The BEST Low Carb Brownies Recipe
These low carb brownies are just like the traditional brownies my mom used to make (with the help of Pillsbury or Betty Crocker). They are the most like a classic box mix brownie. They are great warm, in between cakey and fudgy, and rich with chocolate. There are also only 2 g net carbs in each brownie in this low carb brownie recipe!
I love brownies I have over a dozen brownie recipes including Raspberry Brownies, Brownies in a Skillet, Keto Flourless Brownies, Keto Cheesecake Brownies, and a Keto Mug Brownie.
It’s been a long time since I’ve had a guest post so when I saw Hannah’s Low Carb Brownie recipe going viral in the Trim Healthy Mama Facebook group I asked her if I could share it here on Joy Filled Eats. I was thrilled when she said yes! My sweet tooth was also thrilled. There are never too many easy low carb brownies and although this is similar to my Keto Fudgy Brownies it is different enough to warrant its own spot on my blog.
Hannah’s recipe uses cocoa powder as the base whereas my recipe uses melted baking chocolate. That makes her gluten-free brownie recipe more economical if you are on a tight budget. This gluten free keto brownie recipe is also SO easy.
Hannah’s Fabulous Brownies
Hannah: I created this recipe after trying 8 to 10 other sugar-free, low carb brownie recipes that I just didn’t personally enjoy. I really love brownies and I would rather go without than eat something that doesn’t even have a semblance of that “real” brownie taste and texture.
My husband has laughed at me as I’ve been disappointed after trying so many recipes that people said tasted JUST LIKE _____, and I’ve worried that these people either haven’t tasted the real thing in too long or are unashamed liars! I absolutely love these brownies and I am so excited to be able to enjoy them happy knowing they are not bad for my health!
Ingredients Needed
Almond Flour – I prefer almond flour in low carb baking. It has a mild flavor and gives a tender crumb in gluten free brownies, cakes, cookies, and biscuits. It is a good sub for wheat flour on a low-carb diet.
Coconut Flour – Just a little bit of coconut flour goes a long way. Coconut flour helps to balance the oiliness of almond flour since it is naturally drier and absorbs more liquid than other alternative flours.
Sugar-Free Sweetener – I like to use a blend of xylitol, erythritol, and stevia in my recipes. You can purchase this pre-mixed from the Trim Healthy Mama website or mix your own according to my recipe. By using a combination of sugar alcohols and stevia you can use half the amount required of 1:1 sweeteners and regular sugar. If you can’t use xylitol with pets in the house sub in allulose or additional erythritol.
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder or Cacao Powder – I’m currently using raw cacao powder which can be used for cocoa powder. Costco has Navitas Cacao Powder for a good price. I like the flavor in my baked goods. You can use black cocoa powder for an Oreo flavor or dark cocoa powder for a dark chocolate flavor.
Vanilla – Adding pure vanilla extract a standard in any baked good. It brings out the flavor of the other ingredients in the same way a pinch of salt does.
Coconut Oil – I use refined coconut oil in recipes that I don’t want to have a coconut flavor.
Sugar Free Chocolate Chips – You can use any sugar free chips you enjoy. ChocZero now has white chocolate chips and peanut butter chips in addition to dark chocolate and milk chocolate.
The ingredient measurements can be found in the recipe card under the blog post.
How to make Low Carb Brownies
It is easier to make low carb keto brownies than you think! All you need is a medium sized bowl and a whisk or wooden spoon.
First Step: Mix together the liquid ingredients.
Top Tip💡
The most important thing when making these low-carb brownies is to use room temperature eggs and melted coconut oil. If your eggs are cold they can make the coconut oil solidify when you are mixing.
Second Step: Add the dry ingredients. Spread in an 8 by 8 inch baking dish that has been greased or lined with parchment paper.
Third Step: Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top of the brownie batter.
Fourth Step: Bake. These are cakey right from the oven and get fudgier and fudgier as they cool.
Variations
There are so many choices for my low carb brownie recipe. Here are a few of my favorites:
Sugar Free Whipped Cream – whip up some cream, add a little powdered sweetener and use to top this keto brownies recipe.
Keto Cream Cheese Frosting – make this into a low carb chocolate brownie cake by baking in a round pan and piping on some creamy icing!
ChocZero Peanut Butter or White Chocolate Chips – sub in a sugar-free chocolate chips in a unique flavor.
Ice Cream – who can resist a brownie sundae. I love these with my low carb keto coffee ice cream.
Peppermint – around Christmas I just love mint chocolate. Add 2 teaspoons of mint extract to turn these into peppermint brownies.
Common Questions
Are these fudgy or cakey?
These are very similar in texture to box mix brownies. To me, these are the most similar to box brownies than any other keto brownies I’ve tried. Using cocoa powder instead of melted chocolate really makes them taste like the good ole’ family-sized fudgy brownies from a mix.
They are unbelievably delicious but a little cakey when they are still hot from the oven. They do become fudgier when cooled. My preferred method of eating these is to chill them overnight in the baking pan (use parchment paper!) or an airtight container and then warm up individual squares. This is the way to get fudgy keto brownies!
Can I use a baking mix for low carb brownies?
No. Baking blends really do NOT work here. It needs to be this specific combo of almond and coconut flours to get that almost real brownie taste and texture!
What sugar-free sweetener can I use for Low Carb Brownies?
This recipe is very versatile. You can use erythritol, xylitol, THM Gentle Sweet, THM Super Sweet, or a blend of erythritol and monk fruit sweetener like Lakanto.
I always use my sweetener blend of xylitol, erythritol, and stevia in my keto diet recipes except for times a powdered sweetener works better, like in icings.
Can I use butter instead of coconut oil?
Yup! If you prefer butter works fine in this recipe and any of my other keto brownie recipes that call for coconut oil. I use salted butter and melt it first.
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The BEST Low Carb Brownies Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1/2 cup coconut oil melted
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1/3 c cocoa powder
- 3/4 cup Joy Filled Eats Sweetener (or see alternatives in recipe notes)
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup sugar-free chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Start by whisking the room temperature eggs and then the melted coconut oil and vanilla together with the warm water, this will prevent an undesirable texture from the coconut oil resolidifying during the mixing process.
- Once the wet ingredients are all stirred together, add the cocoa powder, sweetener, salt, almond flour, coconut flour and baking powder.
- Whisk together and spread into a greased or parchment-lined 8×8 pan.
- Lastly, sprinkle the chocolate chips on the brownies and bake 20-30 min. The time on these seems to vary quite a bit.
Notes
Nutrition
Originally Published November 10, 2016. Revised and Republished April 5, 2024.
I am not sure why “fudgy” would be a selling point as fudge has a completely different texture from what brownies should have. Brownies are supposed to be chewy not gooey. But thanks for your hard work to develop this and share.
‘Fudge brownies’ is a very common term. Look at box mix brownies in the store and almost every box calls them ‘fudge’ or ‘fudgy’. This recipe makes low carb brownies that are similar to those box mix brownies in texture.
I don’t know what I did wrong. I baked them for 20 minutes in an 8×8 pan. They were very dry and not as thick as the picture. They do have good flavor. Maybe I’ll bake them in a small pan for 15 minutes next time. I do want to thank you for your recipes and your time.
I’m not sure either. Are you sure you only used 1/4 coconut flour? Using even a bit more (since it is so dry) can affect texture. These are better chilled and then rewarmed. Try sticking them in the fridge for 24 hours and then warming up individual pieces.
Made these exactly as the recipe indicates but baked in 16 silicone muffin cups. Reduced baking time to about 18 min but could have been a minute less. Came out perfect! Delicious with a little whipped cream on top!
these were so easy to make, didn’t take much time and came out testing so tummy! they are fudge if you watch them sorry of closely and take them out of the oven at the right point… if you bake them longer, they’re a little more cakey, but most and excellent! You’ve got to try them!
OMG! These were fantastic. They were soft and perfect out of the oven. It’s nice to have low carb that is t like cardboard. Let’s face it! Some of it does. These were perfect and so delicious. I used peanut butter chips instead of chocolate. My oldest child wanted them frosted. They were good, but with frosting, you really can’t taste the chips, so next time it’s whipped cream. These disappeared rather quickly, which was amazing. Just enough left for a kiddo sized snack tomorrow. Thank you so much for this recipe. Boxed mixes are hovering around six dollars a box, so these were super nice and not much more difficult than a mix. I’m so glad I found your blog, and I signed up for notifications. I have a feeling I’m going to be using your recipes a lot. I may double this some time and make a 9×13 cake. Without the chips. The kids love chips, but I won’t pit any on my part of the cake! Thanks again. This recipe is excellent, and practically makes itself.
Just made these for the first time today. Sooo good. Definitely stopped my craving for brownies. Thank you!!
Splenda makes a blend of stevia, allulose, and erythritol called Magic Baker. It’s got no additives and no sucralose. Will that work?
I have not tested it so I can’t guarantee it. But from looking at the information I can find online I think that it would work.
Victor French posted a recipe for his version of Magic Baker’s Blend. He also shows you how easy it is to make the powdered (or confectioner’s) blend and also the brown blend. Very simple and saves you money. I bought two big bags of Erythritol from Amazon and that is the main ingredient used to make these recipes. You should check it out.
Pretty good for a chocolate craving!
A great brownie
So, I made these yesterday. Refrigerated overnight. Still crumbly! What am I doing wrong? I followed the recipe exactly. The only change I made was to use less sweetener (which was a mistake this time because it needed more), which I usually do as I don’t want a strong sweetener taste. I use Lakanto monk fruit. Thanks!
It might be the sweetener change that made them crumbly. I like to warm them up after chilling. They hold together better that way too.
Thanks. I’ll give that a try!
I was wondering what fuel type this would be. I was thinking an S. But they are amazing.
Yup! Pretty much anything labeled low carb or keto is an S.
Is it fine to use liquid/Fractionated coconut oil?
I haven’t tested it but since you need melted coconut oil I think it would work.
I used 1/2 liquid coconut oil and 1/2 melted butter. They’re turned out perfect. I’ve tried other brownie recipes, but this is still the best so far. Paired with Taryn’s frozen custard, it’s fabulous. I always add a Tablespoon of vanilla to the custard recipe. Yum!
Hi is the amount of butter the same as the coconut oil? Making these this weekend .
Yes, use melted butter.
It was good – and easy enough, but I subbed butter 🧈 and went wth same amount. They are almost way too salty! I think definitely cut back on salt at least by ½… especially if using salted butter. Texture was great tho!
These were amazing! Thanks so much for sharing.
This brownie recipe is so easy to make and tasted really delicious! Thanks a lot for sharing this, will surely have this again!