In 8th grade, my middle school’s concert bands planned a four-day field trip to Disneyland. Our band director scheduled a performance for us inside of the theme park, but for the remainder of our two days in Anaheim, we raced around Disneyland to fit in all of our favorite rides.
For each of the eight-hour bus rides from our Northern California town and back, the chaperones packed plenty of VHS tapes to keep us occupied. Of course, knowing our destination… Most of those movies were Disney-themed, like Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, and The Lion King!
During the last half hour of our Sunday drive, one chaperone popped in The Lion King 1 ½. Since my friends and I hadn’t seen it, we were bummed when the bus pulled into the middle school parking lot… So we decided to meet up at my house the next weekend to watch the rest!
That afternoon, my mom picked up pizzas from our favorite restaurant, and I whipped up a batch of boxed mix brownies (each of my friends had a sweet tooth as big as mine!). Before settling into the family room and pressing play, we grabbed paper plates to serve ourselves lunch.
Because I forgot to cut the pan of brownies, the first guy to reach them offered to help out. Mom handed him a knife, but… In his excitement over dessert, he sliced the most lopsided diagonal lines I’ve ever seen. Each brownie looked more like an uneven trapezoid or rhombus—not a single one was rectangular!
Since then, every time I cut a batch of brownies, I think about that funky geometric pan… And feel very tempted to pull out a ruler, especially if I’m planning on photographing them to share with you!
And yes, that happened with these Healthy One-Bowl Chocolate Chunk Brownies too! I think I did a decent enough job cutting them, don’t you? But regardless of how they look, they taste absolutely amazing! Rich, fudgy, decadent, chocolaty… Basically like squares of fudge with even more bits of chocolate sprinkled throughout. Even so, they’re just 76 calories!
That makes my chocoholic heart so happy! ♡
Let’s go over how to make these healthy one-bowl brownies! You’ll start with just 1 tablespoon of melted butter or coconut oil + 2 egg whites. Yup, that’s it! Most brownie recipes call for way more butter or oil, along with the egg yolks, to keep the brownies moist and fudgy. But instead…
We’re using Greek yogurt! I love incorporating Greek yogurt into my healthy baking recipes because it adds the same moisture as extra butter or oil for a fraction of the calories, and it gives your treats a protein boost, too!
You’ll sweeten these brownies with coconut sugar (like this!) rather than granulated sugar. Coconut sugar is an unrefined sweetener that comes from coconuts (probably pretty obvious!), but it does NOT actually taste like coconuts. It has a nice caramel-like flavor similar to brown sugar, which adds to the richness of these brownies.
Of course, the most important ingredient in this recipe is the cocoa powder! You aren’t using any melted chocolate (fewer dishes to wash—hooray!), so cocoa powder provides all of that rich chocolate flavor in the batter.
Remember to use regular unsweetened cocoa powder, like this! Do not substitute dutched or special dark cocoa powder. Those latter two have a milder and muted flavor, which makes the brownies taste bland, in my opinion.
You’ll also mix in white whole wheat flour (like this!) once the cocoa powder is fully incorporated. No, it isn’t a combination of white (aka all-purpose) flour + whole wheat flour! White whole wheat flour is made by finely grinding a special type of soft white wheat (hence the name!), whereas regular whole wheat flour comes from a heartier variety of red wheat. This gives white whole wheat flour a lighter taste and texture, which lets the richness and fudginess of these brownies truly shine!
Just before spreading the batter into the pan, you’ll gently fold in chopped dark chocolate. I highly recommend these bars of Ghirardelli or Lindt! Aim to cut them about the same size as miniature chocolate chips. This ensures every bite has a bit of dark chocolate!
Nerd alert! Bars of dark chocolate will actually melt in the oven, unlike chocolate chips, which contain a stabilizer that prevent them from fully melting.
Nerd alert 2! You’ll bake your brownies at a lower temperature, only 300°F, to keep them supremely fudgy without the edges drying out. The brownies will be ready to come out of the oven when the edges look fully baked through but the center still looks glossy and underdone. The center will continue to cook through while your brownies cool on the counter. If the brownie edges pull away from the rim of the pan within 10 minutes of pulling them out of the oven, you baked them long enough!
I know it feels almost impossible to wait for your brownies to rest for at least 8 hours once they’ve reached room temperature… But I promise that results in the fudgiest texture! If you cut into them sooner, they’ll have a slightly more cakey texture instead. And I’m definitely Team Fudgy when it comes to brownies!
Pure chocolate heaven! 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!
| Healthy One-Bowl Chocolate Chunk Brownies | | Print |
- 1 tbsp (14g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
- 2 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ cup (60g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- ½ cup (96g) coconut sugar
- 6 tbsp (90mL) 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)
- 3 tbsp (42g) finely chopped dark chocolate
- 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, egg whites, 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. Gently fold in 2 ½ tablespoons of the chopped dark chocolate.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan, and gently press the remaining chopped dark chocolate into the top. 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 (like this one!) 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 those 2 final tablespoons of milk!)
For the best results, use regular bars of dark chocolate—not chocolate chips! Chocolate chips contain stabilizers that prevent them from fully melting while baking. I love and highly recommend bars of Ghirardelli and Lindt! Cut them so the pieces are about the size of mini chocolate chips.
To see how these brownies are made, watch my video here! (It’s for a similar recipe!)
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat}
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ Healthy Slow Cooker Fudgy Dark Chocolate Brownies
♡ Healthy Fudgy Dark Chocolate Cheesecake Swirled Brownies
♡ Healthy Small Batch Fudgy Dark Chocolate Brownies
♡ Healthy Fudgy Raspberry Dark Chocolate Brownies
♡ Healthy Flourless Chocolate Chunk Brownie Bites
♡ …and the rest of Amy’s healthy brownie recipes!
I really enjoyed this recipe! Considering how healthy it is, it really satisfied my chocolate cravings! I will say it had a bit of a healthy taste which was probably mostly because of the whole wheat flour but I was still super satisfied with them. Not a very typical brownie texture as mine were very thin and had the texture of fudge than that of a brownie. I’ll definitely come back to this recipe next time I want a healthy brownie!
I’m so glad you enjoyed these brownies, Julia! 🙂
I’d love to help you solve the mystery about why your brownies were so thin and that “healthy” taste, if you’d like. In order to do so, I have a few questions for you!
Did you make any modifications or substitutions, including those listed in the Notes section?
What brand of whole wheat flour did you use?
Did you use a kitchen scale or measuring cups/spoons for all of the ingredients (especially the flour, cocoa powder, and milk)?
How long did you bake your brownies?
How long did you let them (a) cool and (b) rest before slicing into them?
When you measure your square baking pan, is it 8″ across the bottom of the pan or across the top rim?
I know I just asked a LOT of questions, but I’ll have a much better idea of what you can do to make your brownies even better the next time you make a batch! 🙂
Hi my batter came out a bit thin? Is that supposed to happen.
It means a lot that you tried my recipe! It shouldn’t be as thin as pancake or cake batter, but it shouldn’t be as thick as cookie dough either. Can you describe the consistency of your brownie batter a bit more?
If you watch my video that I linked to in the bottom of the recipe’s Notes section (at the very bottom of the recipe box — I know it can be easy to miss!), was your batter thinner than mine?
Also, did you make any substitutions or modifications to the recipe, including those listed in the Notes section?
I’m happy to help figure out what’s going on — I could just use a little more info to do so! 🙂
I used the same measurements and ingrediants. It was a soupy consistancy. I did no mods but I subbed the flour for oat flour.
Thanks for sharing! That’s really strange it was a soup-like consistency. That shouldn’t happen! Did you use the full amount of oat flour, cocoa powder, and coconut sugar? Also, did you use a kitchen scale or measuring cups/spoons for all of the ingredients?
I used measuring cups and used the full amount of oat flour cocoa powder and coconut sugar. They also have a very ‘healthy’ like tatse
Thanks for this additional information! Something still isn’t adding up correctly. If the exact measurements of all ingredients were used, and oat flour was the only modification that was made, then the brownie batter should have a pretty thick consistency. It would almost hold its shape if scooped up with a spoon, and it would gradually ooze off the sides of the spoon.
Since yours was much thinner in consistency than that, it sounds like there was either {a} too much liquid (butter/coconut oil, egg whites, Greek yogurt, milk), {b} too much coconut sugar (sugar counts towards the liquid ingredients in batters like this because it dissolves in milk, which therefore “bulks” up the liquid!) or {c} not enough dry ingredients (cocoa powder and flour).
Did you use whole eggs or egg whites from a carton, by any chance?
What brand of Greek yogurt did you use?
Did you use cups or tablespoons to measure the milk?
What was the texture like after the brownies rested at room temperature for 6+ hours?
Can you describe what you mean by a “healthy” flavor a bit more? Too bitter, too bland, not chocolaty enough, oat-like, something else?
I’m happy to continue trying to solve this brownie mystery, and your answers to all of the above questions will help me do that! 🙂
I really appreciate your interest! I just came back to this recipe because I’m planning on making them again tomorrow. Looking at your questions, I realized that I used regular whole wheat flour instead of white whole wheat flour like you suggested. I tend to find that whole wheat flour gives a kind of healthy taste in most recipes so I think I’ll use all-purpose flour this time. Thanks for your help!
It’s my pleasure, Julia! If you’re willing to share the answers to my other questions, I’m happy to help solve the other issues you experienced, especially the thinness. White whole wheat flour, regular whole wheat flour, and all-purpose flour won’t affect the thinness (only the flavor!), so it sounds like there’s something else going on too. I’ve shared the same questions I asked you before here, just in case that’s easier for you! 🙂
Did you make any modifications or substitutions, including those listed in the Notes section?
Did you use a kitchen scale or measuring cups/spoons for all of the ingredients (especially the flour, cocoa powder, and milk)?
How long did you bake your brownies?
How long did you let them (a) cool and (b) rest before slicing into them?
When you measure your square baking pan, is it 8″ across the bottom of the pan or across the top rim?