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Date Brownies are 100% fruit sweetened, but you’d never know just by tasting them. They are made without flour or oil, and have a rich & chewy texture you’ll love!
Why You’ll Love Them
They’re delicious. These healthy brownies have a rich chocolate flavor, and a texture similar to the two-bite brownie bites you’d find at the grocery store. My kids gobble them up! (And they are quite picky.)
They’re naturally sweet. Dates are the perfect sweetener for this recipe, with a caramel-like flavor that isn’t too detectable. (Unlike banana or applesauce, which would contribute almost too much flavor to a chocolate dessert.)
They’re nourishing. Dates contain important minerals, like iron and potassium, and when you pair them with nutrient-rich ingredients like almond butter and cacao powder, these brownies will help you get more fiber and antioxidants into your day.
They’re perfect for special diets. If you’re trying to avoid added sugar, or are following a Paleo, vegan, dairy-free, or gluten-free eating plan, this recipe is perfect for you! Be sure to check out the substitutions below, if you need to make a swap.
Ingredients You’ll Need
This recipe requires no added sugar– just pitted Medjool dates! You can add in a few mini chocolate chips, if you’d like a double-chocolate brownie, but that’s totally optional.
If you don’t have almond butter on hand, you can use any other nut butter you like, such as peanut butter, cashew butter, or sunflower seed butter, instead.
Note: This recipe works best if your dates are soft and squishy. They should be easy to split apart with your fingers to remove the pit. If your dates feel too hard or dry, try soaking them in a bowl of very hot water for 10 minutes to help them soften up.
How to Make Date Brownies
1. Process.
Add the dates and water to a food processor, and process briefly to help them break down, about 60 seconds.
Next, add in the almond butter, ground flax seed, cacao or cocoa powder, baking soda, vanilla extract, vinegar, and salt. (The vinegar is here to help react with the baking soda, but you won’t taste it in the final brownies.)
Process again, until the batter looks thick and sticky. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the machine, if needed.
2. Scoop.
Prepare a mini muffin pan by greasing it with coconut oil or olive oil. Use a 1-ounce cookie scoop, or a tablespoon, to scoop the mixture into each slot of the prepared pan. You might not fill all 24 spots; I usually get 18 to 20 brownie bites from this batch.
Get your fingers wet, and flatten the tops of the brownies. If you’d like to add a few chocolate chips on top, now is the time to do so.
3. Bake.
Place the pan in an oven preheated to 350ºF and bake until the tops look dry, about 12 to 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, and let the brownies cool completely in the pan.
They will be quite fragile while they are warm, but will firm up with a chewy texture once they are cool.
Run a knife around the edges of each brownie, then use the knife to help you lift it out of the pan. Since these brownies are made without egg, they may sink slightly in the center, but the texture should still be amazing.
Store leftover date brownies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. Or you can freeze them for up to 3 months.
Looking for more date-sweetened desserts? Try the Healthiest Cookies Ever, my Healthy Birthday Cake, or Peanut Butter Date Cookies for more ideas.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup Medjool dates , pitted (6 ounces)
- ⅓ cup water
- ½ cup almond butter (or nut butter of choice)
- 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
- 5 tablespoons cacao powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and grease a mini muffin tin with spray oil, or your favorite oil, to help prevent sticking.
- In a food processor fitted with an “S” blade, combine the dates and water and process until the dates have broken down into a paste. (They may turn into a ball in the processor, which is also okay.)
- Add in the almond butter, ground flax, cacao powder, baking soda, vanilla, and vinegar and process again until a sticky, uniform dough is created. (If you need to add 1 more tablespoon of water to help it blend smoothly, that's okay.) The batter will be thick and sticky.
- Use a tablespoon or 1-ounce cookie scoop to help you scoop the dough into the greased mini muffin tin. Use your fingers to gently flatten each mound of dough. Because the dough is very sticky, it helps to get your fingers wet with water before pressing each mound down so your fingers won't stick to the dough.
- Bake until the tops look dry, about 12 to 15 minutes. (The centers will still feel slightly soft to the touch.) Remove from the oven and let the brownies cool completely, at least 30 minutes, before attempting to remove them from the pan. They firm up as they cool, but are very fragile when warm. Run a knife around the edge of each brownie to help loosen them to be removed, then serve immediately or store them in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
If you try this date brownie recipe, please leave a comment and star rating below letting me know how you like it!
I used an egg instead of flax seed and peanut butter instead of almond butter. These came out soooo good!! I love that they do not have any refined sugar and you are able to switch up ingredients to your preferences without messing up the recipe.
Pretty good! Don’t expect them to taste like sugary brownies though. They’re tasty chocolate bites, slightly bitter, but the dates help add some sweetness.
Wow!
I am on the anti inflammatory diet and craving sweets really badly. This recipe is amazing and satisfying with no sugar. I added everything to the food processor like another commenter mentioned because my food processor was overhearing with just the dates and water. I almost can’t believe these have no sugar. Thank you for this recipe!
HAVE MERCY THESE ARE AMAZING!
First things first… I quickly realized that my food processor was not willing to do just the dates and the water or in my case dates and Coffee because that was not enough ingredients. Thus, I just added all the ingredients except for the baking soda and blended and blended and blended until it was smooth and ready which does not take very long.
I then added the baking powder and, because we like an extra dark chocolate, we did add some chopped unsweetened 100% cacao chocolate bar but not very much. It just melted right into the batch.
We have now made these brownies three or four times? They are a hit with our youngest 11 month old and 2 year old grandchildren, our eight and 10-year-old grandchildren, and with all the adults! They truly are like those delicious brownie bites.
We did not put ours in the muffin tin rather we baked them on a cookie stone and they kept their shape perfectly!
For valentines we made them in heart shapes on the cookie stone as well as putting them in a silicone heart shaped bite-size candy mold. Those baked nearly as long as the regular ones. The hearts kept their shape. The ones in the silicone mold, popped out beautifully and kept their shape as well.
Do I repeat do make sure to follow the directions and allow these to rest at least 30 minutes before moving them so they’re not fragile.
These turn out like the most scrumptious gooey gooey brownie yet it holds it shape!
If you want to make it a little bit sweeter, add a few more dates or a little date syrup which we’ve also done but honestly, they are great as is!
We added some all natural dye sprinkles on top for Valentines for our granddaughters. So pretty.
If you haven’t made this, be prepared to be addicted!!
Thanks for such a great recipe!
Oh yes, if you’re wondering… No, you cannot taste the balsamic vinegar as it is. There are simply to react with the baking soda, but because it’s balsamic it helps add a deeper richer flavor to the brownies.
OMG these are absolutely delicious! I couldn’t wait for them to cool, so the first one broke coming out. I used peanut butter instead of almond. I can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
I’m an older man who has never baked before and I thought I would try this as they are my favourite treat. WOW!!! These are awesome really easy to make. Thank you.
These are unreal. A regular staple for our sweet tooth cravings now…absolutely incredible. We’ve been trying a bunch of healthy treat recipes and all have flopped- this is out of this world.
Just made these with an egg and a tsp of baking powder instead of the baking soda and flaxseeds. Delicious!! This recipe is a keeper!
Thanks for the great recipe, I will definitely try these muffins!
Off topic: why do you pronounce every single indefinite article “a” as a strong /eɪ/ (like the letter “A”) in your video? I get that you want to sound engaging but it is just so annoying!
Wow these are SO good! I soaked the dates, but for too long, and had to add more dates and chocolate sunflower seed butter to get the right consistency, so I was worried the results wouldn’t be good. But wow they came out great and they are absolutely reminiscent of 2-bite brownies. I will definitely be making these again. Thank you for another fantastic recipe!
I have made these twice now the first time I made them with peanut butter and this time I followed a note in the section that you could use just regular nuts and so I used almonds. I think I prefer the peanut butter just gives it a different taste. And then I serve these with chocolate cottage cheese mousse it’s the perfect dessert