Can you make brownies without butter? Yes, you can! This dairy-free brownie recipe uses dairy-free margarine 'butter' to make perfectly shiny, fudgy brownies.
There's always a risk when you take the dairy out a recipe that traditionally contains a lot of butter that is will loose something of it's depth of flavour.
So, when I started testing these dairy free brownies, I very much had in mind they needed to taste every bit as good as their buttery counterparts - and they do!
The trick is to use a really good dairy free 'butter'. So, not a margarine with a fat content of, say, 50%, but a dairy free 'block' which has a fat content of around 80%.
This makes it very similar to dairy butter's 82% fat, and so the recipe works out just as it should.
My favourite at the time of writing is Flora B+tter, which is 79% fat. I've also tested Stork Baking Block, which has a fat content of 75% and that works pretty well too.
To make your dairy free brownies, you'll start by melting your dairy free 'butter' with dairy free dark chocolate.
You might not need to shop in the 'free from' aisle for your dairy free dark chocolate as many darker bars are naturally dairy free - just be sure to check the label carefully.
Once your chocolate and 'butter' are melted together, you'll whisk in sugar, eggs, vanilla and flour, one after the other to give a glossy brownie batter.
To further enrich your brownies, you'll fold in a general helping of dark chocolate chips. Again, make sure they're dairy free.
With your batter made, you'll pour it into a lined tin and bake! Once baked and cooled, I then recommend popping in the fridge overnight to set so that you get really neat slices of perfectly fudgy dairy free brownies.
Read on for the full recipe with detailed instructions and a helpful photograph for every step. And if you have any questions, just leave me a comment. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 400 g (14 oz) dark chocolate 70% (bittersweet) roughly chopped, check it contains no dairy
- 280 g (2½ sticks) dairy free butter aim for around 80% fat content
- 450 g (2¾ cups) white caster sugar (superfine sugar)
- 6 medium free range eggs room temp, beaten
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 170 g (1¼ cups) plain white flour (all purpose flour)
- 300 g (1½ cups) dark chocolate chips (bittersweet) check they contain no dairy
To top
- 200 g (1 cup) dark chocolate chips (bittersweet) check they contain no dairy
Equipment
- Rectangle 20x28cm (8"x11") nonstick cake tin
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan).
Grease and line a 20cm x 28cm (8 inch x 11 inch) non-stick shallow rectangular cake tin.
Put the dairy free butter and chopped dark chocolate in a large, heatproof bowl.
Gently melt until smooth. You can use the microwave to do this, using 30 second bursts and stirring after each burst. Alternatively, you can put an inch of water in a pan, place the bowl on top (so that the water isn't touching the bowl) and bring to the boil so that the steam gently melts the chocolate, stirring as you go.
Add the sugar and whisk in. The mixture will thicken - graininess at this stage is fine.
If the mixture is hot, wait until it's just slightly warm before adding the beaten egg and vanilla.
Whisk together until smooth.
Sift the flour into the bowl.
Gently fold through until evenly combined.
Add the chocolate chips.
Fold in.
Fill the lined tin with the brownie batter and level off.
Bake for 35-40 minutes until set all the way across. A skewer pushed into the centre should reveal sticky crumbs.
Place on a wire rack and, once cooled completely, transfer to the refrigerator to chill overnight.
Once you've given my recipe a go, I'd love you to come back and leave a comment letting me know how yours turned out.
I'd love to see your videos and pics, too! Just tag me on social media. I'm @emilylearycooks on Twitter and TikTok or @amummytoo on Instagram.
Print this dairy free brownie recipe
Dairy Free Brownie Recipe
Ingredients
- 400 g (14 oz) dark chocolate 70% (bittersweet) roughly chopped, check it contains no dairy
- 280 g (2½ sticks) dairy free butter aim for around 80% fat content
- 450 g (2¾ cups) white caster sugar (superfine sugar)
- 6 medium free range eggs room temp, beaten
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 170 g (1¼ cups) plain white flour (all purpose flour)
- 300 g (1½ cups) dark chocolate chips (bittersweet) check they contain no dairy
To top
- 200 g (1 cup) dark chocolate chips (bittersweet) check they contain no dairy
Equipment
- Rectangle 20x28cm (8"x11") nonstick cake tin
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F (160C/320F fan).
- Grease and line a 20cm x 28cm (8 inch x 11 inch) non-stick shallow rectangular cake tin.
- Put the dairy free butter and chopped dark chocolate in a large, heatproof bowl. Gently melt until smooth. You can use the microwave to do this, using 30 second bursts and stirring after each burst. Alternatively, you can put an inch of water in a pan, place the bowl on top (so that the water isn't touching the bowl) and bring to the boil so that the steam gently melts the chocolate, stirring as you go.
- Whisk the sugar in. The mixture will thicken - graininess at this stage is fine.
- If the mixture is hot, wait until it's just slightly warm before adding the beaten egg and vanilla. Whisk together until smooth.
- Sift the flour into the bowl. Gently fold through until evenly combined.
- Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Fill the lined tin with the brownie batter and level off.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes until set all the way across. A skewer pushed into the centre should reveal sticky crumbs.
- Place on a wire rack and once cooled completely, transfer to the refrigerator to chill overnight.
Nutrition
More dairy free recipes to try
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