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!
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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.
These had a good flavor but unfortunately the brownie texture was not there. They did not come out whole from the pan and they just dissolved in my mouth the second I took a bite. There was really no need to chew them.
If you prefer a fudgier brownie I recommend these: http://www.joyfilledeats.com/fudgiest-fudge-brownies
I followed all the directions exactly and mine turned out like chocolate cake – they don’t stay together/aren’t dense like a brownie at all. They taste good but what can I do to get the brownie texture? The only thing I can think of is that I live in Denver and it’s high altitude. Any ideas for how to adjust the recipe to accommodate for that? Thanks in advance?
I’m sorry but I’m not sure how to adjust for high altitude. I do know that most baking recipes need to be adjusted so that is probably the issue. This link might be helpful: https://www.bettycrocker.com/how-to/tipslibrary/baking-tips/baking-cooking-high-altitudes
I use Pyure for sweater . Can this be used and how much please?
Maybe. I don’t use pyure myself. This conversion chart may be helpful: http://www.trimhealthymama.com/main-home/sweetener-conversion-chart/
I made half the recipe in 6 silicone cupcake molds. Put everything in my nutri bullet ? baked for 15 minutes and had one straighr from the oven, YUM !! Thanks for a lovely, easy recipe!
For future reference, how should we know these are done? I’m worried about under- or overcooking them. The recipe says to start checking an 8×8 pan at 20 minutes. Mine was super liquidy in the center still, so I stuck it back in but I’m not very certain what I’m looking for or how almond and coconut flour behave. Would it have firmed up if I took it out then? Am I looking for the toothpick test to work? I’d love to hear from those who have made these.
I cook brownies until they no longer jiggle a lot. It should be an even slight jiggle in the middle and edges. Toothpick tests don’t normally work.
Does it matter if the almond flour is blamched or unblanched?
It matters more how fine the almonds are ground. Very fine almond flour is preferred for most baked goods.
I busted out laughing at the “cold as the Grinch’s heart” comment. ha ha ha. Thanks for that!
This was difficult to follow since the ingredient list wasn’t in order as its used. I forgot the baking powder!! 🙁
I’m sorry about that. This was a guest post so I just added Hannah’s recipe as she had written it. I have a few brownie recipes that don’t need baking powder so it may not be necessary. I hope they came out ok for you anyway. My guess would be that without baking powder they would just be a little denser and fudgier 🙂
Yes they were ok .. the things we take for granted and depend on … 🙂 Can’t wait to make them again and do them right!
I don’t have any coconut oil. Can I sub in melted butter and retain the texture?
Yes, I’ve had readers sub in butter before.
Hannah I made these for a party yesterday and I did something wrong. They fell apart! I have gone over the recipe over and over but cant seem to figure out what I did wrong. Any ideas? The flavor of these were fantastic but I need to correct this fall apart issue or I wont be able to add this recipe to my go to list. Thoughts?
I’m not sure what would’ve gone wrong unless one of the measurements was incorrect. I’ve had many readers make these successfully. P.S. if a cake or brownie ever falls apart you can also add a little cream and make it into cake balls or truffles.
I just made these and had the same problem. Great flavor but just fell apart. I made sure to follow the recipe exactly (eggs room temp, kept coconut oil melted, etc). I’m not mad, they still taste great, just a bummer that they fall apart.
Wait – I just remembered that a little extra vanilla extract spilled in it – so a tad more than 3/4 tsp. So maybe too moist?
I’m not sure. This was a guest post so I haven’t played around with this recipe much. I’m going to make a batch this week to see if I can troubleshoot.
Just made these. So yummy!! Thank you!
Could I sub something for the eggs? Flax eggs? My hubby can’t have eggs. Thanks! Can’t wait to try!
I’m not sure if flax eggs would work. I haven’t used them very much. But let me know if you try 🙂
Can I use a Truvia blend in this? What would the measurement be? Thank you!
Hi Holly, sorry I missed your comment until now! This may be helpful: http://www.trimhealthymama.com/main-home/sweetener-conversion-chart/
I just made these and they are AMAZING! This is the first time I’ve made a low carb brownie that has a texture so very close to the real thing! And you can eat them hot – so many things with almond flour have to sit to be edible. A quarter of the pan is gone before they’ve even cooled off – everybody wanted some! 🙂 I shared this recipe with a low-carb fb group. THANKS!
Hannah, can I make this in a 9×13 pan and adjust the cooking time? Or double it for that?
I’d like to double the recipe too. Did you do it?