Quick and easy vegan chocolate brownie recipe

To celebrate Chocolate Week we’re sharing our best selling vegan and gluten free dark chocolate brownie recipe with you.

What better way to shake those Autumn blues off, than to indulge in a cosy afternoon baking session? The resulting delicious traybake is a great incentive to give this easy recipe a try.

At Honeybuns, all of our cakes are gluten free and we’ve noticed a growing call for dairy free and plant based cakes too. This demand is in part due to the rise of veganism and another factor is the link between gluten sensitivity and lactose intolerance. Many people are finding they suffer from both intolerances.

With this simple brownie recipe, we’ve made it dairy free, vegan and gluten free. Please note if you want to buy the Honeybuns version of this cake on our online shop it may contain traces of dairy. As ever, if you ever need any technical or allergen advice on any of our products you can just pick up the phone or email us and we’ll be delighted to help you.

A quick note on finding genuinely vegan ingredients

All of our vegan cakes are registered with The Vegan Society and bear their logo. This is a fail safe way of identifying ingredients and products that are guaranteed to be plant based and cruelty free.

Let’s begin by answering a few baking FAQs:

1. Is this chocolate recipe healthy?

The brownies themselves are made from unprocessed, natural store cupboard ingredients. The coconut milk in the brownies is high in fibre and, according to the BBC Good Food website, it’s also a good source of vitamins“ C, E, B1, B3, B5 and B6” plus minerals including selenium and potassium. However, as with all of our cakes, they are ultimately sweet treats rather than health bars.

2. I don’t like coconut flavour, can I swap for another plant based milk?

The coconut flavour really doesn’t come through as there is such a high chocolate content in this brownie recipe. The chocolate masks any coconut. We have not yet tried any other plant based milks but will post if we do try any out.

3. How long does it take to make these brownies?

35 minutes.

4. Help! I need a vegan, dairy free and gluten free Birthday Cake.

This recipe makes one tray bake and serves up to 15 portions. Why not stack it like we have here and add a vegan candle.

5. Can I freeze this cake?

Yes, absolutely. You can freeze this plant based brownie for 3 months or if you want to keep it unfrozen- store in a tin for up to 7 days.

Let’s start baking!

Vegan and gluten free chocolate brownie ingredients:

250g sugar (we love light Muscovado, but granulated white, brown or coconut sugar will all work)
250ml coconut milk
250g dark chocolate buttons or chunks (it needs to be gluten free and vegan. Moo Free is good)
200g gluten free plain flour (Doves is good)
A pinch of salt
2tsp cider vinegar, or lemon juice.
Dairy free oil for brushing. Rapeseed oil is good as it has no strong flavour.

Do I need any special baking equipment?

1 x tray-bake tin measuring approx 30cm x23cm x 4cm
Bains marie or microwave
Baking parchment
Hand held electric mixer

How to make your dairy free dark chocolate brownies:

Preheat oven to 180°C / Gas 4.
Line your tray- bake tin with baking parchment and brush the parchment with dairy free oil.
Melt the chocolate buttons using a microwave or bains marie method.

Bains marie method: Bring a saucepan of water to simmering point, placing a bowl on top of the pan. Place the chocolate in the bowl, ensuring no steam or water comes into contact with the chocolate. Stir gently & occasionally until the chocolate melts.

Alternatively use a microwave, on medium power and in bursts of 1 minute, stirring in between. Just take care to gently melt the chocolate -if it burns there is no rescuing it.

Heat your coconut milk up in a microwave or in a pan.
Pop all of your ingredients, including the melted chocolate and the warmed up coconut milk into a mixing bowl. Using a hand held electric mixer blend all the ingredients together until you get a smooth, glossy brownie mix.
Spoon the sticky brownie mixture evenly into your lined tin and smooth over with a spatula or palette knife.
Bake for 30 mins, until springy on top.
After baking leave the brownie in the tin until cooled completely. You can then lift out of the tin using a fish slice and onto a cooling rack or flat board.

Delicious Chocolate Brownie flavour variations:

– Classic chocolate and orange

Simply add the finely grated zest of one orange and 1.5 tsp orange oil to your brownie mix and stir in thoroughly.

– Very Berry

Dried raspberries, cranberries, Goji berries and blackcurrants all work really well when added to your mix. 150g of total berry weight, stirred in to your brownie mixture, will give delicious results.

– Peanut & Jelly

Taking our inspiration from coffee shops Stateside, this is a very easy way to “glow up” your brownies. Simply spoon peanut butter and jam on top of your unbaked brownie. Raspberry jam gives a great burst of tartness to contrast with the chocolatey richness.

Top Tips:

Check out The Vegan Society website for more vegan recipes
If you like this video and recipe, then take a look at our easy Vegan Chocolate Brownie Float recipe.
For an extra decadent centre piece vegan pudding check out our ice cream sandwich recipe here.
Our latest cook book, Honeybuns all Day Cook Book is 100% gluten free and also includes over 60 dairy free recipes.

Comment below and share what you thought of this recipe! Be sure to share this delicious recipe with a friend too! Thanks for reading!

– Emma Goss Custard

If you have any questions, do get in touch via this blog in the comments section, or via facebook, email or telephone.

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