These 6-ingredient fudgy no-bake brownies are vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, and easy to make. They are a healthy snack or dessert, perfect for kids and a great alternative to store-bought chocolate candy.
Healthy Vegan Brownies!
After sharing my recipes for Sweet Potato Brownies and my Best Vegan Brownies, I decided to make these healthy no-bake brownies with dates.
They aren’t fully raw, that’s why I don’t call them raw vegan brownies, but you can actually make them fully raw (continue reading to learn how).
You will love these brownies because they are:
- Easy to make with simple ingredients.
- So much healthier than store-bought brownies or candy bars.
- Freezer friendly, perfect as a snack or quick dessert.
- Vegan (eggless, dairy-free), gluten-free, grain-free, and refined sugar-free.
Only 6 Simple Ingredients!
These no-bake brownies contain only 6 ingredients, which are:
- Dates – you can use any dried fruit of choice, e.g. dried figs.
- Flax seeds – these vegan brownies contain a good amount of flax seeds which are good sources of many nutrients. Their health benefits are mainly due to their content of omega-3 fats, lignans and fiber.
- Cacao powder – or use cocoa powder. Dutch processed is less bitter.
- Peanut flour – you can use almond flour (ground almonds) instead of peanut flour to make almond flour brownies. I tried it and it turned out great as well. Actually, any ground nuts or seeds would work as well. Some examples are ground walnuts, hazelnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, etc. However, I really love how these healthy brownies turned out with peanut flour (powdered peanut butter aka PB2), the taste is amazing. You can buy it in most big supermarkets in the US, or order it from Amazon.
- Vanilla extract – you can use real vanilla for the best result.
- Agave syrup – or maple syrup (for the glaze). Any other liquid sweetener like date syrup is fine too.
For the full ingredients list, measurements, complete recipe method, and nutritional information, please read the recipe card below.
How To Make No-Bake Brownies?
- Grind the flax seeds in an electric spice/coffee grinder or blender until it’s flour. You can also use 65 g of store-bought GROUND flax seeds but make sure the flax meal is fresh.
- Process all dry ingredients in a food processor, then add the dates and vanilla extract and blend until the dough sticks together when you press it between your fingers. It might take a while until the dough comes together. If it’s still too dry after some minutes add a few additional dates or a little of maple syrup or raw agave syrup. The dates should be very soft and juicy. If they aren’t moist soak them in warm water until they are soft.
- Line a 5-inch square baking pan or similar size (double the recipe if using an 8-inch baking pan) with parchment paper and leave about a 2-inch overhang on both sides. Grease the paper with a little oil.
- Transfer the brownie dough into the pan and press it down firmly.
- To make the glaze, just combine all ingredients in a small bowl and mix everything together with a whisk.
- Pour the glaze over the brownie dough, spread it, and put the pan into the freezer for about 1 hour to firm up.
- Cut the brownies into squares by using a sharp knife, and enjoy!
Low-Fat Vegan Chocolate Glaze
Brownies are delicious, but brownies with a chocolate glaze are even better. I made a super simple and low-fat vegan chocolate glaze which is so delicious!
If you don’t want to make your own chocolate glaze, you can simply melt dairy-free chocolate chips, but they contain of course more fat.
How To Store these brownies?
This recipe makes just a small batch, however, you can double the recipe and store-leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Can you freeze these brownies? Yes, you can! The brownie bites are freezer friendly (freeze for up to 3 months). I always make sure to keep a batch in the freezer, so that I never run out of brownies when the chocolate craving kicks in. Simply thaw them at room temperature for 20-30 minutes, then enjoy!
Helpful Tips
- You can make these brownies raw vegan by using raw agave syrup instead of maple syrup, vanilla bean instead of vanilla extract, raw cacao powder instead of cocoa powder and almond flour (ground almonds) instead of peanut flour (powdered peanut butter).
- You can skip the powdered peanut butter in the chocolate glaze and try using 1 1/2 – 2 tbsp of regular peanut butter (or any other nut/seed butter).
- These vegan brownies can be neatly transported in a bento box or lunch box.
Other Vegan Brownie Recipes:
- Vegan Zucchini Brownies
- Flourless Brownies
- Vegan Black Bean Brownies
- Cheesecake Brownies
- Caramel Chocolate Brownies
These no-bake brownies are super easy and fast to make and I cannot wait to hear if you love them as much as I do. If you try out my recipe, please leave a comment below and tag me with @elavegan #elavegan on Instagram and/or Facebook.
No-Bake Brownies
Ingredients
Wet ingredients:
- 3/4 cup (130 g) dates soft and moist ones (see notes)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean
Dry ingredients:
- 1/3 heaped cup (65 g) flax seeds
- 1/4 heaped cup (30 g) cocoa powder or raw cacao powder
- 4 tbsp (32 g) powdered peanut butter or almond flour (ground almonds)
- 1 Pinch of salt
Low-fat chocolate glaze:
- 1/4 cup (80 g) maple syrup or raw agave syrup
- 3 tbsp (24 g) powdered peanut butter (see notes)
- 3 tbsp (18 g) cocoa powder
Instructions
- Watch the video in the post for visual instructions.Grind the flax seeds in an electric spice/coffee grinder or blender until it's flour. You can also use 65 g of store-bought GROUND flax seeds but make sure the flax meal is fresh.
- Process all dry ingredients in a food processor, then add the dates and vanilla extract and blend until the dough sticks together when you press it between your fingers. It might take a while until the dough comes together. If it's still too dry after some minutes add a few additional dates or a little maple syrup or raw agave syrup. The dates should be very soft and juicy. If they aren't moist soak them in warm water until they are soft.
- Line a 5-inch square baking pan (double the recipe if you have an 8-inch baking pan) with parchment paper and leave about a 2-inch overhang on both sides. Grease the paper with a little oil.
- Transfer the brownie dough into the pan and press it down firmly.
- To make the glaze, just combine all ingredients in a small bowl and mix everything together with a whisk.
- Pour the glaze over the brownie dough and put the pan into the freezer for about 1 hour to set.
- Cut into 16 equal brownie bites and enjoy! Store leftovers in the fridge or freezer.
Notes
- If the dates aren't soft/moist enough I highly recommend soaking them in (warm) water until they are soft.
- You can skip the powdered peanut butter in the chocolate glaze and use 1 1/2 - 2 tbsp of regular peanut butter (or any other nut/seed butter). However, I would recommend adding more cocoa powder otherwise the glaze might be too runny.
- The Nutrition Facts are for one serving if you cut the batch into 16 brownie bites. Calculation includes the low-fat glaze (made with powdered peanut butter).
Nutrition information is an estimate and has been calculated automatically
Simple and Delicious Vegan Cookbook by ElaVeganCLICK HERE to order!
Wow! This is one of my new favorites and will definitely be making again!! I used chia seeds since I didn’t have flax but I kept everything else the same. I made my frosting on the thicker side and oh my goodness!!!! That’s the best frosting ever, healthy or not!!! I put my batter in silicone baking cups for easy transport, definitely recommend this recipe
Yay, that’s awesome, Kali! So happy you loved it. 🙂
I made these this evening and they were lovely. I had to add a bit of maple syrup to the mixture though. I used my nutribullit which struggled a little but it still turned out nice.
Glad it turned out nice! Thanks for your feedback, Leyla. 🙂
Finally, a healthy brownie that is actually healthy. So many on the web are not.
Thank you! I am glad you like the recipe. 🙂
Is there a way to leave the dates out completely? I appreciate your hard work. These look amazing!
You can use dried figs instead but you can’t just leave out the main ingredient. 🙂
My results were rather dry. I guess my dates weren’t that soft?
Hey Diane, if the dates aren’t soft/juicy you need to soak them in hot water until they are soft. Then discard the water. 🙂
Ela, these are delicious! The only thing I did a little different was to add some leftover coffee from this morning to the glaze to loosen it up a little bit. Thanks for posting such a yummy one bite treat!
Adding coffee sounds amazing! Good idea, Stacy. 🙂
Hi Ela.. thank you for the great vegan brownies… I’ve made with no maple syrup, but I substituted with honey.
and it was sooooo wonderful!!! Chewy, goey, and really easy to make.. I made this no bake brownies when I had halalbihalal yesterday.. and my family were really love it!!
So glad you liked the recipe, Dian! 🙂
hey! These look so good. How many calories are in the finished result? I can see that you wrote 78kcal but is that per piece or 100 grams or? great work
oh also do you taste the dates much?
Not much, in my opinion. 🙂
Hey! It’s for one brownie bite! Hope this helps. 🙂
Hello Ela.
I have a question, is the dough supposedly thinner than the glaze?
I made this just now and I couldn’t spread the dough to cover 5″ cake mold. I had to use a smaller container even then the spread was really thin when compared to the glaze.
Hello, the recipe makes a fairly small batch, however, the dough was definitely not thinner than the glaze (as you can tell from the photos). I also used a 5-inch mold back then (if I remember well). 🙂 You could double the recipe next time to make them thicker. Hope you liked the taste! 🙂
THESE ARE AMAZING!! I honestly think they’re better than “normal” brownies! And I love the hint of peanut butter. They 1000000% satisfy all my sugar and chocolate cravings. I think I’m always going to need to have some in the freezer at ALL times!
Wonderful! I am so happy you love the recipe! 🙂
Hi Ela ????
Ich hab grad deine Brownies gezaubert und die sind echt sooo gut! Ich habe statt Erdnussmehl Mandelmehl und Mandelmus genommen und es hat super geklappt. Das Rezept wird bei uns jetzt öfter gemacht. Mein Mann ist such ganz begeistert.
Toll, dass sich lecker und gesund nicht ausschließen müssen ????
Danke für die Inspiration!
Liebste Grüße, Romy
In Love with Bliss – plantiful recipes nourishing body & soul
Oh wie schön, das freut mich sehr liebe Romy!
LG, Ela ❤️
Not sure I’d call these brownies, but they remind me of what people call energy balls, or something like that. Mine were still a touch dry, so I would add maybe some warm water?? But I felt good about eating these to satisfy my sweet tooth.
Yes, either a little bit warm water or a few more dates. 🙂
I just made these on a rainy Sunday and they were absolutely delicious!! Great recipe and easy to make — I had all of the ingredients just in my kitchen.
Yay, that’s wonderful! Thanks for your kind comment! 🙂
Is ir possible to use almound flour instead of peanut flour in the glaze?
Hi Annie, not that’s not possible because it’s not as fine as peanut flour/powder and won’t dissolve in water. The peanut flour which I use is a very fine powder which will turn into peanut butter when you mix it with water and syrup. It’s also called powdered peanut butter. If you can’t buy it then simply follow the instructions in the recipe notes.
Thanks! The brownies look great. Can´t wait to try the recipe!
The texture and flavor of these brownies are wonderful! It’s hard to believe how these simple, super healthy ingredients (unbaked!) can produce such satisfying results! I read the comments before starting and picked up a few tips, including soaking my dates . I had some dried cranberries so I pressed them lightly into the top layer along with a handful of chopped pecans (adding a little tart contrast and nutty crunch). Everyone loved them! Thank you, Ela!
You are so welcome, Kathleen! Happy you loved them. 🙂
I used extremely ripe and sweet dates, it turned out a bit too sweet. I think it’s sweet enough without the glaze on top. What’s a good substitute to flax meal you recommend ? It tasted a bit bitter, I don’t like the taste of it in desserts.
Thanks for sharing, I’m new to your website and so far I like it.
Thanks for your feedback, George. Instead of flax meal you can use any ground nuts/seeds of choice.
This tastes so much better the next day! Not too sweet anymore and not bitter at all.
Wonderful! Makes me very happy. 🙂 Thank you, George!
Look Delicious you have a Thai Language?
Thank you very much
No, of course not. You can use Google translator. 🙂
When measuring the flax seeds, do i use the measurements before being ground or after? I ground up the amount in the recipe but after it was different measurements and not sure which to use.
Yes, you use the measurements before being ground, otherwise, I would have stated “ground flax seeds” in the recipe. You can also always refer to the grams in the recipe which is even more accurate. 🙂