Growing up, I thought that all brownies came from a box. That was the only way we baked them, whether for a random Tuesday night dessert or a special slumber party treat. While the brand varied, the method stayed the same: pull out the eggs, oil, and water; stir everything together in the huge mixing bowl; spread the batter into the warped metal pan and pop it in the oven.
That all stemmed from my mom’s first brownie baking experience. As a 2nd grader, she had to bring a plate of homemade ones to a church bake sale. She pulled out a cookbook, found a recipe, and started measuring, but when she mixed the eggs into the hot melted chocolate, it immediately cooked them and she ended up with chocolate-covered scrambled eggs!
She refused to bake brownies from scratch ever since.
So up until I started this food blog, I made mine the same way: box mix, oil, eggs, and water. Finally, a little over a year ago, I courageously stepped outside my brownie comfort zone and decided to develop my own from-scratch recipe for the perfect lightened-up fudge brownies.
After multiple rounds of testing, I came up with these beauties, followed by these a few months later (a version made exclusively with cocoa powder and no melted chocolate) and these (a dark chocolate variation on the cocoa powder ones).
But all of those included all-purpose flour and granulated sugar, and that thought started nagging at me a few weeks ago until I set out to create a “clean eating” fudgy brownie recipe, one with entirely wholesome ingredients: whole wheat flour, maple syrup, and the works.
I’m SO proud to say that these Peppermint Drizzled Chocolate Fudge Brownies far exceeded all of my brownie expectations! They’re rich, dense, moist, chocolaty… Everything a brownie should be. These dark squares literally taste like you’re eating fudge—and not a single person ever guessed that they were healthy!
This easy recipe is basically as simple as a box mix. Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl, the wet in another, and combine the two. You just need a fork. There isn’t any chocolate to melt! Because most of the chocolate flavor comes from cocoa powder, we’ll add equal amounts of that and flour for the richest, fudgiest taste.
Instead of refined granulated sugar, these healthier brownies are sweetened with maple syrup. No, they don’t taste like maple! Not even a hint or undertone. Make sure you use the real stuff—pure maple syrup—not the faux syrup I used to douse my pancakes in as a kid. You could probably substitute agave or honey if you preferred, although I haven’t tried myself.
For an extra bit of decadence, we’ll add a little chopped dark chocolate to the batter too. Choose a good-quality variety if you can; I went with Trader Joe’s red 72% pound-plus bar. Chocolate chips contain a stabilizer that prevents them from melting, but regular chocolate bars do melt while baking and create indulgent hidden pockets of chocolate. Ohmygoodness… They’re to die for!
For the fudgiest texture, we’ll bake these brownies low and slow, and try your very hardest to wait to cut into them for at least 8 hours. I know, I know… It’s pure torture seeing the pan on the counter! (It’s why I bake them the night before right before I head to bed: no temptations but lots of sweet dreams!) If you cut into them sooner, they’ll still taste a little cakey, but you can always seal the cut brownies inside of an airtight container and let them sit overnight to increase their fudge factor.
The peppermint drizzle is mindlessly easy: it’s just Greek yogurt, agave, and peppermint extract. Go easy on the peppermint extract! A little goes a long way, and you don’t want your drizzle to taste like toothpaste! You only need a drop or two. To make sure you don’t add more than that, measure the drops into a ¼-teaspoon measuring spoon, and pour any excess back into the bottle. Then drizzle over the brownies to your heart’s content!
So rich… So decadent… These Peppermint Drizzled Chocolate Fudge Brownies barely lasted 24 hours! The ultimate comfort food chocolate dessert, they disappeared much too quickly in our house full of chocoholics. Because really, who can resist brownies that taste like fudge?
I know I can’t… And I bet you can’t either!
These dark chocolate brownies are so dense and moist; they literally taste like you’re eating fudge! They’re best if drizzled just before eaten. Store any un-drizzled brownies in an airtight container on the counter for up to 5 days. Once drizzled, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator instead.
- Preheat the oven to 300°F, and lightly coat an 8”-square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- To prepare the brownies, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, eggs, and vanilla. Add in the maple syrup and Greek yogurt, and stir until no large lumps remain. Mix in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Fold in the dark chocolate.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 300°F for 15-19 minutes (15 minutes yields the fudgiest brownies; 19 minutes yields slightly cakier brownies). Cool completely to room temperature in the pan, and let the brownies sit for at least 8 hours at room temperature for the fudgiest texture before slicing into squares.
- To prepare the drizzle, stir together the yogurt, agave, and peppermint extract in a small bowl. Spoon into a zip-topped bag, and snip off the corner. Drizzle over the sliced brownies.
Notes: For the gluten-free flour, I used as follows: ½ cup (60g) millet flour, 2 tablespoons (17g) brown rice flour, 2 tablespoons (15g) tapioca flour, and ½ teaspoon (<1g) xanthan gum.
When chopping the dark chocolate, try to make the pieces about the size of miniature chocolate chips.
For fun flavor variations, try substituting the peppermint extract in the drizzle with vanilla, almond, or butter extract instead.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
These brownies look so fudgy and decadent, they would be well worth the wait. And I bet you’d never even know they were healthier. Pinned!
Thank you so much for your sweet comment and pin Jen! As soon as those 8 hours were up, we inhaled them so quickly. 😉
These look to die for good FOR SURE!! I love super thick and fudgy brownies and these look like both – plus that drizzle!! YUM 🙂
Thanks Chelsea! Fudgy brownies are the only way to go. Anything else is considered “cake” in my book! 😉
Your poor mom and her scrambled egg brownies!! Haha. I used to be a box person until I realized you could add more butter with homemade ones. Done deal 🙂 Love the peppermint, it’s making me excited for Christmas!!
Ohmygosh Karen, you and my mom would get along so well… She LOVES her butter and always orders extra for her toast/coffee cake/etc. I made a fairly butter-laden recipe yesterday (well, for me anyway!), and my mom wanted to put more butter on top of that caramel sauce too! She’s such a crackup. 😉 And Christmas already… I haven’t even started Halloween. I’m such a bad food blogger this year!
Whoa… only 89 calories?! How am I EVER going to be able to stop eating them?! 😉
I don’t know… But if you figure that out, let me know!! I couldn’t stop either! 😉
AMY! These are MAGIC brownies!!
I was sure I had over baked them or botched the recipe somehow because they were quite firm and not at all like any brownies I’d ever made before… (But I did go toward the longer end of the bake time) But when I patiently waited overnight and then cut into them… HOLY FUDGE! I could not stop eating these bad boys!! And even after I ate more than my share, I felt ready to go for a jog rather than being weighed down like I normally am by brownies.
Don’t be afraid, readers! Make the brownies!! You’ll be glad you did. 😉
Thank you so much Andrea!! I’m so, so happy you enjoyed the brownies. You’re way too sweet with your kind words! I love the idea of brownie fuel for a run… And then I’d probably run faster so I could get home sooner to eat more! 😉
Too funny! I thought that too. And cakes!! Oh my gosh, it’s time for peppermint. I’m so excited!
I bet Jordan is super excited too! With all of the chocolate and mint going on at Christmas, it must be her favorite season… After her birthday, of course! 😉
Ooooh! Amy these look so decadent, you’re killing me! I can’t beleive they are healthy.
Thanks Julia! Totally healthy, and totally gone already too… Whoops! 😉
Amy, these seriously look like a slab of fudge and I’m in LOVE. The dark chocolate and peppermint definitely make these better than box … I’m not going to lie, we are so often out of cocoa powder *cough cough smoothies* that I use box mixes a lot. I have no excuses now, these are being pinned and put onto the Christmas baking list!
Chocolate smoothies?? Can I move in with you? That sounds incredible! I actually buy the huge boxes of cocoa from Walmart (they cost half the amount there than any other store!), and I always keep at least 2 backups in the garage. With how much I love chocolate, they never last long enough! 😉 Thanks for the pin too Mary Frances!