28 Healthy Brownie Recipes You Need to Try
Love brownies but want your treat to be good for you too? These 28 healthy brownie recipes have impressive nutrition benefits as well as fantastic flavor and texture! Check out the ones below to find your new favorite sweet treat!
Why make brownies “healthy”?
Treats can just be treats, sure. You don’t have to make everything you eat “healthy” or feel bad if you eat something “normal” and not healthified. But, when you can adjust ingredients to provide some nutritional benefit and still have a delicious treat, why wouldn’t you?!
Here’s how some of these recipes make brownies a more nutritious treat to enjoy:
Added protein or fiber
Some of these recipes add more protein and fiber which can help slow down your rise in blood sugar, helping to avoid blood sugar spikes after enjoying a treat. Extra protein and fiber also help keep you full and satisfied longer so that you won’t be reaching for another snack or treat shortly after. Some recipes can add extra protein and fiber by using beans, sweet potatoes, flax, chia seeds, or even protein powder.
Less Added Sugar
By using natural sources of sugar, such as sweet potatoes, dates, or pureed fruit, brownies can be sweet without the need for adding sugar. The benefit of using a natural sweetener is that it often provides other essential nutrients like fiber and antioxidants. Some also use ingredients such as allulose or erythritol to keep them sweet without adding calories or carbohydrates.
Healthier Fats
Using foods such as avocado, beans, applesauce, and yogurt can create a creamy texture without using excess vegetable oil or saturated fat rich butter like traditional brownie recipes often call for. These substitutes either add healthy fats or little to no fat without skimping on creaminess.
28 Healthy Brownie Recipes
Gluten-Free Chickpea Blondies | Better is the New Perfect
These chickpea blondies are a delicious way to get in your fiber and other essential nutrients such as choline and vitamin E. And just one brownie has 13 percent of your daily value of fiber.
Maple Walnut Chickpea Blondies | Your Choice Nutrition
Walnuts add plant-based omega-3 fatty acids to these blondies. Each serving has 5 grams of protein and 3 grams of fiber in addition to heart-healthy fats.
Butter Bean Blondies | Snacking in Sneakers
Made with butter beans (not chickpeas), these blondies are gluten-free, dairy-free, and flourless. One brownie has 4 grams of fiber and 6 grams of protein.
Chocolate Chip Chickpea Blondie Bars | Jennifer Hunt Nutrition
These blondies use dates as a natural alternative to sugar. These are a fantastic treat to make for people with food allergies as they’re peanut, gluten, and egg-free. You can also easily make this dairy-free if needed by choosing dairy-free chocolate chips.
Easy Black Bean Brownies | Champagne Nutrition
These brownies add black beans and reduce the flour for a chewy, fiber-filled treat. You can even top them with fresh sliced strawberries for a decadent and nutrient-packed dessert.
Fudgy Black Bean Brownies | Liz’s Healthy Table
Black beans level up the chewiness, fiber, and protein in these delicious brownies. One brownie has 18 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, and 3 grams of protein.
Sugar-Free Black Bean Avocado Brownies | Nutrition Starring YOU
Instead of using sugar and oil, these brownies use allulose as a sugar alternative and avocado for healthy fat. They’re also gluten and grain-free to complement several different diets.
Easy Black Bean Brownies w/ Walnuts | E.A Stewart
This vegan black bean brownie recipe replaces egg with chia seeds for an extra dose of omega-3 fatty acids, protein, and fiber.
Peanut Butter Banana Brownies | Bucket List Tummy
These vegan brownies use flax eggs in place of eggs and applesauce to cut down on oil. Filled with whole food pantry staples, you’ll easily be able to whip up a batch of these healthy brownies.
5-Ingredient Raw Brownie Bites | Chelsea Amer Nutrition
High in fiber and free from all eight major allergens, these brownie bites are easy to make and delicious to eat anytime no matter what dietary restrictions you may have.
Diabetes-Friendly Easy Gluten-Free Brownies | Milk & Honey Nutrition
These gluten-free brownies are the perfect treat to enjoy while managing your blood sugars. Using a no calorie sweetener, one brownie has 8 grams of protein, 10 grams of fiber, and only 4 grams of sugar for a balance of nutrients to promote stable blood sugars.
Gluten-Free Brownie Recipe | Shaw Simple Swaps
Replacing the oil for avocado adds a healthy dose of monounsaturated fat and a delicious, creamy texture. And since these use pecan flour over a grain-based alternative, they are gluten-free too.
Fudgy Butternut Squash Brownies | Snacking in Sneakers
One brownie has 5 grams of fiber and 7 grams of protein, which is pretty impressive for a fudgy chocolate treat! You won’t taste the squash, but it adds a fudgy texture, fiber, and vitamin A.
Fudgy Avocado Blender Brownies | Kiss in the Kitchen
Replace oil for mashed avocado in these blender brownies to increase the monounsaturated fats. If you’re gluten-free, these work great with a 1:1 gluten-free flour.
Gluten-Free Chocolate Avocado Brownies with Prunes and Walnuts | Amy Gorin Nutrition
Prunes and avocado help make these brownies moist and chewy while also adding a hefty dose of fiber and heart-healthy fats. Each brownie has 4 grams of fiber and protein.
Vegan Peanut Butter Brownies | Melissa Traub
This vegan brownie recipe is sweetened with only a tiny amount of maple syrup. The best part is that these brownies bake in the instant pot for quick cooking and clean-up!
Flourless Chocolate Chickpea Brownies | Haute and Healthy Living
Chickpeas replace most of the flour in this recipe for extra protein and fiber. One large brownie has 5 grams of fiber and 9 grams of protein to keep you satisfied and help slow the rise in blood sugar after this delicious treat.
Easy Vegan Sweet Potato Brownies | It’s a Veg World After All
These fudgy vegan brownies only have five simple ingredients. Sweet potato adds fiber and natural sweetness, while peanut butter helps make these brownies decadent and filling with healthy fat and protein.
Super Fudgy Flour-less Black Bean Brownies | Beautiful Eats and Things
These lower-fat brownies use molasses to help sweeten and add a rich, fudgy texture without extra oil, butter, or another fat source. Between the black beans and low sugar content, these better-for-you brownies will have everyone impressed.
Olive Oil Brownies with Greek Yogurt | Olive Tomato
These brownies replace vegetable oil with olive oil and Greek yogurt for a creamy texture with less fat and calories.
Black Bean Avocado Brownies | Dietitian Meets Mom
Black beans and avocado help make these brownies moist, chewy, and full of fiber and healthy fat. They’re also gluten-free and oil-free.
Double Chocolate Brownies | Create Kid’s Club
The beans help add protein, fiber, and antioxidants- but you and your kids will just enjoy the decadent chocolate flavor and chewy texture.
Easy and Healthy Avocado Brownies | The Oregon Dietitian
Using avocado instead of butter increases the healthy fat content of this recipe and makes it vegan! Whole wheat flour and ground flax increase the fiber for a more filling (and still delicious) brownie.
Protein Brownies | Smart Nutrition
These brownies are sweetened with dates and use whey protein to amp up the protein in each brownie. One brownie has only 77 calories and 3.5 grams of protein.
Fudgy Mocha Black Bean Brownies | Being Nutritious
Dates help cut down the need for extra added sugars with their natural sweetness, while chia seeds, beans, and pumpkin puree add heart-healthy fiber.
Almond Flour Brownies | Haute and Healthy Living
Brownies that are vegan, gluten-free, and grain-free but with all the flavor and texture!? You’ve got to try these almond flour brownies. The almond flour helps decrease the carbs, and each brownie has 7 grams of protein and 4 grams of fiber.
Double Chocolate Sweet Potato Brownies | Mom’s Kitchen Handbook
Using sweet potatoes helps cut down on the added sugar while adding natural sweetness and a creamy texture.
Grain-Free Fudgy Avocado Brownies | Chelsey Amer Nutrition
These healthy brownies are sweetened with only a small amount of date sugar (which is just dates, ground into granules the size of sugar), avocado for healthy fats, and marine collagen for an extra protein boost.
The Bottom Line
There are so many ways to increase the nutrition of brownies so that they are good for you and still taste amazing. Whether you’re looking for a lower-calorie, lower fat, no sugar added sugar, or a low carb brownie – or maybe you just want to increase your fiber or protein intake, you’ll find an option in the list above. Get ready to enjoy every type of brownie you could ever imagine!