This easy recipe for Flourless Brownies is the perfect chocolatey treat that is naturally gluten-free! All ingredients are mixed together into one pot and baked resulting in deliciously fudgy flourless brownies with a crispy crust on top.
Brownies are a classic American dessert, like chocolate chip cookies. Making brownies without flour seems a bit strange, but I promise you the result is even BETTER than a classic brownie. You won’t miss the flour.
This flourless brownie recipe is made with semi sweet chocolate and unsweetened cocoa powder to give it a chocolatey taste and fudgy texture. The chocolate gets mixed with eggs, butter, sugar, vanilla, and a not-so-secret ingredient of cornstarch!
Cornstarch is responsible for giving these brownies a dense chocolate fudge texture along with a crackly crunchy top that makes the perfect texture just like regular brownies.
These flourless brownies are also naturally gluten-free since they are made without any flour or nut flour making them nut-free as well. Whether you avoid gluten or not, you must try brownies without the flour to experience the best chocolate flavor and texture that everyone loves.
Prep the batter in less than 10 minutes, bake and enjoy!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Clean up is easy because the brownie batter comes together in one pan on the stove.
- Flourless brownies are great for anyone following a gluten-free lifestyle.
- They are made with simple baking ingredients you can find anywhere.
- You can change up the chocolate or the amount of sugar you use to control how sweet you like them.
- You can switch up the flavor and spread frosting on top or garnish with flaked salt.
These fudgy chocolate brownies come together quickly and easily with a few basic pantry ingredients.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Unsalted Butter – Gives the brownies a rich texture and buttery flavor. To make dairy free, substitute the butter with coconut oil.
- Granulated Sugar – Adds additional sweetness to the brownie batter along with the semisweet chocolate. Do not substitute for brown sugar.
- Chopped Semisweet Chocolate – Gives the brownies a dense chocolate flavor when mixed with dry ingredients. You can use bittersweet chocolate but the brownies will not be as sweet.
- Eggs – Room temperature eggs help the brownies bind together and set while baking and cooling.
- Vanilla Extract – Adds a light vanilla flavor to the brownie batter that pairs well with the chocolate brownie flavor.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – Gives additional chocolate flavor without adding sweetness.
- Cornstarch – Helps improve the texture of the brownie and gives it a nice crusty crunch on top.
- Salt – Helps to balance the sweet flavor in the sugar and chocolate.
How To Make No Flour Brownies
Flourless brownies come together easily in one pan in 10 minutes. After baking for 30 minutes, you will have a delicious chocolatey treat!
- Prepare for baking: Preheat your oven to 350F. Line a square baking pan (8×8 inches) with foil, then lightly spray with non-stick baking spray. Set the pan aside.
- Prepare the wet ingredients: In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Stir in sugar until dissolved. Then, add the chopped chocolate and stir until melted and fully incorporated. Remove the saucepan from the heat, then beat in the eggs one at a time until incorporated before stirring in the vanilla extract.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix: While slowly mixing the wet ingredients, stir in the sifted cocoa powder, cornstarch, and salt. Use a spatula to vigorously mix the batter until smooth and shiny. This may take a few minutes. If the batter is still thick and not shiny, keep beating.
It is important to make sure the batter is smooth and shiny before pouring into the baking dish. The batter should look like regular brownie batter. If you don’t mix the batter enough to ensure its smooth and shiny, the brownies will not have the crispy shiny texture on the tops after baking.
4. Bake the brownies: Pour the batter into the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 28-30 minutes or until brownies are completely set in the center. Let them cool in the pan for at least one hour before removing and serving.
Expert Tips
- Shiny brownie batter is absolutely needed to make these flourless brownies perfect. You want to mix the batter in the pan vigorously until the batter is shiny. It should look like regular brownie batter. If it is still thick or doesn’t look shiny, then you have not mixed it enough. Keep mixing until the batter is shiny.
- Make sure eggs are at room temperature.
- For gluten free: Check to make sure your cornstarch is gluten free.
- Cool brownies completely before slicing. Flourless brownies take a bit longer to set after baking.
- Use dutch processed cocoa powder to give it the best chocolate flavor with minimal acidity.
- Use chopped chocolate as opposed to chocolate chips for the best texture.
Variations
- Dairy-Free flourless chocolate brownies – If you’d like to make these brownies dairy-free, you can substitute the butter for melted coconut oil. This will give it a very slight coconut flavor.
- Add-ins – Fold in your favorite sweet chocolate chips or nuts to add texture and flavor to the brownies.
- For paleo flourless brownies – Be sure to use paleo chocolate and coconut sugar or palm sugar. You’ll also need to use coconut oil instead of butter.
- Add a sprinkle of flaked salt like Malden sea salt flakes to add texture and subtle salty flavor to the brownies.
- Add a pinch of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice for a chocolatey fall-flavored brownie.
- Drizzle homemade caramel sauce on top of these brownies and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
- Add Frosting: These flourless brownies taste great with any type of frosting. Peanut butter frosting and vanilla frosting are great choices. Simply spread the frosting over the top of the brownies in the pan and cut into bars to serve.
Brownies are the perfect comfort food. If you don’t want to bake an entire batch of brownies, try this recipe for Microwave Mug Brownie which a brownie bakes in a mug in the microwave in 60 seconds!
Did you try this recipe for flourless brownies? Leave a recipe rating and review below!
Flourless Brownies
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- flaked sea salt or Fleur de sel, optional for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line an 8×8 square pan with foil and spray lightly with baking spray; set aside.
- In a small saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter. Using a spoon or spatula, stir in the sugar until incorporated. Add the chopped chocolate, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and add the eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla extract and stir until incorporated.
- While mixing, slowly add the cocoa powder, cornstarch and salt. Using the spoon or spatula, beat the batter vigorously until smooth and shiny, about 1 to 2 minutes. (Make sure the batter is smooth and shiny before pouring into the pan.)
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 28 to 30 minutes or until the brownies are set in the center. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for at least one hour.
More natural brownie- 1c microwaved sweet potato flesh, 1/2 c almond or peanut butter, 1/4 c cocoa and 1/4 c maple syrup- in a processor and then a 350 oven
I can’t wait to try these
Can I use stevia instead of sugar ?
I haven’t tested this recipe with stevia and do not know the stevia substitution amounts.
I love brownies and these flourless brownies are perfect for a super fudgy treat!! Thanks for sharing!
These tasted like my favorite lava cake… in a brownie form! Easy and SO SO Good!