This low calorie Brownies recipe is fudgy with rich chocolate flavor, and they are the perfect healthy dessert for satisfying your sweet tooth.
Recipe Highlights
- You can’t taste or see the pumpkin
- Low calorie and low fat, sweetened with Monkfruit, making these 100 calorie brownies… sugar free.
- Incorporates both cocoa powder and sugar free chocolate chips for lots of rich chocolate flavor
- They stay moist and fresh and keep in the fridge for a week
- They are ideal to make ahead for quick and easy snacks
- You can freeze them for upto 2 months
- They’re flourless, so are light in taste and texture
- They’re low fat and low calorie and the recipe makes 9 generous sized brownies
Ditch the box mixes and instead make healthy brownies or healthy blondies from scratch with just a few simple ingredients. Yes, healthy brownies can be the perfect low calorie dessert yet still be rich and fudgy!
Coming in at under 100 calories, this is one of the lowest calorie brownie recipes. Regardless of whether you’re using canned pumpkin puree or homemade pumpkin puree, you can make these in under 45 minutes.
Check out my Banana Chocolate Brownies or these Chocolate Chickpea Brownies for more sugar free treats. Or for a delicious muffin, try these low calorie Oatmeal Blueberry and Banana Muffins.
Texture of the Brownies
The texture of these brownies is light and fluffy with a rich chocolate flavor. The pumpkin puree and almond flour help to create lightness in both weight, and in calories and fat, making this an ideal low calorie brownie, and just as good as these Fudgy Cheesecake Brownies.
Ingredients
Often, brownie recipes can be high in sugar, high in fat and therefore higher in calories. This recipe is the complete opposite. There is no white or brown sugar, no honey or maple syrup. There is also no butter or oil. Unsweetened cocoa powder and sugar free chocolate chips are also used in place of regular chocolate powder and chocolate chips.
However, just because this is a healthy pumpkin brownie doesn’t mean it isn’t rich, moist and full of chocolate flavor. Its also light and filling and won’t give you sugar highs and leave you feeling unsatisfied.
Ingredient Notes
- Pumpkin: I prefer to make my own pumpkin puree when making baked goods as I can be certain that it doen’t come with any added sugars. However feel free to use the canned pumpkin puree if you have it. Making your own pumpkin puree is as simple as peeling and boiling pumpkin in a pot of water until it soft, then mashing a fork until smooth.
- Almond Flour: This helps to provide structure and body to the brownies and also makes them flourless which is ideal for those who can’t tolerate or don’t like regular flours. Can be substituted with oat flour.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder: This is where the chocolate flavoring and colour comes from. It also provides a richness to the brownies
- Granulated Sweetener: Whilst any granulated sweetener that measures like sugar will work, my favourite is “Brown” granulated Monkfruit sweetener which is very similar in texture to regular brown sugar. However granulated white monkfruit would work or you could make stevia brownies.
- Sugar Free Chocolate Chips: I use the brand “Noshu” or “Naturally Well”, both of which are available in the baking aisle or healthy food aisle of most supermarkets in Australia. Other chopped up sugar free chocolate bar will work fine.
- Peanut Butter: I love using a natural peanut butter to add to the flavor of pumpkin brownies. Feel free to sub with your favorite nut butter.
- Egg: Using an egg in this recipe helps to bind all the ingredients together and also adds additional protein.
- Baking Powder: This helps to give lift and structure to the brownies
- Vanilla Essence: Adds flavoring. Can leave out or sub with expresso or other flavoring
- Salt: just a pinch helps to bring out all the other flavors and to balance everything. I definitely notice the difference when I don’t add a little salt to my brownies.
How To Make Pumpkin Brownies
- Preheat fan oven to 180 degrees c/350 degrees F
- Line an 8 inch by 8 inch baking tin with baking/parchment paper, using a little spray oil to help it stick to the sides if necessary
- Add almond meal, granulated sweetener, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt and mix together in a bowl, until it resembles chocolate dirt.
- In a separate bowl, add cooked and mashed pumpkin, peanut butter and egg, mixing to combine, until it’s a creamy orange yellow batter.
- Pour dry ingredients into bowl with wet ingredients and mix together until a thick batter is formed
- Pour batter into lined baking tin and bake for 25 minutes. To check if its cooked, inset a toothpick into the center of the brownies to check for “doneness”.
Recipe Tips
- Mixing: Don’t mix the pumpkin, egg and peanut butter directly into the dry ingredients as it will be hard to combine together and will end up lumpy.
- Chocolate Chips: If you’re unable to find sugar free chocolate chips, you can use a sugar free chocolate bar roughly chopped, or use dark chocolate chips.
- Slicing Brownies: Before slicing the brownies, leave them in the tin and cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. This lets them get all fudgy and they will be easier to slice and to get nice clean lines.
- Storing Brownies: Store sliced brownies in an airtight container in the fridge for upto 1 week
- Freezing Brownies: Brownies are ideal for freezing. Wrap individual brownies in baking paper and stack them into a freezer safe container for upto 8 weeks
- Defrosting Brownies: to defrost, remove from freezer, keeping it in the baking paper and place in a ziplock bag on a bench to come to room temperature. Alternatively, remove baking paper and microwave for 30 to 60 seconds in the microwave.
Additional Add Ins
- Protein Powder: Ad 1 scoop of your favorite chocolate protein powder.
- Spices: Adding a teaspoon of pumpkin spice, ground cinnamon, ground ginger or nutmeg would all be wonderful additions
- Nuts: sprinkling crushed nuts on top before baking (peanut, walnuts), or adding some whole nuts (pecans, walnuts, cashews) mixed through the batter would add additional texture
- Zest: Instead of adding vanilla essence, add a citrus note with 1 tablespoon of orange zest.
- Coffee: Swap the vanilla essence for espresso of instant coffee dissolved in water for a coffee flavored pumpkin brownie
Common Questions:
To make low sugar brownies you’ll need to swap some of the ingredients. Use sugar replacements, unsweetened cocoa powder, and avoid using honey or maple syrup.
Replacing sugar in brownies is easy and you can use your granulated sweetener of choice so long as it measures like sugar. For example, you can replace half a cup of sugar, with half a cup of granulated sweetener like Monkfruit or Stevia. Alternatively, you can use fruits like dates, and bananas to replace sugar as the natural sweetness from fruits will make up for it. Or you can use a combination of both sweetener and fruits, like in these Chocolate Black Bean Muffins.
The Pumpkin Brownies are quick and easy to make with just a couple of bowls. No food processor or electric beaters needed. They make the perfect healthy snack with your morning coffee, or are also great as an after dinner dessert with a little sugar free ice cream.
Healthy and Fudgy Low Calorie Brownie
Ingredients
- 1 cup Pumpkin – cooked and mashed
- ¼ cup Natural peanut butter
- 1 medium Egg
- 1 cup Almond Flour (or oat flour)
- ¾ cup Granulated sweetener that measures like sugar
- ¼ cup Unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla essence
- ¼ cup Sugar free chocolate chips
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
-
Preheat fan oven to 180 degrees c/350 degrees F
-
Line an 8 inch by 8 inch baking tin with baking/parchment paper, using a little spray oil to help it stick to the sides if necessary
-
Add almond meal, granulated sweetener, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt and mix together in a bowl, until it resembles chocolate dirt.
-
In a separate bowl, add cooked and mashed pumpkin, peanut butter and egg, mixing to combine, until it’s a creamy orange yellow batter. (See note 1)
-
Pour dry ingredients into bowl with wet ingredients and mix together until a thick batter is formed
-
Pour batter into lined baking tin and bake for 25 minutes. To check if its cooked, inset a toothpick into the centre to check for “doneness”.
Notes
- Don’t mix the pumpkin, egg and peanut butter directly into the dry ingredients as it will be hard to combine together and will end up lumpy.
- Pumpkin: I prefer to make my own pumpkin puree when making baked goods as I can be certain that it doesn’t come with any added sugars. However feel free to use the canned pumpkin puree if you have it. Making your own pumpkin puree is as simple as peeling and boiling pumpkin in a pot of water until it soft, then mashing a fork until smooth.
- Almond Flour: This helps to provide structure and body to the brownies and also makes them flourless which is ideal for those who can’t tolerate or don’t like regular flours. Can be substituted with oat flour.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder: This is where the chocolate flavoring and color comes from. It also provides a richness to the brownies
- Granulated Sweetener: Whilst any granulated sweetener that measures like sugar will work, my favorite is “Brown” granulated Monkfruit sweetener which is very similar in texture to regular brown sugar. However granulated white monkfruit or stevia would work as well.
- Sugar Free Chocolate Chips: I use the brand “Noshu” or “Naturally Well”, both of which are available in the baking aisle or healthy food aisle of most supermarkets in Australia. Other chopped up sugar free chocolate bar will work fine.
- Peanut Butter: I love using a natural peanut butter to add to the flavor of pumpkin brownies. Feel free to sub with your favourite nut butter.
- Egg: Using an egg in this recipe helps to bind all the ingredients together and also adds additional protein.
- Baking Powder: This helps to give lift and structure to the brownies
- Vanilla Essence: Adds flavoring. Can leave out or sub with expresso or other flavoring
- Salt: just a pinch helps to bring out all the other flavors and to balance everything. I definitely notice the difference when I don’t add a little salt to my brownies.
- Storage: refrigerate brownies in tray, covered overnight before slicing into 9 squares. Then store in an air tight container for 1 week.
- Freezing: Separate brownies with a sheet of baking paper in between each and place into a freezer container with secure lid. Freeze for upto 8 weeks. Take brownie out of freezer and let defrost naturally for a couple of hours, or microwave on high for 30 to 0 seconds.
Nutrition
Note: Sugars contained in this recipe are from naturally occurring sugars in fruits, vegetables or other natural sweeteners.
