For three years during high school, our marching band director scheduled a competition trip for us in December during the second half of winter break. Just a few days after Christmas, we packed our suitcases, met in the school parking lot, and loaded our luggage and instruments onto five big charter buses before settling back into the plush seats as the drivers eased us onto the freeway, headed for Southern California.
After finishing the field show competitions, our band director also organized a parade in Disneyland, usually shortly after lunch on January 1st. A park employee led us backstage through Toontown, where we changed into our uniforms, walked us around the backside of Tomorrowland, and brought us out through the side gates right at the start of Main Street to perform popular Christmas songs in a holiday-themed parade.
But before and after the parade, we ran all around the park, enjoying the rides and snapping pictures with the characters just like regular Disneyland visitors. We especially loved that January 1st morning… We had the park almost entirely to ourselves because most other people seemed to sleep in after staying up late for New Year’s Eve, so there were virtually no lines, even at the most popular rides like the Matterhorn, Space Mountain, and Indiana Jones!
In between rides, my friends and I usually stopped by our favorite Disneyland restaurant, Pizza Port in Tomorrowland, for dinner. The slices they served were bigger than my head, so I often split one with someone else to save room for dessert.
And of course, my favorite treat was something really chocolaty… The oversized, completely gigantic, extra rich and fudgy brownies! If Pizza Port ran out by the time we arrived, I slipped into one of the sweets shops on Main Street right before exiting the park to get my chocolate fix before hopping back on the buses.
Although it’s been many years since my last Disneyland brownie, the memories are still just as strong as their rich chocolate flavor. Since I probably won’t get a chance to go back this Christmas, I decided to bake these Healthy Fudgy White Chocolate Chip Brownies to satisfy my winter break brownie cravings!
They’re supremely decadent and fudgy, just like the ones from Disneyland, but these contain no refined flour or added refined sugar… And they’re just 77 calories!
So let’s go over how to make these healthy fudgy white chocolate chip brownies!
You’ll start with whole wheat pastry flour and cocoa powder. You just need regular unsweetened cocoa powder for these healthy white chocolate chip brownies—not Dutched or special dark! Those latter two often have a more muted flavor compared to regular cocoa powder in my brownie recipes. Besides, you’re adding equal amounts of flour and cocoa powder, so your brownies will definitely taste extremely rich and decadent!
Whole wheat pastry flour is a bit different than regular whole wheat flour. Although they both have the same health benefits, like extra fiber, whole wheat pastry flour is made by grinding soft white wheat extremely finely, which results in a much lighter taste and texture. And that, dear chocoholic, is what lets the extremely rich and fudgy flavors of your healthy white chocolate chip brownies truly shine!
Unlike traditional brownie recipes that call for a full stick or two of melted butter (yikes!), these healthy white chocolate chip brownies only require 1 tablespoon. That definitely helps keep them low fat and low calorie!
Then the rest of their supremely moist and fudgy texture comes from one of my favorite ingredients: Greek yogurt! Greek yogurt adds the same moisture to your batter as extra butter or oil but for a fraction of the calories, and it gives your healthy white chocolate chip brownies a protein boost, too!
You’ll skip the refined granulated sugar and sweeten your brownies with coconut sugar instead. Coconut sugar is exactly what it sounds like: an unrefined sweetener that comes from coconuts! However, it does not actually taste like coconuts. It has a rich caramel-like flavor, similar to brown sugar, and you can usually find it on the baking aisle right next to the granulated sugar.
Since my family loved these secret ingredient cookies so much, I decided to mix chopped white chocolate into these fudgy brownies as well! That added a lovely sweetness and richness to the treats. I always save some of my chopped chocolate to press into the tops of my brownies. Doesn’t that make these healthy fudgy white chocolate chip brownies look so inviting and irresistible?
Time to bake! You’ll actually set your oven to just 300°F, rather than the usual 350°F for most baking recipes. This low temperature allows the center to cook through without the edges turning dry and crunchy.
However… Your brownies actually finish baking relatively quickly, after just 15 minutes! The center will still look glossy and underdone when it’s time to remove them from the oven. That’s a good thing! The center will continue to cook all the way through in the warm pan as you let them cool completely to room temperature.
Hint: If the edges of your brownies begin to pull away from the edges of the pan within 10 minutes of removing the pan from the oven, you baked your brownies long enough!
One last thing! I know it feels like pure torture, but you must wait at least 6 hours once your brownies have reached room temperature before slicing and serving. The brownies turn fudgier over time. It’s like magic! If you slice into them while they’re still warm from the oven, or even as soon as they’re at room temperature, they’ll have a cakier texture. But if you let them rest for at least 6 hours once they’re at room temperature (not just 6 hours after you remove them from the oven!), they’ll be supremely fudgy—literally like oversized squares of fudge!
And I’m definitely a huge fan of extra fudgy brownies! ? 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 fudgy white chocolate chip brownies!
| Healthy Fudgy White Chocolate Chip Brownies | | Print |
- ¾ cup (90g) whole wheat pastry flour or gluten-free* 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
- 2 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (60g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- ½ cup (96g) coconut sugar
- 6 tbsp (90mL) nonfat milk
- 3 tbsp (42g) white chocolate chips, chopped
- 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, egg whites, and vanilla. Stir in the Greek yogurt, mixing until no large lumps remain. Stir in the coconut sugar. Stir in the milk. Add in the flour mixture, stirring until just incorporated. Gently fold in 2 ½ tablespoons of chopped white chocolate.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan, and gently press the remaining chopped white 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 once at room temperature for the fudgiest texture before serving.
Regular whole wheat flour, white whole wheat flour, or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the whole wheat pastry 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 and flour 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 4 tablespoons of the milk. (You still need to add those 2 final tablespoons of milk!)
I prefer chopping the white chocolate chips so every brownie bite contains at least a morsel of white chocolate! For a clean eating option, substitute chopped dark chocolate for the white chocolate chips.
The brownie edges should look firm but the center should still look somewhat glossy and underdone when you remove the pan from the oven. If the edges of your brownies begin to pull away from the edges of your pan within 10 minutes of removing them from the oven, then you’ve baked them long enough!
For the fudgiest texture, you must wait 6+ hours after your brownies reach room temperature before slicing and serving! If you cut into them while warm, they’ll taste cakey instead of fudgy. The brownies turn fudgier the longer they rest on the counter. I promise it’s worth the wait!
{gluten-free, clean eating option, low fat}
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ Healthy Secret Ingredient White Chocolate Pistachio Cookies
♡ Healthy White Chocolate Cranberry Pound Cake
♡ Healthy White Chocolate Cranberry Scones
♡ The Ultimate Healthy White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
♡ …and the rest of Amy’s healthy brownie recipes!
Hi Amy! Thank you so much! They sound fabulous. Usually your recipes are flexible with the eggs and can have them substituted for a flax egg. Do you think that will work with this recipe? I have a severe egg intolerance that only surfaced about nine months ago 🙃 On the other hand, I have a real chocolate fetish, so hoping a flax egg will work!??
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Michelle! I’m actually not a fan of flax’s flavor, so I’m afraid I don’t have much experience with substituting it as an egg replacer. However, I believe other readers have had success with using flax eggs in my brownie recipes before!
For what it’s worth, my brother is actually allergic to eggs too, and Ener-G is my favorite substitute. Ener-G is a flavorless, shelf-stable powder that keeps for ages. It works perfectly as an egg replacer in nearly all of my recipes, including this one! For my recipes, use 1 ½ teaspoons Ener-G + 2 tablespoons warm water for each egg white (and you’ll need an additional ½ tablespoon of butter or coconut oil {or Earth Balance, if you’re vegan!} for each egg yolk, although that doesn’t apply to this particular recipe!).
I can’t wait to hear what you think of these brownies! 🙂
💕Thanks so much for your reply Amy! Oh jeez, so your bother has that same (frustrating) egg issue… I never heard of Ener-G before. Thanks for the tip! I will pick some up, as I’m eager to try it now. I appreciate all the specifics on how to incorporate it! I will definitely report back on how they turn out. I’ve made so many of your recipes. You are my go-to recipe expert for the perfect mix of decadence with a healthy twist…
Thank you so much!!! 😁
You’re welcome, Michelle! I’m happy to help. 🙂 That means so much that you’ve been enjoying my recipes — thank you for taking the time to let me know! Hearing that just made my day. You’re such a sweetheart!!
I’m really looking forward to hearing what you think of these brownies — and any other treats you decide to try making too!
Hi Amy these sound yum Im not a rich chocolate fan could I swap some of the cocoa for more flour? and leave out the white Chocolate?
Yes to both! I’d recommend using 1 cup (120g) of flour and ½ cup (40g) of cocoa powder. You may need to add just a teensy bit more milk — no more than a tablespoon or so! — since flour is a bit more absorbent than cocoa powder. If you’re a fan of nuts, you could swap those in for the white chocolate, or you can just omit it entirely. It’s up to you! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these brownies, Debra!
Hi Amy, I was wondering if you had any tips for baking these brownies with coconut flour instead of all-purpose? I tried your other healthy fudgy brownies recipe and absolutely loved them. Thanks!
I’m so glad you enjoyed my other fudgy brownies recipe, Julianna! That really means a lot. Thank you for taking the time to let me know! 🙂
These brownies call for whole wheat pastry flour, which is different than all-purpose flour. (Lots of people don’t realize this, so I just wanted to double check you knew! 🙂 ) If your main goal is to make them lower carb, then I’d actually recommend almond flour instead of coconut flour. Coconut flour behaves really differently compared to just about every other flour, which makes it finicky to substitute, so I mainly recommend using it in recipes that explicitly call for it. (However, you can find my recipes that use coconut flour here!)
If using almond flour to make these brownies, I’d recommend adding a touch more than ¾ cup because it’s less absorbent than wheat-based flour.
I’d love to hear what you think of these brownies if you do end up making them!
Hey Amy! I’ve already made these brownies before, and they turned out AMAZING! I want to try making them again, but this time add a little peppermint to the batter to make mint chocolate brownies, and I was wondering if you had any tips for the amount of peppermint?
Thanks!
I’m so glad you love these brownies, Julianna! Thank you for taking the time to let me know and rate the recipe. It truly means a lot! 🙂
I have a peppermint mocha brownie recipe here, and I used ½ teaspoon of peppermint extract and ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract to make them. I think that combo would work really well here too!
If you end up doing that, I’d love to hear how that mint chocolate brownie version turns out!