These simple vegan brownies are moist, fudgy and beautifully textured. They are also SO easy to make. Serve with vegan cream or ice cream for a fabulous dessert.
Oh wow, these vegan brownies you guys! Fudgy, rich, decadent and everything a brownie should be.
Topped with vegan whipped cream and drizzled with melted chocolate because dessert.
The tops get all nice and shiny and cracked, which is just perfect for brownies don’t you think?
The best way to eat these brownies is with some vegan whipped cream or some delicious vegan ice cream. If you serve them nice and warm from the oven with cream or ice cream, well that’s even better!
Ingredient Notes
Cocoa powder. There is a lot of cocoa in this recipe, which gives it the extremely rich chocolate flavor.
White granulated sugar. To counter-balance lots of cocoa, you need more sugar, so don’t be shocked out of your little cotton socks by the fact of 2 cups of sugar. Every granule is put to good use to create the most delicious vegan brownies ever.
Instant coffee powder. For a little extra kick and to enhance the flavors I added a little instant coffee powder to the recipe as well. You don’t taste the coffee but it really ramps up the chocolate flavor.
Vegan buttermilk. We used homemade vegan buttermilk in this recipe. It’s ideally made with soy milk for a really rich and creamy version. However, it can also be made with almond milk.
Vegetable oil. This can be switched for canola oil. Melted coconut oil also works but can be harder to mix in since it’s a thick batter.
How To Make Easy Vegan Brownies
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Sift flour and cocoa powder into a mixing bowl and add sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix together.
- Prepare your vegan buttermilk by adding lemon juice to a measuring jug and then adding soy milk up to the 1 cup line (you can also use almond milk for this step). Let it curdle.
- Add the vegan buttermilk to the mixing bowl along with oil and vanilla and mix into a batter.
- Transfer the batter to a 9×9 square baking dish (sprayed with non-stick spray and lined with parchment paper) and smooth down with the back of a spoon. Your batter will be very thick.
- Bake at 350°F for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clear. Moist crumbs are okay but wet batter is not. Mine took exactly 38 minutes but ovens differ.
- Cut into squares (9, 12 or 16 squares).
- And your brownies are ready to serve!
Make Them Gluten Free
If you’re keen to try a gluten-free version of these brownies, then check out our vegan gluten free brownies recipe.
Serving Suggestions
These brownies are delicious on their own but serving them warm with vegan whipped cream or vegan ice cream and drizzles of melted vegan chocolate is next level!
Storing Instructions
Leftovers keep very well at room temperature or in the fridge for up to a week. You can warm them up in the microwave and then serve.
You can also freeze them for up to 6 months!
More Vegan Chocolate Desserts
- Vegan Chocolate Brownies
- The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Vegan Chocolate Pie
- Vegan Chocolate Truffles
- Classic Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes
- Homemade Vegan Chocolate
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Simple Vegan Brownies
Ingredients
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour (250g)
- 1 cup Cocoa Powder (86g) Unsweetened
- 2 cups White Granulated Sugar (400g)
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Vegan Buttermilk (240ml) 1 Tbsp lemon juice + soy milk up to the 1 cup line
- 1 Tablespoon Instant Coffee Powder
- 1 cup Vegetable Oil (240ml) or Canola Oil
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Serving (Optional):
- Vegan Whipped Cream
- Melted Vegan Chocolate
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C) and spray a 9×9 inch square baking dish with non-stick spray and line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Sift all purpose flour and cocoa powder into a mixing bowl and add white granulated sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix together.
- Prepare the vegan buttermilk by adding 1 Tablespoon lemon juice to a measuring jug and then adding soy milk up to the 1 cup (240ml) line. Allow to sit for a minute to curdle.
- Add the vegan buttermilk, instant coffee powder, vegetable oil and vanilla extract to the mixing bowl and mix in well.
- Pour the batter out into your prepared baking dish and smooth down with the back of a spoon.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clear (moist crumbs are fine, wet batter is not). Mine took exactly 38 minutes but ovens will differ.
- Cut into squares (9, 12 or 16 squares) and serve with vegan whipped cream or vegan ice cream and drizzles of melted vegan chocolate.
Video
Notes
- Weigh your flour for accurate results or use the ‘spoon the level’ method. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife. Don’t scoop it and don’t pack it into the cup.
- You can make your vegan buttermilk with almond milk too if you prefer. It results in a thinner consistency but it still works.
- You can pretty much use any vegetable oil for these brownies or canola oil. If you are going to use coconut oil make sure it’s melted first.
- Nutritional information is for 1 Large Brownie (of 9) without additional toppings.
Max says
Great recipe Alison. They rose a bit more than expected but I think I overdid the baking powder so it may have been my fault. They taste great and am super excited to file this one away to impress future guests! Thank you
Alison Andrews says
So glad they taste great! Thanks for sharing and your generous review! 🙂
Chrissy says
Very good! They were even better the second day. I’m going to try adding a flax egg next time to see if they are a little less crumbly that way. The flavor was amazing, though. I was afraid they would turn out too thick and doughy using a 9×9 baking dish, but once they were cooled completely they were just fine.
Alison Andrews says
So glad you enjoyed them, thanks for posting! 🙂
Nyree v Henderson says
I want to make these this weekend. If I double the recipe for a 9×13 pan how much longer should I cook it? I also want to ad peanut butter and mini chocolate chips. Will that ruin them?
Alison Andrews says
I really don’t know, and doubling the recipe seems like it would be too much for a 9×13 dish since it’s not double the size of the dish I used. It can be tricky to double recipes and I can’t advise since I have never tried it like that. Peanut butter and chocolate chips sound like great additions.
Thyra Rutter says
I just made these and they came out fantastic! I made a half of a recipe (in an 8 x 8 inch pan)- also I used almond milk for the vegan buttermilk rather than soy. AND just to be crazy, I added two heaping table spoons of peanut butter..These were super easy and half the tray is gone already! I want to try some of your other things!
Alison Andrews says
That’s wonderful to hear they were a success! And I love your ‘crazy’ addition! ? Thanks so much for sharing!
Karen says
Seriously so OMG good I could eat the whole tray to myself. Moist, chocolatey and perfect! My new favorite recipe!
Alison Andrews says
Yay! So glad you loved them Karen! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Wanda says
It tastes good, but it falls apart, it has none of the gooiness I look for in a brownie. Also, once I’d finished making the batter, it definitely didn’t pour. It had the consistency of loose play-dough and I had to pat it into the tin. I double checked my quantities and I definitely didn’t get anything wrong.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Wanda, it sounds to me like too much flour, the batter should definitely have been pourable. I recommend to weigh the flour, flour measures are very tricky, to do them correctly in a cup you need to fluff up the flour and then spoon and level, so that the flour doesn’t settle, it’s too easy to use too much, so weighing it out is the best way to ensure accuracy which is why I always include the gram measurements next to the cup measures for flour. If you try this recipe again and weigh the flour I think you’ll have a much better experience with it. 🙂
Jenny says
These were delicious but came out sopping with oil. Did i do something wrong or is there a way I can make them less oily? Thank you!
Alison Andrews says
They’re supposed to be very moist, but definitely not sopping with oil, do you think they might have been able to bake a bit longer?
Maria says
Hi I really want to try your recipe. But I have one problem, soy milk in my country is very expensive but I have a lot of coconut milk can I use coconut milk instead of vegan buttermilk!?!?
Alison Andrews says
Sure, that would work fine! 🙂
Janelle says
Made these without the instant coffee and cut the recipe in half. Baked in a 9 x 9 pan and they came out just fine, thick but not too thick. I can’t image trying to bake the whole batch in anything other than a 9 x 13 pan because I don’t think they would cook all the way through for me. The texture was a bit too crumbly for my taste, but I was just using up last bits of ingredients. Next time I will make a whole batch and sub in extra cocoa powder instead of simply omitting the instant coffee to see if they hold together better that way. Also, they freeze amazingly well.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Janelle, I just realized after reading your comment that I didn’t state in the recipe the size dish I used. I have updated it now. I also used a 9×9 square dish, and the brownies are very thick as you can see in the photos. Thanks for sharing your experience!
shingo says
not sure what happened but brownies took nearly an hour to bake and were not very tasty. I used apple sauce instead of the oil as I do not like to use it. Maybe that is why? I also omitted the coffee and used an extra T of cocoa. Still good but needs vegan ice cream or something on it.
Grace says
Absolutely scrumptious! Don’t skip the coconut whipped cream it really makes them extra special!
Alison Andrews says
For sure! The whipped cream on these is the best! Thanks for posting Grace! 🙂
Dani says
I LOVED the recipe, it’s really simple and it looks delicious, but I do have one question, is it possible to not add the coffee? Cause I don’t like coffee. Thank you!
Alison Andrews says
Hey Dani, so happy to hear you like the recipe! I think you can easily leave out the coffee, just add an extra tablespoon of cocoa powder instead. 🙂
Grace says
These were sooooo good! Great alone but mind blowing with the coconut cream. So yummy!
Alison Andrews says
Yes indeed, that coconut cream takes it to next level! So glad you liked the recipe! 🙂
Aimee B. says
These are amazing! My whole family enjoyed them. The only things I did differently was to make a half batch and add in some mini chocolate chips. Thanks for the yummy recipe! 🙂
Alison Andrews says
Great stuff! Thanks for posting! 🙂
Anna Andrews says
Ah! Absolutely delicious!