These are the absolute best dark chocolate brownies EVER! With a deep fudgy texture, rich chocolaty flavor, and a crackled top, these brownies just can't be beat! Made paleo-friendly, gluten-free, and dairy-free, I consider them better than boxed brownies.
What Makes These Brownies The Best?
I get it, declaring a brownie recipe "the best" if pretty forward of me. But I'm telling you, these call for it. They encompass all the essential elements of a life changing brownie:
- Taste - rich dark chocoalty
- Texture - crispy edges with a crackled top
- Density - super fudgy
Are These Brownies "Healthy"?
While the term healthy has a different definition for everyone, I the answer to this question is yes and no.
Yes, they are made with wholesome, natural ingredients. You won't find processed sugars, hydrogenated oils, or preservatives in this recipe.
However, these brownies do fall into the indulgent bucket in the healthy scheme of things. They have a good amount of high-quality dark chocolate and an entire cup of coconut sugar.
So are these brownies "healthy"? Like I said, yes but also no. BUT THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY MIND BLOWINGLY DELICIOUS!
Ingredients for The Best Paleo Brownies
High Quality Chocolate
Coconut Oil
Coconut Sugar
Eggs
Almond Flour
Cacao Powder
Espresso
Dark Chocolate Brownie Baking Tips
Although this recipe isa simple, one-bowl-style recipe, there are a couple tips and tricks to ensure your brownies are fudgy and rich with that marvelous crinkle top layer:
- Beat your eggs and coconut sugar together. This is the key to the cracked top layer. Beat your eggs and coconut sugar until they almost double in size. This can take anywhere from 3 - 5 minutes and can be done with a stand mixer, hand mixer, or whisk (if you want a good arm workout)
- Use high-quality chocolate. This is a no-brainer as high-quality chocolate really has no substitute. I love using a super deep dark chocolate bar (think 90% cacao) to really make them a 'dark chocolate' brownie. You could also use chocolate chips! If you want to go that route, these are my favorite paleo and vegan chocolate chips and work well in this recipe!
- Fold in the dry ingredients. This prevents dry brownies. Slowly fold in about ⅓ of the flour mixture at a time with a rubber spatula and don't over mix.
Looking for more chocoholic-style treats? Here are some of my favorites:
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The Best Dark Chocolate Paleo Brownies
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 16 Brownies 1x
- Category: Brownies
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
These are the absolute best dark chocolate brownies EVER! With a deep fudgy texture, rich chocolaty flavor, and a crackled top, these brownies just can't be beat! Made paleo-friendly, gluten-free, and dairy-free, I consider them better than boxed brownies.
Ingredients
- 1 9-oz bag dark chocolate chips or 9-oz dark chocolate bar
- ⅓ cup coconut oil
- 1 cup coconut sugar
- 3 eggs, room temperature
- ¾ cup almond flour
- 3 Tbsp cacao powder
- 1 tsp espresso (sub. 1 Tbsp strong coffee)
- ¼ tsp sea salt
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Melt 1 ⅓ cups of the chocolate (or ~7-oz of the chocolate bar) and the coconut oil; stir until glossy
2. While the chocolate is melting, beat the eggs and coconut sugar in a bowl using a stand mixer, hand beater, or whisk. Whisk until the mixture has doubled in size, about 3 - 5 minutes (this is the key to the crackled top layer!)
3. Mix in the melted chocolate into the bowl with the eggs and stir until fully incorporated
4. Whisk the almond flour, cacao powder, espresso, and sea salt in a separate bowl. Slowly fold into the bowl with the chocolate, a little at a time using a rubber spatula; don't over mix
5. Fold in remaining chocolate chips or chocolate bar and pour the batter into an 8 x 8 lined baking pan*. Bake for 24 - 28 minutes until you can insert a toothpick into the middle and it comes out clean
Notes
* Note : If baking with glass, increase the baking time to 30 - 35 minutes. Check the brownies by inserting a toothpick in the middle. With a glass baking pan, they will continue to cook for a little longer once pulled out of the oven
Keywords: Paleo Brownies, Healthy Brownies, Dark Chocolate Brownies, Gluten-free, Paleo
Hi, might you be able to easily swap monk fruit sweetener for the coconut sugar?
Hi Lauren! I have not tried this with monk fruit sweetener. From my experience with it, it's much sweeter in taste. I do think this recipe will work with it but I would half the sugar amount if you're using monk fruit sweetener and I'd try to use the "baking" kind or the monk fruit in the raw kind. Hope that helps! Let me know how it goes 🙂
I’m sure with your ingredients they taste better but I only used what I had on hand... avocado oil & honey for a sub and sunflower flour (I can’t eat nuts) and they turned out pretty good!!!! I made half the recipe and baked in mini cupcake tin too! 🙂 Thanks for the recipe- look forward to make again!
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Mini brownie cupcakes sound so fun! Glad to hear your nut-free substitutes worked well 🙂
Hi can you use coconut flour instead?
Hi there! I have not tried this with coconut flour. Coconut flour can be a little tricky as it has a different texture than almond flour. I don't think it work well in this recipe unfortunately. If you're looking for an alternative, a gf 1:1 would probably be the best bet. Let me know how it goes!
After seeing another commenter say that they reduced the sugar by half, I tried these and only reduced the sugar by 20%. Mine didn't have crackly tops at all. I think I may have overbaked them a bit also, and thus ended up not super happy with the results. I wonder if reducing the sugar was the reason for the top not coming out nice and crackly. My chocolate was not as dark as yours so I figured reducing the sugar would be a good idea. I should know better than to make changes in a recipe the first I make it.
Hi Melanie! Oh no I'm sorry that happened. Yes, if you reduce the sugar then the baking time will probably be shorter (less batter = less time to cook). To get the nice crinkle top, you really need to beat the eggs and coconut sugar together. This takes me 2 - 3 minutes. The mixture should almost double in size and look creamy. My thought is that may be the issue if you batch didn't get the crinkle top layer. Hope that helps!
Hi Ansley,
I beat the heck out of the egg and sugar mixture but it never looked creamy. I wonder if the sugar I used was not the right kind--are there different types of coconut sugar? I used the light brown coconut sugar from Bob's Red Mill. My brownies were a lot better the next day than when they were fresh--I think I might try making these again. Even without the crinkly tops they were nice and fudgy and delicious on day two.
Hmm some coconut sugars have different textures. You're looking for bubbles to develop at the top of the mixture. This just means the sugar has been dissolved into the whipped eggs. I'm glad you enjoyed them the next day! They definitely have a fudgy texture 🙂
Sorry if this is a dumb question but for the espresso...do you mean espresso powder? Or a fully prepared espresso beverage?
Not a dumb question! I use instant espresso powder. The espresso flavor elevates the richness of the chocolate, you don't taste it. If you don't have it on hand, you can omit it though. Hope that helps!
Do you have nutrition facts on this recipe? Like how many carbs & sugars in one brownie. Calories etc.
Hi. We’ve just made these brownies this weekend and they are absolutely delicious! I was just wondering how long these last for after the day you’ve made them. ❤️
Hi Annabel!
Yay I am so glad you enjoyed them! They should keep for about 4 days in an airtight container on the counter and about a week in an airtight container the fridge. The fridge is my favorite way to store them - they are awesome heated up slightly 🙂
Delicious with a deep chocolate flavour! I just felt that 180g of coconut sugar was a lot, so used only about half the amount and they turned out great!
Hi Eva!
The rich chocolate flavor is my favorite part! I'm a sucker for dark chocolate. Good to know the recipe works with reduced sugar! Thanks for mentioning that, I'll have to put that in the notes 🙂
Hey, the brownies look beautiful. I was wondering what can be a replacement for the eggs? Also, if I can use oat flour instead of almond flour or a combination of both.
Hi Heena! Thank you so much! I haven't tried this but you could probably replace the eggs with flax eggs and/or applesauce. I would try doing 2 flax eggs and 1/4 cup apple sauce at first. I have tried this with oat flour and it's not as fudgy. If you wanted to try 1/2 cup almond flour + 1/4 cup oat flour that may help with the texture. Hope this helps!
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Hi! I'm so excited to try these out! Since going gluten free it's been so hard to find my brownie fix. I don't have any coconut sugar and it's a bit expensive. How would I substitute with regular sugar? Do I need to decrease the amount?