These blackout brownies will make every chocolate lover’s heart beat faster! Made with easy to find, wholesome ingredients, they are super fudgy, deep in flavor, protein-packed and total crowd-pleasers.
If you’ve been wanting to bake up some goodness for your whole family that is sure to swoon any dairy-lover but still packed with nutrition, these blackout brownies are perfect!
Super fudgy on the inside, deep in flavor and filled with all the chocolate you’ll ever need, they are the perfect portable treat year-round and taste fantastic with a good cup of coffee.
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If you enjoyed our vegan pumpkin brownies, silken tofu chocolate mousse or chocolate mousse cake, these blackout brownies will make your chocolate love grow even further! Thanks to special dark cocoa powder, they are much richer in taste than regular brownies.
You won’t find a deeper or richer flavor than these black bean brownies. They are just sweet enough, offer a pleasant crunch from the roasted hazelnuts and almost melt in your mouth!
Why you’ll love them
- Deep in flavor & incredibly chocolatey
- Bakery style delicious
- Fudgy & filled with crunchy hazelnuts
- Gluten-free, sugar-free & vegan
- Easy to make in 30 minutes
- Decadent but not too heavy
- Kid-friendly and portable
Sounds great, right? In terms of kitchen equipment, you will need a 8×8 inch baking pan, parchment paper, food processor, large bowl, mixing spoon and cutting knife.
Let’s check out what goes into these blackout brownies!
Ingredients needed
- Black beans — cooked black beans from a can work well if you rinse them or if you’re a kitchen-pro, you can go for home-cooked!
- Dates — our favorite whole food sweetener that even adds some fudginess.
- Almond flour — gluten-free & higher fat flour to bind the wet ingredients together.
- Almond butter — any nut butter of your choice will work to ensure fudgy brownies that hold moisture over days!
- Dark cocoa powder — for the deep, rich flavor; if you only find traditional cocoa powder, that’s fine.
- Almond milk — any plant-based milk will work here.
- Molasses — offers more sweetness, depth and chewiness to your brownies.
- Hazelnuts — can be omitted but we highly recommend them for some added crunch!
- Dark chocolate — that should come as no surprise, right? Choose how dark and low-sugar you want to go here.
- Espresso powder — highly recommended especially if you’re a coffee lover like us! If you want to share these with your kids, probably omit this ingredient.
You can find the exact amounts in the recipe card below. If you have any questions about these ingredients and possible adjustments, I’ll share more about them in a bit!
Here’s how easy it is to make these brownies.
How to make blackout brownies
Before you start
Soak your pitted dates in a small bowl of hot water for about 30 minutes and then preheat your oven to 350° F (180° C). Line your 8×8 inch baking pan with parchment paper.
If you don’t have almond flour on hand, use 1.8 oz (50 g) of blanched almonds and blend them into a fine powder. You can leave some chunks for added crunchiness if you like!
Mix the wet ingredients
Drain your soaked dates and put them into a food processor alongside the molasses, almond butter, almond milk and vanilla extract. Pulse and mix to obtain a creamy puree.
Add the rinsed black beans and then process again until a smooth batter forms.
Add the dry ingredients
Put the almond flour, espresso powder, flax seeds, cocoa powder and baking powder in your food processor jar on top of the black bean mixture.
Process to obtain a homogeneous, smooth mixture. And now, get a small spoon and make a taste test! Is it sweet and balanced enough for your liking? Adjust to your preferences.
Fold in the hazelnuts & chocolate
Transfer your blackout brownie batter from the food processor into a large bowl and add your chopped dark chocolate as well as the toasted hazelnuts.
Gently fold them in using a large spoon.
Bake & enjoy
Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan and spread it into an even layer. Place the pan into your preheated oven and bake for 20 mins.
Check after 15 mins to see whether your brownies are almost done and test with a toothpick — stick it into the middle of your batter, if it comes out clean, the brownies are ready to eat!
Once done, remove your freshly baked blackout brownies from the oven and let them cool. You can then drizzle them with some melted chocolate before cutting the batter into brownie squares and serving them!
Storage & serving suggestions
The baked brownies need to cool completely before being stored in an airtight container. You can choose between leaving them out on the counter at room temperature, putting them in the fridge (awesome during summer) and freezing them!
While they usually don’t last for more than 4 days in our house, that’s about how long they stay good for on the counter — when storing them in the fridge, you can add a few days.
These blackout brownies can also be frozen in a container for around 3 months. It’s best to arrange them in a single layer and cover that layer with some parchment paper before adding more brownies on top!
Once you’re ready to eat them, defrost however many brownies you want and let them thaw at room temperature for 3-4 hours or pop them in the microwave for a few rounds, 30 seconds at a time.
During the summer months, we like to eat them half-frozen!
Enjoy these fudgy blackout brownies on their own, with a glass of almond milk or serve them with a dollop of vegan ice cream!
We like to have them alongside a good cup of almond milk latte, coconut whipped cream (oh, my!) or some fresh seasonal fruit.
FAQs & adjustments
I can’t find dark cocoa powder!
Our black bean brownies taste great with just regular cocoa powder, too. They aren’t quite as rich and chocolatey, but still a fantastic vegan treat!
Do I have to soak the dates?
Yes, this is highly suggested for a smoother and creamier result. Using hot water decreases the soaking time!
I don’t have any hazelnuts
No problem, you can just use any of their cousins: almonds, walnuts, pecans or cashews! If you want to make this nut-free, add more chocolate chips to the batter.
Why use dates instead of syrup?
Dates create a fantastic texture and add some vitamins and minerals to your sweet treats. If they are hard to find, you can use maple syrup or more molasses instead.
In this case, add less almond milk to the batter at first and then see how it comes together!
More dessert recipes
If you like easy and healthy desserts, try these chocolate-infused plant-based recipes next.
- Easy Chocolate Mousse
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Raw Caramel Slices
- Chocolate Mousse Cake
- Edible Cookie Dough
Did you make our vegan blackout brownies? We’d love to read about it, so be sure to leave a review and tell us more in the comments below. You can also Pin this recipe here!
Ingredients
- ½ cup dates soaked & drained (75 g)
- 2 tbsp molasses
- 3 tbsp almond butter 48 g
- ½-¾ cup almond milk unsweetened (120-180 ml)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups black beans drained & rinsed (340 g)
- ½ cup almond flour 50 g
- 2 tsp espresso powder
- 1 tbsp flax seeds ground
- ⅔ cup dark cocoa powder 57 g
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ cup dark chocolate cut into chunks (70 g)
- ½ cup toasted hazelnuts chopped (50 g)
Chocolate Drizzle
- ½ cup dark chocolate melted (70 g)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F (180° C) and line an 8x8 inch baking pan with parchment paper.
- Add the dates, molasses, almond butter, almond milk and vanilla extract into a food processor and mix to obtain a creamy puree.
- Add the black beans and process until really smooth. Finally, put the almond flour, espresso powder, flax seeds, cocoa powder, and baking powder in your food processor jar. Process to obtain a homogeneous, smooth mixture.
- Transfer the brownie batter to a large bowl. Add the chocolate chunks and hazelnuts and gently stir with a spoon to incorporate.
- Transfer the batter to the lined pan and spread it into an even layer.
- Place your pan into the oven and bake for 20 mins. Check after 15 mins to see whether your brownies are almost done and test with a toothpick — stick it into the middle of your batter, if it comes out clean, the brownies are ready to eat.
- Once done, remove your freshly baked blackout brownies from the oven and let them cool.
- Drizzle with melted chocolate, cut into squares, and serve.
Notes
- The chocolate drizzle at the end is optional but recommended. You can melt dark chocolate in a water bath on the stove or in a small bowl using your microwave.
- If you want to share these blackout brownies with your kids, you might want to skip the espresso powder!
- Any leftover brownies can be stored in an airtight container on the counter for 3-4 days or in the refrigerator for up to a week. This recipe is also freezer-friendly.
- If you don’t have any molasses, you can use 2 tbsp of maple syrup instead or just increase the amount of dates in the recipe!
- Find more tips & substitution ideas in the article.
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How much do you think I could increase the dates by? I’m not sure that these would be very sweet at all but I still like the look of the recipe. (also I thought that 1/2 cup of dates was around 100-120g…)
Hey Anna,
the weight of 1/2 cup dates depends on how tightly you pack them :) You could probably double the amount and add a bit more almond flour to achieve the right texture.
Let us know what you end up doing!
Omg these are so good! I did double the dates but I didn’t make any other changes. They took 25-30 minutes to bake. Also I need to try baking them again with blops of your cookie dough in them, or, possibly making half a batch of these and half of the cookie dough and baking them one on top of the other in the same pan for cookie brownies!
that’s actually a fantastic idea! now I need to try this very soon, your gave me major cravings ;)
Hi there,
I don’t have a food processor. What can I use instead?
Can’t wait to make these!! Oh yum!
Thank you!
Melanie Serre
great question, Melanie! Do you have a blender? Use it for the wet ingredients (soaked & drained dates, molasses, almond butter, almond milk, cooked beans) and blend it into a homogenous liquid puree. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix with a spoon, then add the blended wet ingredients and keep mixing until well-combined :)
Please let us know how you like the brownies! Thanks :)
Oh my goodness these are so delicious! I added more dates for extra sweetness, and sprinkled some sea salt on top of the chocolate drizzle. And I used toasted walnuts because I couldn’t find hazelnuts anywhere. These brownies turned out great! They are so fudgey and so chocolatey, thanks for the awesome recipe! :)
thanks so much for this wonderful comment! Really happy you liked the brownies :)
Is there an adequate substitute for almond flour?
Thank you
Hi Susan, you can use oat flour (aka blended rolled oats) instead of almond flour but the batter will be a bit drier. Let us know how you like the brownies! :)
Dear Alena,
Thank you so much for your amazing chocolate brownie recipe. These brownies were just perfect; fudgy, chewy or gooey in all the right places. I doubled the amount of dates (after reading the comments) and used walnuts instead of hazelnuts. I served them warm together with vanilla ice-cream and my guests, not plant-based eaters, absolutely loved them. Thank you!
Bessy
Dear Bessy, thank you SO MUCH for this wonderful feedback! Made my morning :) We truly love these brownies as well and have been feeding them to our non-veg friends a couple of times. So happy you guys enjoyed them, too!
I want to try this recipe. It seems really good. I was just wondering if I could use coconut flour instead of almond flour for less calories? Or would you recommend maybe combining the two types of flour?
a combination of the two will definitely work! I don’t bake with coconut flour so I can’t tell you how a 1:1 swap would turn out but I’d be eager to learn from you :)
What can I use instead of molasses? I don’t think I can find any in my country
no problem! Any liquid sweetener like maple syrup or agave syrup works :)
Thank you for the recipe! It’s delicious. Mine did not turn out gooey and chewy at all. they are quite dry and thin. any suggestions for making them more moist? more almond milk?
I suggest adding more fat in this case :) glad you liked the brownies anyway!
I followed the instructions and OMG – so amazing!! These were amazing! I will make again and again. Thank you for this recipe!!
Do you have nutrition facts for the recipe?
yes, they are at the bottom of the recipe card :) just click on “Show Nutrition Label” and it opens right up