After finishing our finals during my senior year of high school, a few of my friends and I celebrated with lunch at the newly-opened Cheesecake Factory, located at our town’s mall about two miles away. Since we arrived shortly after they started service, the hostess immediately seated us at a table outside.
As my first time at the restaurant, I took my time browsing through the menu, scanning the descriptions of any dish that sounded interesting or appealing. If you’ve dined there before, you know how long that menu is: with over 250 items, it’s nearly as thick as a textbook! (Only a slight exaggeration…)
I finally settled on the fresh vegetable salad with chicken (still my favorite meal that I order whenever I go!), and I tried to tide myself over by slowly nibbling on slices of the fresh sourdough and molasses-oat bread. With five of us at the table sharing the same complimentary basket, that wasn’t hard at all, and we each saved plenty of room for our entrées.
Knowing I’d spend the next few days at graduation parties and indulging in lots of treats to celebrate, I opted to skip dessert when our server dropped off those second menus. However, most of my friends ordered something sweet to end their meal, including a classic strawberry-topped cheesecake, chocolate cheesecake, and brownie sundae.
While the cheesecakes looked incredibly rich, I started eyeing the brownie dessert as soon as I spotted it on the waitress’s tray. Three thick triangular brownies, the fudgiest I’d ever seen, served with two scoops of sweet vanilla ice cream and finished with a generous amount of hot fudge sauce. My chocoholic heart literally skipped a beat, and when my friend proclaimed he was done, he offered me the rest… And I happily sampled (or, umm, maybe finished off…) the brownies!
When I drove past the Cheesecake Factory last week, I thought of that celebratory lunch, especially the brownie sundae. Although highly tempted to stop my car and order dessert, I headed straight home and immediately started to mix up a healthier batch of my own. But if you read my last recipe blog post, you’ll recall that I realized I had completely run out of flour!
So I improvised and whipped up these Practically Flourless Extra Fudgy Brownies instead! They’re just as chocolaty and fudgy as the ones from that original Cheesecake Factory dessert, but they contain absolutely no butter, heavy cream, refined flour or sugar.
And with just 74 calories, I don’t feel guilty about sneaking seconds!
Have you read the first Harry Potter book or watched the movie? Do you remember the scene where Hermione asks the Gryffindor ghost, “Nearly headless? How can you be nearly headless?” I’m guessing a similar thought floated through your mind when you saw this recipe title! “Practically flourless? How can these be practically flourless?”
They’re practically flourless because you’ll use homemade oat flour instead of regular all-purpose flour! Oat flour is almost exactly what it sounds like—ground up oats—and it’s incredibly easy to make your own. Just follow my quick instructions here. It only takes a few minutes, and it’s much cheaper than store-bought!
Next, you’ll add an equal amount of unsweetened cocoa powder to the bowl. That’s right—a full ¾ cup! When it comes to brownies, I’m too lazy to melt chocolate, and as a chocoholic who considers chocolate to be its own food group, I basically want to dive into my dessert ASAP. Just remember: it’s very important to measure the cocoa powder correctly, using a kitchen scale or this method, because too much will dry out your brownies and make them taste bitter.
With only 1 tablespoon of coconut oil, the brownies get the rest of their fudgy texture from my favorite ingredient in healthier baking. If you’ve been around AHB for a while, you already know what it is… Greek yogurt! Greek yogurt provides the same moisture as extra oil or butter for a fraction of the calories, and it gives your brownies a protein boost too.
To sweeten these, you’ll skip the granulated sugar and use pure maple syrup instead. Make sure you buy the good kind! Avoid pancake syrups or sugar-free syrups; those contain corn syrup or artificial ingredients. The only ingredient on the label should be “maple syrup,” and it generally comes in thin glass bottles or squat plastic jugs. I’ve even bought it online here at a slightly discounted price!
I have a special trick to extra fudgy brownies… You’ll bake them at a low temperature, just 300°F, and pull the pan out of the oven when the edges look done but the center still appears glossy and not fully set. The heat from the pan will continue to cook the center while they cool without drying out the edges. If the brownie edges begin pulling away from the sides of the pan within about 15 minutes of removing the pan from the oven, you baked them for the perfect amount of time!
Who’s ready for a treat?? You better believe I am… Brownies are actually my favorite dessert! ? And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! ?) I’d love to see your brownies and feature them in my Sunday Spotlight series!
| Practically Flourless Extra Fudgy Brownies | | Print |
- ¾ cup (90g) easy homemade oat flour (measured like this)
- ¾ cup (60g) unsweetened cocoa powder (measured like this)
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp (14g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup (80g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- ½ cup (120mL) pure maple syrup
- Preheat the oven to 300°F, and lightly coat an 8”-square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in the Greek yogurt, mixing until no large lumps remain. Stir in the maple syrup. Mix in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated.
- 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 3 hours at room temperature for the fudgiest texture before serving.
Regular whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, white whole wheat flour, or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the oat flour. Gluten-free flour may be substituted as well. For the gluten-free flour, I recommend as follows: ½ cup (60g) millet flour, 2 tablespoons (15g) brown rice flour, 2 tablespoons (15g) tapioca flour, and ½ teaspoon xanthan gum. Most store-bought gluten-free flour blends will work as well, if measured like this.
I don’t recommend using Dutched or special dark cocoa powder. The brownies already taste very rich and dark chocolaty without it!
Honey or agave may be substituted in place of the maple syrup. Alternatively, ½ cup of brown sugar plus ¼ cup of milk may be used instead.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
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You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♥ Fudgy Dark Chocolate Frosted Brownies
♥ Fudgy Dark Chocolate Raspberry Brownies
♥ Fudgy Mocha Brownies with Coffee Drizzle
♥ Fudgy Raspberry Mocha Brownies
♥ Fudgy Dark Chocolate Strawberry Brownies
♥ Fudgy Peppermint Mocha Brownies
I finally got around to making these brownies, and loved them! The oat flour works really well, and gives them an interesting texture. Great flavour too, and very rich but not heavy. The only problem I had was making the homemade oat flour, as I was a bit enthusiastic sieving it and too many of the larger pieces of oat got through into the flour. I’ll know better next time! I tried using brown sugar and milk as I didn’t have maple syrup and it worked really well.
Will definitely be trying this recipe again, thank you 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed the brownies Alisa! It’s not always easy to patiently sift oat flour when you know that it’s for extra fudgy brownies… I’ve had the same thing happen too! 😉 And that means a lot to me that you want to make them again — thank you!
i love this recipe and want to bring some back to school with me! how long do you think these stay fresh if i put them in the fridge?
I’m so glad you enjoyed the brownies Clare! I actually included that information already in the text underneath the recipe title in the recipe box. It can be easy to miss! 🙂
Thanks for the recipe and the tips! I’m planning to make this maybe tomorrow (and I’m out of flour! relieved to hear that happens in other kitchens too!). I have rice bran syrup — would that work in place of maple syrup?
Yes, I think your rice bran syrup should work! I can’t wait to hear what you think of these brownie Vi! 🙂
They’re intensely dark and chocolatey and the rice malt sugar made them not sweet at all. My brownie-loving nephew loved it. The grownups added a touch of ganache on top – yum!
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them Vi! Thanks for taking the time to let me know — that means a lot to me! 🙂
Thank you for this recipe!!! My brownies turned out delicious. My boyfriend, who doesn’t usually like my healthy baking, polished off half the pan.
I’m SO happy you and your boyfriend loved these brownies Rachel!! That’s such an incredible compliment if he finished off half the pan and doesn’t normally enjoy healthy baked goods. Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know — that truly means a lot! 🙂
Hi there,
Is there a dairy free sub for the yogurt (almond milk etc.)?
Thank you :)!
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Meg! If you’re able to find dairy-free yogurt (almond-based, soy-based, coconut-based, even oat-based!), that would be the best substitute. 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of these brownies if you try making them!
First thing I baked after moving into my new apartment before having bought flour or sugar!!! They are SO good. I subbed sugar-free syrup and 2 TBS stevia instead of maple and also added: 2 Tbs corn starch, 2 Tbs stevia, and 1/4 tsp baking soda.
On top I swirled in a little peanut butter mixed with more sugar-free syrup!! I wish I could attach a picture!
I’m so honored that this was the first recipe you baked after moving into your apartment Mary!! That really, truly means the world to me! ♡ I’m so glad you loved these brownies, and thank you for taking the time to send me your photo on Facebook! It made my day!! 🙂
The best brownie recipe EVER. I love making my own oat flour and not using sugar in my bakes, so this was the perfect recipe. Not too sweet and super rich and creamy, I’m guessing due to the yogurt. So so so yum!!
Oh my goodness Anna — I’m SO honored that you’d call this the best brownie recipe ever!! You just made my entire day! Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know! ♡
Hi, can I substitute Greek yogurt for ‘normal’ yogurt instead? Like the more watery ones. Thanks!
Yes, regular non-Greek yogurt is fine! I can’t wait to hear what you think of these brownies, Jolene! 🙂
Hi! I was wondering if u had any suggestions on making them a bit more cakey? Thanks!
I’m honored that you’d like to try making these brownies, MJ! This recipe was specifically designed to yield brownies that are fudgy and chewy, rather than drier and more cakey, so I’m not sure that you’ll ever achieve a “true” cakey texture. However, you can try baking them longer, which will help dry them out a bit so they’re less fudgy and chewy! Start checking on them after 19 minutes, as Step 3 of the Instructions mentions. You can probably let them bake for at least 23-25 minutes, maybe even longer.
Otherwise, this brownie recipe of mine is specifically designed to be more cakey. You can substitute oat flour for the all-purpose flour and coconut sugar for the granulated sugar to make them clean-eating friendly (if that’s important to you!). This is another brownie recipe that’s also designed to be cakey instead, and you can substitute oat flour and coconut sugar there as well.
I’d love to hear what you think if you try any of those three brownie options! 🙂
Great! Thank you for the info! I’ll definitely try one of them this weekend !
It’s my pleasure — I’m always happy to help! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear which recipe you decide to try and what you think of the brownies!
I made these today and they were great! Not too sweet and just the right texture !
I’m so glad, MJ!! Thank you for taking the time to let me know — that really means a lot! 🙂