These raw, vegan brownies come together with just four simple ingredients: dates, walnuts, cocoa, and vanilla. This simple, gluten-free, plant-based recipe makes it easy to stay healthy, even while enjoying dessert. You’ll love the rich, chocolate flavor in these decadent treats.
Healthy Plant-Based Desserts
Unlike typical brownies, which are made with tons of sugar, refined flour, oil, and butter, these brownies are healthy! By using whole food, plant-based ingredients, you still enjoy that rich chocolate flavor without the addictive sugar rush.
How to Handle that Chocolate Craving
Just because you’re trying to eat healthy doesn’t mean you have to give up chocolate. In fact, cocoa powder has been shown to help reduce inflammation and lower your risk of heart disease. It’s often the unhealthy milk, butter sugar, and white flour that it’s paired with that outweighs any benefits. However, you can swap out those traditional ingredients for whole foods plant-based alternatives to keep these brownies healthy. Here’s how:
Swap Sugar for Dates
Refined sugar can cause inflammation, spike your blood glucose, and leave you feeling unsatiated, craving more. Swapping this out with dates is a healthy alternative. Dates add a TON of sweetness while also providing a TON of fiber, potassium, and other nutrients. This helps keep you satisfied and takes the edge of that sugar craving.
Swap Butter and Oil for Walnuts
Butter, oil, cream, and other refined fats are often used in baking to add richness and fat to sweet recipes. However, they’re often high in saturated fat and even cholesterol. Swapping these out for whole foods, plant-based raw walnuts is a healthy alternative. Walnuts are high in Omega-3’s and can help reduce inflammation. Plus, like all plants, they have protein and fiber, which helps reduce cravings.
Ditch the Chips: Use Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
Processed chocolate chips contain fat, sugar, and other emulsifying ingredients to help transform cocoa powder into something that is shelf-stable and appealing. Conversely, raw, dark cocoa powder can be quite bitter. Plus, no one really wants to eat a spoonful of powder when there are cute chocolate chips around.
However, swapping out those refined chocolate chips for the raw powder helps satisfy chocolate cravings. The sugar and fats in those chips keeps you wanting more and more. On the other hand, the bitterness in the raw cocoa powder helps curb your desire. Paired with the added fiber from the dates and walnuts, this is a match made in plant-based chocolate heaven!
Chef Katie’s Whoe Foods, Plant-Based Cooking Tips:
Keep it Raw Cocoa Powder Tip: For a truly Raw recipe, be sure to use cocoa powdered labeled “raw”. Most cocoa powder is roasted for a darker color and deeper flavor. You can find raw cocoa online and in specialty grocery stores.
Chef Katie’s Tool Tip: A bench scrape (aka pastry scrape) makes it easy to portion and cut these bars once they’ve set. This small gadget is essential for easy, quick cooking
Make it Small: Brownie Bites! This raw brownie mix can be broken into small chocolaty chunks and mixed into Banana “Nice” Scream or over vegan sundaes for the ultimate dessert. You can also use it as a crust for pies or fruit tarts.
4-Ingredient Raw Chocolate Walnut Brownies
Ingredients
- 1 cup dates 200 grams
- 12 ounces walnut pieces about 3 cups or 293 grams
- 2/3 cup cocoa powder 66 grams
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- Dash of salt
- 2-4 tablespoons warm water as needed
Instructions
- To soften the dates: Cover the dates with warm water and let sit for about 5-10 minutes to soften. If your dates are already squishy and “fresh”, you might not need to do this step.
- To make the brownies: Place the walnuts and cocoa in a food processor. Puree until you get a crumbly, coarse texture.
- Remove the dates from the soaking liquid and squeeze out any excess liquid. Hold on to the soaking liquid! Add the dates to the food processor, along with the vanilla and salt. Puree. Blend until the mixture comes together in a big, sticky ball. If it’s not holding together, it’s too dry. Add some of the date soaking liquid (or water), a tablespoon at a time, until the mixture comes together.
- Press your mixture into a square pan lined with plastic wrap to make brownies. If you want to enjoy these as “energy balls” or as chocolate chunks over Banana “Nice” cream, you can roll them into small bites
- Line a 8×8 inch square pan with plastic wrap. Remove the dough ball from the food processor. and place in the square pan. Use your fingers to press the dough into a single, even layer in the pan. Cover the top of the brownies with plastic. Place another 8×8 inch square pan on top and weight it down with a few heavy cans.
- Place in the freezer for 10 minutes to “set”…or refrigerate overnight.
- Remove the brownies from the pan, cut into 16 squares, and enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/16 of a recipe (1 brownie).
Calories 211.15
Calories From Fat (57%) 120.82
% Daily Value
- Total Fat 14.44g 22%
- Saturated Fat 1.6g 8%
- Cholesterol 0mg 0%
- Sodium 1.66mg <1%
- Potassium 294.97mg 8%
- Total Carbohydrates 21.74g 7%
- Fiber 4.39g 18%
- Sugar 14.76g
- Protein 4.49g 9%
- Calcium 0.37mg <1%
- Iron 34.15mg 190%
- Vitamin A 6.48IU <1%
- Vitamin C 0mg 0%
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