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These super fudgy almond flour brownies are made with plenty of chopped chocolate, finely ground almond flour and a touch of coconut flour for structure, and no refined sugars.
My take
Nicole's Recipe Notes
These brownies are dark, delicious, and for chocolate-lovers only! Dense and rich, they're also really satisfying after eating just one bar.
They're a treat, and not exactly “health” food. But the sugars in them are unrefined coconut sugar and honey, which both have some nutrients. Plus, the recipe calls for less sugar than many other brownie recipes.
It's also a really adaptable recipe. You can replace the coconut sugar with light brown sugar, too, and use whatever cocoa powder you like. If you don't want to use coconut oil or butter is handy, use that instead.
Key ingredients
- Chopped chocolate – I use a combination of unsweetened chocolate and a Paleo-friendly dark chocolate with some unrefined sweetener. “Dark chocolate” is the term used to describe chocolate that has cocoa but no milk solids. If you don't care whether these brownies are strictly Paleo, you can use whatever chocolate you like here.
- Virgin coconut oil – the type of coconut oil that is solid at cool room temperature. To avoid any coconut flavor, use a “triple-filtered” variety, which removes all traces of coconut flavor—or replace with unsalted butter.
- Coconut sugar – adds a lot of sweetness and some depth of flavor. It's coarse, but we dissolve it in the warm melted chocolate and coconut oil first.
- Honey – adds liquid sweetness and some flavor.
- Eggs – add rise, structure, and help balance the coconut flour, which absorbs a lot of moisture
- Almond Flour – must be finely-ground almond flour that has been “blanched,” which just means that the skins of the almonds have been removed. I like Wellbee's brand, Diamond brand, or Nuts.com. Almond meal is too gritty to combine properly and won't work.
- Coconut Flour – One tablespoon adds a lot of stability without adding any flavor.
- Salt – balances the sweetness and brings out the flavor of these brownies.
- Baking Soda – neutralizes the acidity of the honey and cocoa powder, if you aren't using Dutched cocoa powder.
- Cocoa powder – adds lots of chocolate flavor, especially when mixed with coconut oil.
How to make almond flour brownies
These brownies are made similarly to how we make our chewy gluten free brownies recipe.
Melt chocolate, add sugar, prep eggs
Melt chopped chocolate and the virgin coconut oil, then whisk in the coconut sugar and honey so that it begins to dissolve. Place the eggs in a large separate mixing bowl.
Beat eggs & combine wet ingredients
Beat the eggs very well, add the melted chocolate mixture slowly, and beat everything together to combine fully.
Add the dry ingredients
Add the cocoa powder, then the almond flour, baking powder, salt and coconut flour, and mix until combined.
Bake the brownies, then slice & serve
Transfer the thick, sticky brownie batter to a lined square baking pan, and spread it into an even layer. Bake the brownies just until they're fully baked in the center. Let them cool, chill, slice and serve.
Ingredient substitutions
Egg free
It would be difficult to make these brownies without eggs, since there are 3 in a relatively small pan of brownies. You can try 3 “flax eggs,” or a combination of flax eggs and Bob's Red Mill egg replacer.
Almond flour
Try using finely ground cashew flour or finely ground hazelnut flour in its place.
Nut free
In place of any sort of nut flour, try one of the following recipes:
- Flourless brownies if you don't want to find any alternative flour.
- Oat flour brownies for brownies with alternative to almond flour.
- Gluten free brownies a classic brownie made with an all purpose gluten free flour blend.
Coconut free
You can try replacing coconut flour with more almond flour, but the brownies will be more fragile. If you'd like to replace the coconut sugar you can try using date sugar or light brown sugar.
For the coconut oil, you can try using Spectrum brand nonhydrogenated shortening or unsalted butter.
Expert tips
Melt the coconut sugar
Granulated coconut sugar is much grainier than refined sugars, and it can make these brownies a bit grainy. We avoid this problem by melting the coconut sugar in the liquid chocolate and coconut oil while they're still warm. The smoothest dough makes for the most gorgeous brownies.
Watch your oven temperature
Be careful about a too-hot oven. Almond flour tends to burn at higher temps, and you want these to stay fudgy, soft and tender. Most ovens run hot, so be careful that yours doesn't go above 325°F/163°C by using a standalone oven thermometer.
Don't omit the bit of coconut flour
And I know it's only a tablespoon of coconut flour, but it's worth buying some to use in this recipe. I've also made the recipe without it, and they just don't have the same texture. I keep it in the refrigerator, and it takes me forever to make it through a 1 pound bag.
Use the right almond flour
Finely ground almond flour that has had its skins removed (blanched) is the only sort of almond flour that will work in this recipe. Almond meal is coarsely-ground almonds that haven't had their brown skins removed. It won't work in recipes like this, as it won't combine properly with the other ingredients and is gritty.
Almond Flour Brownies Recipe
Equipment
- Handheld mixer
Ingredients
- 5 ounces dark chocolate, chopped (I like to use a mix of unsweetened chocolate and dark chocolate, for a richer, less sweet brownie)
- 6 tablespoons (84 g) virgin coconut oil
- ¾ cup (120 g) coconut sugar
- ¼ cup (84 g) honey
- 3 (150 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs, at room temperature
- ¾ cup (60 g) unsweetened cocoa powder, (either natural or Dutch-processed)
- ½ cup (56 g) blanched finely ground almond flour
- 1 tablespoon (8 g) coconut flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan, and then line it with overhung sheets of crisscrossed unbleached parchment paper. Set the pan aside.
- Place the chocolate and coconut oil in a small, heat-safe bowl and then place the bowl over a small pan of simmering (not boiling) water, taking care that the bowl doesn’t touch the simmering water.
- Melt the chocolate and coconut oil, stirring occasionally, until smooth.
- Remove the bowl from the heat, and add the coconut sugar and honey to the mixture.
- Whisk to help the coconut sugar to dissolve in the warm mixture, and to integrate the honey.
- Alternatively, the oil and chocolate can be melted in the microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring in between until melted and smooth before adding the coconut sugar.
- In a large bowl, place the eggs, and whisk or mix until well-beaten and combined.
- Add the melted chocolate, oil, and sugars to the bowl slowly, whisking constantly.
- Add the cocoa powder and whisk until the cocoa powder has been absorbed. Using a handheld mixer, beat until very well-combined.
- Add the almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, and salt, and mix with a silicone spatula or spoon until just combined. The batter will be thick and sticky.
- Transfer the brownie batter to the prepared pan and, using an offset or silicone spatula, spread into an even layer. It helps to moisten the tool you are using to smooth the top a bit to prevent it from sticking.
- Place the pan in the center of the preheated oven. Bake just until the brownies are no longer wet in the center, about 25 minutes. The brownies will not appear wet and as shiny in the middle, and a toothpick inserted there will come out with only a few moist crumbs, but not wet.
- Remove the brownies from the oven and allow them to cool in the pan at room temperature until the pan is no longer hot to the touch.
- For clean lines when you slice the brownies, place the brownies, still in the pan, in the refrigerator to chill for about an hour before slicing them.
- When you’re ready to slice the brownies, remove them from the pan and peel away the foil. Slice the brownies into 9 or 12 equal rectangles or squares.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
FAQs
You can store these brownies, once sliced at room temperature for up to 3 days as long as they're covered. You can also place them in a sealed container in the refrigerator, since they're moist enough to handle the drying effect the refrigerator tends to have.
Yes! Wrapped tightly in freezer-safe wrap or in a sealed freezer-safe container, they freeze very well for longer storage. They won't even freeze solid, so you don't even really need to defrost them very much before they're ready to enjoy again.
Yes! I have made these brownies with dry mix-ins like chocolate chips and nuts. I wouldn't mix in more than 4 ounces of either one, and reach for soft raw nut pieces like almonds or pecans over walnuts, which tend to be a bit too hard in brownies.
Absolutely! You can replace the coconut sugar with an equal amount, by weight, of brown sugar.
Wonder of cashew flour/meal would work here in place of almond flour.
My Blender also started to smell like it was Burning Up! Will use food processor on next go-round! Batter was VERY messy to deal with, using my “normal-person/non-professional chef” blender. Also, I DO believe this is an indulgence – as the overall cost of these ingredients is pretty pricey – But WELL worth it for the taste/texture result! THANKS NICOLE!
Sometimes my regular blender (which I did use to make this successfully one time, and with a highspeed blender another) and my food processor both will start to strain under a difficult task, but the motor is just overheated, not broken. I let it sit for a while to cool down, and then use it again. But you can try it in the food processor if you like.Yes, Paleo baking ingredients are costly. No way around that!
Oh Wow!! I just baked these tonight and they are incredible…soooo fudgy and chocolatey!! I used half shortening/half coconut oil and I’m glad I had my powerful Vitamix to blend it. I use it to make my peanut butter (which makes an awful sound), but this batter really put it to work…definitely necessary for a smooth texture. I even calculated the calories, weighed them after baking, and am able to figure out how many calories each piece is that I cut….feels so indulgent without all the guilt!! Weighing most of the ingredients makes things so much simpler – thank you Nicole :)
Tell everyone you know that weighing makes things easier, Kristen! So much easier indeed. :)
Is it possible to use all almond flour and omit the coconut flour? I currently don’t have that on hand :-(.
As I explain in the post, Debbie, it doesn’t have the same structure when you do that, but it’s up to you!
I was so excited about these that I didn’t read all the way to the bottom! Sorry for the redundancy :-). I will go forth in search of coconut flour.
Can I use almond butter in place of the almond flour and coconut oil? My body seems to have some difficulty digesting almond flour.
No, I don’t imagine you can, Kathryn.
I think this broke my blender…
It was too thick for my Bosch too. I thought I blew my motor. Does yours have a reset button anywhere on it? Luckily that’s all mine needed, but I won’t try these in it again.
How about maple syrup or molasses in place of honey for low FODMAP? And if coconut sugar is indeed mostly fructose as someone mentioned, I will have to use raw sugar as I normally do for baking (since sucrose is safe of me). Otherwise, sounds fabulous!
Hi, BJ, Molasses has a very strong flavor, and would not work well in this quantity. Maple syrup is much thinner than honey. You’ll have to experiment!
Very excited to try since I love your Super fudgy brownies! Using honey & the alternate flours of almond & coconut are an excellent idea! Looking forward to more recipes like this that is SANS xanthan gum & SANS refined sugars!
I too would like to know about the coconut sugar. I have to stay away from any kind of sugar. Is coconut sugar low glycemic? I always use agave or xylitol in my baking, but coconut sugar sounds like it would give a good texture. And these look absolutely yummy… almost like fudge! Can hardly wait to make some!
Please see my answer to Danelle, below, Marilyn.
I have to confess, I hopped over to your blog (from FB) with trepidation, expecting to read something in the ingredient list like black beans; sorry if you have a recipe for brownies with black beans but I will never.be.able.to.go.there, and what do I see? A really delightful brownie recipe with alternative flours/sugar which I am so much more on board with than, did I mention, black beans. Love this. I might have to do some research into the coconut sugar thing, though. They look magnificent, Nicole!
Mel! A reader on Facebook said that she makes ‘healthy’ brownies with black beans. I know that people do that. I am not one of them. These are not bean brownies! I think you might actually really love baking something like brownies with almond flour, especially since these are fudgy so they don’t use a lot of almond flour at all. See below for a pretty full explanation of coconut sugar (if I do say so myself). I use it in my coffee! It’s my current favorite sugar for personal use, that is.