Oat flour brownies are so rich and fudgy, no one will believe they are flourless and gluten-free. These easy peasy oat brownies are whipped up in only five minutes using a blender to combine oatmeal, peanut butter, and lots of gooey chocolate. No special ingredients or baking experience required!
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email below & we'll send it straight to your inbox. Plus you’ll get affordable and easy gluten-free recipes delivered each week!
Magical Oat Brownies, No Flour, Only Oatmeal!
You can still enjoy some fudgy homemade brownies, ditching the flour and using only oat flour. These naturally gluten-free brownies are made by whizzing up some gluten-free oats into homemade oat flour, so no special or pricy ingredients are required.
After tasting the success and ease of using oatmeal to make other gluten-free treats, like fluffy flourless oat bread and a homemade oat cake with gooey frosting that rivals anything gramma made, I was sold. It starts with blending up oatmeal to make the flour, dump in the remaining ingredients, pour and bake.
With a 5-minute, one bowl prep, you can’t beat the ease of making oat brownies from scratch. Once you bit into these rich chocolate goodness, you won’t they are made with no flour and only oatmeal!
Free Guide! 5 easy tips for baking like a gluten-free pro!
Simple hacks for fail-proof gluten-free dishes every time!
Ingredient Tid Bits
Since only 100% oats are needed, I typically have all the ingredients on hand to make these whenever the fancy strikes. Whether you start with homemade oat flour or use your favorite store-bought brand, the rest of ingredients are simple and typically on hand.
- Oats – For gluten free brownies, be sure to use certified gluten free oatmeal. If you have oat flour, swap it out for the same amount of rolled oats called for.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – I used regular baking cocoa, however you could swap it out with dutch-processed cocoa powder for a slightly deeper chocolate taste.
- Peanut Butter – The peanut butter taste is almost undetectable, but it helps make the brownies ultra fudgy. Other nut butters may be substituted or use sunflower butter for a nut-free recipe
- Butter – You may use melted butter, coconut oil, or vegetable oil for dairy-free brownies. If using coconut oil, it will have a slight coconut flavoring.
- Chocolate Chips – For a dairy-free using non-dairy baking chips, such as Enjoy Life, or omit. For you chocolate lovers, you may want to take a gander at this fudgy chocolate oat flour cake…just sayin’.😎
Let’s Make This Together!
(Below shows step-by-step photos and modified instructions. For the complete recipe, along with ingredient amounts, scroll down to the recipe card.)
Whiz up the oat flour
Begin by blending the oatmeal into a fine powder using a high-powered blender. If you do not have a blender you can also use purchased oat flour and place it in a bowl.
Add in the rest and blend – see so easy!
Next, add the remaining ingredients to the blender, except the chocolate chips. Blend again into a thick batter. If making by hand, add ingredients and use a mixer or stir to combine. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Spread and bake
Spread the batter into a greased or parchment-lined pan. Sprinkle on remaining chocolate chips (because who doesn’t love more chocolate?!) and bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing, or otherwise the brownies will break apart while enjoying!
Storing and Freezing Tips
These brownies are best enjoyed within 1-2 days of making them. Store at room temp, tightly covered with foil. To store longer wrap the brownies securely and freeze up to 3 months in an airtight container.
Save this recipe to your pinterest board!
Let’s be friends on Pinterest! I’m always sharing great recipes!
Did you make this recipe? I love hearing from you! Leave a star rating and comment below the recipe card. It helps others when searching for recipes and I appreciate feedback from our community. You will always hear back from me! -Melissa
Fudgiest Oat Flour Brownies (Extra Easy)
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (78 g) oat flour , same as ¾ cup rolled oats blended into oat flour
- ½ cup (50 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, melted, or coconut oil for dairy-free
- ½ cup (129 g) creamy peanut butter
- ¼ cup (85 g) honey
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (170 g) semisweet chocolate chips, divided
Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease a 8X8" baking pan using non-stick cooking spray or line with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Make the oat flour by placing ¾ cups rolled oats in a high-powered blender or a food processor. Blend the oats until it turns into a fine, powdery flour, about 30 seconds – 1 minute.¾ cup oat flour
- If using a blender to mix together, add the cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt to the oat flour. Process to combine. If mixing by hand, transfer the oat flour to a bowl and add remaining dry ingredients.½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, ½ cup granulated sugar, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon salt
- Add the melted and cooled butter or oil, peanut butter, honey, eggs, water, and vanilla to the blender or bowl. Process or stir to combine well, scraping down the blender halfway through. The batter will be thick. Stir in ¾ cup chocolate chips.½ cup unsalted butter, melted, ½ cup creamy peanut butter, ¼ cup honey, 2 large eggs, 2 tablespoons water, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- Spread into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup chocolate chips on top. Bake for 20-25minutes, or until the edges are puffed and set, and a toothpick is slightly moist when inserted in the middle. It's better to slighlty underbake. Cool for 30 minutes before slicing.
Notes
Updated recipe (02/2024)
I slightly changed the recipe to include a larger ratio of wet to dry ingredients to help with binding and moistness. Since the brownies are made with oat flour, they will naturally be a little more “cakey” than traditional brownies. Also, oat flour recipes do have a tendency to break apart a little more because there’s no gluten or anything to replicate that, like xanthan gum. If desired, you could add 1/2 tsp xanthan gum to the dry ingredients.Using Oat Flour / Making Without A Blender
Rather than grinding the oats to make flour, you may use ready made oat flour. Replace the oatmeal with the same amount, 3/4 cup oat flour. Mix the dry ingredients together then add in the remaining ingredients. Combine with a spoon or use an electric mixer. Bake as recipe directs.This post contains affiliate links. My opinions are always my own. If you purchase a product through an affiliate link, I make a small commission – at no cost to you. Read full disclosure policy here.
In looking around for a healthier brownie recipe, I stumbled across this one. I substituted truvia brown “sugar” for the white sugar (1:1), and canned pumpkin for the peanut butter (1:1). I was very surprised with how much I enjoyed them. Being a diabetic, it is really difficult to find sweet things that won’t completely set off my glucose monitor alarms, but these don’t seem to raise my blood sugar much. While they are not the traditional brownie consistency, they are like a delicious cake. I’ve made them a feeling times now and they turn out delicious every time
This is so good to hear! Thank you for sharing, Dom!
Best,
Melissa
Thank you for writing the ingredients again below each step; this was super convenient not to have to scroll up the ingredients list again, and very helpful to ensure no ingredient is accidentally left out!
You bet, Danielle! I’m glad you found the listed ingredients feature helpful. Thanks for letting me know!
Best,
Melissa
Going to try the recipe for the first time – appreciate the use of ‘normal’, easy to use ingredients. I have a hard road also being a type-1 diabetic for 30 years. I use the nutritional information, but as far as I can find the carb count, etc., does not have a serving size to which it refers? This isn’t really super necessary with sort of self-contained units like a muffin, but with bars and loaves of bread it is. Thanks!
Thank you! I like the “normal” ingredients too. Groceries are too much as it is! The brownies serve 16 so if they are cut in 16 pieces, the carb count is 25. You can adjust the sugar if that helps.
Best,
Melissa
I’ve recently started a gluten free diet and this was a lifesaver I’ve tried this twice and they came out delicious.. in my opinion. The second try I used Bob Red Mill gluten free 1 to 1 flour and used olive oil instead of butter and it came out a little dryer, I also used stevia sugar so it wasn’t as sweet but still just as good.
Thank you Nataly. Glad you have been enjoying the recipe! Just to be clear, you used this recipe and subbed in GF all purpose flour? I didn’t know that would work with this one, but good to know.
Best,
Melissa
Was hoping for a thick and fudgy brownie but they are really crumbly and airy 🙁 I used coconut oil. Not sure if that’s the reason. Better luck next time!
Hi Kennedy,
I’m sorry to hear this! What a bummer. I don’t think it was the oil, I think perhaps it was too much oat flour. Did you make your own out of old fashioned oats or use premade oat flour. I will also say, that since these are made with oat flour, they aren’t going to be identical to traditional brownies, they will be cakier. Can you have almond flour? I would give the almond flour brownies recipe a try. That might be more of what you are looking for.
Best,
Melissa
The bownies were very crumbly after cooling them for at least an hour. I loved the peanut butter ingredient. I used monk fruit sweetner instead of white sugar.
Hi Susan,
I’m sorry to hear that 🙁 I haven’t tested the recipe with monk fruit sweetener. Does it have the same bulk as sugar? That could have something to do with it?
Best,
Melissa
I don’t understand how you can put 1/2 cup of sugar and a full stick of butter in and calls it 233 calories
That is if you divide the pan in 16 servings. Hope this helps!
Best,
Melissa
These tasted fine. The peanut butter flavor is very subtle. I recommend adding more peanut butter, both for flavor and texture. These were super crumbly, but not dry. The recipe would have also benefitted from some xanthan gum. At first, they seem dry, but then you realize they aren’t dry at all, just super crumbly. So, that is my recommendation…more peanut butter and some xanthan gum to help with the texture and flavor.
I want to clarify, I made these brownies exactly as directed in the recipe. But were I to make them again, this is how I would change it.
Hi Gray,
Thanks for sharing. Oat flour does not contain any binder or gluten, like all purpose flour, so they will have a different texture and break apart more. If you would like the bind the brownies more, adding a little xanthan gum, like a 1/2 tsp, would probably help. Thanks for taking the time to write!
Best,
Melissa
This batter was really thick. I wish I had read the reviews and used less sugar and cocoa powder. I prefer using banana and less sugar. Using this much sugar negates using oat flour.
Also instructions are confusing. Do I mix the wet I ingredients inside the vitamin or in a bowl? When I mixed it in the vitamix the batter didn’t mix too well with such a thick batter.
The brownie tasted pretty good but really crumbly and too thick..
Hi Sarah,
Sorry you had a bad experience. The batter should be very thick. I denote this in the recipe instructions and there is a picture of batter in the recipe post. Everything is mixed together in the blender, unless you are using premade oat flour, then you just mix it all in a bowl. This is also talked about in the recipe notes. Reducing the sugar wouldn’t be a problem, either. Thanks for taking the time to write and I hope you try the recipe again making personal adjustments!
Best,
Melissa
I didn’t like it, half recipe ended up in the bin, too sweet and too much of that feeling of chocking of peanut butter, for the high content of calories you’re better off eating a regular one or a boxed gluten free version if needed.
Sorry to hear that, Ramon. I know that’s frustrating and I always hate to hear when a recipe didn’t work out. From what you are saying about the texture it sounds like perhaps the ratio of oat flour to other ingredients were off. I’ve never found it to have that consistency. Let me know if I can help troubleshoot in any way.
Best,
Melissa
Can I sub cashew butter I don’t like peanut butter.
Hi Gail, yes, I don’t think that would be problem!
Best,
Melissa
Very good. Instead of sugar I used Erythritol and also added 2 heaping tablespoons of unsweetened applesauce and Mrs. Butterworths sugar free pancake syrup. Be careful not to over cook.
Thank you for sharing your sugarfree tips, Lisa!
Best,
Melissa
Yum! I made these yesterday with just a 1/2 cup cocoa and 1/2 cup sugar and they still turned out fantastic! Thank you!!
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Best,
Melissa
This recipe comes out amazingly! It’s so delicious. I use date syrup instead for sugar. It’s a great substitute. I also cook it 5 mins less than the recipe says to so that it comes out more gooey.
To cut down on the sugar, including that in Maple syrup, can you use pureed banana for some sweetness?
Yes, Ellen, I don’t think that would be a problem at all! The baking time might be a little longer, though.
Best,
Melissa
Can I use Sunflower butter instead of peanut butter and sugar substitute?
Hello,
Definitely yes to the sunflower butter, but I have not tried a sugar substitute. If it works in other brownie recipes, I don’t see why not!
Best,
Melissa
Sounds delicious and healthy. Someone in my family has an egg allergy. Is there a substitute for eggs in this recipe? I would love to try the recipe.
I haven’t tried it with an egg substitute, but I think flax eggs would work fine in this (for 2 eggs – 2 tbsp. ground flaxseed mixed with 6 tbsp. water). Let me know how it turns out!
Best,
Melissa
Super delicious! I baked for 20 minutes and will try 18 minutes next time because the edges got a little dry and crumbly. But I will definitely make again!!
Thank you, Korina! I’m glad you enjoyed them!
Best,
Melissa
I want to add vegan chocolate protein powder, can I do that and how many scoops should I add? Thank you!
Hi Casey, I haven’t experimented with this, but my educated guess would be you would reduce the amount of oat flour by how much protein powder you added. So if you add 3 tablespoons, remove 3 tablespoons oat flour from the recipe. Hope this helps!
Best,
Melissa