The first words out of my mouth when I taste-tested these fudgy, vegan Crinkle-Top Brownies…
“I’m not usually a brownie person, but oh my God these are GOOD.”
And yeah, it’s true, I’m actually not a brownie gal. I remember at high school sleepovers everyone would be devouring box-mix brownies and I was just like… meh. They were too sweet, too rich or just not my thing.
These day, I normally prefer the bite of a buttery chocolate chip or peanut butter cookie. But oh my goodness — these rich yet pleasantly buttery, totally fudgy vegan crinkle brownies may change my mind.
Need a chocolate fix? Try these!! Bonus, these are ridiculously easy to make…
Brownie Basics
There are a few ways to make brownies. You can use a boxed mix when you are really in a jam. You can use cocoa powder as the chocolate source or you can do the double broiler method and melt your chocolate in.
All methods work, but for me, melting chocolate for my crinkle brownies is the way to go. I love this method for two main reasons:
- melted chocolate gives the most rich and fudgy texture
- you can choose the brand/variety of chocolate!
Shiny Crinkle Tops
I am all about that glossy, shiny crinkle top on a brownie. I need it. Melted chocolate and whatever ‘egg replacer’ you use should achieve a crinkly, shiny top just fine. Even with a vegan brownie! If you don’t see it right away, wait for them to cool. Those crinkles will show up….
Choose Good Chocolate
The chocolate chips or chocolate bars that you use in your brownies can make all the difference in flavor, texture and richness. I try to buy brands of chocolate that really sing in terms of chocolate flavor and texture. Chocolate that I enjoy eating all on it’s own is key.
It’s actually pretty easy to find vegan bars and chips too. A few of my faves..
- Guittard – Any of the vegan options from Guittard (bars or chips) are awesome.
- Enjoy Life – This go-to allergy-friendly chip has great flavor and texture.
- Venche – Any vegan bar from Venche will be the best of the best. SO goof to eat on it’s own or use for extra-special brownies.
- Navitas Naturals – For cacao powder, I love this brand.
Crinkle Brownie Add-Ins
The walnuts in this crinkle brownie recipe are technically optional. But I love a nut accent to break up the chocolate a bit. These brownies are rich and dense – yet not too sweet which I appreciate – so any nut add-in really compliments them.
If you don’t have walnuts, you could use cashews, pecans or even swirl in some peanut butter – right into the batter or on top.
How to Make Brownies Fudgy
The trick to make brownies really fudgy is definitely that egg+melted chocolate ration. And obviously for these brownies, we are using vegan egg replacers. In fact, I actually really love using ‘weird’ egg replacers like veggies and sweet potato because the fudgy texture really shows up. Having a good amount of fat also helps keeps brownies fudgy. And lastly, using minimal flour!
If you use too much flour in your vegan brownies, they will come out more like a chocolate cake. Not a bad thing! But a different sort of texture.
And for the fudgiest brownies… serve warm!
Even straight from the pan, like below. They might fall apart a bit more because they haven’t cooled yet, but still so good…
Eggs in Brownies
Eggs give crinkle brownies that fluffy, light texture. So what is a vegan to do? Sub them! There are a few good ways to do so…
Vegan Egg Replacers for Crinkle Brownies:
- JUST Egg
- silken tofu
- sweet potato mash
- zucchini puree
- black beans
- pumpkin puree
- chickpeas
- flax eggs
- ‘vegan’ egg replacer powder + water
I used JUST Egg today because I had some on hand and I’ve been experimenting with it a lot lately in baked goods. Such as my Babka – cinnamon – using it as well. I actually don’t like it as ‘scrambled eggs’ but I do love it in baking. I think it has great flavor and color and texture when baked.
My second fave brownie ‘egg’ replacer is silken tofu for it’s neutral flavor and egg-like texture. A simple flax egg works too. I sub two eggs in this recipe.
Crinkle-Top Brownies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup vegan butter, 1 stick
- 1 cup vegan chocolate chips, or dark chocolate bars
- 1/3 cup cane sugar
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup cacao powder
- 1/2 cup vegan egg replacer of choice, I used JUST Egg
- 1 Tbsp corn starch, optional
- 1 cup all purpose flour, – plus 1 tablespoon
- sprinkle of course sea salt on top
Optional Fold-ins:
- 1/1 – 1 cups raw walnuts
- 1/3 cup vegan chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line an 8 inch square baking dish with parchment paper. Lightly grease the inside of the parchment paper.
- Create a double boiler setup with a soup pot filled with a few cups of water and then place the stainless steel mixing bowl on top. Turn the heat to medium. Add the vegan butter and chocolate. USing a wooden spoon, stir continuously until fully melted. About halfway through, turn the stove heat to low so you don't burn the chocolate. turn off heat and remove bowl from heat.
- Add in the sugars, vanilla extract, salt, cacao powder and egg replacer of choice. See notes. Briskly stir or whisk until smooth.
- Stir in the flour and starch until silky smooth. your batter should be nice and glossy. Fold in optional nuts and additional chocolate chips.
- Pour the chocolate mixture into the brownie pan.
- Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes
- Pull from oven and sprinkle optional coarse sea salt on top. I love fleur de sel if you have it!
- Allow brownies to cool for at least twenty minutes before slicing and serving. Best served warm. Store leftovers in the fridge.
Equipment
- stainless steel or glass mixing bowl
- 8" brownie pan
Notes
- JUST Egg
- pureed silken tofu
- sweet potato mash
- flax egg
- puree of beans
- apple sauce
nutrition estimate | per serving
These were amazing!!! I used Bob’s Red Mill egg replacer for 2 eggs and they were everything I needed this week <3
These are so yummy! I did the sweet potato option for egg replacement. My batter was pretty dry so I added 1/4 cup plus 1/8 cup of water until it looked like typical brownie batter. I also used all coconut sugar bc that is all I had on hand. My 2 year old daughter and I cooked these together after lunch today. She loved Eating the batter off the spoon! Happy day!
I just made this recipe the applesauce substitution for the vegan egg. My brownies certainly have a crinkly top but are not fudgy at all. Quite the opposite, they are crumbly and easily fall apart 🙁
Hm, I would reduce the flour a bit for applesauce. I didn’t note that, since I haven’t tested that version yet. But given your feedback you have a few options…
1. Reduce flour. 1/3 cup would be a rough guess.
2. Increase the melted chocolate by a bit.
3. Reduce the baking time to hack ‘fudginess.’
My guess is that the fiber in the applesauce creates a different texture compared to the vegan egg or tofu – which really mimics a gooey egg quite well. Applesauce usually works best in cookie or cake recipes for me.
I have only tested Just Egg and tofu thus far with these brownies.
If I test apple sauce out I’ll definitely update the post! Thank u for the feedback!