Flourless Healthy Brownies made with 4 basic ingredients are a moist, fudgy brownies treat with benefits! With no added flour, sugar, oil, dairy, or grains, this easy brownie recipe will surely be a staple in your home!
A few weeks ago, I decided to cut out all excess sugars, including less refined sugars like coconut sugar, honey, even sugar-free sweeteners, etc. While for me sugar cravings do lessen with time, chocolate cravings really hold strong.
You could say chocoholism runs thick in my blood veins.
My father ate chocolate mousse every single day when he was in his twenties, still drinks chocolate milk, and will destroy a bowl of raw chocolate chip cookie dough if given the opportunity…so you could say I just can’t help it.
And boy oh boy do I fiend.
And I’m thusly always looking for chocolatey goodies that I can regularly enjoy without a lot of added sugar.
Enter: these Flourless Healthy Brownies.
Made with 4 ingredients, zero of which are natural or refined sugar, ultra fudgy and moist, grain-free, dairy-free, oil-free, basically free of everything but these 4 ingredients…let’s chat about them.
Ingredients for Flourless Healthy Brownies:
Ripe Banana: The majority of the sweetness and much of the bulk of these brownies come from ripe bananas! Be sure the bananas you use are ultra ripe, meaning they have many brown spots or are even fully brown. Yes you can taste the banana!
Almond Butter: Creamy unsweetened almond butter takes the place of flour and oil in this brownie recipe. It serves as the ingredient that binds everything together, makes it nice and creamy, moist, and fudgy. Almond butter is a miracle ingredient in this recipe! You can also use peanut butter, cashew butter, tahini, or sunflower seed butter. Just be sure whatever you use is well-stirred and is all-natural (doesn’t contain added oil or sugar).
Egg: 1 egg makes these fudge brownies nice and light, similar to mousse! It also helps stabilize the recipe so that it bakes evenly and holds together well.
Sea Salt: Just a pinch of sea salt helps bring out the sweetness of the banana and also adds a well-rounded richness. Don’t skip it, especially if the nut butter you’re using contains no salt.
Cocoa Powder: The chocolate portion of this adventure. I like using raw cacao powder, but you can also use regular unsweetened cocoa powder. It adds that rich chocolatey niceness to these brownies…essential!
Optional Add Ins: Add ½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans for a texture infusion. If you’re looking for a sweeter brownie, add 2 to 4 tablespoons coconut sugar or sugar-free sweetener (like Swerve, Monk Fruit Sweetener, Truvia, etc). Add ½ cup sugar-free chocolate chips if you dare!
I’m going to give it to you straight – these brownies do not taste like actual brownies by any stretch of the imagination. They are more like banana chocolate fudge bars if there is such a thing.
Are they sweet? Yes, but not overly so. Are they rich? Absolutely. Do you make these when you’re craving something sultry and decadent? No…you make these when you’re looking for a treat made with zero added sugar. 😉
Now that you’ve been debriefed, let’s bake a batch!
How to Make Flourless Healthy Brownies:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a 8” x 8” baking pan with parchment paper.
Mash the bananas in a mixing bowl until creamy. It’s okay to leave the bananas chunky if you’re okay with it.
Whisk the egg and almond butter into the mashed bananas and stir well until very well-combined.
Add the cocoa powder and stir well until combined. Note that the cocoa powder won’t want to stir into the batter easily, so it will take a little bit of elbow grease to get it to all combine together.
Transfer the batter to the parchment-lined baking dish and smooth into an even layer.
Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven 20 to 25 minutes until the brownies feel firm when gently poked in the center.
Allow brownies to cool at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving.
Make Them Vegan!:
Simply omit the egg and add 1/4 cup of additional almond butter to make these brownies vegan! They hold together very nicely without the egg and there is no need for an egg replacer 🙂
Enjoy!
More Healthy Brownies Recipes:
- Gluten-Free Rolled Oat Pumpkin Brownies
- Espresso Keto Brownies
- Flourless Avocado Brownies (Paleo)
- Paleo Sweet Potato Fudge Brownies
- Black Bean Brownies
My cookbook, Paleo Power Bowls, is now available! CLICK HERE to check it out. Thank you for your support!
If you make this recipe, please feel free to share a photo and tag @The.Roasted.Root on Instagram!

Healthy Flourless Brownies
Grain-free, dairy-free, sugar-free oil-free healthy brownie recipe
Ingredients
- 4 ripe bananas, about 1 1/2 cups mashed
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup unsweetened creamy almond butter
- 1/2 cup cacao powder
- 1 pinch sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a 8” x 8” baking pan with parchment paper.
- Mash the bananas in a mixing bowl until creamy. It’s okay to leave the bananas chunky if you’re okay with it. Whisk the egg and almond butter into the mashed bananas and stir well until very well-combined. Add the cocoa powder and stir well until combined. Note that the cocoa powder won’t want to stir into the batter easily, so it will take a little bit of elbow grease to get it to all combine together.
- Transfer the batter to the parchment-lined baking dish and smooth into an even layer.
- Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven 20 to 25 minutes until the brownies feel firm when gently poked in the center.
- Allow brownies to cool at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving.
Nutrition Information
Yield 12 Serving Size 1 of 12Amount Per Serving Calories 177Total Fat 13gUnsaturated Fat 0gCarbohydrates 14gFiber 4gSugar 6gProtein 5g

Emily
Sunday 5th of December 2021
I made these last night with a few substitutions and thought I would post here in case anyone wanted to do something similar. Didn’t have almond butter on hand so subbed it out with greek yogurt and also added ~1/2 tsp baking soda. Baked at 350 on a fan oven and these turned out pretty nice! Definetly will be making again. They taste exactly like what’s in them…banana and chocolate 🤣 I love how you claim that this isn’t going to be a blow your socks off best brownie ever as well!
Julia
Sunday 5th of December 2021
Thanks so much for reporting back, Emily! I like the idea of trying Greek yogurt...I may just give this a whirl myself! xoxox
Marty
Friday 23rd of April 2021
Is it possible to add unflavored protein powder to this recipe? How would that change the texture? This looks SOOOO good but I'm also hoping I can get some protein in while eating them 😁
Julia
Monday 3rd of May 2021
I love that idea! I haven't tried the brownies with protein powder, but my guess is a couple scoops would work. It may change the texture a bit, but I'd start small and see what happens. xo
Anon
Friday 5th of February 2021
If I separate and beat the egg white until soft peaks, then fold the rest of the mixture in, would it make the brownies a bit fluffier?
Julia
Friday 5th of February 2021
Hi Anon,
I haven't tested the recipe trying that method, but I believe it would make them fluffier, yes. Let me know if you try it! xoxo
Samantha Barlow
Tuesday 2nd of February 2021
Hi, I would love to try this! Can you use unsalted butter instead, does it make much difference to the taste? I always have these ingredients stocked but can easily get almond butter. Thanks :)
Samantha Barlow
Wednesday 3rd of February 2021
@Julia, yes regular unsalted butter
Julia
Tuesday 2nd of February 2021
Hi Samantha,
Are you wanting to replace the almond butter with regular butter? I'm not sure I understand what you mean..
L. Sparling
Sunday 24th of January 2021
Do you think it would work if I sub almond butter for sunflower seed butter ?
Julia
Monday 25th of January 2021
Absolutely! I've made them with sunflower seed butter and love them that way too! :D xoxo