Vegan Oat Flour Brownies

If you’re looking for a healthyish wholesome gluten-free brownie, oat flour makes a great choice! It’s budget-friendly, you can make it at home and it works perfectly in these oat flour brownies.

These brownies are naturally sweetened with dates, use applesauce and tahini instead of oil and are also vegan! This is also a small-batch recipe made in a loaf pan yielding 6-8 brownies so it’s perfect if you only want to make a few servings.

You’ll love how rich and fudgy these are despite being completely oil-free, egg-free and made without butter! Enjoy these brownies for a healthier dessert or snack anytime of day.

These are definitely on the healthy side and are not super sweet or decadent but if you’re after a health-conscious treat, these definitely fit the bill. They are made with dairy-free chocolate chips, are nut-free and naturally gluten-free so everyone can enjoy them.

Ingredients & Substitutions

This list is not complete. Please see the recipe card at the end of the post for the complete ingredient list with measurements and detailed instructions.

• Oat Flour: You can use store-bought oat flour or make your own adding rolled oats to a blender. Quick and easy!
• Cocoa Powder: You can use raw cacao powder or regular cocoa powder for the chocolate element. Dark cocoa powder will add the richest flavour.
• Dates: These brownies are sweetened naturally with dates. We’ll be soaking them in water first to ensure they help help create the perfect gooey brownie texture. You can use any variety of date such as medjool, sayer dates or deglect noor.
• Applesauce: Unsweetened applesauce replaces oil and helps add moisture to the brownies. You could use sweetened applesauce just note that will add sugar to the recipe.
• Nut or Seed Butter: I used tahini to keep the recipe nut-free but any nut or seed butter such as peanut butter or almond butter works. Sunflower seed butter would be another nut-free option.
• Chocolate Chips: Without chocolate chips these are pretty plain, so I would definitely recommend adding them. I like Camino or Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips for a dairy-free option. You could use also use finely chopped dark chocolate.

Variations

• Peanut Butter Brownies: Use peanut butter instead of chocolate chips.
• Sweeter brownies: Add 2 tbsp maple syrup or coconut sugar, or sweeten to taste with a sugar-free sweetener such as stevia or monk fruit sweetened.
• Walnut Brownies: Add up to 1/4 cup chopped walnuts when you add the chocolate chips. Pecans would also work.
• Pretzel Brownies: Sprinkle crushed pretzels on top before baking or add up to 1/4 cup crushed pretzels when you add the chocolate chips.
• Nutella Brownies: Swirl a chocolate hazelnut spread of choice (Nutella is not vegan) into the batter before baking.
• Peppermint Brownies: Add a few drops of peppermint extract and some crushed candy canes to the batter. Or try these no-bake peppermint brownies.

Step 1. Soak the dates. To soften up the dates, you’ll want to soak them in hot water for 20 minutes. This will help add extra gooey and delicious texture to the brownies.

Place the pitted dates in a glass bowl, pour boiled water over them and let them soak. After they’ve soaked, drain them using a colander and proceed with the recipe.

Quick Note: It is ok if the dates are wet when you add them to the recipe but just make sure you’ve drained off any excess water. I like to press them into the side of strainer a bit to squeeze out excess water.

Step 2. Make the Oat flour. To make the oat flour for this recipe, measure out 1 cup, or 100 grams of rolled oats and then blend until you have a fine flour. If using store-bought oat flour, use 100g

I used my Vitamix for this but any blender or even an immersion blender or food processor with sharp blades will work.

Step 3. Blend the brownie batter. Once you’ve soaked and drained the dates and made the oat flour, add everything except the chocolate chips to a food processor and mix until you have a thick, sticky batter.

Note: As you can see below, the tahini I used was quite drippy so make sure whatever nut or seed butter you use isn’t too dry.

Once you’ve blended up the batter, add the chocolate chips and pulse a few times to combine.

Quick Tip: If you’d like to add any other add-ins, such as pretzels, walnuts or pecans, add them now as well.

Step 4. Bake the brownies. Once you’ve prepared the batter, spread it into a loaf pan, sprinkle a few extra chocolate chips on top and bake in the oven for 24 minutes.

Quick tip: Prepare the loaf pan with a spritz of non-stick cooking spray, rub it with a little oil or line it with parchment paper for easy removal after baking.

Storing Instrucions

• Let cool completely before transferring to a storage container.
• Room Temperature: Store in a sealed container for 2-3 days.
• Fridge: Store in a sealed container for up to 1 week. They get nice and fudgy when chilled, so storing them in the fridge is recommended.
• Freezer: Store for up to 3 months in a freezer-safe bag or container.