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
Hi
Love Love these Brownies but they turned out super sticky and somewhat hard to cut.
Any ideas of how to fix this?
Thank you
Linda
If they are sticky, then your dates were maybe too wet? Just use a little more dry ingredients. 🙂
Hey
Could it be possible to replace the flax seess with something else! Like buchwheat flower for exemple?
Thanks !
Hi Ligia, you can use any ground seeds or nuts of your choice. Do not use buckwheat flour.
I’ve made this recipe several times and it’s quite tasty. I do have a question about the glaze.. I had to add quite a bit more syrup to get it to spreadable consistency.. I used a plastic whisk and a fork. What am I doing wrong?
Hi Lena, you add a little water or plant-based milk, to make it more spreadable. That’s totally fine. 🙂
Is there anything that can be used in place of the powdered pea nut butter or almond flour to make recipe nut free as well as gluten free ?
Yes, you can use ground sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds. 🙂
Have you tried the PB brand powdered peanut butter for these? it has 0 sat, fats. and 0 sugars. tastes great in peanut butter cookies. too. this way your low fat version would be just that.
if there’s one thing I’ve noticed most Vegan Recipes have a lot of Saturated fats. I try to keep mine at the lowest level considering I’m supposed to be on a 0 Saturated fat diet for my cholesterol.. but I do indulge with the most minimum amounts.
hope it taste as great with the PB brand powder.
Thanks for the Recipe. always a FAN!
Hi Ailis! Yes, it’s written in the recipe that I used powdered peanut butter. I am so glad you like my recipes. 🙂
This recipe was the best! Loved it. Turned out so, so great.
Oh my goodness! I honestly wasn’t expecting this to be that good! The only additions I made were to add a splash of coffee extract and a dash of salt. This is a keeper for sure!
So glad they turned out amazing! Love the addition of coffee extract. Thanks for your feedback, Akua. 🙂