These easy one-bowl keto brownies have a secret ingredient to make them extra fudgy and chewy. This might just be the ultimate keto brownie recipe and no one can tell they are low carb and gluten-free. At less than 4g total carbs, you can dig in with gusto!
Remember some time ago when I promised to bring you more basic keto recipes on this blog? Well these super fudgy keto brownies are part of that promise.
I love baking more elaborate creations and proving to the world that the keto diet it anything but restrictive. But sometimes I forget that simple and straightforward can be just as delicious.
So let’s skip the fancy stuff and get down to basics again!
Why you’ll love this recipe
The secret to the perfect texture is the addition of a little gelatin. I figured if it helps make my keto ginger molasses cookies chewier, it couldn’t hurt to try adding it to brownies, right?
And it really works! These keto brownies have all the best features you’re looking for, with a dense, rich texture and a slightly crackly top. They’re incredibly easy to make too. It takes a single bowl and 35 minutes from start to finish.
And readers swear that no one can even tell they are keto. I call that a win.
Ingredients you need
- Butter: Use unsalted butter and make sure to let it cool a bit before adding the sweetener and eggs.
- Sweetener: I recommend Swerve or another erythritol-based sweetener for this recipe. Using another sweetener will change the texture and consistency. Learn more about keto sweeteners here.
- Eggs: Large eggs are the standard for baking.
- Vanilla extract: Vanilla always brings out the chocolate flavor.
- Almond flour: Make sure you are using a finely ground almond flour for the best consistency. I also have a coconut flour brownie recipe, if you prefer.
- 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.
- Grass fed gelatin: Grassfed gelatin is the best choice for this and other 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. You can also omit it completely but the brownies will be less chewy.
- Chocolate chips: Make sure to choose keto-friendly chips like ChocZero!
- Pantry staples: Baking powder and salt.
Step by Step Instructions
1. Whisk together the wet ingredients, including the butter, sweetener, eggs, and vanilla extract. Sweetener goes in with the wet ingredients so it dissolves better.
2. Add 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 so that you don’t end up with blobs of gelatin in your brownie batter.
3. 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 to thin the batter – it depends on your cocoa powder and how absorbent it is. The batter should be the consistency of conventional brownie batter. Stir in the chocolate chips or chopped nuts, if using.
4. Spread the batter in a greased 8×8 inch metal baking pan and bake at 350ºF 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.
Recipe Tips and FAQs
This is a basic keto brownie recipe that you can customize and add your own fun twists to. Try these delicious ideas:
- Stir in ½ – ¾ cup chopped walnuts or pecans.
- Use brewed coffee instead of water to enhance the chocolate flavor. Or add some espresso powder for a mocha flavor.
- Add some different flavors of keto chocolate chips, such as white chocolate, peanut butter, or mint.
- Add some keto chocolate frosting or chocolate ganache.
- Drizzle with some keto caramel sauce for a decadent treat.
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.
For fudgy keto brownies you will need almond meal, swerve sweetener, butter, eggs, cocoa powder and dark chocolate chips. My secret ingredient to making these brownies chewy is the addition of grass fed gelatin.
This brownie recipe is tested with almond flour and you can not simply swap out with coconut flour. You can, however, substitute with sunflower seed flour for a nut-free version.
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.
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.
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.
- 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, such as Swerve or Lakanto, to achieve the best texture. Other sweeteners like BochaSweet and allulose will make them more cakey and soft.
More delicious keto brownie recipes
If you love brownies, I have the ultimate list of the best keto brownie recipes. Some of my personal favorites include:
Fudgy Keto Brownies
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter melted
- ⅔ cup Swerve Sweetener
- 3 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup almond flour about 50g
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon grassfed gelatin
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup water (as necessary)
- ⅓ cup 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.
Rebecca says
These were amazing!! The perfect texture and taste.
Carolyn says
So glad to hear it!
Jessie says
Can we use collagen instead of gelatin. They almost look the same reading on them.
Thanks.
Carolyn says
Yes but one gels and one doesn’t. You will get better texture from gelatin.
LIRAZ HOD says
HI CAROLYN!
THANKS FOR THE REPLAY HOW I MAKE THE BROWNIE RECIPE A HALF? HOE I MAKE A HALT FROM 3 EGGS?
OR TO MAKE THE ALL RECIPE AND POUR HALF AMOUNT TO MY 8 INCH SQUER PAN?
THE BROWNIE IN THE CHEESCAKE SRAY FUDG? IT DINT TURN TO A SIMPLY CHOCOLATE CAKE?
THANTS CAROLYN .
LIRAZ HOD says
HI CAROLYN!
I LOVE THIS RECIPE .CAN I USE THIS BROWNIE RECIPE TO MAKE YOUR BROWNIE CHEESCAKE? AND IF I CAN HOE I MAKE THIS AND HOW TO BAKE IT{ THE BROWNIE IN YOUR CHEESCAKE RECUPE CONTAIN CHOCOLAT}.
THANS FOR THE REPLAY.
Carolyn says
Sure you can make half of this recipe and use it as the base for the cheesecake. You only want half. Bake it following the directions for the cheesecake.
Jackie says
Hi Carolyn! I made these last night at 10pm because of a brownie craving and woke up and had one with my morning decaf. They are delicious!!!! I’m DF Keto so I used avocado oil and the texture and taste was divine! Thank you for all your wonderful recipes!
Carolyn says
So glad you liked them! There is a version in my Easy Keto Desserts that uses avocado oil too. That’s a great sub.
Brenda says
These look amazing! Do you have a frosting to go with it?!!
Carolyn says
Search “buttercream” in my search box and there is a great chocolate buttercream. Or if you want something more rich, search “ganache”.
Shelbi says
Hey, wanting to make these without having to run to the store with two littles…do you think this would be okay with sucralose? (I know it’s not ideal, but it’s what I have.)
Thank you!
Carolyn says
I honestly can’t say, I really don’t use it at all.
Shelbi says
Okay. Thank you, anyways!????
The Jarmans says
I looked thru Keto books at Barns and Noble when I was leaving the mall one day. I opened your “Easy Keto Dinners” and I immediately knew I had to have it. The book is beautifully laid out, easy to navigate, and every page had a recipe I wanted to eat right that instant. The pages in the back of the book have been so useful, too.
My husband and I have been cooking your recipes together and enjoying them ALL. I am a type 1 diabetic and it’s been so great cursing a flat line — no blood sugar spikes!
These brownies were so good, thank you for these amazing recipes. We can’t wait to get more of your books.
Carolyn says
Thank you so much and I am delighted to hear my recipes are hitting the mark!
LIRAZ says
HI CAROLYN!
CAN I SUB THE COCO POWDER IN THIS RECIPE WITH A RAW COCA POWDER? IHEARD THAT RAW COCA POWDER IS MUCH MOR HEALTHY AND WITH RICH FLAVOR.
Carolyn says
You can certainly try it.
Charissa says
Oh my goodness. I’m so making these this weekend. I might make a cream cheese topping. Thank you for another dessert to add to my list!
Emily says
This is, by far, the best keto dessert i’ve tried! I finally switched to Lakanto after not being happy with swerve. I didn’t like the cooling aftertaste of the swerve and it ruined many things i’ve tried. Finally I purchased the Lakanto and tried this simple basic dessert. SO GOOD! Zero weird aftertaste, and the brownies were perfectly chocolatey and sweet. Thank you for sharing. I can’t wait to try some others from your site! I also hope to purchase a cookbook soon.
One thing I wasn’t sure of is when to take it out of the oven. The directions were quite clear, it was just hard to know how much of the middle should still be wet. I had to keep mine in a little longer than stated because it looked completely raw, but then suddenly it went from soupy to almost completely set! Watch it closely!
Anyway, make this recipe! Follow as stated, you won’t regret it. 🙂
Carolyn says
Thanks for the feedback!
Lianne says
I’ve been wanting to make keto brownies for a while (been following keto WOE since this past February) but was always put off– the ingredients are expensive, and with every recipe I found there were either no reviews or several negative ones that were enough to make me hesitate to try them. When I saw this one, however, I was intrigued by the gelatin so I took the plunge and made them. *SO* glad I did! They turned out far better than I had hoped! I made them yesterday afternoon, put them outside on the porch to be sure they cooled completely, then took them to a friend’s house for supper last night. She’s diabetic so follows low carb, and we were both floored by how good they were. The true test, though, was that the 3 other diners with us enjoyed them, too! My husband thought they were “okay,” but he’s not a dark chocolate fan and these were very dark because I used extra dark cocoa (I also used store-brand regular gelatin with good results). Still, he ate every crumb of two brownies! The other two diners really liked them. Kudos, Carolyn! I can’t wait to try some of your other recipes!
Carolyn says
So glad to hear it!
Lisa says
The sweetener I used was Truvia and generic almond flour from the bulk food store.
Carolyn says
So both of those may be part of the issue. if your almond flour isn’t really finely ground, it tends to allow the oils to seep out a bit. And swerve has oligosaccharides in it, which is a fiber and helps add bulk to the recipe.
Lisa says
Thanks so much for replying. I’ll make those changes for next time I make them!
Carolyn says
No worries. It’s tough because unlike regular flour and sugar, keto ingredients vary so much!
Lisa says
Newbie baker here….are you supposed to measure out a 1/2 cup of solid butter and then melt it or do you melt some butter and then measure out a 1/2 cup of melted butter? I did the first version and the batter was very thin making the 1/4 cup of water unnecessary. Brownies still tasted great but were really buttery and the bottoms were still wet due to all the butter.
Carolyn says
If your butter comes in sticks, then just melt a stick of butter. What brand of almond flour are you using and what sweetener? Those make a real difference here.
Mary Ellen Scott says
Wow, this recipe is a keeper! Fantastic slightly warm with a spoonful of whipped cream.
Katie says
Why isn’t gnom gnom credited for this recipe? It’s surely her recipe with added baking powder and gelatin…. a bit disappointed in you!! I’ve been baking all my life and I know for a fact that two people never get to the exact same measurements by chance. I’ve also been a reader for a while and you talk a lot about morality blah blah blah. Walk the talk!
Carolyn says
Blah blah blah. How on earth are these the same measurements?
Mine takes 1/2 cup almond flour, which is 50g. Hers takes 70g. Close but not the same.
Mine takes 3 eggs. Hers take 2.
Mine takes 1/4 cup water. Hers takes none.
Mine takes gelatin, hers takes none.
She is not credited because she has had NO PART in this recipe, not even a little bit. If you’ve been a reader for a while, you would know that I always credit my source. ALWAYS. So I am walking the walk AND talking the talk, thanks very much.
Want to know the real source of my recipe? Me. Because in my book Easy Keto Desserts, I created a 1 Bowl Brownies recipe that was similar to this one but it takes avocado oil, no water, and no gelatin. Want to know the date I created that recipe? December 14th, 2017. How do I know that? Because I use a system called Evernote which records my recipe notes, the date they were created and every date that they were modified.
That is long before she posted her recipe. Done. Thanks for reading! Thanks for not believing in a recipe developer who has been around a lot longer than most. Take care.
Not Katie says
Don’t even worry about her! You simply can’t control ignorant people. Just made these in muffin tins. Awesomeness!
Sierra Schwartz says
I don’t know if it was the sweetener I used (xylitol and allulose) but I baked as instructed, about 18 minutes at 350. I took them out to cool. They looked done but when I cut into then it was a disgustingly under-cooked disaster. I had to reheat my oven and out then back in for 15 minutes. I’m just hoping I can salvage them.
Carolyn says
Sorry but the sweetener makes a HUGE difference and I cannot guarantee the results when you use something different. Swerve is non-hygroscopic, meaning it does not attract moisture. Both xylitol and allulose are more hygroscopic. They simply DO NOT bake the same way and would result in a gooey undercooked brownie.
Runa Haque says
Hi, I made this last night following each and every steps. But unfortunately, it came out really grainy crystallized sugar! I used exact ingredients and measurements as you mentioned. Does this happen with swerve ? Or have I done anything wrong ….like not mixing the swerve till it melts in the butter ? Otherwise, the othe texture came out pretty good ! I hope you can help me out with any suggestions !
Carolyn says
It’s hard to say what went wrong here because I’ve never had that issue. You don’t need to mix the Swerve until it melts, it usually doesn’t re-crystallize in baked goods.
Lori Sherrill says
I made these last night along with your white chocolate chips. They both were delicious. My husband and I have been Keto/THM for almost a year now, and I try new recipes almost daily. He said this was the best dessert I’ve made yet, and he doesn’t even like brownies! Thank you!! I think I’ll try them with white chocolate chips next :).
Carolyn says
Wow, thanks so much!
Lydia says
Hi!
Let me just put this out there…THIS IS THE BEST BROWNIE I HAVE EVER TASTED!!
I had accumalated numerous keto brownie recipes over the year.
I saw this recipe and I was blown away! I literally deleted EVERY other brownie recipe I had!
This is it…I don’t even bother with other brownie recipes anymore.
And I love how easy and quick this is to make.
My 8 year old nephew actually requested that I make it for him for his birthday. He loves them
Thanks Carolyn for being sich a wizard with low carb recipes. Every recipe of yours is a total hit with everyone.
Carolyn says
Wow, Lydia… Thank you!