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These gluten free, paleo brownies are simply perfect: they’re fudgy and dense with a crunchy, crackly top and chewy edges. Not only that, they’re quick and easy to make! Made with almond and coconut flour, they’re grain free and dairy free, too. They’re topped with a sprinkle of flake salt for the perfect gourmet complement to these rich, delicious brownies.
Why This Recipe Is So Good
This is one recipe that I refused to quit testing until I thought it was just perfect. I made several batches before this ding-ding-ding winner, and none were just right beforehand.
I wanted these paleo brownies to be fudgy but not overly dense. These gluten free brownies needed them to have a crackly top, which seemed essentially impossible to eke out of a gluten free brownie. But, hey, spoiler alert: it’s absolutely possible! I needed them to have chewy edges with super rich middle pieces. And lastly, they needed to be fully brownies, not just a shorter or slightly denser cake.
They needed to be just as good as (or better than!) a regular, ol’ brownie that you’d find at bakery, not “good for being paleo” or “good for being gluten free”. Verdict: this recipe absolutely smashed that requirement.
- They’re everything I love in a brownie: fudgy, with a crackly, crunchy top, and chewy corners. They’re dense and rich and just sweet enough.
- These paleo brownies are actually quite easy to make and come together very quickly.
- This recipe is gluten free, grain free, and refined sugar free, too, making them much healthier than your average brownies.
- The little bit of liquid coffee used in this paleo brownies recipe enriches the chocolate flavor. Use whatever is leftover from breakfast! No need to go grab a cup at Starbucks, though, if you’re out. Water will be fine here.
- Pairing melted chocolate and cocoa creates a super rich complexity to the chocolate that you’ll just love.
- A little sprinkling of flake or sea salt before baking makes these super elegant. The salt enhances the rich chocolate in the best way!
I previewed this recipe on my Instagram Stories right when I made them, and my followers absolutely freaked out! I even gave away a sneak peek of the recipe to dozens of people, we were all so excited about these paleo brownies.
Chef’s Tips
- Make sure you whip the eggs and sugar until the color lightens and the mixture becomes fluffy and a bit sticky. This is what contributes to the crunchy, crackly top, and you won’t have it if you skip this part.
- The measurements must be exact. This is not an “eyeball it” recipe.
- Test for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the recipe: you’ll see moist crumbs on the toothpick when done, not brownie batter. You definitely want to err on the side of under-baking these, but not too much. If you underbake them, they won’t be as chewy and will be a little more saturated tasting than fudgy. Test often for those moist crumbs!
How to Get a Crackly, Crunchy Top on These Brownies
The crackly, crunchy top on these gluten free brownies happens when you whip the eggs with the coconut sugar until the mixture becomes light in color, like a peanut butter frosting, fluffy, and a bit sticky. There will not be any “peaks” that form, but you will see the entire mixture increase in volume and change in texture.
This process creates a meringue layer on the very top of the gluten free brownies, allowing this crispy, air-filled layer to pull away from the fudgy base. It’s absolutely divine, so don’t skip it! In fact, I have not tested the recipe without beating the eggs with the coconut sugar. If you opt to skip this part, you’re on your own, friend! But let me know how it goes – I’d love to know!
Oh, and that sprinkle of flake salt or sea salt on top? Paired with the crunchy, meringue top, it’s sheer perfection.
Just look at that perfect, crunchy top layer!
Stocking a Paleo Pantry for Baking with Thrive Market
Let’s be real: the grocery store can be expensive, especially if you’re finding paleo ingredients. That’s where Thrive Market makes my life so much easier. Their inventory of 4,000+ products are categorized by any diet or lifestyle that you follow. Paleo? Check. Vegan? Yup. Sugar-free? Definitely. High fiber? You bet. And with prices that are 25-50% below traditional retail price, you’re saving money on all of the pantry staples that you need—all shipped right to your door. These are the pantry staples that I always order from Thrive Market that I use in these paleo brownies:
- EnjoyLife Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mini Chips
- Thrive Market Almond Flour
- Thrive Market Coconut Flour
- Simply Organic Vanilla Extract
- Thrive Market Coconut Sugar
- Thrive Market Refined Coconut Oil
Finding Paleo Chocolate Chips
If you’re pretty darn paleo, you can use Enjoy Life chocolate chips. These are dairy free but still contain a bit of processed sugar. If you’re very strictly paleo, try using 7 oz. of this paleo chocolate bar from Thrive Market. It’s sweetened with coconut sugar, making it totally paleo. How cool is that?! You’ll want to chop the bar into chocolate-chip-ish-sized pieces, but otherwise you can make the recipe as written. Use 7 ounces weighted, or about 1 cup of chopped chocolate.
Other Recipes You’ll Love
- Black Bean Brownies
- Gluten Free Sugar Cookies
- Vegan Cookie Dough
- Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls (Cinnabon Copycat)
- Paleo Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Turtle Bars Recipe (Paleo, Vegan)
- Gluten Free Red Velvet Cake
And if you’re looking for a classic version of perfect, fudgy brownies, this recipe from Erren’s Kitchen is lovely!
Perfect Paleo Brownies (Fudgy, Crunchy Top, Gluten Free)
Equipment
- 9×9 baking dish
- parchment paper
- Medium bowl
- Hand mixer or stand mixer
- Medium microwave-safe bowl
- Silicone spatula
- toothpick or knife, to check doneness
- wire cooling rack optional
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup coconut sugar
- ⅓ cup almond flour
- 2 tablespoons coconut flour
- 2 tablespoons dark cocoa powder see Notes
- 2 tablespoons prepared coffee cool or at room temperature; use water if coffee isn't available
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cup dairy-free chocolate chips divided; or paleo chocolate, see Notes
- 10 tablespoons refined coconut oil ½ cup + 2 tablespoons
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325º Fahrenheit. Line 9×9 baking dish with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine eggs and coconut sugar. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat on high until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Mixture will have increased in volume and will be sticky, rather than thin or runny. Stir in almond flour, coconut flour, dark cocoa powder, cooled liquid coffee, and vanilla extract. Stir until combined.
- In a medium, microwave-safe bowl, combine 1 cup chocolate chips and coconut oil. Microwave in 60-seconds bursts, stirring very well in between each round, until the chocolate has just melted. Stir until completely smooth, then pour into the brownie batter. Stir well to combine.
- Fold in remaining ¼ cup chocolate chips.
- Pour brownie batter into the prepared pan, making sure batter fills all corners evenly. Bake 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with moist crumbs. The toothpick should not be coated in batter, but it should not be clean, either. When you see moist crumbs, remove from the oven and let cool completely on the counter or on a wire rack. When cool, lift out of the baking pan using the sides of the parchment paper. Cut into 9 equal squares.
Video
- The measurements must be exact! This is not an “eyeball it” recipe.
- Cocoa Powder: I love dark cocoa powder in this recipe, as it produces a very rich taste and dark, dramatic look. You can use regular cocoa powder here with great results, and you can try black cocoa powder, too, for an even more dramatic brownie!
- Chocolate: I use Enjoy Life semi-sweet dairy-free chocolate chips for most recipes. However, these contain a bit of processed sugar. If you strictly eat no processed sugar, try these paleo chocolate bars from Thrive Market. Chop them to be about chocolate chip size and use approximately 7 ounces by weight, or 1 cup volume. This will result in a darker, richer brownie, since the chocolate percentage is much higher than semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Approximate Information for One Serving
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
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Absolutely perfect. I didn’t have the right chips on hand, so I split half dark chocolate and half semi sweet chips. My kids loved these too!
Yum! So glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Just made these, they were in for soo long.. much longer than called for, like 50 minutes and barely cooked in the center, super confused why.. I double checked my oven temp, triple checked the recipe and am not sure why ive had a bad outcome. Ive baked paleo my whole life so i’m familiar with baking this way. The only thing I can think of as to why this happened is that your recipe didn’t call for baking powder/soda.. which I found odd but just trusted the recipe. Any idea why this happened?
Hi Sarah, we’re so sorry these brownies didn’t work for you. We strive to create recipes that are heavily tested by our team that are easy for our readers to make at home. While we haven’t experienced this issue with them not cooking all the way through, we’re sorry that you did. We can’t really say why that happened, but everyone’s oven is different. Weather can also contribute to baked goods rising or not in the oven (mostly bread, but sometimes desserts). Regardless, thanks for sharing your experience.
This recipe was easy and amazing! I have a unique situation in that my oven is broken, so all baking must be done in our camper oven (small) or my air fryer. I decided to split the batch and try both. The camper oven was basically just a 1/2 batch with all the same settings and it turned out great. My air fryer batch, that needed work, as expected. I knew it was a long shot to get that one to work out and, as I thought it might, it turned out burnt on top. However, it still tasted amazing!!! My kids completely agreed, both were great. We are going to try the air fryer version again at a lower temp and see if we can work out the temp/timing. If I come up with a good temp/time, I’ll come back and add the info here. Thanks for the great recipe.
So glad this worked for you and your cooking needs! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
This is always my go-to recipe for brownies. To reduce the sugar I use Lilly’s chocolate chips which are sweetened with Stevia. Always perfect!
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! 🙂
Way to oily, I had to pour off liquid halfway through and they will didn’t turn out. Would love it if you measured ingredients in grams or oz instead of cups, because things like coconut oil and chocolate chips change in volume when melted. Really bummed I wasted all those ingredients.
Hi Elizabeth, we’re so sorry you had this experience. Our recipes are heavily tested, and we haven’t experienced this issue. Regardless, we hate that you did. We hope you’ll find a Paleo brownie recipe that works for you.
So I made this with unrefined coconut oil not thinking that it would be so strong but it really is! Perhaps due to there not being baking soda? The first taste is great and then it kicks in. Do you suggest anything I can add to it to mask the coconut oil taste so I don’t have to throw it?
Unfortunately, you can’t really do anything about the coconut flavor after you’ve prepared the batter or baked the brownies. However, next time you could use a different compliant oil like sunflower or avocado oil. Hope this helps!
Honestly the best gluten free brownies I’ve ever made (and I have made plenty)! They actually had a crackly top just like regular brownies, I was shocked! I would use darker chocolate next time to reduce the sweetness, that’s the only change.
Dark chocolate is a great idea to reduce sweetness! Let us know how they turn out. Glad you enjoyed these brownies as much as we do!
Hello,
I tried these for the first time and they are the best brownies ever. I followed the recipe to the tee. I was just looking at your pics of the brownies and yours look like they had risen higher than mine. Mine are flat about an inch high. They look great and taste even better so fudgey. I got the crackle look to. I’m just concerned that they did not rise. Where did I go wrong?
Patti
Patti, we’re so glad you enjoyed this recipe! It’s one of our all-time favorites. 🙂 We’re sorry they didn’t rise like you wanted. Everyone’s oven is different, but make sure your baking these brownies on the middle rack. Also, be careful not to over-mix your batter, mainly the eggs. Hope this helps!
wow is all I can say. these are so good and i’ll be making them daily 🤣
🤣 hey, no judgment here! So glad you love them, Erika!
i just tried these and they are the best! i swapped out a lot of the ingredients for new ones and it still tasted amazing!
here’s what i did differently based on what i had:
instead of almond flour and coconut flour i used spelt flour and almond meal, and, i only used 1/4 of choc chips so i didn’t melt any chocolate into the coconut oil, instead i just added a little more cocoa! i also added a few raspberries and some buckwheat kernels for a little bit extra!
Awesome! Glad it worked out great for you 🙂