Skinny Brownies

Name: Skinny Brownies
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 65 min
Yield: 16 brownies
Ingredients: 2/3 cup pure maple syrup; 2/3 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder; 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour; 1/4 teaspoon baking powder; 1/4 teaspoon baking soda; 1/4 teaspoon fine salt; 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce; 3 tablespoons organic virgin coconut oil; 1 large egg, at room temperature; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chunks

Skinny Brownies made 100% whole wheat with with no butter or processed sugar!!

Yield: 16 brownies

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook: 25 minutes

These ultra chocolaty Skinny Brownies are 100% whole wheat and are made with no butter or processed sugar! You'll love this fabulous guilt-free dessert.

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Tessa's Recipe Rundown...

TASTE: There’s a bunch of cocoa powder in this recipe that lends that characteristic chocolaty flavor we all love in a brownie. These have just enough sweetness, you really don’t miss the processed sugar all that much.
TEXTURE: For being whole wheat and butter-free these brownies are surprisingly tender. However, they aren’t quite as rich, fudgy, and chewy as brownies made with a bunch of butter, but that’s to be expected. These are ever so slightly cakey. If you refrigerate them before serving it gives them a more fudgy texture.
EASE: Super quick and easy. These brownies taste best out of the fridge so they just require a little patience while you wait for them to chill.
APPEARANCE: They look just like brownies!
PROS: Healthy, easy, satisfying.
CONS: Nothing will ever replace a traditional brownie, but this recipe is definitely more of an everyday fair.
WOULD I MAKE THIS AGAIN? Sure!

These ultra chocolaty Skinny Brownies are 100% whole wheat and are made with no butter or processed sugar! You’ll love this fabulous guilt-free dessert.
Skinny Brownies made 100% whole wheat with with no butter or processed sugar!!

Last Friday I posted The Ultimate Guide to Chocolate Chip Cookies Part 3 where I delved into ingredient substitution for dietary needs, experimenting with making cookies healthier, whole wheat, vegan, gluten-free, egg-free, or butter-free. The results were fascinating, at least to a baking nerd like me. I used some of the information I learned from those experiments to find and adapt a great “skinny” brownie recipe. Today’s recipe is adapted from Jillian Michaels’ healthy brownie recipe, and I think it’s a winner.

It’s really difficult for me to make healthy adaptions in baking recipes because I’m so familiar with the science of baking that when I take away the ingredients and methods I KNOW will give me a marvelous brownie, I feel like I’m committing a culinary sin. Those ingredients that lend to a marvelous brownie are often not the healthiest, and not something we should be routinely eating. Everything in moderation right? Well with these brownies you don’t have to feel guilty about eating often, because they’re made with whole wheat flour, maple syrup instead of processed sugar, and a combination of applesauce and coconut oil in place of the butter. Give them a try and let me know what you think!

Skinny Brownies made 100% whole wheat with with no butter or processed sugar!!

How to make

Skinny Brownies

Yield: 16 brownies

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Inactive Time 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

These ultra chocolaty Skinny Brownies are 100% whole wheat and are made with no butter or processed sugar! You'll love this fabulous guilt-free dessert.

Ingredients

2/3 cup pure maple syrup
2/3 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
3 tablespoons organic virgin coconut oil
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chunks

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8x8-inch baking pan with foil and spray generously with nonstick cooking spray.
Place the maple syrup in a deep small microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for 30 seconds, or until warmed. Microwave for 15 seconds longer if using refrigerated maple syrup. Whisk in the cocoa powder and let cool.
In a small bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a large bowl whisk the applesauce, coconut oil, egg, and vanilla. Add maple mixture and whisk until smooth. Add the flour mixture and stir just until incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chunks.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake for 25 minutes, a toothpick inserted into the center should come out with moist crumbs still attached. Cool in the pan on a wire rack to room temperature. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes before slicing into 16 squares. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Recipe Notes

Adapted from Jillian Michaels

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

If you make this recipe, be sure to snap a picture and share it on Instagram with #handletheheat so we can all see!

Recipe by Tessa

About Tessa...

I share trusted baking recipes your friends will LOVE alongside insights into the science of sweets. I'm a professionally trained chef, cookbook author, and cookie queen. I love to write about all things sweet, carb-y, and homemade. I live in Phoenix, Arizona (hence the blog name!)

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14 Responses to “Skinny Brownies”

#
Taylor @ Food Faith Fitness — April 21, 2014 at 3:44 am

I love how honest you are with the “nothing will ever replace a traditional brownie” I hate when people claim skinny desserts are the best, as we know they aren’t 😉 But these definitely look like they would satisfy a chocolate craving while keeping me in my skinny jeans! Pinned!
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Diane @ Vintage Zest — April 21, 2014 at 5:03 am

Definitely pinning and keeping these on the back burner… Oh wait, I have all the ingredients in the pantry right now, so it’s on the list for today’s dessert! 🙂
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Gaby — April 21, 2014 at 7:00 am

Love that you added maple syrup, sounds wonderful!
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fitfoodiele — April 21, 2014 at 10:47 am

i can totally relate- when you start to subtract and/or sub ingredients things can get tricky. i like to keep things on the healthy side in my kitchen too but i LOOOOOVE dessert so i am totally trying your recipe! thanks for sharing.
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Jaclyn — April 21, 2014 at 10:36 pm

I need these in my life! I’ve definitely got to try these out!
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Baby June — April 22, 2014 at 4:46 am

Mmmm, these looks good. If they’re healthy they’re suitable for breakfast right? 🙂
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Janine Bloom — April 5, 2015 at 4:23 am

I made these a few days ago and they are absolutely delicious!!! When my kids tried them they fell in love with them! And they couldn’t tell that they made without sugar and with whole grain flour!!! I love it so much… that I am making a double batch this morning for Easter with the family!!!
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  Tessa — April 7, 2015 at 8:33 am
  
  Wonderful!! Hope you had a happy Easter.
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Ashley — December 28, 2015 at 8:43 am

If I wanted put butter back in these instead of the applesauce/coconut oil combo, do you know how much butter I should use?
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Janice — March 31, 2016 at 5:00 pm

Hi! I was looking for a cakey brownie recipe and seems yours is just the right one!
may i ask:
1) can i use all purpose flour instead of whole wheat?
2) what can i use to substitute the applesauce?
3) what can i use to substitute organic virgin coconut oil?
thanks a lot!
- #
  Tessa — March 31, 2016 at 5:24 pm
  
  Hi Janice! I’m sorry to say that three substitutions in one recipe would likely yield very different results. Yes, you can definitely use all purpose instead of whole wheat flour. Beyond that I would recommend sticking with the recipe as I’ve written it. You may find my Ultimate Brownie Guide useful: https://www.handletheheat.com/ultimate-brownie-guide/
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Ashley — July 30, 2016 at 3:45 am

Just wanna say this is probably my favorite healthy brownie recipe. I have them in the oven right now for the third or fourth time. This time I doubled it because it’s for a bridal shower, but kept the sweetener the same (I try to limit sweetener as much as possible). The reason I thought I could get away with doing that is because I swirled some homemade date syrup on top and sprinkled sea salt in for a “salted caramel” style brownie. I’m anxious to see how they turn out!! The batter was certainly tastey when I licked the bowl 🙂
- #
  Tessa — July 31, 2016 at 9:32 am
  
  So glad to hear that, Ashley! Let us know how the date syrup works 🙂
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Christina — July 27, 2017 at 6:32 am

Thank you for being so honest. I totally agree. My nutrition coach has given me some substitution suggestions. Even something as simple as replacing half of the all purpose flour with white whole wheat flour makes a slight difference in the taste. Since I had such great results with your other brownie recipe, I will for sure be trying this one!

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