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.
Thanks for this awesome recipe. Quick question, I used 240ml of oil as it suggests in the recipe but the brownies came out super oily! Any reason why? Any harm in me reducing the amount of oil?
Thanks!
Hi Kitty, that is weird! But you can definitely reduce the oil next time!
These turned out amazing!! my first attempt as well this is a very easy recipe to follow.Think our tin was slightly smaller than 9×9 inches but I kept in the oven for an extra 17 minutes and they turned out perfect
So happy to hear that! Thanks for the great review!
hi! i’m going to do this recipe tomorrow, can i sub the baking powder by baking soda?
I speak spanish not english,sorry if i have mistakes in my grammar
????????????
Hi Alba! Okay so the issue is that baking soda is much stronger. And we don’t want these to rise too much because we don’t want them to be too much like cake. So I would use 1/2 teaspoon baking soda to replace it and see how it goes! All the best! 🙂
Can I use the same cup amount for coconut oil as a substitute for the vegetable oil ??
Yes! 🙂
Hi. Deeply enjoyed…
Tnxxxxxxx alot❤
Awesome! Thanks!
Best vegan brownie ever! You wouldn’t know it’s vegan it’s so good. Was wondering whether you can replace plain flour with gluten free flour and if so how this affects the cooking time.
So glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for the awesome review! You can use a gluten free all purpose baking flour blend in the same quantity as the regular flour and the baking time is also the same. All the best! 🙂
Hi Alison,
I’ve been vegan for a while now and all your deserts are my go to recipes, I love them all!
I was just wondering if it is possible, for these brownies, to substitute the all purpose flour for self raising? And is there anything I should remove if I do that?
Thank you!!
Hi Ella, I think that should be fine. Just leave out the baking powder and salt, since self raising already has those added. And I’m so glad you like the recipes! All the best! 🙂
Can I do 1/2 cup white sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar? How would that affect the outcome? How would it change the steps taken in making them?
Thank you!
Hi Sophia, do you mean you want to reduce the sugar by half? You can absolutely use 1 cup brown sugar and 1 cup white sugar, but I wouldn’t reduce the sugar on these as the sugar is what creates the fudginess.
Great recipe! I think my pan is smaller than 9×9 inches so it ended up rising quite a bit and taking a good 20 mins longer to stop being wet in the middle. I got a more cakey brownie as a result but it still tastes awesome and is very moist. I added some choc chips inside and on top but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. I’ll try with a bigger pan next time to see if I can get it to be fudgy. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Amanda! Thanks so much for sharing and the great rating, so glad they were still good! 🙂
These are amazing!
I’m trying to get more iron in my diet, do you think adding black beans or kidney beans to this recipe would work?
Hi Daisy, so happy you like the recipe! I don’t think adding beans would work here because it would change the recipe quite a lot. I do have it on my ‘to do’ list to do a recipe for black bean brownies though! 🙂
I made these brownies for a dessert table at a wedding with a few vegans in attendance. I’d tried two other recipes before this but I wasn’t too psyched about how either batches came out (taste and texture were off for both). I decided to try this recipe last minute because I was intrigued by the vegan buttermilk step (it made sense to me scientifically, so I was sold).
Very happy that I gave this a shot! I didn’t taste them before sitting them out on the dessert table and I was a bit nervous about how they came out. People kept coming up to me all night to say that they didn’t even know that the recipe was vegan because the brownies tasted that great. I thought everyone was just being nice, but then I tasted one the next day that I’d left off of the platter, and I was completely shocked. The brownie was decadent, moist, chocolatey, and delicious! I made them again just for everyone at home (no vegans in the house), and my family all agreed. I’d say this is a great brownie recipe overall, not even taking into consideration that it’s vegan.
This is so awesome to hear Anna! Thanks so much for the wonderful review and rating! xoxo
Hello,
I was wondering if I could use wholemeal flour instead of all purpose flour, and also add some chocolate chips into the recipe. What do you think?
Tayla
Hi Tayla, definitely yes to the chocolate chips! I’m not sure about the flour. It would change the texture, but you might still like it, it would be an experiment though as I have not tried it that way. All the best! 🙂
I used wholemeal flour and I thought it worked out well. They were thick and moist.
Hi
Its me again….
ummm where i live we cant get chocolate powder so thats why i wondered!!
thanks for your help though
Hi Sarah! Oh I see! Okay I did a little research and some articles make it seem VERY complicated, but this article from Revuezzle simplifies the process nicely and it seems very doable. So hope that helps and let us know how it works out! 🙂
Hi,
Can i use vegan chocolate chunks instead of coco powder?
Thanks, Sarah
Hi Sarah, I don’t think that would work as you would still need the cocoa powder for that chocolate flavor even with chocolate chunks added. We also have another recipe for vegan chocolate brownies that has chocolate chunks in it as well if you want to check it out. 🙂
My first attempt at baking a vegan recipe, and these were so easy and satisfying to make. Taste tested by my colleagues today, and they loved them. I’ll definitely be making these again. Thank you. ?
That’s so awesome to hear! Thanks so much for the great review Sophie! 🙂