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These oatmeal brownies are soft, fudgy, and layered with chocolate flavor and whole grains. They’re fiber-packed and naturally sweetened.
Love having dessert for breakfast? Try my oatmeal breakfast bars, protein cinnamon rolls, strawberry oatmeal bars, and cinnamon roll baked oatmeal next.
If you’ve been dying to have brownies for breakfast, now’s your chance.
My oat flour brownies look and taste like real brownies, but looks can be deceiving. Hidden inside soft and fudgy brownies lie enough protein, fiber, and whole grains to keep you full all morning long.
Table of Contents
Why I love this recipe
- They taste exactly like brownies. If you’ve had my brownie baked oatmeal before, that’ll give you an idea of what to expect. If anything, these oat brownies are even more chewy and soft.
- They’re great for meal prep. Make a double batch and freeze the extras for when you need a grab-and-go breakfast… or have a sugar craving.
- Easy to modify. Add some fun mix-ins or swap the oil for applesauce. I’ll be sure to give you plenty of suggestions later on.
- Diet-friendly. With no effort at all, these oat flour brownies are gluten-free and easy to make vegan!
Ingredients needed
- Oat flour. Use store-bought or homemade oat flour made from rolled oats. Make sure the consistency is extremely fine so the brownies don’t dry out. Use certified gluten-free oat flour if needed.
- Cocoa powder. I used Dutch processed cocoa powder as I find it has the best chocolate flavor. Use a good quality brand; it makes all the difference!
- Sweetener. I used coconut sugar, but white sugar, brown sugar, or a sugar-free sweetener can all be used interchangeably.
- Peanut butter. A foolproof swap for butter that adds flavor and gives the brownies a gooey texture. Use smooth, drippy peanut butter with no added sugar or salt.
- Maple syrup. Adds sweetness and moisture.
- Coconut oil. Gives the brownies a lovely sheen and skips the need for butter.
- Eggs OR flax eggs. Use either room temperature eggs or flax eggs, which you can make by combining three tablespoons of water with one tablespoon of flax seeds.
- Semi sweet chocolate chips. Optional but recommended to give an extra boost of chocolate. Use vegan chocolate chips if needed.
- Salt. Just a pinch of salt to amplify the other ingredients.
How to make oatmeal brownies
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1- Prep. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and line an 8×8-inch baking dish with parchment paper.
Step 2- Mix the wet and dry ingredients. In a small bowl, combine oat flour, cocoa powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, stir together the peanut butter, maple syrup, coconut oil, and sweetener. Add the eggs to the wet ingredients and whisk well.
Step 3- Combine. Combine the wet and dry ingredients until combined. Sprinkle with chocolate chips if using. Transfer the brownie batter to the prepared pan.
Step 4- Bake. Bake the brownies for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center. Let cool in the pan completely before slicing.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Blend your oat flour VERY finely. If you’re making homemade oat flour, make sure it’s finely blended. If big clumps of oats remain, you’ll get dry and crumbly brownies.
- Avoid overbaking the brownies. They’ll continue to cook as they cool, so take them out of the oven the second a toothpick comes out barely clean.
- Wait for the brownies to cool completely. When I tried to slice them when they were slightly warm, they were more likely to crumble and fall apart.
Variations
- Swap the peanut butter. Use any type of nut butter, like almond butter or cashew butter. For a nut-free recipe, use sunflower seed butter.
- Cut the fat. If you don’t mind the oatmeal brownies being more cake-like, you can swap the coconut oil for unsweetened applesauce. If you do, reduce the bake time to 25-30 minutes.
- Switch up the mix-ins. Try chopped nuts, white chocolate chips, or fresh raspberries.
Storage instructions
To store: Store leftover oat brownies in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
To freeze: Transfer cooled oatmeal brownies to a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to six months.
More healthy brownies to try
Oatmeal Brownies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp oat flour
- 1 1/2 cups cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup peanut butter smooth and creamy
- 3/4 cup coconut oil melted
- 2/3 cup maple syrup
- 1 cup granulated sweetener of choice brown, coconut, or sugar free subs
- 4 large eggs
- 1-2 cups chocolate chopped, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line an 8 x 8-inch pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a small bowl, add your oat flour, cocoa powder, and salt, and mix well. Set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together your peanut butter, maple syrup, coconut oil, and granulated sweetener of choice. Whisk together until combined and glossy. Add your eggs and whisk well.
- Combine your wet and dry ingredients and mix together until just combined. Fold through your chocolate, if using them. Transfer the brownie batter into the lined pan.
- Bake the brownies for 30-35 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean from the center. Let cool in the pan completely, before slicing.
Notes
Nutrition
Originally published September 2020, updated and republished August 2024
If I wanted to use quinoa in place of the protein powder, how much would I use? Has anyone experimented with this?
Hi Sarah! Unfortunately, I’ve never tried it out with that!
Hi Arman! I made these this morning and they are delicious!! It was hard for me to tell if they were done cooking though, as a toothpick kept coming out with batter on it. I gave it 5 more minutes. My son could not wait to eat them, so they did not fully refrigerate. Is the refrigeration part what allows them to be cut into brownie chunks? Thank you for the awesome recipe!
Hi there! It sure does, it helps make them firmer 🙂
So with the above three protein powders you listed, are those the ones that did work or did not? I am thinking they are the ones that readers said worked? And the ones that didn’t were whey proteins and you didn’t list. I was just confused about this part.
Hi Resa,
The ones I listed are ones which work (and also the Vega one, which readers have had success with).
Hello,
I made your recipe tonight but it was quite flat and not very thick and goey like yours look in the photo. Do you have any advice as to how to get my brownies to become thicker?
Thank you
Hi Alex! Because I love very thick brownies, I make a double batch and often use a loaf pan- I also remove it when it is ‘just’ cooked and once cooled in the fridge, it sets beautifully.
Would this be a good diabetic recipe do you think?
Hi Kirsty! Unfortunately, I’m not a medical professional so won’t feel comfortable advising on that- It might be best to speak to a doctor to confirm 🙂
I would love to make these but I’m allergic to nuts. What else could I use instead?
Hi Wendy, you can use sunbutter 🙂
What do I do if I have no nut butter?
Hi Elsa! I’ll be sharing a fun recipe VERY soon not needing nut butter! For this recipe, you could try sunflower seed butter or something similar 🙂
i dont really like using protein powders – do you have an recommendations to make this a bit more natural? or could i just leave it out completely?
Hi Joy! For sure- I have a 3 ingredient flourless brownie recipe which has no protein powder 🙂 https://thebigmansworld.com/2015/10/05/healthy-3-ingredient-flourless-brownies/
thanks so much! those look great and cant wait to try!
What is “2 T” cocoa powder??
Hi Barbara! The ‘T’ stands for tablespoon 🙂
Thanks 😉
I want to try these but all i have is whey protein. Im tempted to try it with my whey protein, so Im curious as to why whey is not recommended.
Hi Danielle! Whey is way to sticky (from my experience) but please give it a go if you think it may be suitable- Brands do differ so you never know 🙂
I just pulled these out of the oven. I had 1 2/3 cup pumpkin to use up, so I threw in a banana and doubled the batch. I’m excited to show my kids brownies for breakfast.
My go-to breakfast is usually along the lines of overnight oats, chia seed pudding, or breakfast cookies. I try to prep something hubby can eat when he wakes up at 4:30am, that I dont need to get up to make!
Thanks forthe recipe.
Hi Tiffany! Oh wow- 4.30am is early for the hubs to wake up! Those are great options for go-to breakfasts and I hope these make the rotation too 🙂
I made these this weekend. They came out much more like fudge than like Brownies. Fortunately I LOVE fudge. Great recipe!