What, just “Raw vegan brownies”? No clever name? Man, I’m such a slacker! But you’ll forgive me when you make these because they are dee-freakin’-licious. They really do taste like brownies, but with a lot less of the unhealthy parts. The frosting is totally optional – without it they taste a little more brownie-like, with it they have a hint of coconut that reminded me of a Mounds bar.
All you do is throw the brownie ingredients into the food processor and run it for a good 30 seconds, until the consistency goes from crumbly to doughy, like so:
Then press that into a pan (I used a standard 4×9 bread pan – if you double the recipe I think an 8×8 would be perfect) and put the frosting ingredients into the food processor (if you are using the frosting). I thought it tasted a little too avocado-ey so I added maybe another 1/2 tsp of agave, but you could just start with a little less avocado. Once it chilled I couldn’t even taste the avocado anymore anyway. I made a double batch of the frosting because one seemed like not enough, but that was too much. Maybe 1.5 batches would be good but in retrospect I think one might have been fine. Let’s not go crazy here!
Spread the frosting over the brownie mix in the pan and chill for at least an hour. I think a few hours is even better if you’ve got the time – these last a couple days in the fridge and just seem to get better and better. If you want to add some shredded coconut or chopped walnuts as a topping I recommend doing it before you chill them so the topping kind of sticks to the frosting a bit better.
After they have chilled, cut them into squares (I got 8 out of this recipe) and enjoy them with a glass of almond milk, or better yet red wine!
Raw vegan brownies
Click stars below to rate, or leave a full review in the comments Print Rate it Now Pin RecipeIngredients
- 1 cup ground pecans
- 1 cup dates not soaked
- ¼ heaping cup cocoa powder
- 1 heaping teaspoon agave nectar optional
Instructions
- Process the brownie ingredients until they form a slightly shiny dough. Press into a pan or bowl.
- Refrigerate for at least ten minutes, or up to several hours. Slice and enjoy!
Hi Jessica! These brownies look great. I imagine they are very similar to Larabars (which I LOVE!). The main ingredients in all the Larabar flavors are dates and one of more kinds of nuts. But that’s beside the point! I bought the ingredients for these brownies and am planning to make them, however I didn’t see the recipe for the icing….am I just missing it? From reading the post I can see that avocados and agave are involved, but I do not see anything more. Any help would be appreciated! Thank you
What would be a good nut to substitute for pecans?
Walnuts or almonds?
Or perhaps hemp seeds or chia seeds?
Thanks
Can’t find the frosting recipe to go on the brownies.
Wow, these are amazing! I made the icing but didn’t use it as both my wife and I didn’t like the coconut flavor so much. I just used some white frosting in a tube that we happened to have then added cocoa to it. We’ll probably skip the icing altogether next time because there WILL be a next time. These brownies rocked.
Thank you for making our Sunday afternoon even more enjoyable.
These look splendid! I love your blog…I have many-a bookmark from this site.
I just made these with almonds (didn’t have pecans) and they are truly amazing. Better than the real deal! I could not stop eating them. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
And could you use honey insted of agave nectar?
That would probably be fine – honey has a less neutral taste, but that’s fine as long as you like it!
Could I use raisins instead of dates?
Maybe…but I don’t think they would taste as good. If you do try it let me know how it goes!
These look really lovely .. Thank you for sharing
x
These look fabulous! Do I need to buy a food processor for these?
Hmm…I think a blender would work, but I doubt you could get it blended enough by hand, so you’d need something.
YUM!
I just made these and I couldn’t help but pop a few in my mouth. I cut them into tiny tiny pieces so they can last haha. Our food processor protested to a lot of the grinding of the nuts and dates, especially since I used half almonds, half cashews (no pecans on hand). Overall, SUPERB recipe! 🙂