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… And really quick to make. You need 20 minutes (or less!) to get the batter in the oven!
In other words… My chocoholic heart’s dream come true!
HOW TO MAKE THE BEST ONE-BOWL BROWNIES
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 adding 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 healthy one-bowl fudgy brownies!
Healthy One-Bowl Fudgy Brownies
Ingredients
- 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 (90g) white whole wheat flour or gluten free* flour (measured like this)
- ¾ cup (60g) unsweetened cocoa powder (measured like this)
- ¼ tsp baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300°F, and 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. Pour in the flour and cocoa powder, and sprinkle the baking powder evenly over the top (to prevent it from clumping!). Stir in the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder 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.
Notes
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ One-Bowl Flourless Fudgy Chocolate Chip Brownies
♡ 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 healthy brownie recipes!
Why do they need to sit six hours? What if I don’t want to wait?
They turn fudgier over time, just like the Instructions say. 🙂 If you don’t want to wait, your brownies will taste cakey, not fudgy. I promise it’s worth waiting — that fudgy texture is incredible!
I loved the recipe until I saw the wait time of six hours…… But I’m sure it’ll be worth it in 6 hours tic toc I’m waiting 😀
I can’t wait to hear what you thought of these brownies Kim! 🙂
Hi I need brownies that are dairy-free is there anything I can substitute in place of the Greek yogurt?
thanks,
Rachel
Any non-dairy yogurt (ie soy- or almond-based) is the best substitute for the Greek yogurt! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these brownies Rachel!
Hi Amy, cant wait to try these, I was wondering if I could use less cocoa, I do like chocolate but not to rich cocoaie ( not sure if that is a word ) would I use less cocoa and more flour as a replacement?
Yes, I think that should work! I can’t wait to hear what you think of these brownies Debra! 🙂
Hi Amy -These look delicious and I would love to try baking them. Just to clarify the flour first – I’m in the UK, and White Wholewheat doesn’t seem to exist here! I can find fine wholewheat, guessing that might be the closest? Would that be plain or self-raising in UK terminology? Many thanks, Alison
Alison, the sub for white wholewheat would be plain wholewheat
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Alison! I think fine whole wheat flour or plain whole wheat flour, as Gayle suggested (thanks for chiming in, Gayle!), would both work. Use plain and not self-rising! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these brownies!
I was wondering if I could exchange the Coconut Sugar for a sugar substitute I already have? The sugar sub. is granulated, but I want to make sure that it won’t destroy the texture of the brownies.
#IWantTheGoo
It depends on the exact product you’re trying to substitute, Alece! What’s the name of it? We’ll make sure your brownies turn out really fudgy — I promise! 🙂
The sugar substitute is Truvia’s Cane Sugar Blend.
Thanks for the info Alece! I think that should be fine. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear how your brownies turn out!
Thank you!!!
My pleasure Alece! 🙂
Thear are absolutely fabulous! So soft and fudgy! I added 25 gr of crushed walnuts and a tsp of orange zest and everybody at home is asking for them again! Great flavor and not caloric. Thank you Amy!
I’m so glad you enjoyed these brownies Estefania! That’s the best kind of compliment that your family is already asking for them again — I’m truly honored! Thank you so much for sharing that with me! 🙂
I added in a 1/4 cup dark choc chips at the very end before baking. Turned out delicious! How do you store this? In the fridge or airtight container on the counter?
I’m so glad you enjoyed these brownies Alexis! I’ve actually answered your question already in the text directly beneath the recipe title in the recipe box. It can be easy to miss! 😉
Turned out bad. So soft and squishy, cooked but no flavour, maybe more sugar. Won’t make this again
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Emma! I’d love to work together to figure out what happened — that’s not how the brownies should turn out at all! Did you make any substitutions to the recipe, including those listed in the Notes section underneath the Instructions? Also, how did you measure the flour and cocoa powder — with measuring cups or a kitchen scale? If the former, can you describe in detail what you did? I promise we’ll get those issues sorted out so they don’t happen again in the future! 🙂
SAME EXACT THING HAPPENED TO MINE SUCH A WASTE OMG SO ANNOYED.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Grace! I’d love to work together to figure out what happened. ? Did you happen to scoop the flour and cocoa powder directly from the containers with your measuring cups? When measured by scooping directly from the containers like that, you end up with 1.5 times as much flour and cocoa powder as when you lightly spoon and level — and that extra flour and cocoa powder would cause your brownies to have a weird texture. Too much cocoa powder is also what makes the brownies taste bitter and not nearly sweet enough.
If you don’t own a kitchen scale, here’s what I recommend doing for measuring flour (and cocoa powder, oats, etc!): use a fork to “scoop” up flour from the container, and lightly shake the fork back and forth over the top of your measuring cup to transfer the flour into it. Once there’s a small mound of flour extending past the rim of the measuring cup, then place the flat back of a knife against the top of the measuring cup, and gently scrape it across the top to get rid of the excess flour. Never “pat” the flour down with the knife or fork. This fork method acts like a sifter (without dirtying another dish!) and guarantees you’ll add less flour to the batter, so you’ll end up with rich and fudgy brownies. Does that make sense? ?
these ‘brownies’ turned out so so bad, and I followed the entire recipe correctly. they need much more sugar, as they are not sweet at all. also it just has this horrible texture. I am disappointed to have wasted so many expensive ingredients. such a shame:(
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Jennifer! I’d love to work together to figure out what happened. 🙂 Did you happen to scoop the flour and cocoa powder directly from the containers with your measuring cups? When measured by scooping directly from the containers like that, you end up with 1.5 times as much flour and cocoa powder as when you lightly spoon and level — and that extra flour and cocoa powder would cause your brownies to have a dry/cakey texture. Too much cocoa powder is also what makes the brownies taste bitter and not nearly sweet enough.
If you don’t own a kitchen scale, here’s what I recommend doing for measuring flour (and cocoa powder, oats, etc!): use a fork to “scoop” up flour from the container, and lightly shake the fork back and forth over the top of your measuring cup to transfer the flour into it. Once there’s a small mound of flour extending past the rim of the measuring cup, then place the flat back of a knife against the top of the measuring cup, and gently scrape it across the top to get rid of the excess flour. Never “pat” the flour down with the knife or fork. This fork method acts like a sifter (without dirtying another dish!) and guarantees you’ll add less flour to the batter, so you’ll end up with rich and fudgy brownies. Does that make sense? ?
Hi Amy… me again lol…I plan on making a batch of these for my stepmom for mother’s day (everything I love that is chocolate care package including your chocolate/Oreo cookie cupcakes & chocolate chip cookies)… I know those two things can be frozen… but how about the brownies? I’d like to bake them this weekend and freeze them if possible. Let me know. Thanks
I’m so honored that you want to bake these for your stepmom for Mother’s Day! That means so much to me! 🙂 Yes, these brownies freeze really well! I can’t wait to hear what she thinks of them!
Awesome! I’ll probably just message you back on here. I’m doing something entirely different for my mom (she is getting a full blown healthy three course meal including some of her own cookies and cream cupcakes)… but I don’t want to get her upset if she sees this on social media.
I totally understand, Brooke! You’re so sweet to be that considerate of her! 🙂