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Oat Flour Brownies are naturally gluten-free with a fudgy texture you’ll love. It will quickly become one of your favorite desserts!
Even if you don’t keep it on hand, you can make homemade oat flour in minutes simply by blending oats in a blender or food processor.
Use any leftover oat flour to make banana bread, cookies, and pancakes.
If you prefer to use store-bought oat flour, I tested this brownie recipe with Anthony’s brand (affiliate link) which is batch-tested to be gluten-free.
Ingredients You’ll Need
These oatmeal brownies call for raw cacao powder, which is also sometimes called natural cocoa powder. It has a light brown color and tastes slightly acidic and bitter. (This recipe doesn’t call for a significant amount to avoid bitterness.)
Dutch-processed cocoa is darker in color and has a mild chocolate flavor, without any bitter aftertaste. If this is what you keep on hand, feel free to try it! The resulting brownies might not have quite as much chocolate flavor in this case, so you can add more to taste.
If you need a gluten-free recipe, make sure to use certified gluten-free oat flour. While oats are naturally gluten-free, they can be contaminated during processing.
Thanks to reader feedback, I’ve tested this recipe again and learned you’ll get fudgier results by adding an extra egg and omitting any baking soda. The resulting brownies are amazing, but you can always find my original brownie recipe here.
Need a vegan recipe? Try my Date Brownies or Black Bean Brownies which are both egg-free and dairy-free.
How to Make Oat Flour Brownies
Preheat the oven to 350ºF and lightly grease an 8-inch metal pan. (Metal works best for baking brownies.) Press a piece of parchment paper into the pan for easy removal later.
In a heat-safe medium bowl, combine the butter and chocolate chips. If you need a dairy-free recipe, use coconut oil, instead. (Expeller-pressed coconut oil will add zero coconut flavor.)
To make a double boiler, fill a small saucepan with 1 inch of water and bring that to a boil on the stovetop. Arrange the heat-safe bowl snugly over the top of the pan with the boiling water to let the steam gently melt the chocolate and butter. Stir often, until the mixture looks smooth.
Add the coconut sugar to the heated bowl and stir it into the melted chocolate mixture. Heating the sugar briefly will help give your brownies more of a crackled top. (Using white sugar makes it even more noticeable, but would also make these brownies sweeter.)
In a large mixing bowl, add the oat flour, cacao powder, and salt. Whisk the dry ingredients to break up any clumps, then add in the melted chocolate mixture. Stir well to let the batter cool slightly, then add in the eggs and vanilla extract and stir again.
If you’d like to add something extra, like chopped nuts or extra chocolate chips, now is the time to fold those in.
Pour the brownie batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake at 350ºF for 18 to 20 minutes, or just until the center doesn’t jiggle. A toothpick should come out sticky if you insert it in the center, but the brownies will continue to set as they cool.
Let the brownies cool in the baking dish for at least 1 hour before slicing. It might take 2 hours for them to cool completely, depending on the temperature of your home.
Brownies taste best when served slightly warm, with a scoop of ice cream on top, or at room temperature.
They have the best shelf life when stored in the fridge, so keep any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. (They probably won’t last that long, though!)
You can also store brownies in the freezer for up to 3 months in an airtight container.
Frequently Asked Questions
Oat flour is not a 1:1 swap for all-purpose flour, because it has a different density. Read my Oat Flour post if you want an easy formula to use when substituting oat flour in recipes.
Oats are naturally gluten-free, but they can be contaminated with other gluten-containing grains during the manufacturing process. Be sure to buy a package that is labeled “certified gluten-free” if you are serving these brownies to someone sensitive to gluten.
Brownies get their moist texture from using granulated sugar, so white sugar or brown sugar would work similarly. If you want to try using maple syrup, I’d start with just half the amount and expect a slightly different texture.
Looking for more brownie recipes? Try Almond Butter Brownies, Sweet Potato Brownies, Almond Flour Brownies, or my Vegan Gluten-free Brownies for more ideas.
Ingredients
- ½ cup salted butter , melted (see notes for dairy-free)
- ½ cup chocolate chips
- 1 cup coconut sugar
- ½ cup oat flour
- ¼ cup cacao powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and grease an 8-inch square metal pan with oil. Press a piece of parchment paper into the bottom of the pan, so the brownies will be easy to remove later. (Brownies don't bake as well in a glass dish, FYI.)
- In a heat-safe bowl, melt the butter and chocolate chips together over a double boiler. Stir until the chocolate is smooth, then add in the coconut sugar and continue to heat and stir for 1 more minute. Heating the sugar briefly will give the brownies more of a crackly texture on top. (Alternatively, you can melt the butter and chocolate chips in a microwave, stirring until smooth, then add the sugar and microwave again for 30 seconds, and stir again.)
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the oat flour, cacao powder, and salt. Whisk well to break up any clumps, then add in the melted chocolate-sugar mixture.
- Once you've stirred in the melted chocolate, add the eggs and vanilla and stir until smooth. Transfer the brownie batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top.
- Bake at 350ºF for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the center doesn't jiggle when you shake the pan. Let the brownies cool completely before slicing into them. (About 1 hour.) If you use a glass baking dish, the brownies may require a few more minutes to cook until the center looks set.
- Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
Nutrition
If you try these oat flour brownies, please leave a comment and star rating below letting me know how you like them.
I was so surprised how these came out! I swapped 1/2 cup butter for 1/4 butter and a 3 oz container of apple sauce. Swapped the coconut sugar for 1/4 cup monk fruit and 1/4 cup dark maple syrup. Did find the batter to be liquid so I decided on another 1/3 cup of oat flour. THESE ARE AMAZING!
Absolutly fantastic! Just a question: as eggs and oat are in a different food group, how come here they are together? Is it an exeption of the rules? Or a healthy sweet to eat every now and then ?
I’ve tried this recipe twice and the second time, since eggs are so expensive, subbed the egg with 1/4 almond milk. I also lessened the coconut sugar and butter. It turned out great, but was especially yummy the next day. Thank you for sharing.
GOOD GRAVY these are delicious! We used a flax egg and almond butter for the oil with just under 1/4 c pumpkin (idea borrowed from the delicious chocolatey muffin recipe you have) added for extra liquid. Seriously BEST brownies ever!!!
These were fantastic brownies… but there is ABSOLUTELY no way they fill an 8×8 square pan. I’m an experienced baker and knew right away the yield was off. Mine barely spread across a 9×5 loaf pan at the appropriate thickness, to make 8 brownies (not 16). But they taste good and I’m thankful to have found a GF, eggless brownie that doesn’t call for generic “gluten free flour” (a pet peeve of mine – there are so many gluten free flours and mixes that all behave differently!).
Forgot to add. I used a flax egg substitute, and also added about 1/4 tsp of xanthan gum to help reduce the crumbliness.
I’m glad you enjoyed the brownies, Katy! Maybe you’re used to very thick brownies? I make these in an 8-inch square pan all the time and they always are perfect for my family, but perhaps it’s just different expectations of how thick a brownie should be. The brownies in my photos here are made in an 8-inch square pan, so that’s the thickness to expect from the recipe. (Flax eggs will make them thinner, though, since they don’t add structure like a chicken egg does.)
These brownies are delicious!! I made the oat flour myself in the blender and these came out just perfect. Noone would guess that I used oat flour. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!!!
hey i dont have an oven can i use a microwave if yes than for how much time?
Anxious to try these for my gluten free future son in law! How many oats do I need to grind up to make the required amount of oat flour? And any suggestions for how long to bake if I make them in a mini muffin tin?
Hey!
Can I substitute unsweetened applesauce and honey or maple syrup for the coconut sugar?
I’d probably need to add an egg for the additional fluid, yes?
Thanks!
K
My daughter is gluten sensitive and would love to try this recipe, Just a question, can I use dark brown sugar instead of coconut sugar ?
Yes, that should be fine! They might turn out a little sweeter, but the texture should be quite similar.
Thanks 🙂