Healthy Pumpkin Brownies
I absolutely love making my Healthy Pumpkin Brownies, they’re rich, chocolatey, and full of fall flavors. It takes me only 15 minutes of prep and they’re my favorite low calorie treat when I want something easy, delicious, and packed with wholesome ingredients.
Servings: 12 pieces
Calories: 140kcal
Ingredients
- ¾ cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour For a gluten free option use Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free Baking Flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp salt
- ⅓ cup brown sugar Increase the sugar if you want more of a traditional super sweet brownie.
- ¼ cup butter
- ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 flax eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup unsweetened soy milk
- ¼ cup unsweetened cacao powder
- 6 tbsp dark chocolate chips
- ¾ cup unsweetened pumpkin puree
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- ½ tsp nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 8×8 baking dish with parchment paper or spray with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside.
- In another bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Then mix in the flax eggs, applesauce and vanilla until well combined.
- Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Stir together with a spatula just until well combined. Then pour half of this batter into the other bowl. To the first bowl, fold in the soy milk, cocoa powder and chocolate chips.
- To the second bowl, stir in pumpkin puree and the spices.
- Pour the chocolate batter into the baking dish and spread in an even layer across the bottom.
- Then pour the pumpkin batter on top and spread in an even layer.
- Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool to room temperature before cutting and serving.
Notes
- Tap the pan on the counter after adding the batter. I always lift the pan a few inches and give it a good tap, it helps get rid of air bubbles and smooths out the layers perfectly.
- Make sure you use unsweetened pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling for this recipe.
- If you don't have cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, you can use the equivalent amount of pumpkin pie spice (3 tsp total) in this recipe.
- I always recommend using a high-quality Dutch process cocoa powder. Its higher fat content and deep chocolate flavor make these brownies extra rich and indulgent.
- I prefer using parchment paper instead of cooking spray. I let it drape over the sides of the pan, so once the brownies are cooled, I can lift them out easily for neat, clean slices.
- I always mix the wet and dry ingredients in separate bowls before combining them. This ensures the dry ingredients are evenly dispersed, making the batter smooth and easy to work with.
- Note: These brownies are not overly sweet. They have more of a dark chocolate flavor. If you want a sweeter, more traditional brownie, you will have to increase the sugar (up to 1 cup for a traditional brownie level of sweetness). But that will give each brownie about 27 grams of sugar, making it much more like a traditional brownie, but not as healthy for you!
Nutrition
Serving: 1brownie | Calories: 140kcal | Carbohydrates: 21.2g | Protein: 2.1g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4.1g | Sodium: 177.1mg | Potassium: 25mg | Fiber: 2.9g | Sugar: 9.8g