Sugar Free Brownies

Brownies are one of those desserts that require lots of sugar to be gooey, chewy and just right. I have tried before to make lower sugar brownies and I ended up with rich chocolate cake. I even made a video (The Difference between Fudgy and Cakey Brownies) and a blog post to record that lesson.

After this ‘enlightenment’ I decided that sugar free brownies was an impossible task and I just have to stick with the real deal, full of sugar brownies. Until now!

Watch this Brownies No Sugar No Flour video:

What can replace sugar in brownies?

You can replace sugar in brownies with honey, maple syrup, agave syrup but even though people like to think that are healthier than sugar, you still will end up with very sugary and high calorie brownie.

For me that is not a solution. I replaced sugar with bananas and oats.

Bananas add sweetness and volume (more food). Oats add that chewiness that you would expect from the brownies. When you combine both with the right ratios, you get that perfect gooeyness.

What happens if I don’t put sugar in brownies?

If you don’t put sugar in the brownies or even just reduce sugar, you will end up with cakey, almost crumbly, and rich chocolate cake.

Sugar adds that chewiness. It also creates that beautiful crackling top that we all love about good, fudgy brownies.

Check out my video about what the difference looks like:

What ingredients you will need for Sugar Free Brownies

• bananas
• old fashioned oats: I grinded them with Nutribullet to a fine flour. Oat flour tends to be more expensive than old fashioned oats.
• egg
• monkfruit sweetener
• unsweetened cocoa powder
• PB2 – powdered peanut butter
• Skinny syrup (any flavor you like)
• Sugar free pancake syrup
• Baking powder, baking soda, salt, vanilla extract
• Chocolate chips

How to make Sugar Free Brownies

Prepare oven safe dish, 8 by 8 inches, grease with butter and line with a parchment paper.

If you want to be able to remove the brownies easily and smoothly from the baking dish, make sure to include this step.

Smash bananas with a fork

Add egg and monkfruit sweetener and mix

Add grinded oats (using Nutribullet, I grinded old fashioned oats to a fine flour), cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla extract and pinch of salt

Stir until all ingredients are well incorporated

The texture will be dense and gooey and that is what we want. The batter is almost sticky

Spread the batter evenly

If you want to keep calories low, this is when you would put these brownies in the oven and call it a day

But if you want more exciting brownies, you can add additional ingredients.

Chocolate Chips Brownies and Peanut Butter Brownies

I made these brownies two different ways: Chocolate Chip Brownies and Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies.

For the chocolate chips brownies, I added chocolate chips on top, you can also mix them in the batter (they will melt inside much easier than on top).

For extra protein I prepared this peanut butter mix to swirl on top

2 tablespoons of powdered peanut butter, PB2 – lower calorie and higher protein than regular peanut butter. Add just enough sugar free syrup to create a thick sauce. I used a mix of sugar free pancake syrup and flavored skinny syrup. I also added some dark chocolate, and mixed it in the batter.

Spread peanut butter sauce on top of the brownie batter and you can use a wooden skewer to make it pretty.

Transfer to an oven preheated to 350F. I baked the brownies for about 20 minutes.

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