These incredible Vegan Gluten-Free Brownies are made without butter and use oil instead! We melt chocolate into the batter for an extra fudgy texture and rich chocolate flavor that is sure to blow you away. We use a secret brownie hack to get that perfect shiny top every time, plus you'll learn how to apply this hack to any brownie recipe you try in the future!
This recipe does not need eggs, butter, or milk!
Vegan Gluten-Free Brownies are the perfect year-round recipe! They're great for potlucks, the 4th of July, baby showers, Sunday baking, and more. This super classic fudgy brownie recipe is the only brownie recipe you'll need from now on. It's way better than boxed brownies, with little extra work!
For more vegan gluten-free dessert recipes that are fun to make all year, check out my Vegan Blondies, Vegan Ladyfingers, Mango Popsicles, Chocolate Chia Pudding Dessert, Dairy-Free Gelato, Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies, Vegan Chocolate Cake, Vegan Gluten-Free Funfetti Cake, Thick Hot Chocolate and Vegan Tiramisu!
And for some incredible dairy-free dinner recipes to have beforehand, try our Dairy-Free Zuppa Toscana, Dairy Free Swedish Meatballs, and Dairy Free Shrimp Scampi!
And for dairy-free side dishes, consider Dairy-Free Mashed Potatoes, Dairy-Free Scalloped Potatoes, and this Dairy Free Charcuterie Board.
How to make it (with photos)
Ingredient Notes + Substitutions
You need 10 common ingredients to make these no butter vegan brownies!
Sugar
I use regular white sugar and light brown sugar in this recipe. The combination of sugars makes a rich and chewy brownie flavor that we love! You can replace the brown sugar with more white sugar.
I do not recommend using coconut sugar in this recipe. Coconut sugar does not dissolve easily and I was not able to get a crackly top in that recipe trial (it did have a nice taste though).
Some brownie recipes suggest using powdered sugar, but this is not necessary. Powdered sugar dissolves easily into the mixture and therefore helps create the shiny crust, but if you follow our instructions you won't need it!
Oil
We liked melted coconut oil or avocado oil best. If you don't mind the canola oil flavor, it also works nicely. Vegetable oil can be used in these dairy-free brownies too.
Hot Water
Hot water is our hot tip for making 100% sure you have that crinkle top brownie! The sugar must dissolve in the water and oil mixture for that crinkle top.
It's also why eggs are not a necessary brownie ingredient. It is harder to get that shiny top with eggs since hot water will cook them prematurely! For best flavor and texture, I recommend this egg-free brownie recipe to take advantage of our easy brownie hack.
You also need semi-sweet chocolate chips, vanilla extract, gluten-free all purpose flour with xanthan gum, unsweetened cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda to make this best brownie recipe!
See the recipe card for full ingredients and quantities.
Allergy-Friendly Brownies
This fudgy no butter brownie recipe is naturally dairy-free, soy-free, vegan and egg-free. To make this popular dessert wheat and gluten-free as well, simply use a Gluten-Free all purpose flour. I like Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Flour for cakes, cookies, quick breads, and brownies.
If your blend does not include xanthan gum or guar gum, add ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum per cup of gluten-free flour.
Variations
Try these fun brownie variations to wow your guests!
- Coffee Brownies - Instead of hot water, add hot coffee for a luscious coffee flavored brownie!
- S'mores Brownies - Mix in marshmallows and bits of graham cracker before baking! Check out our S'mores Rocky Road for inspiration.
- Chewy Brownies - Instead of melting some of the chocolate chips into the batter in step 3, add a total of ¾ cups of chocolate chips in step 4 as a mix-in.
- Dark Chocolate Brownies - For dark chocolate brownies, use chopped dark chocolate or dark chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet chocolate chips.
And check out this amazing blonde brownies recipe on my site!
Step-by-Step Instructions
This vegan gluten-free brownies without butter recipe is super easy and very traditional.
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F and line a 9x9 inch baking pan with parchment paper.
- Dissolve the sugar: In a medium microwave-safe bowl, add both sugars, oil (warmed to liquid if using coconut oil), and hot water. Whisk by hand or with an electric mixer for 3 minutes or until the sugars are completely dissolved and you have a smooth sugar syrup. Don't skimp on the whisking -- this is what makes that perfect shiny crackly top! If needed, microwave the mixture for 30 seconds, then stir to combine. Continue microwaving in 15 second intervals, whisking in between, until the sugar is dissolved completely. See notes for tips without a microwave.
- Melt the chocolate: Add vanilla and ½ cup of chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate to the mixture. Whisk until the chocolate has melted fully and the mixture is smooth. If needed, microwave the mixture as described in the previous step.
- Dry ingredients: Add the gluten-free flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda to a medium mixing bowl and whisk together. Then add the dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ingredients and mix until well combined. Add the remaining ½ cup of chocolate chips and stir until well incorporated.
- Bake: Spread the thick brownie batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out slightly fudgy but with no wet batter. In my oven, the baking time was 42 minutes.
- Cool: Cool completely before removing from the pan and serving. If you do not let it cool, the melted chocolate makes these brownies very wet and they will not hold together well (you will need to eat them with a fork). Just like fudge, these dairy-free brownies are best enjoyed at room temperature or slightly warm.
Hint: Use a metal pan if possible and make sure to spread the brownie batter evenly from the edges of the pan to the center. That way they bake evenly.
Expert Tip -- What makes the top of brownies shiny?
Dissolving the sugar is what creates that brownie crackle top. We know many websites claim that the shiny top is due to eggs, butter, or something else, but that is simply not true.
To get a crackle top every time, make sure to whisk the sugars with the hot water and oil until it has completely dissolved. I recommend whisking for 3 full minutes (it's worth the work I promise!). Then check to make sure the syrup is smooth and shiny before moving on to the next step.
Don't believe me? Research "sugar glass". It's used in movies whenever glass is shattered and is made by dissolving sugar in water. By dissolving sugar in water for this brownie recipe, we are making a thin layer of sugar glass on top of your brownie!
Troubleshooting: If you struggle to get the sugar to dissolve, pop it in the microwave for 15 seconds at a time, whisking for at least 30 seconds in between until the syrup is smooth.
Recipe FAQs
Here I answered some frequently asked questions about these vegan gluten-free brownies. Don't see your question? Leave it in the comments at the end of this post and I'll answer within two business days.
Store these vegan gluten-free brownies in an airtight container on the counter for up to 4 days. Allow the brownies to cool completely before storing to maintain the shiny top and crisp edges! They can also be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Milk is not a necessary brownie ingredient. Delicious brownies can be made with water instead of milk, and with oil instead of butter for dairy-free.
Eggs are not a necessary brownie ingredient. Contrary to popular belief, they are also not necessary for a shiny brownie top.
Replace eggs with one tablespoon of cornstarch or potato starch and three tablespoons of water, or find a recipe made without eggs like this vegan brownie recipe.
There is a trick to replacing butter with oil in brownies. Butter is 80% fat and 20% water, and oil is 100% fat. To replace butter with oil in brownies, replace ¾ of the butter with oil and replace the remaining butter with water.
This substitution for oil in brownies will give you thick fudgy brownies with a crackle top and perfect texture.
This dairy-free brownies with oil recipe requires no substitutions or calculating to make them without butter!
The best oil for brownies is a liquid oil with a buttery or neutral taste, like melted coconut oil, avocado oil, or vegetable oil. Canola oil makes a great brownie texture but the taste can be strong if you are not used to it.
Related vegan gluten-free desserts to consider...
Looking for more delicious dessert recipes without dairy like these no butter brownies? Check these out:
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the comment section below. Thank you!
📖 Recipe
Vegan Gluten-Free Brownies - no butter
Ingredients
- ¾ cup sugar (150 grams)
- ¾ cup light brown sugar firmly packed (150 grams)
- ½ cup oil , avocado oil, vegetable oil, and melted coconut oil all work (118 ml)
- ½ cup hot water (118 ml)
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips , divided (200 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all purpose gluten-free flour with xanthan gum**(190 grams)
- ½ cup cocoa powder (50 grams)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F and line a 9x9 inch baking pan with parchment paper.
- Dissolve the sugar: In a large microwave-safe bowl, add the sugar, brown sugar, oil, and hot water. Whisk by hand or with an electric mixer for 3 minutes or until the sugars are completely dissolved and you have a smooth sugar syrup.*¾ cup sugar, ¾ cup light brown sugar, ½ cup oil, ½ cup hot water
- Melt the chocolate: Add vanilla and ⅓ cup of chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate to the mixture. Whisk until the chocolate has melted fully and the mixture is smooth. If needed, microwave the mixture as described in the notes section under "shiny top".1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Dry ingredients: Add the gluten-free flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda to a medium mixing bowl and whisk together. Then add the dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ingredients and mix until well combined. Add ½ cup of chocolate chips and stir until well incorporated.1 ½ cups all purpose gluten-free flour, ½ cup cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon salt, ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- Bake: Spread the thick brownie batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out slightly fudgy but with no wet batter. In my oven, the baking time was 39 minutes.
- Cool: Cool completely before removing from the pan and serving. If you do not let it cool, the melted chocolate makes these brownies very wet and they will not hold together well (you will need to eat them with a fork). Just like fudge, these dairy-free brownies are best enjoyed at room temperature or slightly warm.
Madona says
Can i use plain or all-purpose flour instead of gluten-free one because the gluten-free flour isn't available in my area?
Jamie says
Hi Madona! You can absolutely swap regular all-purpose flour for the gluten-free one in this recipe. Happy Baking!
Kenny says
I'm not entirely sure what happen but it didn't work. The brownies were swimming in oil when I took it out of the oven. Once they cooled down they were hard as a rock, I had to put it in the bin.
Jamie says
I'm sad to hear it Kenny and I wish it turned out better for you. Honestly I'm not sure what happened either. What type of oil did you use?
Dharshini Sivakumar says
Hi..
Can we use dark compound instead ? Or only couverture
Jamie says
Dark compound and coverture chocolate will both work in this recipe. If the dark compound chocolate is in bar form, you'll want to chop it into chocolate-chip-sized-pieces so it melts quickly. If you find you need to use the microwave to aid in melting, keep a very close eye on it and stir well between heating intervals since dark compound has a greater tendency to burn.
Dharshini says
Thank you ❤️
Dharshini says
Hi... is this a 1 kg brownie measurement? And if so ...how to calculate 1/4 kg to give it a try in small batch
Jamie says
Hi Dharshini - I'm not sure what the final weight of this batch is. It fills an 8 inch by 8 inch baking pan. To make a 1/4 sized batch to test it, I recommend dividing each measurement by 4. Since it sounds like you're already using grams, I recommend using the gram and ml measurements I have in parenthesis (I went ahead and added the missing ml measurements). I hope this helps! Happy baking 🙂
Mili says
I love these vegan brownies! They are so fudgy, almost like fudge but still a brownie.
Michelle says
These vegan and gluten-free brownies taste totally legit! My whole family loved them.
Elizabeth says
You mention adding starch but it’s not listed in ingredients. Is there starch in the recipe?
Jamie says
Thanks for the question Elizabeth! There is no starch in the recipe. I recently updated the recipe and it no longer needs starch. I'll fix this. Thanks again!
Katie says
This crackle top is the best I’ve ever had! Super glossy and just a little crunch. I really appreciated the section on how to get that shiny top. This will be my go to brownie recipe from now on. I love that it’s super simple.
Jamie says
I'm so happy to hear it! Thank you for the review Katie 🙂
Brenna says
I love the texture of these brownies! The shiny top is perfect, and the inside is chewy. Such a nice flavor too.
Jamie says
I'm so glad you enjoyed them!
Karina says
Thank you for the recipe! Quick question: can I replace all sugar with organic coconut sugar?
Jamie says
Hi Karina! You can replace all the sugar with coconut sugar and it tastes great. However, I was never able to recreate the shiny crinkle top with coconut sugar. I think coconut sugar has too many impurities which prevents the "sugar glass" top from forming properly.