inch square metal baking pan lined with foil, with raw dark brown 3 ingredient brownie mixture in single layer in pan

same pan with baked uncut light brown brownies with fissures demonstrating thin crinkled top

My Pro Tips

Expert tips

Beat the eggs well for a crackle top

That glossy crackle on top, like we get in our chewy gluten free brownies, seems to be created when the beaten eggs mix with the sugar during baking to create a thin meringue on top of the brownies.

Perhaps because there are so many eggs in this recipe, and the Nutella spread has enough sugar that we don't need one granule more to make brownies, the shiny crackle on these brownies is strong. In fact, the crackle develops not only the top but also along the sides of the brownies as they bake.

To ensure the best crackle, beat the Nutella and eggs very well. I like using a hand mixer for this task, instead of a stand mixer (or mixing by hand) because it's easier to aerate the mixture with a hand mixer. Try pumping the beaters of the hand mixer a bit as you work the eggs and Nutella for the best results.

Don't try to reduce the sugar

One of the reasons this works as a 3 ingredient recipe is because Nutella has all the sugar you could need, and even the salt that all baked goods need. I tried replacing the Nutella with Jif peanut butter and chocolate spread, which has about 50% less sugar than Nutella. The brownies were much more dense, not chewy, had no crackle top and just didn't taste like brownies.

Chewy, rich brownies in a baking tin lined with baking paper.

substitutions

Ingredient substitutions

There are only three ingredients in this super simple recipe. They all contain potential allergens, though. The news isn't great, but here goes nothing…

Dairy free

There is dairy in Nutella, but there is a dairy-free version of the beloved chocolate hazelnut spread. The brand is Nicciolata and they have a dairy free variety of their hazelnut cocoa spread. Be careful, though, because they have a dairy-containing variety, too.

Nutella itself has a thinner consistency than the Nicciolata spread, though, at room temperature. I think it would work in this recipe, but I'm not entirely sure. It's definitely worth a try.

Egg-free

For every half cup of Nutella and one-third cup of blanched almond flour this recipe calls for one egg. I'm not overly optimistic that you could replace the egg with an egg replacement like a “chia egg,” since the recipe is so simple and does rely quite heavily on eggs.

Nut-free

No, you can't make this recipe nut-free, I'm afraid. Although you can replace the almond flour (see below), I haven't been successful in replacing the Nutella hazelnut spread with anything nut-free.

Almond free

I do think that blanched, finely ground hazelnut flour would work well in place of the almond flour. Please be sure to use finely ground blanched almond flour (or hazelnut flour), like the kind that Honeyville and Nuts.com sell.

You can also make this recipe with an equal amount, by weight, finely ground and sifted oat flour in place of almond flour. You'll still get the crackled top, and although the brownies are less fudgy, they're still chewy and rich. They don't have the depth of flavor from the almond flour, though.

FAQs

Is there something that you can use instead of Nutella?

I've tried making this recipe with Jif chocolate peanut butter, but it didn't work well, most likely because it has 50% less sugar than Nutella. The brownies were more dense, and not sweet enough. It “worked” in that it made a pan of brownies, but they weren't the same.

Should you mix by hand or with an electric mixer?

You will need a handheld mixer to make these brownies. A stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment would also work, but a handheld mixer is best. You will not be able to be beat it well enough by hand.

Can you double the recipe in a 9×13-inch pan?

You should be able to double the recipe and make the brownies in a rectangular 9×13-inch pan. It should take 45 to 50 minutes to bake at 325°F. The doneness test should be the same.

Can you make these brownies with almond meal?

No. This recipe only works with blanched finely ground almond flour, where the almonds have had their skins removed and are ground very fine. Almond meal is made with almonds with their skins intact and it's coarsely ground.

Make ahead/leftovers

Storage tips

These brownies stay fresh at room temperature for at least 3 days, if covered with plastic wrap or sealed in a container with a tight-fitting lid. You can also refrigerate them in the same way for up to a week.

Freezing

For longer storage, you can wrap the brownies in freezer-safe plastic wrap, either cut into bars if you have leftovers, or as an uncut square, for up to 3 months. They don't freeze solid, so you can serve them cold right from the freezer, or allow them to sit at room temperature for a bit before serving.

If you freeze them as an uncut square, allow it to sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes before slicing with a large knife into 9 equal squares.