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Okay, just to be clear upfront – it takes only 5 minutes to stir up the batter for these homemade fudge brownies, but of course a little longer than that to actually bake them! Enjoy a whole wheat brownie that makes for a nice alternative to boxed brownie mix.
5 Minute Homemade Whole-Wheat Flour Brownies
But as I was making this batch I was thinking how it really doesn’t take much longer to make brownies from scratch than it does to add some eggs and other stuff to one of these lovely boxes of brownie mix pictured down below.
So while homemade Fudge Brownies (with sugar) don’t quite fit our definition of real food, I think we can all agree they’re WAAAAY better than this highly processed factory-made stuff that’s full of partially hydrogenated oil (i.e. trans fat), refined flour, high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors and a bunch of other additives I can barely pronounce and therefore would most definitely not cook with at home. And we all know most people like to have a good ol’ fudge brownie on occasion. For a healthy idea, make these Avocado Brownies or these Gluten-Free Brownies!
My Go-To Chocolate Chips: Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips
Whether it’s brownies you’re after or just a handful of chocolate chips, I love using the brand Enjoy Life Foods. Their company has managed to make chocolate chips (and morsels, minis, and chunks!) solely using the ingredients that are meant to be in chocolate: Sugar (Cane Juice), Natural Chocolate Liquor, and Non-Dairy Cocoa Butter.
This is unfortunately no small feat in our industrial society – when you look at the back of most other chocolate chip packages you’ll find ingredients that do not belong (such as Soy Lecithin and Artificial Flavoring)! Since Enjoy Life’s chocolate chips are so pure, they are also incredibly allergy friendly including: Gluten Free, Wheat Free, Dairy Free, Peanut Free, Tree Nut Free, Egg Free, Soy Free, Fish Free, and Shellfish Free.
I love that and knew you would, too. :)
More Homemade Baked Goodies:
- Whole-Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Peanut Butter Brownie Bar Recipe
- Paleo Brownies
- Super Easy All Natural Icebox Sugar Cookie Recipe
5 Minute Fudge Brownies (with sugar)!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour (I used white whole-wheat flour)
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I highly prefer the “super dark” variety)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup butter (melted, plus a little extra for greasing)
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips ((I used Enjoy Life mini chips, see note above))
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease a 8X8 or 9X9 square baking dish with a little melted butter (a pastry brush makes this job super easy).
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder. Make a well (hole) in the center and drop in the butter, eggs, and vanilla extract. Mix together thoroughly and then fold in the chocolate chips with a rubber spatula. (See I told you this would be quick and easy!)
- Add the brownie batter to the baking dish and use the spatula to flatten out the top into one even layer. Bake for about 30 minutes and let cool before slicing into squares (if you can control yourself enough to wait – ha)! Enjoy.
Took longer than 5 minutes!! Still tastes good though
These are a big hit at my house esp with my kids’ friends for play dates…now my son wants a chocolate brownie cake for his 4th birthday…I am not a baker…do I just make a double batch and layer it with chocolate fudge or chocolate ganache? please help! Thanks in advance
We are so happy they are a hit. You could make it like our cookie cake: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2013/01/16/recipe-whole-wheat-cookie-cake/.
I just made these brownies today, they are amazing! I replaced the sugar with 3/4 cups pure maple syrup, and decreased the eggs from 2 to 1. Awesome, awesome, awesome! Then again I love all your recipes. I don’t usually change them, only have three times. That’s not much at all since every single meal and snack I make is from your website or cook book.
Hi Susan. Lisa most often uses honey or maple syrup as her sweeteners. This post will help: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/05/06/mini-pledge-week-9-no-refined-sweeteners/.
What do you use for sugar? Do you believe the Splenda is healthier that granulated cane sugar? I am trying to switch what I use for sugar and your input would be helpful.
My daughter has dairy issues. Has anyone tried subbing some of the butter for shortening? I know it works in cookies but not sure for brownies.
You absolutely could use shortening or vegetable oil. :)
What about coconut oil?
Yes, coconut oil will work.
Hi there. Our typical sub for non-dairy is coconut oil. :)
Could these be made with honey instead of sugar?
We have not tried them with honey. I think the consistency would be off. You can try coconut sugar, but they will be slightly less sweet. IF you try honey let us know how they turn out.
I’d like to make these but want to use a HUGE pan. A half sheet. Should I triple the recipe!? Do you think it will come out good??
Hi there. I think that will work though it is not something we’ve tried.
I use this ALL The time! its excellent when you want to share a plate with a group of friends, or maybe for a party! I would recommend, if you REALLY wanted too, put Nutella on top.
!!! Yummy !!!
I just made these today after the recipe came through on my Facebook feed! These are fantastic! Like another reviewer mentioned, I reduced the sugar to 1/2 cup and increased the chocolate chips to 1 cup. These brownies reminded me of a cross between a moist Texas sheet cake and brownies. A good balance between cake and fudgy flavor. I baked them for 24 minutes at 350 and did not have an issue with them being dry at all. My family gobbled them up. This recipe is a keeper.
These are super easy and wonderful tasting! I only baked 25 minutes and they were perfect. My daughter has a dairy allergy so I just substituted the butter for coconut oil, equal amount, and it worked perfectly! Thanks for the recipe – so nice to have good brownies without all the garbage that comes in the boxed ones from the store!!!
I used organic spelt flour (it is what I had on hand) and I always sift all my dry ingredients before using when I bake. We only use the Enjoy Life Chips since we have food allergies in our house. These were so easy to make and beyond delicious when they came out of the oven. I would suggest to those who found it dry and cakey, you have to set it for a few minutes under the suggested baking time and then put the toothpick in it to check. If it is gooey, add 2 minutes at a time and keep checking with the toothpick. This was a trick I learned when making brownies, you want them barely done because when they come out they continue to bake a bit. I am going to make them for teacher appreciation week this year.
I had these at a friend’s house and really enjoyed them. Since i needed something quick and easy to send to school for my son’s birthday, I decided to try this recipe out. I found it and baked in a 9×13: worked perfectly!! :-)
Sorry…that should say “doubled” not “found.”
I made these tonight and they are wonderful! I actually reduced the sugar to 1/2 cup and I used about 1 cup of chocolate chips. They are cake like but fudgy at the same time. Delicious! I will definitely be making these again. Thanks Lisa! :)
Why in the world did I ever buy boxed brownie mixes?! I gave this recipe over to my 11-year-old daughter to make on her own. I do think the dark cocoa makes all the difference (I order it off of Amazon). There is just no comparison between the dark and regular. We also used whole wheat pastry flour and it made it just perfect. Will never buy boxed, organic or not, brownies again. This was just too easy, fast, and seriously, too delicious.
I made these for the first time today and they turned out well! They were moist and flavorful, even a bit buttery. I’m so glad I tried these today and my skeptical, I hate wheat flour picky husband approved :)
These were great. I followed the recipe exactly and baked for 25 minutes since my oven seems to run a little hot. I used the toothpick method to test for doneness, and would probably pull them out at 20 minutes next time so they are a little more gooey. Thank you!
And Lisa, do you have a recipe for black bean brownies? I’ve been trying to bake it lately, and trying to find the one that is very, very good.
Hi there. I’ve made several but my favorites are the completely flour-less kind. Here is one that is particularly rich and uses avocado instead of oil/butter: http://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/2014/04/healthy-flourless-black-bean-avocado-brownies-vegan-and-gluten-free/. :)
I use the recipe from chocolate covered Katie website. We absolutely love them!!
I made this twice, and don’t know why but the first time I made it didn’t turn out. It was very dry, cakey, and tasteless.
Just gave another try today, and boy oh boy, was it delicious! I only made a half batch this time to try, but it came out very fudgey. I think the key is to not bake too long, but I will have to bake a couple of times to examine what exactly went wrong at the first time. I love to bake and I consider myself a great baker.
I’ve made these 5 times and they always turn out very dry and cakey. The taste is good, but they are SO dry! I do usually substitute maple syrup for the sugar and I’ve also tried decreasing the cooking time (from 30 to 20 min). Same dry, cakey results every time. Any suggestions to achieve a moist, fudgey brownie instead are welcome and appreciated. Thank you. :)
Have you tried using only one egg? I know one egg makes brownies fudgie and two makes them cake like
i dont even know the last time i made store bought box brownies.
These are yum as is! I’ve also made them by substituting honey for the sugar; yogurt for the butter; and walnuts/raspberries for the chocolate chips – and had them come out delicious too. Just don’t forget to grease the pan :)
What kind of sugar is being used in thisbrecipe?
Hi Lacey. This is one of the very few recipes where Lisa uses regular sugar.
Would these work with Stevia powder instead of sugar, do you think?
Hi Sue. I’m no sure. We’ve not baked with stevia. This post might be helpful for you: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2013/04/25/stevia-food-babe-investigates/.
These are so good and so easy. I used coconut palm sugar and whole wheat pastry flour. Delicious!
Thanks for an awesome recipe!! I used whole wheat pasty flour, coconut sugar, and used flax seed substitution for the eggs. Turned out great!! Not overly sweet- but the perfect amount!! definitely the spot for the chocolate craving I had! :-)
We love these! I didn’t have eggs and subsituted 1 mashed banana for the 2 eggs. They turned out yummy!! Thanks for sharing!
So I have made these half a dozen times…all with great results. Today I started making them to satisfy a major chocolate craving. I quickly realized I didn’t have sugar, so I substituted brown sugar, then I realized I didn’t have any eggs, so I substituted flax meal. They turned out awesome still! I love recipes I can easily adapt to what I have on hand when I forget that I don’t have all the ingredients before I start.
These brownies are DELICIOUS! I use whole spelt flour instead of whole wheat, coconut sugar instead of regular, and flax eggs instead of real ones (due to my DD’s egg allergy) and they turn out awesome! I just put another batch into the oven to go into a dessert I am making for a family get-together tomorrow. Thank-you for another great recipe that we will use over and over for special treat times! :)
These brownies are delicious and so easy to make!!! No need to ever buy boxed brownie mix again. : )
I substituted the flour 1:1 with namaste brand gluten free flour blend and they came out perfect! Great recipe!
You could add a couple drops of Young Living Peppermint Oil. Flavor without the added calories! These look yummy
Anyone made these without the chocolate chops? They look wonderful but I just really don’t care for chocolate chips.
This recipe is AWESOME! Two days ago I covered the batter with York Peppermint Patties. My stepson’s family including 13 yo, 10 yo, and 4 yo twins, FINISHED the brownies and could not stop raving about the taste. I was a hero – thank you! So, tonight we had unexpected company. I swapped the whole wheat flour with Bob Redmill Gluten Free flour since one of our our friends has celiac. Again, I covered the batter with York Peppermint Patties. The brownies were more like a molten chocolate cake. YUMMY! Thank you for this successful and incredibly easy to make recipe!
I used coconut sugar and white chocolate chips… YUMMY!!
This is very close to my grandmother’s recipe that I have been using for years ! So yum ! Sometimes I add a teaspoon of very finely ground coffee into the mix, too. I’ve made them with honey – they’re fine – but better with regular sugar.
Can you substitute honey or maple syrup for sugar?
Hi. Here is another that is made with maple syrup/honey: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/02/01/recipe-real-whole-wheat-brownies/. ~Amy
I have everything except the chocolate chips! I guess I need to get to the store! I would like to make this today!
Can gluten free all purpose flour be used for this?
Hi Karie. We’ve not tried but it probably would. ~Amy
Can I sub. the chocolate chips for carob chips?
Hi Claudia. That’s not something we’ve done. Let us know how it turns out. :)