Oat Flour Brownies are naturally gluten-free with a fudgy texture you’ll love. It will quickly become one of your favorite desserts!
Even if you don’t keep it on hand, you can make homemade oat flour in minutes simply by blending oats in a blender or food processor.
Use any leftover oat flour to make banana bread, cookies, and pancakes.
If you prefer to use store-bought oat flour, I tested this brownie recipe with Anthony’s brand (affiliate link) which is batch-tested to be gluten-free.
Ingredients You’ll Need
These oatmeal brownies call for raw cacao powder, which is also sometimes called natural cocoa powder. It has a light brown color and tastes slightly acidic and bitter. (This recipe doesn’t call for a significant amount to avoid bitterness.)
Dutch-processed cocoa is darker in color and has a mild chocolate flavor, without any bitter aftertaste. If this is what you keep on hand, feel free to try it! The resulting brownies might not have quite as much chocolate flavor in this case, so you can add more to taste.
If you need a gluten-free recipe, make sure to use certified gluten-free oat flour. While oats are naturally gluten-free, they can be contaminated during processing.
Thanks to reader feedback, I’ve tested this recipe again and learned you’ll get fudgier results by adding an extra egg and omitting any baking soda. The resulting brownies are amazing, but you can always find my original brownie recipe here.
Need a vegan recipe? Try my Date Brownies or Black Bean Brownies which are both egg-free and dairy-free.
How to Make Oat Flour Brownies
Preheat the oven to 350ºF and lightly grease an 8-inch metal pan. (Metal works best for baking brownies.) Press a piece of parchment paper into the pan for easy removal later.
In a heat-safe medium bowl, combine the butter and chocolate chips. If you need a dairy-free recipe, use coconut oil, instead. (Expeller-pressed coconut oil will add zero coconut flavor.)
To make a double boiler, fill a small saucepan with 1 inch of water and bring that to a boil on the stovetop. Arrange the heat-safe bowl snugly over the top of the pan with the boiling water to let the steam gently melt the chocolate and butter. Stir often, until the mixture looks smooth.
Add the coconut sugar to the heated bowl and stir it into the melted chocolate mixture. Heating the sugar briefly will help give your brownies more of a crackled top. (Using white sugar makes it even more noticeable, but would also make these brownies sweeter.)
In a large mixing bowl, add the oat flour, cacao powder, and salt. Whisk the dry ingredients to break up any clumps, then add in the melted chocolate mixture. Stir well to let the batter cool slightly, then add in the eggs and vanilla extract and stir again.
If you’d like to add something extra, like chopped nuts or extra chocolate chips, now is the time to fold those in.
Pour the brownie batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake at 350ºF for 18 to 20 minutes, or just until the center doesn’t jiggle. A toothpick should come out sticky if you insert it in the center, but the brownies will continue to set as they cool.
Let the brownies cool in the baking dish for at least 1 hour before slicing. It might take 2 hours for them to cool completely, depending on the temperature of your home.
Brownies taste best when served slightly warm, with a scoop of ice cream on top, or at room temperature.
They have the best shelf life when stored in the fridge, so keep any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. (They probably won’t last that long, though!)
You can also store brownies in the freezer for up to 3 months in an airtight container.
Frequently Asked Questions
Oat flour is not a 1:1 swap for all-purpose flour, because it has a different density. Read my Oat Flour post if you want an easy formula to use when substituting oat flour in recipes.
Oats are naturally gluten-free, but they can be contaminated with other gluten-containing grains during the manufacturing process. Be sure to buy a package that is labeled “certified gluten-free” if you are serving these brownies to someone sensitive to gluten.
Brownies get their moist texture from using granulated sugar, so white sugar or brown sugar would work similarly. If you want to try using maple syrup, I’d start with just half the amount and expect a slightly different texture.
Looking for more brownie recipes? Try Almond Butter Brownies, Sweet Potato Brownies, Almond Flour Brownies, or my Vegan Gluten-free Brownies for more ideas.
Oat Flour Brownies
Oat Flour Brownies taste just as delicious as the traditional version, only they’re made with gluten-free oat flour. They have a rich, fudgy texture you’ll love!
Servings:
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350ºF and grease an 8-inch square metal pan with oil. Press a piece of parchment paper into the bottom of the pan, so the brownies will be easy to remove later. (Brownies don’t bake as well in a glass dish, FYI.)
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In a heat-safe bowl, melt the butter and chocolate chips together over a double boiler. Stir until the chocolate is smooth, then add in the coconut sugar and continue to heat and stir for 1 more minute. Heating the sugar briefly will give the brownies more of a crackly texture on top. (Alternatively, you can melt the butter and chocolate chips in a microwave, stirring until smooth, then add the sugar and microwave again for 30 seconds, and stir again.)
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In a large mixing bowl, combine the oat flour, cacao powder, and salt. Whisk well to break up any clumps, then add in the melted chocolate-sugar mixture.
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Once you’ve stirred in the melted chocolate, add the eggs and vanilla and stir until smooth. Transfer the brownie batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top.
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Bake at 350ºF for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the center doesn’t jiggle when you shake the pan. Let the brownies cool completely before slicing into them. (About 1 hour.) If you use a glass baking dish, the brownies may require a few more minutes to cook until the center looks set.
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Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
Dairy-Free Note: Make these brownies dairy-free by using 1/3 cup of melted coconut oil instead of butter. In this case, increase the salt to 1/4 teaspoon total. Or, use your favorite vegan butter as a swap.
Chocolate Chip Note: I tested this recipe using semi-sweet chocolate chips, to achieve the same flavor as the “box brownies” my family loves. For a lower-sugar brownie, use dark chocolate chips instead.
Variation: Make peppermint brownies by adding 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract to this recipe. Make them look extra festive by sprinkling crushed candy cane on top before baking.
Vegan Note: I tested this recipe with 2 psyllium eggs, which are usually quite successful for me, and the results were a disaster. I’d stick to a tested vegan brownie recipe, rather than trying to tweak this one to be egg-free.
Update Note: This recipe was updated in March 2024 due to reader feedback. I’ve learned that you can make fudgier brownies by melting the chocolate chips into the batter, adding an extra egg, and skipping the baking soda. If you prefer the original recipe, you can still find it here.
Nutrition
Calories: 140kcal, Carbohydrates: 16g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 8g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 39mg, Sodium: 96mg, Potassium: 44mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 10g, Vitamin A: 222IU, Vitamin C: 0.03mg, Calcium: 15mg, Iron: 0.5mg
If you try these oat flour brownies, please leave a comment and star rating below letting me know how you like them.
