Oatmeal Brownies | No Flour, No Eggs, No Butter
A healthy oatmeal brownies recipe that anyone can make at home. These oat brownies are vegan, free of processed sugar, eggless, doesn’t contain butter or flour. Perfect guilt-free dessert.
Oat Brownies: Video Recipe
First things first, watch the full video recipe to learn how to make the oat brownies! This step-by-step video tutorial makes the process easy to follow, with tips and tricks to ensure perfect results every time.
Prefer the written recipe? Scroll down to the recipe box for the full written recipe! 👇
Why You’ll Love Oatmeal Brownies 🥰🍫
These healthy oatmeal brownies are a perfect balance of wholesome and delicious! Made with simple ingredients like oats, peanut butter, and maple syrup, they’re naturally sweet, chocolatey, and easy to make. Perfect for a guilt-free treat or snack! 🌟
- Vegan and gluten-free friendly 🌱🍃
- Naturally sweetened with maple syrup 🍁
- High in fiber and packed with nutrients 💪
- Eggless and perfect for allergen-free baking 🥚🚫
- Easy to make with just one bowl 🥣
- Deliciously chocolatey and satisfying 🍫🤤
- Customizable with your favorite add-ins 🌰🍓
How to Make Oat Brownies Even Better?
These oatmeal brownies are excellent as they are, but there’s always room to level up! Based on feedback from my YouTube community, swapping rolled oats for oat flour creates a smoother, more cake-like texture while keeping all the healthy goodness intact. So here is a list of thing you can do to upgrade your healthy oat brownies:
- Swap rolled oats with oat flour for a smoother, cake-like texture 🥞
- Add chopped nuts for extra crunch and flavor 🌰.
- Swirl in a spoonful of almond butter for a creamy twist 🥜.
- Mix in dried fruits like cranberries or chopped dates for natural sweetness 🍇.
- Sprinkle a pinch of sea salt on top to enhance the chocolatey flavor 🧂🍫.
Common Questions
Yes! Swapping rolled oats for oat flour will give the brownies a smoother, more cake-like texture while maintaining the same great taste. Use the same quantity (2 cups/180g).
Yes, simply replace peanut butter with a nut-free alternative like sunflower seed butter. Also, skip any optional nut toppings.
Any milk works well, including almond milk, soy milk, oat milk, or regular dairy milk. Choose what fits your dietary needs or preferences.
Yes, you can use honey, agave, or date syrup. For a sugar-free option, try monk fruit or stevia syrup. Adjust sweetness to taste!
More Healthy Recipes
Oatmeal Brownie | No Flour, No eggs, No Butter
Equipment
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup (80 g) Homemade Peanut butter or store-bought
- ½ cup (120 g) Maple syrup
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 2 cups (480 ml) Milk of your choice
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 2 cups (180 g) Rolled oats
- ¼ cup (30 g) Cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon Ground flaxseed optional
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- ⅓ cup (60 g) Chocolate chips optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C (350F). Prepare 8-inch (20cm) square baking pan.
- In a large bowl mix peanut butter and maple syrup until smooth.
- Add milk, salt, vanilla extract and mix until smooth.
- Add oats, cocoa powder, ground flaxseeds, baking powder and mix until combined.
- Add chocolate chips and stir.
- Pour the batter into prepared pan, sprinkle some chocolate chips on top and bake for 40 minutes or until set.
- Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.
Video
Notes
- Oats: for a smoother consistency, I highly recommend using quick oats or even oat flour (blended oats).
- Watch the Video: For a better understanding of the recipe, I always recommend watching the video recipe, which includes a step-by-step guide to help you succeed.
- FAQs: Make sure you read the FAQs for this recipe, which are located above the recipe box for additional tips and troubleshooting! For extra tips and variations, read the article.
- Storage: Store oatmeal brownies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. For longer storage, refrigerate for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 3 months. Let frozen brownies thaw at room temperature before serving!
Will adding nuts change the ingredients?
Not at all, just don’t add too much. 1/4-1/2 cup of chopped nuts should be enough.
Hi David,
Great recipe but I did have one problem in that the brownies did not hold together well. My only substitution was ground sunflower seeds instead of flax. The milk I used was whole and the oats were standard rolled ones, not instant or toasted. I wonder, should the oats have been precooked?
Hi! Thank you so much for trying the recipe and for the detailed.
The oats shouldn’t be precooked; they’re meant to go in raw. They soften and bind as the brownies bake and cool.
The most likely reason they didn’t hold together is the substitution of ground sunflower seeds for flax. Flax acts as a natural binder (it forms a gel when mixed with liquid), while sunflower seeds don’t create that same “sticky” structure, so the brownies can crumble more easily.
For the best texture, I actually recommend using oat flour rather than whole rolled oats, it absorbs liquid more evenly and helps the brownies hold together better. (You can make it at home by blending rolled oats into a fine flour.)
If you’d like to try them again, a few tweaks can help:
*Use ground flax (or chia seeds) instead of sunflower seeds
*Let the batter rest 5–10 minutes so the oats/oat flour hydrate
*Allow the brownies to cool completely before slicing.
I also had crumbly bars. My mixture looked thinner than pictured after I added the milk. I did let the mixture sit 15 minutes before baking. Let it cool before cutting. I had to make some balls out of the crumbly mix. Not happy!!
Thanks, just tried them again and ground the oats into oat flour, also ground the flaxseeds. The result is great. I love these brownies!!
We need to watch our sugar. Would a 1/4 cup of maple syrup work?
Yes, you can reduce it to ¼ cup of maple syrup, but just know the brownies will be less sweet and slightly less moist. You can also add a splash of milk instead.
Hi David, This recipe is FANTASTIC. I have made it multiple times. If there are others like me who were concerned about the sugar content related to the Maple Syrup, it adds only 6 grams of sugar per square. I calculated all the ingredients (the only substitutions were that I used “Simply Jif” and for chocolate chips used the mini dark chocolate chips, both of which have a lower sugar content). Per square, I came up with 10 grams of sugar. Leaving off the chocolate chips brings the recipe down to only 8 grams of sugar. I think these these are just as healthy, if not more so, than my bowl of morning oatmeal.
Made them last night according to the recipe, with coconut milk as my milk choice, after pulsing the weighed oats in the food processor first. Delicious! Next time I’ll try with almond butter so my friends with peanut issues will try them. This was my first recipe to try after finding this site. Now I’m hooked!
I made these today just to try something new. Very yummy but have to eat them with a fork. Thought they were set when I pulled them out of the oven, but after cooling, not quite as set as your’s on the video. Also, my batter was a little wetter looking than yours to start with. I do weigh my ingredients…. Would welcome any thoughts. Will definitely be making again. 🙂
Thank you so much for trying the recipe and for sharing your experience! 😊 Sometimes the texture can vary depending on the type of oats (quick oats, rolled oats, or oat flour), or the type of peanut butter used. If your batter looks wetter, try letting it sit for 5 minutes before baking so the oats can absorb some of the liquid. You can also add 2–3 extra tablespoons of oats or bake a few extra minutes until more set. Letting them cool completely (or even refrigerating) also helps them firm up. I’m so glad you still enjoyed the flavor, and love that you’ll be making them again!
Can you sub almond milk or coconut milk for the regular milk in this recipe?
Yes, you can.
Amazing! I have used a couple different recipes for oatmeal brownies and yours is the best and is my go to from now on. Thank you so much. These are simply delicious 🙂
i love it, i cant believe how chocolatey so delightful tasting, so easy to make , my new breakfast bars!!!
I am always looking for ways to eat healthier without losing the fun of my favorite foods. With that said, this looks truly amazing and definitely will prepare this and see what happens. (1) Do you have any other healthy recipes for a single guy and loner? I found the recipe by chance and want to try it.
Hi Anthony,
Thank you so much! I totally get that—eating healthy should still be fun and satisfying. I’m really glad this recipe caught your eye! 😊
If you’re looking for more ideas, feel free to browse some options here: healthy recipes, easy recipes, or just type an ingredient you like in the search bar and go from there. You’ll find plenty of simple, delicious meals that are great for cooking solo.
Let me know what you end up trying, I’d love to hear how it goes! 🙌
Can you sub almond or coconut flour for lower carbs?
I guess you can, but I haven’t tried it, so I can’t say exactly how much almond or coconut flour you should use.
I added bananas to make them Elvis Style 🙂
Instead of making banana bread today I made these with about three added bananas and they came out fantastic! You will need to add some more cook time, but it was worth the wait.
I added chocolate chips and kosher salt on the top and chocolate definitely hits.
Did you use the bananas to replace the maple syrup? Or did you just use them as an addition?
So good, and even my picky husband who isn’t much of a sweet eater loved these. I did use less maple syrup and no chocolate chips. I also made it in my cast iron pan.
Highly recommend!
If I substitute oat flour for the oatmeal, would I still use 2c ?
Yes, same amount.
This is so delicious!
Can you use apple butter instead of nut butter?
Hi,
I don’t have much experience with apple butter, so I can’t say.
But any nut or seed butter works well here.
I tried both versions, with rolled oats and oat flour. With oat flour, the texture is much better IMO.
Thanks for a great recipe.
Interesting idea. Did you change the quantity when you substituted oat flour?
No, Same quantities.
I don’t think it’s the best dessert for toddlers, as it contains a high amount of cocoa powder, which is bitter. It also has relatively little sugar, so it’s understandable that kids might not like it.
I made these for my three year old but he wasn’t a fan due to the strong bitter chocolate taste. The texture was great I might try reducing the cocoa powder next time.
How do you “prepare the pan”? These look delicious and I can’t wait to make them.
Line the pan with parchment paper.
Hi there! These look amazing. I have all the ingredients except the flax seed – can I eliminate it or replace it with something else?
Hi, Thanks!
You can skip the flax seeds completely or use one egg instead. (You might need a bit more oats/oat flour).
In the video, the peanut butter looks very liquid-y. Did you melt it?
That’s not specified in the recipe.
I use natural peanut butter (which is more liquid than the regular). But you also can use the regular one.
You can also try making homemade natural peanut butter
Can another butter (almond/sun) be used in place of the peanut butter? For those with a peanut allergy?
Sure, you can use any nut butter or seed butter in this recipe.
The first thing you do is turn half of them into 18 pieces and give the other half to your friend 😉
I added 1/2 c. more oats until I decided I probably just didn’t know + at least the oats won’t absorb the mixture rite? haha but it looks promising!
Helloooo out there, I’ve just mixed up the batter and it’s soupy! as if it would NEVER bake AND the chips will sink to the bottom! Help, darn you!!!
I know it looks liquidy, but trust me—once you bake it, it works.
P.S. I see now that you ended up with some nice brownies—glad you managed and liked them!
This sounds great!
How can I adjust the recipe for a 9×9 pan? Or doubling the recipe?
Thanks!
Multiply the ingredients by 1.25.
This is so good & I don’t like PB and you can’t taste it . I use sugar free maple syrup & quick oats .
The maple syrup, is it regular pancake syrup, or pure Vermont syrup?
Pure maple syrup is always better and healthier, but you can use any syrup that you like.
I skipped the flaxseed and used quick oats, tastes amazing. Thanks for the recipe.
Absolutely delicious! and healthy!
Hello, can we substitute honey for maple syrup.
Yes, you can.
what oven temp please 🤔 and, can you cook them in an air fryer 🤔
thanks x
Hi, as mentioned in the recipe: 180C (350F).
Not sure about the air fryer.
Can you use almond or coconut flour? To cut down on carbs?