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.
Can you use a different oil, like avocado oil in this recipe.
I’m not sure how avocado oil would taste. I know that butter works in place of the oil.
Hi, would you use the same amount of butter to substitute for the oil?
Yes
Delicious, excellent brownie sugar free…
Love it!
What if I mixed the chocolate into the mixture instead of putting it on top?
That’s fine.
What is the quantity per serving in the nutrition facts table?
1/16th. If you make these in an 8×8 pan that is a 2 inch square.
Like you, I was a sceptic that these could taste like carby brownies, but I’ve been won over! Even my carb-o-holic family enjoyed tham. Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe.
These brownies are the perfect treat to reach for when you need a chocolate fix! Delicious!
Yum! What a great idea for the weekend baking project!
These may be low carb, but depending on which sweeteners you use, this is not keto. When I calculated the macros, I came up with 3 total carbs per serving before adding any sweetener or chocolate. Adding erythretol alone brought the carb count up to 15 per serving. It’s frustrating for those of us trying to keep carb count between 20-30 when folks irresponsibly label their resipes Keto. Keto and low carb are not the same thing. Most folks will trust your macros and not calculate them for themselves, then wonder why they dropped out of ketosis or are stalled on their diet.
You can subtract the sugar alcohols in the erythritol and the fiber in the chocolate. If you are doing keto based on total carbs, not net carbs than yes, these might be too high for you. Most people use net carbs. I understand the difference between keto and low carb and do not label my recipes ‘irresponsibly’. Also, make sure you are checking each ingredient if you are using a user formed database such as My Fitness Pal. They are prone to errors. For a long time, garlic powder had 144 grams of carbs per teaspoon in MFP, which is clearly not possible.
I just made these and fell asleep while cooling. When I went to eat one, it crumbled apart. I had to cook it for over 30 minutes in an 8×8. They taste really good though! What did I do wrong?
You may have just cooked them too long. If you chill them they hold together more.
I made this brownie recipe for my first keto dessert attempt. Like many other people, my brownies came out more like cake than a brownie. They were not dry, yet they were not the texture of a brownie and they were not super chocolatey. They were still very good so I treated them like the cake they tasted like and I made them a nice buttercream icing. Once they were iced with buttercream icing they were much better. I took a stick of softened butter, added one egg yolk and blended. Then I added 1 teaspoon of vanilla and five or 6 tablespoons of heavy cream or half-and-half. I eyeballed it so I’m not sure of the exact amount of half-and-half I used. Then I added my swerve confectioners sugar until My icing was stiff enough. I was very pleased with the way they tasted paired with the buttercream icing. They could’ve been more chocolatey though. Also, I don’t understand why mine did not come out like brownies though? I know many others had the same experience and I’m not sure why?
This is a cakier brownie. Some brownie lovers prefer cakey brownies and some prefer fudgy brownies. I have recipes for both types. My favorite fudgy brownie is this one: https://joyfilledeats.com/fudge-brownies/
If I only have Stevia on hand, what is the exact amount I need to use?
I’m sorry but stevia will not work. The brownies will not have the right texture. I’d suggest looking for a brownie recipe that calls for stevia.
These were the best THM dessert I’ve ever had. My husband has been diabetic for 8 years now and he said this is the best dessert he’s had in years. SO good. SO like the “real” thing. Wow. This is on our top 10 for sure.
Instead of the 1/2 c of warm water I made espresso in my machine and it was an amazing addition to the taste.
Erythritol. 4g/tsp 1 cup=48tsp-192g
Almond flour. 2g(net) per1/4cp. 4g
Coconut flour 8g(net) 1/4 cp. 8g
100% cocao 1g (net) per sq. 2g
Cocoa 1g (net) per Tbsp. 5g
If erythritol counts. Total. 211g or 13.2 per
If not Total. 19g or 1.2g per
From what I can read I believe it is the latter.
Is there a version of this recipe that makes a firmer brownie?
Hi Gary, yes you can subtract the sugar alcohol (erythritol) from the carb count. If you are looking for a denser, fudgier type brownie I recommend these ones: joyfilledeats.com/fudgiest-fudge-brownies
Can I use coconut sugar or monk fruit ?
I think either would work. You will need to use about 1 cup.
I’ve tried several “keto” brownie recipes online and it always ended it foul tasting and expensive waste ! Though I was determined to find a way, still I was very Hesitant to attempt one last time. Boy am I glad to have found this little jewel of a recipe & I highly recommended trying this . The only tweek I did was use of 1 ripe small avocado – maybe next time I’ll use only half or none because it made it a lil too moist ( but not bad imo). And arrived at the perfect sweetness by blending sweetners