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No Bake Brownies

4.96 from 146 votes
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This recipe may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

These No Bake Brownies are easy healthy fudgy brownies made in less than 20 minutes without an oven.

This healthy dessert recipe is also naturally refined, sugar-free, dairy-free, and vegan.

These No Bake Brownies are easy healthy fudgy brownies made in less than 20 minutes without an oven. Plus, this healthy dessert recipe is also naturally refined sugar-free, dairy-free, and vegan. These No Bake Brownies are easy healthy fudgy brownies made in less than 20 minutes without an oven. Plus, this healthy dessert recipe is also naturally refined sugar-free, dairy-free, and vegan.

What Are No Bake Brownies?

No Bake brownies are made with raw ingredients like nuts, dates, and cocoa powder.

These no-bake brownies are not baked in the oven. They get all their fudgy chocolate texture as they set in the fridge.

These No Bake Brownies are easy healthy fudgy brownies made in less than 20 minutes without an oven. Plus, this healthy dessert recipe is also naturally refined sugar-free, dairy-free, and vegan. These No Bake Brownies are easy healthy fudgy brownies made in less than 20 minutes without an oven. Plus, this healthy dessert recipe is also naturally refined sugar-free, dairy-free, and vegan.

How To Make No-Bake Brownies

You don’t need much to make delicious no-bake brownies.

First, you must have a good food processor. Indeed, most no-bake recipes require breaking or pulsing nuts into a powder to form the raw batter.

If your blade is not strong enough, it may result in bites and pieces into your dough.

So it is necessary to have a food processor to make these raw brownies.

Next, make sure you have all the wholesome ingredients needed for these healthy brownies.

Ingredients

These brownies are healthy brownies made with a combination of raw foods that are packed with nutrients.

Let’s see the single ingredients you need in this recipe:

  • Walnuts – You can also use pecans, but you need nuts higher in fats than almonds to make fudgy brownies.
  • Sunflower Seeds – They add a lovely fudgy texture in combination with walnuts. However, if you don’t have sunflower seeds, add more walnuts or pecans.
  • Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – Use high-quality Dutch cocoa powder or cacao powder for a stronger flavor.
  • Salt
  • Medjool Dates – Fresh, pitted Medjool dates are the best for no-bake brownies. They are full of texture and have the best sweet flavors.
  • Water
  • Maple Syrup or any refined sugar-free sweetener you have on hand like coconut nectar, date syrup, or agave syrup.
  • Vanilla Extract
  • Dark Chocolate Chips or any chocolate chips you love.
These No Bake Brownies are easy healthy fudgy brownies made in less than 20 minutes without an oven. Plus, this healthy dessert recipe is also naturally refined sugar-free, dairy-free, and vegan.

Preparation

The best way to make these fudgy no-bake chocolate brownies is to work in 5 simple steps.

Before you start, prepare an 8-inch x 8-inch square brownie pan. Line the pan with parchment paper and lightly oil the paper with avocado oil or cooking spray. Set it aside.

Step 1: Pulsing Nuts And Seeds

Blend the walnuts, sunflower seeds, and salt in a food processor using the S blade attachment.

Use a medium-high speed until the nuts and seeds turn into a fine ground that almost looks like coarse flour, as seen in the picture below.

Set aside in a mixing bowl.

Step 2: Date Paste

Bring back the food processor bowl, no need to wash it, add the pitted Medjool dates, water, vanilla extract, and maple syrup.

Blend on medium-high speed until it forms a creamy paste. You may have to stop the food processor a few times, use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl and repeat.

When the texture is creamy and smooth, stop the food processor,

Step 3: Incorporating Ground Nuts And Seeds

Add the ground nuts and seeds from step 1 and process a few times until well incorporated.

These No Bake Brownies are easy healthy fudgy brownies made in less than 20 minutes without an oven. Plus, this healthy dessert recipe is also naturally refined sugar-free, dairy-free, and vegan.

Step 4: Adding Cocoa Powder

Cocoa powder is full of fiber and highly liquid absorbent. That’s the reason why I like to add it at the end of the process.

Process until it forms a thick batter where all the cocoa powder is incorporated. It will burst on the sides of the food processor bowl and you will need to scrape down the sides a few times.

If the batter gets too thick, dry, and impossible to blend, add an extra tablespoon of water.

However, don’t overdo the water in no-bake brownies because they won’t firm up.

Step 5: Adding Chocolate Chips

Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish.

It will be thick and sticky so you may like to grease your hand with coconut oil to prevent the dough to stick to your fingers.

Press evenly into the pan and refrigerate while making the brownie frosting.

These No Bake Brownies are easy healthy fudgy brownies made in less than 20 minutes without an oven. Plus, this healthy dessert recipe is also naturally refined sugar-free, dairy-free, and vegan.

Brownie Chocolate Frosting

You don’t necessarily have to frost no-bake brownies, but who doesn’t like frosting?

I highly recommend adding this peanut butter chocolate ganache frosting for flavor and here are the frosting ingredients you need:

  • Dark Chocolate – I am using 85% cocoa chocolate bars or 70% for a sweeter frosting.
  • Peanut Butter or almond butter
  • Salt

In a saucepan, add the three ingredients and melt the chocolate over low-medium heat, constantly stirring with a rubber spatula.

When melted, pour the frosting on top of the brownies, and sprinkle freeze-dried raspberries or extra chopped walnuts on top.

Chill the brownies for at least 2 hours before slicing for the best texture.

These No Bake Brownies are easy healthy fudgy brownies made in less than 20 minutes without an oven. Plus, this healthy dessert recipe is also naturally refined sugar-free, dairy-free, and vegan.

Storing No-Bake Brownies

You can store these no-bake vegan brownies in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 10 days.

It’s also possible to freeze the no-bake brownies squares in a freezer bag.

Make sure you don’t stack them, or they will freeze in one block. You would struggle to separate them for thawing just one square at a time.

Thaw in the fridge the day before or a few hours at room temperature.

These No Bake Brownies are easy healthy fudgy brownies made in less than 20 minutes without an oven. Plus, this healthy dessert recipe is also naturally refined sugar-free, dairy-free, and vegan.

Allergy Swaps

These healthy brownies are naturally gluten-free, dairy-free, and egg-free.

However, if you need I listed below some options to replace the ingredients used in this recipe.

  • Nut-Free – You can replace the walnuts with more sunflower seeds and use oat milk or any nut-free milk you love. For the frosting, swap the peanut butter for sunflower seed butter.
  • Date-Free – If you have an allergy to dates, you can try dried figs or dried raisins.
  • Maple Syrup – Any liquid sweetener works in this recipe. Feel free to use your favorite one.

Serving

You can serve these no-bake brownies plain or add some delicious ingredients on top like:

  • A drizzle of nut butter – like almond butter, peanut butter, or cashew butter.
  • Chopped nuts
  • Unsweetened coconut
  • Freeze-dried fruits for color and tangy flavor
  • Chocolate chips
  • Seed butter like a drizzle of sunflower seed butter but watch out, the taste of sunflower butter is slightly bitter.

Frequently Asked Questions

Below I answered your most common questions about this no-bake dessert recipe.

Can I Use Other Date Varieties?

Medjool dates are the best for no-bake desserts because they are thick and rich and provide the best moist, sweet texture to raw food.
However, you can use other dates variety like Deglet Noor. But these dates are drier, so I recommend soaking them in hot water and draining them before use.

Are Medjool Dates Better Than Sugar?

Medjool dates are packed with nutrients and vitamins like calcium, iron, or vitamin B6, which you won’t find in refined sugar.
As a result, they are a better option for sweetening desserts than sugar.

Have you tried these fudgy no-bake brownies? Share a comment or review below to let me know how it went.

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These No Bake Brownies are easy healthy fudgy brownies made in less than 20 minutes without an oven. Plus, this healthy dessert recipe is also naturally refined sugar-free, dairy-free, and vegan. These No Bake Brownies are easy healthy fudgy brownies made in less than 20 minutes without an oven. Plus, this healthy dessert recipe is also naturally refined sugar-free, dairy-free, and vegan.

No-Bake Brownies

These No-Bake Brownies are easy healthy fudgy brownies made in less than 20 minutes without an oven. Plus, they are naturally refined sugar-free, dairy-free, and vegan.
Prep: 20 minutes
Total: 20 minutes
Yield: 16 brownies
Serving Size: 1 square
4.96 from 146 votes

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Walnuts
  • ½ cup Sunflower Seeds
  • cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
  • ¼ teaspoon Salt
  • 2 ½ cups Medjool dates Pitted, packed in the cups
  • 1-2 tablespoons Water
  • ¼ cup Maple Syrup
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • ¼ cup Chocolate Chips

Brownie frosting

  • ¾ cup Dark Chocolate
  • ½ tablespoon Peanut Butter
  • teaspoon Salt
This recipe may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Instructions

  • Line an 8-inch x 8-inch square pan with parchment paper. Lightly grease the paper with cooking oil. Set aside.
  • In a food processor, using the S-blade attachment, add the walnuts, sunflower seeds, and salt. Blend on medium-high speed until the nuts turn into a fine ground flour-like texture.
  • Remove from the food processor and set aside at room temperature in a mixing bowl.
  • Add the fresh pitted Medjool dates, maple syrup, and water to the food processor (no need to wash the bowl). Process until it forms a paste.
  • Stop the food processor and add the ground ingredients from step 1.
  • Blend again to combine and form a dough that is lightly sticky but evenly combined.
  • Add cocoa powder and blend again until the batter comes together. You may need to scrape the sides of the bowl a few times.
  • Add the chocolate chips, and pulse 2-3 times to just incorporate in the batter.
  • Press the dough into the prepared baking dish into a single layer and set aside in the fridge while making the frosting.

Frosting

  • In a small saucepan, melt chocolate chips, peanut butter, and salt until creamy and smooth.
  • Remove from the heat and pour on top of the brownies.
  • Chill the brownies for at least 2 hours before serving.
Tried this recipe?Mention @sweetashoneyrecipes
Serving Size: 1 square
Yield: 16 brownies
Serving: 1squareCalories: 207.6kcal (10%)Carbohydrates: 29.8g (10%)Fiber: 4.1g (17%)Net Carbs: 25.7gProtein: 3.2g (6%)Fat: 10.9g (17%)Saturated Fat: 2.7g (17%)Polyunsaturated Fat: 4.6gMonounsaturated Fat: 2.2gCholesterol: 0.2mgSodium: 57.2mg (2%)Potassium: 296.1mg (8%)Sugar: 20.4g (23%)Vitamin A: 40.8IU (1%)Vitamin B12: 0.01µgVitamin C: 0.2mgVitamin D: 0.02µgCalcium: 39.6mg (4%)Iron: 1.4mg (8%)Magnesium: 56.8mg (14%)Zinc: 0.8mg (5%)
Carine Claudepierre

About The Author

Carine Claudepierre

Hi, I'm Carine, the food blogger, author, recipe developer, published author of a cookbook and many ebooks, and founder of Sweet As Honey.

I have an Accredited Certificate in Nutrition and Wellness obtained in 2014 from Well College Global (formerly Cadence Health). I'm passionate about sharing all my easy and tasty recipes that are both delicious and healthy. My expertise in the field comes from my background in chemistry and years of following a keto low-carb diet. But I'm also well versed in vegetarian and vegan cooking since my husband is vegan.

I now eat a more balanced diet where I alternate between keto and a Mediterranean Diet

Cooking and Baking is my true passion. In fact, I only share a small portion of my recipes on Sweet As Honey. Most of them are eaten by my husband and my two kids before I have time to take any pictures!

All my recipes are at least triple tested to make sure they work and I take pride in keeping them as accurate as possible.

Browse all my recipes with my Recipe Index.

I hope that you too find the recipes you love on Sweet As Honey!

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    15 Thoughts On No Bake Brownies
  1. 5 stars
    Made this recipe again today, without choc chips in the mix. I added 1T crunchy peanut butter in frosting because I love the peanut butter/chocolate combination. Sprinkled over some coconut shreds. Your raspberries are prettier.
    Love this recipe Thankyou❣️

  2. Do you have a no bake brownie that is low carb? I have to stay away from the dates.

    Thank you very much.

  3. Ok..got it. Went back and I got my question answered…I should have known you would answer the can I freeze question 🌹

  4. I just realized this is an older post but I really want to make these for a party I am attending…how long in advance can I make the brownies?…
    If I freeze them do I freeze with the icing on it? Thanks in advance 🌹

    • I didn’t try something else, usually 4 times more lmond flour can be an option but I didn’t try something else so I can’t recommend more sorry. Enjoy! XOXO Carine.

  5. These brownies look fabulous! Can I substitute almond flour for the whole almonds? I have a couple of bags in the pantry that need to be used.

  6. 5 stars
    Your new brownie recipe is SO good I made it today and it was a hit with my friends too!! Thank you for the delicious recipes

    • Thank you for the lovely comment and for sharing such nice picture of your brownie on Instagram! Enjoy the low carb recipes on the blog. XOXO Carine.

  7. Can you swap out the maple syrup for another seeetener, like Erythritol? I like in France so it is very hard to get specialty products like that.

    • I am not using maple syrup, I am using sugar free maple flavored syrup. Unfortunately you need a liquid sweetener for this recipe or the brownie will be very dry. Merci de me suivre depuis la france. A bientot. Carine.

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