During our Michigan food blogger retreat, Liz organized us into small groups to prepare breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. Each group took on two meals during the trip, and we cooked recipes from our own blogs to share with everyone else.
Tasked with dinner on the second evening, I partnered with Trevor to bake his wife Jennifer’s one-bowl brownies while the rest of our team whipped up the entrée and sides. As a chocoholic, I loved that “assignment!”
We made a few minor tweaks since the pantry lacked a few ingredients—melted butter instead of vegetable oil, chopped Ghirardelli chocolate bars instead of chocolate chips—and we baked the brownies in the only rectangular pan in the kitchen, which ended up being smaller and deeper than a traditional 9×13” cake pan…
But that resulted in extra fudgy and decadent brownies—always a plus in my book! When Trevor and I set out the pan after dinner, everyone excitedly dug in, and even Jennifer was amazed at how rich and irresistible they turned out!
With the idea of a healthier version of those brownies rolling around in my head since that trip, I finally perfected my recipe. These Healthy One-Bowl Fudgy Brownies are just as incredible (and easy!) as the ones Trevor and I made! Supremely fudgy, extremely rich, extra chocolaty… But just 68 calories!
In other words… My chocoholic heart’s dream come true!
You just need a few key pantry ingredients to make these brownies, including white whole wheat flour (like this!) and coconut sugar (like this!). Those are unrefined ingredients, which make these brownies much healthier than traditional or boxed mix recipes. They’re two staples in my pantry, and I highly recommend you add them to your shelves as well!
For the decadent chocolate flavor, you’ll use cocoa powder (like this!). Yup, that’s it! No chocolate to melt (or extra dishes to wash!) in this easy recipe. Can you tell I’m doing a little happy dance about fewer dishes? ? And for the supremely fudgy factor, you’ll mix in Greek yogurt instead of extra butter or oil. It adds the same moisture to your batter, and it gives your brownies a protein boost, too!
One last very important tip… It’s crucial that you follow the instructions precisely, especially with the ingredients’ order of addition. This recipe won’t turn out right if you just dump everything into the mixing bowl and stir. As much as I wish it were otherwise…
So add the ingredients in the order instructed (just like in my recipe video below!), stir with a fork (no mixer required, aka yet another thing you don’t have to wash!), wait for at least 6 hours for the fudgiest brownie texture, and…
Enjoy your supremely fudgy and chocolaty 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!
| Healthy One-Bowl Fudgy Brownies | | Print |
- 1 tbsp (14g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ cup (60g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- ½ cup (96g) coconut sugar
- 5 tbsp (75mL) nonfat milk
- ¾ cup (60g) unsweetened cocoa powder (measured like this)
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ¾ cup (90g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 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 butter, eggs, vanilla, and salt. Stir in the Greek yogurt, mixing until no large lumps remain. Stir in the coconut sugar. Stir in the milk. Add in the cocoa powder and baking powder, stirring just until incorporated. Stir in the flour until just 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 6 hours at room temperature for the fudgiest texture before serving.
For the gluten-free flour, use 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.
Regular whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the white whole wheat flour. Oat flour (gluten-free, if necessary!) may be substituted as well, but be extremely careful when measuring it!
I don’t recommend using Dutched or special dark cocoa powder. The brownies already taste very rich and dark chocolaty without it! Make sure you measure the cocoa powder correctly, using this method or a kitchen scale. (← That’s the one I own and love!) Too much will dry out your brownies and make them taste bitter.
If your cocoa powder is very bumpy and/or clumpy, then sift it into the mixing bowl.
Brown sugar or granulated sugar may be substituted for the coconut sugar, but the brownies will no longer be clean eating friendly.
Any milk may be substituted for the nonfat milk.
If you’d prefer, ½ cup (120mL) of pure maple syrup, honey, or agave may be substituted for the coconut sugar and ¼ cup of the milk. (You still need to add that 1 final tablespoon of milk!)
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat}
View Nutrition Information
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ Small Batch Fudgy Dark Chocolate Brownies
♡ Practically Flourless Extra Fudgy Brownies
♡ Fudgy Dark Chocolate Frosted Brownies
♡ Fudgy Dark Chocolate Cheesecake Swirled Brownies
♡ Fudgy Dark Chocolate Orange Brownies
♡ Fudgy Mocha Brownies with Coffee Drizzle
♡ …and the rest of Amy’s brownie recipes!
Hey Amy the coco powder and whole wheat flour is measured both at 3/4 cup but they’re both different in terms of grams . The coco powder says 60 grams and the flour says 90 grams. I’m confused
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Julian! Those gram measurements are both correct. Weight is based off of density, rather than volume. If you measured out 1 cup of cotton balls versus 1 cup of sand, they’d take up the same amount of space (volume)… But the cup cotton balls would definitely weigh less than the cup of sand! Or if you measured out 1 pound of cotton balls versus 1 pound of sand, you’d end up with a small handful of sand… And a pillowcase or two full of cotton balls! Same weight, different volume. Does that make sense?
The same thing applies to different ingredients. 1 cup of flour weighs 120g, whereas 1 cup of cocoa powder weighs 80g. (Check the nutrition label on the sides of your packages — they should show the grams per serving, which is usually grams per ¼ cup for flour and grams per tablespoon for cocoa powder!) So although these ingredients take up the same amount of space (volume), they’ll have different weights because of their different densities.
I’d love to hear what you think of these brownies if you try making them! 🙂