You’ll love these beautiful vegan pumpkin brownies with their simple fall leaves swirl! They are moist, fudgy, completely grain-free and made with everyday ingredients. A crowd-pleasing and healthy seasonal treat!
Are you in the mood for all things fall yet? These secretly healthy vegan pumpkin brownies with a pretty swirl have been our latest obsession — especially during cozy, rainy afternoons.
They are everything we want a good treat to be! Made with easy-to-find and wholesome ingredients, super chocolatey and paring well with coffee or tea.
free 7-day vegan meal plan
Your next week of eating is planned out with these quick and delicious vegan bowls, meal prepping steps & full grocery list.
After sharing our blackout brownies (made with protein-packed black beans), we knew we wanted to add another variety of these delicious baked goods! This recipe calls for pumpkin puree and doesn’t require any flour, which makes them so fudgy.
If you like healthier chocolate treats, definitely try this silken tofu chocolate mousse and find more vegan dessert ideas below.
Definitely don’t miss out on this simple pumpkin Thai stir fry this fall or try more of our favorite vegan pumpkin recipes!
Recipe overview
- Made with nutritious ingredients
- Deep in flavor & fudgy texture
- Kid-friendly and easy to make
- Gluten-free, oil-free & sweetened with dates
- Perfect balance of chocolate & pumpkin
- Family-friendly fall treat
You can just bake a batch of these tasty vegan pumpkin brownies during the weekend and enjoy them with your family over the following days!
Ingredients needed
- Pumpkin puree — the main star of the show, obviously.
- Medjool dates — our favorite whole food sweetener in baked goods!
- Almond flour — made by blending almonds; this offers more fudginess.
- Cocoa powder & dark chocolate — just enough as to not overpower the pumpkin part!
- Almond milk — any dairy-free milk will do.
- Cashew butter — our favorite nut butter for this recipe but you can swap it for almond butter.
- Spices — from cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla extract to pumpkin pie spice!
- Maple syrup — to round up and adjust your desired level of sweetness.
These are the main ingredients needed to make our vegan pumpkin brownies! You can find suggested swaps and tips around the recipe below.
How to make vegan pumpkin brownies
Before you start
Preheat your oven to 350° F (180° C) and line an 8×8″ baking dish with parchment paper. Next, make the easy egg replacement by combining ground flaxseed and water in a small bowl.
Let it sit for 10 minutes so that a gel forms that we can use in the batter later!
Make the brownie batter
Add the pitted dates to a food processor and process them to form a puree. Then, add the rest of the ingredients for the batter, including the soaked flaxseeds, and process until smooth.
You might need to stop and scrape down the sides or add some more liquid to create a homogenous mixture.
Pour the brownie batter into your prepared baking dish. Spread it into an even layer with the back of a spoon and gently shake the dish to release the trapped air.
Make the pumpkin swirls
Combine pumpkin puree, coconut cream, maple syrup and pumpkin pie spice with a spoon in a small bowl. Adjust to taste preference, then drizzle it on top of your chocolate brownie base.
You can also add the orange mixture in small dollops or add one even layer without creating swirls at all!
To make swirls, use a knife or toothpick and move around in large circular motions or create little fall leaves as we did for the photos!
Bake & enjoy
Finally, place the baking dish with the vegan pumpkin brownies in the preheated oven for 35 minutes. Once this time has elapsed, remove the dish from the oven.
Let the brownies cool at room temperature before slicing and enjoying them!
Storage & serving suggestions
The baked vegan pumpkin brownies can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for 3-5 days and even longer in the fridge.
You can also freeze them (wrap the individual brownies in parchment paper so you can take out single servings) for 3 months or longer.
Enjoy your fudgy fall treat on its own, with an almond milk latte, cup of tea or dairy-free milk, vegan ice cream or a piece of fruit.
Tips & FAQs
Making date paste
The first step to creating the brownie batter is making the date paste. If you don’t have a high-quality blender or food processor, we recommend that you soak your dates in hot water for 30 minutes first.
Once you are ready to make the brownies, drain the soaking water and add the dates to your food processor!
If you don’t have any dates on hand, you can use more pumpkin puree, cashew butter and maple syrup instead and play around with the quantities to achieve the right texture and sweetness.
How to make almond flour
Don’t worry, this isn’t a fancy and expensive ingredient you need to find at the supermarket! Simply get any type of almond (whole, slivered, sliced) and place them in small increments in your blender.
Blend until they are pulverized (we personally don’t mind some crunchy bits of almond in our brownies) and repeat with the rest of the almonds until you have created the desired amount.
Plus, you can use any nut or seed of your choice to do this! If using grain-based flour, the texture of these vegan pumpkin brownies won’t be the same but the taste will still be great.
Can’t find pumpkin puree?
Make these flourless brownies an appropriate treat year-round by swapping out pumpkin puree for sweet potato puree!
To make your own pumpkin puree, roast pumpkin slices in the oven until they are soft, then blend them until smooth.
You can also skip the orange swirl and just add pumpkin puree to the brownie batter to “hide” this ingredient since it won’t show any orange color this way!
Tips for the pumpkin swirl
We highly recommend that you use coconut cream from a can of full-fat coconut milk to achieve the best results!
To make it lower in calories and fat, you can swap this ingredient for soy yogurt but the taste will be different.
If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, just use cinnamon, nutmeg and other fall-appropriate spices from your pantry.
For best results
Measure the ingredients using a kitchen scale if possible and don’t overmix the pumpkin batter.
Even if it requires lots of mental strength, let your brownie batter cool down completely before slicing it into pieces if you want straight, precise cuts.
Also, be sure to use 100% pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling for this recipe!
More vegan treats
If these vegan pumpkin brownies call your name, we’re positive you’ll also enjoy the following goodness!
- Vegan Chocolate Mousse Cake
- Chocolate Caramel Slice
- Edible Chickpea Cookie Dough
- Chocolate Mango Smoothie
- Healthy Chocolate Bliss Balls
Did you try our vegan pumpkin brownies and like them? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below, we’d love to know! Don’t forget to Pin this recipe here and share it with your friends.
Healthy Vegan Pumpkin Brownies
You’ll love these beautiful vegan pumpkin brownies with their simple fall leaves swirl! They are moist, fudgy, completely grain-free and made with everyday ingredients. A crowd-pleasing and healthy seasonal treat!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons flaxseeds, ground
- 1 ½ cups Medjool dates, pitted (225 g)
- 2 cups almond flour (220 g)
- ½ cup pumpkin puree (120 g)
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 cup dark chocolate (100 g), melted
- ¼ cup almond milk (60 ml)
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons cashew butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
Pumpkin Swirl
- ½ cup pumpkin puree (120 g)
- 2 tablespoons coconut cream
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350° F (180° C) and line an 8x8″ baking dish with parchment paper.
- Mix the ground flaxseeds with 5 tablespoons of water in a small bowl and let it sit for 10-15 minutes.
- Add the pitted dates to a food processor and process them to form a puree. Then add the soaked flax seeds along with the rest of the ingredients for the batter and process until smooth.
- Pour the mixture into your prepared baking dish and spread into an even layer. Gently shake and tap the dish to release any trapped air.
- For the pretty swirl topping, start by adding pumpkin puree, coconut cream, maple syrup, and pumpkin pie spice to a small bowl and mix it with a spoon.
- Drizzle the pumpkin batter on top of the chocolate brownie base. Use a toothpick, knife or the back of a teaspoon to create swirls!
- Place the baking dish in the preheated oven and bake for 35 minutes.
- Remove the brownies from the oven and let them cool at room temperature before slicing and serving!
Notes
- You can get really creative with your pumpkin layer and make different shapes or just spread it in one even layer on your chocolate base.
- If you don’t have almond flour, blend the same amount (in weight) of almonds in a blender until they are pulverized.
- You can swap the almond milk for any other dairy-free milk, use another nut butter and a different liquid sweetener to make this recipe suit you.
- These vegan pumpkin brownies can be stored at room temperature for 3-5 days and in the freezer for 3 months.
- Find more tips in the article above!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 9 Serving Size: 1 brownieAmount Per Serving: Calories: 247Total Fat: 19gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 131mgCarbohydrates: 32gFiber: 7gProtein: 7g
Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated automatically, their accuracy is not guaranteed. Just focus on whole plant-based foods and eat until satiety!
Alena Schowalter is a Certified Vegan Nutritionist who has been a vegetarian since childhood and vegan since 2012. Together with her husband, she founded nutriciously in 2015 and has been guiding thousands of people through different transition stages towards a healthy plant-based diet. She’s received training in the fields of nutrition, music therapy and social work. Alena enjoys discussions around vegan ethics, walks through nature and creating new recipes.
Not familiar with cashew butter. Do you have a recipe to make or a store bought one your prefer?
Hi Cassidy,
it’s just blended cashews, similar to almond butter or natural peanut butter. You could make it at home using a good food processor (plenty of cashew butter recipes on the internet) but you can just swap it for almond butter and won’t taste the difference! Any nut or seed butter works.
Hope this helps :)
Looks like a great recipe! For someone concerned about getting too much oxalate from almonds and casherw (take note kidney stone sufferers!), you can make the following substitutes:
– sunflower seed butter for cashew butter
– chickpea flour for almond flour
– macadamia nut or coconut milk for almond milk
I think the result will be just as good, if not better!
Do you think this would work with oat flour?
yes, absolutely!
My batter is super super thick! Did I do something wrong? Tripled checked all my ingredients and measurements! Just curious! Thank you :)
it shouldn’t be too thick; just thin it out with more plant-based milk! I’ll test them again soon to see whether there’s a type somewhere…
My batter was also very thick. Brownies were still raw after 35 minutes. But, didn’t figure that out until I let them cool, due to the fact that there were no instructions on how to tell if they were cooked or not. Only the very corners were cooked and they didn’t taste good. What a waste of ingredients!