I have tested dozens of keto brownie recipes over the years, trying to nail that perfect balance of crisp edges and a fudgy, gooey center. And THIS is the recipe that I come back to every time. It has everything you want in a brownie, without the sugar, carbs, or grains.
And it is the basis for so many other delicious treats, like Keto Peanut Butter Brownies and Keto German Chocolate Brownies. I mean, why mess with perfection? These keto brownies lend themselves so well to delicious toppings and frostings.
It took some experimenting, but I finally cracked the code to get that chewy brownie texture. The secret is so simple! A little gelatin mixed in with the almond flour and cocoa powder makes them ultra-moist and fudgy.
And they are so darn easy to make – one bowl and 35 minutes to pure chocolate bliss. I guarantee this will become your go-to keto brownie recipe. Top them with a scoop of keto ice cream or a drizzle of keto chocolate sauce for a seriously decadent experience.
Reader’s Thoughts
“This brownie exceeded my expectations of a brownie taste to the max. Most brownies are dry but this recipe takes them to another level and this is one of my favorite keto dessert recipes ever. If your on keto or not you need to make these yummy gooey brownies they definitely will put a smile on your face!” — Melinda S.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- So easy! Whip up this keto brownie batter in one bowl, and they’re ready for the oven.
- Rich flavor: If you’re a chocoholic like me, you will adore the deep chocolate flavor.
- Perfect texture: They have that wonderful chewy, fudgy texture that make brownies so unique.
- Low carb: They are very low in carbs, with only 3.6 grams per serving.
- Make ahead recipe: These brownies store well in the fridge or freezer so you can make a batch and enjoy them at your leisure.
- A crowd pleaser: Readers love them and many people say that no one can tell they are keto-friendly!
Ingredient Notes
- Almond flour: Make sure you are using a finely ground almond flour for the best consistency. But these also work well with sunflower seed flour, for a nut-free option.
- Cocoa powder: I prefer Dutch process cocoa powder when baking keto brownies. It has a deeper, richer chocolate flavor, but you can use natural cocoa powder if you prefer.
- Gelatin: I like to use grass-fed gelatin for my keto recipes, but you can use Knox gelatin. Use 1 envelope for the brownies and make sure you add it along with the dry ingredients.
- Sweetener: I recommend an erythritol-based sweetener for this recipe. Using another sweetener will change the texture and consistency. Learn more about keto sweeteners here.
- Chocolate chips: Make sure to choose keto-friendly chips like Lily’s or ChocZero.
- Baking staples: Butter, eggs, vanilla, baking powder, and salt.
How to Make Keto Brownies
- Combine the wet ingredients: Whisk together the wet ingredients, including the butter, sweetener, eggs, and vanilla extract. The sweetener goes in with the wet ingredients to help it dissolve.
- Add the dry ingredients: Mix in the almond flour, cocoa powder, gelatin, baking powder, and salt and whisk until well combined. Always add the gelatin powder with the dry ingredients before adding any water.
- Thin the batter. Stir in the water a little at a time to thin the batter to a thick but pourable consistency. You may not need the full amount of liquid. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Bake the brownies: Spread the batter in na 8-inch metal baking pan and bake 15 to 20 minutes. If you prefer cakier brownies, continue baking for another few minutes until the center is fully cooked through.
- Let the brownies cool completely in the pan before cutting into bars.
Tips for Success
Use a metal baking pan. Ceramic and glass don’t conduct heat as efficiently as metal, so they will take much longer to bake through and firm up properly. They may also get over-cooked on the edges while the center stays liquid.
How much water you need depends on how absorbent your cocoa powder is. Add a little at a time so you don’t thin out the batter too much. It should be the same consistency as conventional brownie batter.
Swaps and substitutions
- Dairy-free Option: Substitute the butter with melted coconut oil, ghee, or another liquid oil.
- Nut-free Option: You can use sunflower seed flour for nut-free keto brownies. Replace the almond flour cup for cup. You can also use other nut or seed flours.
- Egg-free Option: I have not tried to make these keto brownies egg-free, but a few readers had good luck using flax seed meal and water.
- Alternate Sweeteners: I highly recommend an erythritol-based sweetener to achieve the best texture. Other sweeteners like BochaSweet and allulose will make them more cakey and soft.
Keto Brownies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (113.5 g) butter , melted
- 2/3 cup (121.33 g) Swerve Sweetener
- 3 large (3) eggs
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup (56 g) almond flour
- 1/3 cup (28.67 g) cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp grassfed gelatin
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup (62.5 g) water, (as necessary)
- 1/3 cup (60 g) dark chocolate chips, sugar-free, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and grease an 8×8 inch metal baking pan.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the butter, sweetener, eggs, and vanilla extract.
- Add the almond flour, cocoa powder, gelatin, baking powder, and salt and whisk until well combined. Stir in a little water at a time to thin the batter to a thick but pourable consistency. Stir in the chocolate chips, if using.
- Spread the batter in the prepared baking pan. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, until the edges are set but the center still seems a tiny bit wet. If you prefer cakier brownies, continue baking for another few minutes until the center is fully cooked through.
- Remove and let cool completely in the pan before cutting into squares.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
Traditional brownies are not keto-friendly, as they contain plenty of flour and sugar. A conventional brownie has more than 30 grams of carbs! But these fudgy keto brownies are made with almond flour and alternative sweetener, so you can indulge on a keto diet.
This recipe requires a nut or seed flour. However I have a delicious coconut flour brownie recipe, if you prefer to use it.
Store the brownies in a covered container on the counter for up to 4 days, or in the fridge for a week. They can also be frozen for several months. Store them in an airtight container to avoid freezer burn.
This fudgy keto brownie recipe has 3.6g of carbs and 2.4g of fiber per serving. For one 2-inch square, these keto brownies have only 1.2 grams of net carbs. Best of all, they taste as good as regular brownies, so you won’t miss the carbs at all.
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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I made these with Carob powder instead of cocoa powder (sensitive to caffeine in chocolate). They were great. I loved the texture, especially good with whipped cream and berries.
They’re in the oven as I type this. Dessert should be fantastic (unless I screwed something up). The batter is delicious.
As the title to the recipe suggests…”Ultimate”. So freaking good. Chewy, fudgy, and moist. The non keto eaters all asked me what I did to make them keto. Of course I did not take credit. It did take 30 minutes in my oven but I’m pretty sure my thermostat is off.
Update…I now make these every couple of weeks. I usually add in about 2 tbsp of instant espresso powder and substitute cold strong coffee for the water. Cuts down on the sweetness a bit and besides… chocolate and coffee. Need i day more. Delicious! Thanks Carolyn!
Absolutely love these brownies! LOVE your recipes. Just a quick question is it normal for Swerve yo recrystalize??? I have followed the recipe exactly they come out amazing but after 2days it develops a bit of a crunch which I am assuming is coming from Swere. Any way this can be prevented???
Thanks!
Yes, all erythritol sweeteners can do that. Did you keep them in the fridge? I recommend on the counter for 3 or 4 days.
Thanks for your reply! Ah ok. No the brownies were on the counter. I have made another batch with 50-50 Swerve and Allulose waiting for it to cool down . Will let you know how it comes out!
OMG! Just made them and they are amazing! Didnt have the gelatin, so just omitted it. My only problem was they stuck in the pan. It was a metal one and I greased it with butter. Maybe a non stick pan would have been better?
I always recommend a non-stick pan. There are very few these days that AREN’T non-stick, I am surprised you have one.
These are incredible! I can’t eat chocolate ????, so I subbed carob powder instead and used milk instead of water to offset the dryness of the carob. I know it changes the carbs a bit, but that’s okay for me. They came out so fudgy and amazing!
about the wetness a few people mentioned, mine came out wet and unappetizing the first time. i had to bake them for another 15 minutes to get them to set. it was, however, not a flaw in the recipe. with my cocoa powder, i didn’t need 1/4th cup of water. while i added it slowly, i didn’t need the full 1/4th cup. i made them again today, and this time i added only 1/8th cup of water. and they were perfectly fudgy, no wetness. i baked them for 22 minutes at 350. and my aunt who *dislikes* chocolate tried the brownies and went back for extras. they were fantastic.
so if yours are too wet, one possibility is you added more water than was needed.
Actually it often has to do with people using a ceramic pan, rather than a metal one. It makes a big difference.
Can this recipe be doubled and used in an 11X13 pan? I don’t have the metal pan noted but would like to try making them (and get the right consistency). I’d prefer not to by an additional pan and these look delicious!
You need to do the math… 8×8 is 64 inches, 11×13 is 143 inches – so it’s more than double the size and your batter will be thin so it will cook faster.
I’m so excited to have found your blog! I am a newly diagnosed diabetic with a big sweet tooth so you’ve given me a lot of hope!
I made these tonight, I didn’t have any gelatin so I just made them without it. Something really weird happened. The eggs seemed to sink to the bottom and I ended up with a thin layer of eggs with brownies on top. The brownie part is super tasty so I’m excited to try these again but I’m wondering what might have gone wrong?
Oh my, I don’t know. I’ve never heard of that. What kind of cocoa powder and sweetener did you use?
Hi,
Just wanted to say I have been keto for 2 years . I just made these and your chocolate chip cheesecake bars
AMAZING. Also let me say i have been doing all kinds of pancake recipes and stumbled on yours this morning.
Absolutely the best i have found my favorite part is no cream cheese they fluffed and looked and tasted just like regular pancakes ,THANK YOU THANK YOU. Which is the reason i wanted to try more of your recipes .I most definitely will
be bookmarking your page :)!!!!!!
I didn’t have gelatin but it didn’t need it. It’s yummy and I may eat the whole thing by the end of the day!!
I’ve tried some of the popular keto brownies popular on Google and they were all crumbly. Tried this one as it was suggested on Reddit.
Finally – it doesn’t crumble to pieces like the others, unless you warm it up. I found that anywhere from room temp and below, I could grab and bite it without it falling to pieces, this was a huge step forward! However, after giving it some warmth in the microwave, it did become quite crumbly.
The only thing I changed was instead of powdered gelatin, I bloomed 3 sheets of gelatin, rung the water, and microwaved for 10 seconds into liquid – I found that 3-4 sheets is about the same as a tbsp. of gelatin powder.
As someone who still eats regular brownies… while these weren’t identical to their flour counter parts, I really enjoyed the texture and flavor and definitely put them on par with the fancy Ghirardelli brownies and a bit better than regular cheap boxed brownies.
Overall, really solid recipe that doesn’t crumble like the competition, replacing the popular keto brownie recipe you find on your first google search with this one in my recipe book 🙂
I look forward to any comments you have!
Hi, i just bought your book. Do i use the red or green gelatin powder for the recipient, for chewy keto brownies ?
The green can is collagen, not gelatin. So the orange can…
The best low carb brownie recipe! I’ve made this one multiple times. I’m currently waiting for a ChocZero order to arrive – can’t wait to try it with white chocolate chips!
Pre-keto, I found ‘the best brownies ever’ on An Italian in My Kitchen. They were made with 100% unsweetened cacao and they were outstanding and super fudgy as you have described yours.
Since I’ve been on keto and even when I was doing Paleo post Whole30, it seems that most baked goods contain almond flour. I’ve never even heard of sunflower flour. Is that something I can make at home?
Although I have Trader Joe’s 100 percent unsweetened cacao chips, do I have to add them? Will it change the brownies’ consistency or fudginess if I do?
Thank you!
Here’s how you can make your own sunflower seed flour https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/how-to-make-your-own-sunflower-seed-flour/
You can leave out the chips if you don’t want them.
Taste is great! Glad I made them. Mine did turn iut more cakey then chewy. I used Knox gelatine instead and Hershey cocoa other than that followed the recipe even the metal pan! Still good and will be making again.
Might be the Knox gelatine. I don’t really use it… Also you can bake them a little less if you want them super fudgy.
I love getting your recipes and videos in my inbox! Today I decided to try your brownies! I doubled the recipe, added nuts and Lilly’s, then baked in a 9×11 pan. I baked for 25 minutes in a metal pan…perfect!