Rich, fudgy brownies swirled with silky sweet caramel. You’d never know these vegan caramel brownies are healthy, gluten free, and sweetened only with dates!
Tomorrow’s Friday! Let’s celebrate with brownies. Swirly, twirly, vegan caramel brownies.
Brownies that are more photogenic than most people I know. Including myself, of course, so don’t take offense – these babies are just drop dead gorgeous, no?! Mesmerizing swirlz for days.
I’m definitely a cake girl all the way if I’m forced to choose one dessert, but some days I’m like please force feed me all the brownies in the land. I think it’s their rich, super fudgy texture that just hits that sweet spot when you NEED chocolate. We all have those days, right?
The best part about these vegan caramel brownies is that they are incredibly rich and fudgy but won’t leave you feeling gross and heavy. Honestly the combination of date caramel and the chocolate brownies here totally exceeded my expectations. I mean, obviously I didn’t think they would taste bad, but they kinda blew my mind.
The caramel has such amazing sweetness and seems to perfectly balance the deep chocolate flavor. They create perfect brownie harmony!
These swirly beauties were inspired by these swirls – one of my favorite recipes I’ve ever baked! So if you’re looking for a higher healthy-fat brownie, definitely try those. Or just try them because they’re seriously out of this world amazing.
Ingredients for vegan caramel brownies
- Chickpeas: you’ll use 1 1/2 cups of drained and rinsed canned chickpeas. This may sound strange, but they give the brownies their super gooey, fudgy texture.
- Nondairy milk: milk is used in the brownie batter as well as for the caramel. I use unsweetened almond milk for neutral flavor, but any nondairy milk should work.
- Medjool dates: dates the brownies natural, fruit sweetness, and are the base of the rich caramel.
- Rolled oats: you’ll blend the oats into flour, which helps hold the brownies together.
- Cocoa powder: cocoa provides that rich, dark chocolate flavor that’s essential for any brownie.
- Vanilla extract: a bit of vanilla rounds out the sweet caramel.
Tips for making vegan caramel brownies
- Measure out the oats first, then blend into flour. I always list the amount of oats used BEFORE they’re blended for flour. So in this case, you’ll measure out 3/4 cup of whole, rolled oats, then put that 3/4 cup into your blender to make flour.
- Be gentle when swirling. Once the brownie batter is in the pan, drop spoonfuls of caramel on top, then use a knife to carefully swirl until it’s evenly spread over the top of the batter. Use a light hand so that you don’t just mix caramel all throughout the batter in the pan.
- Let them cool completely. This is essential, as the brownies are quite soft and gooey. Once they’re done baking, let them cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes before carefully cutting. If you try to cut or remove them too early, they’ll fall apart, so be sure to let them cool and firm up as much as possible.
We topped with more caramel, because, obviously.
These vegan caramel brownies are everything you want in a good brownie, PLUS caramel. Rich, fudgy, and swirled with sweet date caramel, they taste like something so rich and indulgent you’d never know these are healthy.
Xo,
Sara
That bite!!
Vegan Caramel Brownies
Ingredients
Brownies
- 1 1/2 cups canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup nondairy milk – I used unsweetened almond milk
- 1 cup date paste – 15 medjool dates blended with 1 cup hot water
- 3/4 cup rolled oats, blended into flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
Caramel
- 15 medjool dates
- 1 cup nondairy milk – I used unsweetened almond milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- To make the brownie batter, blend the chickpeas and 1 cup nondairy milk until smooth.
- In a large bowl, combine the chickpea almond milk mixture with the oat flour and cocoa powder.
- Make the date paste and add to the batter, and stir until all the ingredients are thoroughly combined. Pour the batter into a nonstick or parchment-lined square pan.
- To make the caramel, blend the dates, almond milk, and vanilla extract until smooth and creamy.
- Measure out 1/2 cup of the date caramel and swirl on top of the brownie batter in the pan, reserving the rest for extra if desired when serving.
- Bake the brownies for 40 minutes.
- Let the brownies cool in the pan for at least 1 hour before cutting into squares.
I was mesmerized mostly by those gooey swirls at first, but once you show off those side shots and especially that bite shot, whoa–oh so FUDGY!!! Who would’ve thought 5 years ago beans + dates would make for the fudgiest brownies ever?? It’s an amazing little chocolatey fact though 🙂 And its so funny that you bring up banana flour because I literally just yesterday got some and started experimenting with it! I am liking it so far, a little tricky to figure out but surprisingly bind-y. And of course I love that it adds one more form of fruit to the mix. Yep, some days just call for brownies and these are the perfect ones 🙂
You’re so right, these are like dangerously fudgy! The texture was probably my favorite part, but those caramel swirls are pretty irresistible. SO happy you’re experimenting with banana flour! You’re right it is a little strange at first, but I’ve grown to love it so much. Of course I cannot wait to see what masterpiece you come up with using it!
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Is 1 C one cup?
Hi, Rosie – yes!
Hi Sara, could I use an alternative flour?? Potentially just regular?
Hi, Alex! I have not tried this recipe with any other flour, but because it’s such a small amount and just used for binding, I would think that should work fine! Let me know how it goes if you try it out.
What can I do instead of chickpeas? My friend can’t eat legumes or beans. Thanks
Hi, I don’t have a specific recommendation because I’ve never used tried but chickpeas, so I’m not sure of a substitute that would work the same way since it’s a pretty big component of this recipe!