Chewy, gooey, sexy, incredibly moist and fudgy Almond Flour Brownies that will knock your socks off! This grain-free brownie recipe is paleo friendly and includes many options for substitutions.
Welcome to the BEST, most perfect fudgy almond flour brownies the world wide web has to offer.
Bursting with chocolate richness, remarkably moist and gooey with the most amazing texture, you’d never guess these brownies are grain-free as they taste just like traditional brownies.
You won’t be able to tell where you begin and the brownie ends. It’s just that intimate of an experience.
There is no shortage of brownie recipes on this site. My Gluten-Free Rolled Oat Pumpkin Brownies, Death By Chocolate Keto Brownies, and 4-Ingredient Flourless Healthy Brownies being some of my personal favorites, immediately following these almond flour brownies.
Try these moist brownies and let me know how they measure up to my other recipes for brownies!
So fudgy and decadent, they may just become a household staple.
Tips for The BEST Almond Flour Brownies:
- For that amazing gooey texture with the perfect crinkle top, mix warm melted butter (or oil) with the granulated sweetener to help dissolve the sugar. This creates that indescribable texture.
- Add chocolate chips or chocolate chunks to the batter! While the brownie batter is amazing on its own, adding chocolate chips or chunks brings an additional gooey element which yields that fudgy appeal.
- Don’t skip the sea salt! It can be tempting to leave salt out of…everything…because it gets a bad rap, but in my opinion it can make or break a baked good. I can always tell when salt was left out of a baked good because the taste just falls flat. We want these brownies to have otherworldly richness, and sea salt is absolutely crucial in achieving that.
Let’s discuss the simple ingredients for this moist and amazing almond flour brownie recipe.
Ingredients for Almond Flour Brownies:
Almond Flour: The base of these gluten-free brownies in this grain-free brownie recipe is almond flour (or almond meal) to take the place of regular flour. Almond flour can be used in virtually any baked good recipe to replace regular all purpose flour, as it can take the form of moist, dense, or fluffy treats. Here, we achieve chewy, gooey fudge brownies!
If you prefer baking with coconut flour, make my Coconut Flour Brownies.
Cacao Powder: The majority of the rich chocolate goodness comes from raw cacao powder. I like using raw cacao powder because it has a creamier, less bitter flavor than regular cocoa powder. You can easily use regular unsweetened cocoa powder or Dutch press cocoa powder instead of cacao powder.
Sea Salt: Playing a pivotal role in leveling up the flavor of these brownies, sea salt enhances the sweetness and richness. Don’t skip it!
Butter or Coconut Oil: Depending on your fat preference, you can use melted unsalted butter, melted coconut oil, ghee, or avocado oil. I like butter to achieve that iconic creamy brownie flavor, but coconut oil and avocado oil work just as well for a dairy-free option.
If you use coconut oil, add another ⅓ to ½ cup of almond flour as I find coconut oil is somehow greasier than butter. I have had success replacing some of the butter with almond butter (or any nut butter or sunflower seed butter) although the texture doesn’t turn out quiet as fudgy with the almond butter.
Granulated Sweetener of Choice: Coconut sugar and maple sugar are great options for refined sugar-free paleo almond flour brownies. Brown sugar and cane sugar (also known as white sugar) work just as well too!
If you follow a low carb, keto, or sugar-free diet, use your favorite granulated sugar-free sweetener such as monk fruit sweetener. While pure maple syrup can be used, you will need to make adjustments to the almond flour ratio.
Pure Vanilla Extract: That element that brings incredible warmth and depth of flavor to any baked good. Chocolate and vanilla are incredible companions so lets let them make sweet love in this gooey brownie recipe!
Eggs: The secret to ridiculously fudgy brownies is using plenty of fat (butter or oil) and large eggs without too much flour and zero leavening agents like baking powder or baking soda. We’re not looking for the brownies to fluff up like cake, but we do want them to hold together, so this is where eggs come in. They allow the brownies to remain gooey and chewy while maintaining perfect square shapes.
If you need an egg-free option for vegan brownies, make my Paleo Vegan Fudge Brownies, which use flax eggs.
Chocolate Chips: Adding chocolate chips to the brownie batter and topping the brownies with chocolate chips makes for the best fudgy brownies. Use Lily’s dark chocolate chips for a sugar-free option to lower the sugar content if you’d like.
Now that we’re experts on the gluten-free almond flour brownies ingredients, let’s bake them!
How to Make Almond Flour Brownies:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a 9” x 9” baking pan with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the melted butter (or coconut oil) and vanilla extract until well-combined.
Whisk in the eggs just until combined (avoid over-beating them).
In a separate large bowl, stir together the almond flour, cacao powder, and sea salt until combined.
Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix just until a thick batter forms (avoid over-mixing).
Gently fold in the chocolate chips, reserving some for the topping if desired.
Transfer the brownie batter to the baking dish and smooth it into an even layer.
Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 23 to 27 minutes (I do 25) or until brownies reach your personal level of doneness. 25 minutes will land you at brownies that hold together once they have set up but are still remarkably gooey.
Allow the brownies to cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing and serving. If you want the brownies to hold together nicely into perfect squares, allow them to cool for 1 hour or longer.
Store any leftover brownies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
These brownies freeze very well! Simply cut them into squares and store in a zip lock bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. If you wrap the brownies in plastic wrap prior to putting them in a zip lock bag, they will last even longer in the freezer.
If you want to step the brownies up a notch, you can make my Dairy-Free Chocolate Ganache for frosting the brownies or drizzle them with more melted chocolate and serve with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream.
And that’s it! Everything you need to know about making the perfect gooey brownies that will surely impress all who try them. Make them the next time a massive chocolate craving hits or you’re in the mood for homemade brownies that are a great alternative to regular brownies.
If you love grain-free or paleo baking, also try out these epic treats from the blog!
More Delicious Grain-Free Dessert Recipes:
- Paleo Triple Chocolate Cake
- 3-Ingredient Nutty Banana Cookies
- Strawberry Crumb Cake
- Paleo Blueberry Cake
- Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies with Walnuts
- Paleo Apple Coffee Cake
May all your brownies be gooey and may all your bacon be crispy!
Almond Flour Brownies
Ingredients
- 1 cup melted butter or coconut oil
- 1 1/2 cups coconut sugar*
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups almond flour
- 2/3 cup raw cacao powder
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips or chocolate chunks
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a 9” x 9” baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the melted butter (or coconut oil), coconut sugar (or granulated sweetener of choice) and vanilla extract until the sugar is dissolved.
- Whisk in the eggs just until combined (avoid over-beating them).
- In a separate large bowl, stir together the almond flour, cacao powder, and sea salt until combined.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix just until a thick batter forms (avoid over-mixing).
- Gently fold in the chocolate chips, reserving some for the topping if desired.
- Transfer the brownie batter to the baking dish and smooth it into an even layer.
- Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 23 to 27 minutes (I do 25) or until brownies reach your personal level of doneness. 25 minutes will land you at brownies that hold together once they have set up but are still remarkably gooey.
- Allow the brownies to cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing and serving. If you want the brownies to hold together nicely into perfect squares, allow them to cool for 1 hour or longer.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Just made -wow! I cut sugar down to 3/4 cup and used half butter/half walnut oil. They are amazing. Definitely add the chocolate chips (I used up some leftover bags so a blend of Ghirardelli semisweet, Ghirardelli 60% dark, and Lily’s no-sugar chips). Sweet and gooey. So good
I’m so happy you enjoyed the brownies! Thanks so much for sharing your changes – this is super helpful to others who want to try the same thing 🙂 xo
Fantastic recipe, instant family favorite. Made it for a little indulgence for Valentine’s Day. Thank you!
Yaaay I love hearing that, Beth! Thanks so much for sharing! xo
I love your recipes and make a new one almost every week! They’re easy to make and delicious. This is by far the best brownie recipe I have ever tasted. With most of your recipes I cut the amount of sugars by half and it’s still very sweet and delicious. For this one, I used a third of the sugar and chocolate chips you suggested, and it’s still incredibly rich.
I love hearing that, Michaela! Thanks so much for your sweet comment 🙂 It’s great to know the brownies are still tasty with 1/3 of the sugar and chocolate chips – this is super helpful to others who want to try the same thing 🙂
They look delicious! Do you think doubling the recipe would be appropriate to make a 13×9 pan? I like bigger batches! 🙂
Hi Julie! I think doubling the recipe and baking it in a 13″ x 9″ pan would work great! I haven’t tried it myself but I think it will turn out marvelously. Let me know if you try it! xo
How do you make the flour adjustments to use maple syrup as a sweetener?
Hi Susan! I haven’t tested the recipe using pure maple syrup yet, but if I were to I would simply add the same amount of almond flour as I add of pure maple syrup. So for this particular recipe, I would do 1 cup of pure maple syrup and add 1 cup of almond flour. I would assess whether or not the batter looks too thin and adjust from there 🙂 Let me know how they turn out!
I use Stevia instead of coconut sugar…it doesn’t dissolved.I heat it up in the microwave…now the sweetener turn into a lump 🙁
Hi Onna! My apologies the brownies didn’t turn out for you using Stevia. I’ve never tested any of my sugar-free recipes using Stevia before so I can’t speak to how it reacts in my recipes. I will say when I use Swerve or Monk Fruit Sweetener, I don’t have any issues with the replacement. Hope that helps! xoxo
the recipe doesnt tell you when to add the sugar. it is mentioned earlier in the article so it is easly to guess, but the recipe itself never says “add the sugar”
Thanks for catching that, Starla! I made the directions more clear. 😉 xo