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These Instant Pot Brownies might be my favorite brownie recipe to date. They require just one bowl and 10 minutes to stir together, and are made without flour for a rich and fudgy texture.
Baking in the Instant Pot
What I love about baking in my Instant Pot is that you can’t mess it up. If you get distracted and forget that you’re baking something, the Instant Pot will turn off automatically when the cooking cycle is over.
Even if you forget your brownies are in there for TWO HOURS, they won’t burn. (Yep, I’ve done that.)
Since these brownies are cooked with steam pressure, they also won’t dry out or brown around the edges. This means you don’t have to worry about acrylamide forming, like you might in the oven.
Flourless Almond Butter Brownies
This recipe comes from my book, The Fresh & Healthy Instant Pot Cookbook, and I wanted to share it here so you could have a visual of what the batter looks like. It’s not your average “runny” brownie batter!
Because the Instant Pot keeps baked goods so moist, your batter needs to be thicker, almost like play-doh. Instead of pouring it into a pan, you’ll need to use your hands to flatten it into the bottom of the pan and then gently press the dark chocolate chips on top, if you want a double-chocolate-style brownie. (I highly recommend this.)
How to Make Instant Pot Brownies
To “bake” these brownies, you’ll need to pour a cup of water into the bottom of your Instant Pot. This is the water that will boil and will bring your pot to pressure.
Place the trivet that comes with your electric pressure cooker over that water, then place the pan of brownies on top of that. I like to cover my pan to protect it from condensation that could drip on the brownies, so I do that with an upside down plate. (Just make sure it’s oven safe and the same diameter as your pan.) Alternatively, you could cover the brownies with another sheet of parchment paper or with foil.
These brownies only need to cook at high pressure for 15 minutes, but keep in mind that you’ll need to wait roughly 10 minutes for the pot to come to pressure before the cooking cycle begins.
You’ll also need to wait another 10 minutes after the cooking cycle is over before you can take off the lid, so plan on these brownies taking closer to 30 minutes total. But all of that time is totally hands-off, so you can do something else around the house.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup almond butter
- 3/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1 egg (or flax egg; see notes)
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions
- Line a 7-inch round baking pan with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine the almond butter, coconut sugar, cocoa powder, egg, salt, baking soda, and vanilla and stir well to create a thick batter.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and use your hands to press it evenly into the pan. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top and gently press them into the batter.
- Pour 1 cup of water into the Instant Pot and arrange the handled trivet on the bottom. Place the pan on top of the trivet and cover it with an upside-down plate or another piece of parchment to protect the brownies from condensation.
- Secure the lid and move the steam release valve to Sealing. Press the Manual or Pressure Cook button to cook on high pressure for 15 minutes. It will take the Instant Pot roughly 10 minutes to come to pressure before the cooking cycle begins.
- When the cooking cycle is complete, let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes, then move the steam release valve to Venting to release any remaining pressure. When the floating valve drops, it's safe to open the lid.
- Use oven mitts to life the trivet and pan out of the pot. Let the brownies cool completely in the pan before cutting and serving, as they will be very fragile when warm. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 2 weeks.
Nutrition
Per brownie: Calories: 125, Fat: 7g, Carbohydrates: 11g, Fiber: 1g, Protein: 3g
Recipe Notes:
- You can make this recipe vegan by using a flax egg instead of a chicken egg, and adding 1 teaspoon of vinegar to help react with the baking soda. In this case, increase the pressure cooking time to 25 minutes and follow the rest of the instructions as given.
- Feel free to use cashew butter, sunflower seed butter, or peanut butter instead of almond butter, if you like. I have not tested these brownies with another sweetener, so experiment at your own risk, and please leave a comment below if you try something different. We can all benefit from your experience!
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Reader Feedback: Have you tried baking in your Instant Pot yet?
Fudgy and decadent!
I didn’t have coconut sugar, so replaced it with 1/2 cup of maple syrup. So that there wouldn’t be too much liquid I made my flax egg using some of the maple syrup instead of additional water (actually did 2 tablespoons ground flax seed). I also added 1 tsp vinegar as recommended in the notes, and increased the cocoa pwd to 1/2 cup. Everything else remained the same. I used the 25 minute cooking time, and these worked beautifully. You definitely have to let them cool completely to prevent crumbling. But they literally melt in your mouth.
Made a believer out of me! This was the first time I’d ever ‘baked’ anything in my InstantPot and the first time I’d ever made brownies with almond butter. They far exceeded my expectations, and even the most skeptical family members absolutely love them! Thank you!
A regular road trip treat for us.
Thanks to you, I have just purchased an Instant Pot and this is the first recipe I tried. I have osteoporosis and so I am trying to eat 80% alkaline foods and 20% acid foods as well as food combining. So with this recipe I replaced the coconut sugar with 109g of Medjool dates and 5 tbsp water and pulsed together and set aside for 10 minutes. I used flax egg and 1 tbsp cider vinegar. I had no chocolate chips so used grated chocolate on top. Oh my word what a decadent delight. It just melts in the mouth. Even my husband sang its praises. I am now preparing your egg frittata it will ready in 4 minutes. Thanks for making cooking a joyous experience. I am loving your recipes and my new Instant Pot ☺️.
Hi, I try this recipe earlier today, and it came out very dry and they crumbled when they were cut. Not sure what I did wrong but I am pretty sure that I followed the recipe and didn’t miss any ingredients. I used a 7 inch stainless steel pan which comes with a silicone lid. Could that have been the problem? I love to try these again but I’m not sure if they’ll turn out the second time.