Why you’ll love these dairy free olive oil brownies
A few weeks ago, I asked one of my dairy free recipe groups on Facebook what sort of recipe they’d like to see. One of the first comments was brownies, and I was surprised I hadn’t thought of it before. I mean, who doesn’t love a good brownie?
I found this recipe for old fashioned brownies on Pinterest, and I thought it would be a great starting point for my dairy free brownies. It used melted butter, which is easily substituted with oil, and cocoa powder rather than melted chocolate.
The only other change I made was to double the vanilla extract. It’s a trick I learned after my niece accidentally used tablespoons instead of teaspoons in her chocolate chip cookies, and they turned out amazing.
And, these brownies were no different. They turned out better than any brownie I’ve ever had in my whole life. Try them for yourself and let me know what you think.
More dairy free desserts: red velvet brownies / dairy free tiramisu / dairy free key lime pie / peanut butter and jelly cake
Ingredient notes:
- Olive oil – You can use any kind of oil in this recipe, but I love the flavor the olive oil adds to the brownies. Use what you have and if you don’t care for the flavor the olive adds, use a light olive oil which has a less pronounced flavor.
- Chocolate chips – Use the best dairy free chocolate chips you can find. I found a local brand that makes dairy free ones, but Enjoy Life makes allergy friendly chocolate chunks that would work great.
- Cocoa powder – This recipe calls for regular cocoa powder, but I have used the darker, Dutch-process cocoa powder with this recipe and it works just fine. It will create a darker, richer chocolate flavor though.
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions listed are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
Melissa’s tips & tricks
- Line your baking dish with parchment paper. Just fold the corners. It doesn’t have to be perfect because the batter will fill it out, but this makes taking the brownies out of the pan much easier.
- Take them out of the oven before you think you should. If you’re toothpick comes out with a tiny bit of batter on it, that’s okay. They’ll be nice and fudge-like.
Frequently asked questions
Normally, brownies don’t call for milk, but if you find a recipe that does, dairy free milk, or even water or cold coffee will be a great substitute.
Yes. If a recipe calls for melted butter, you can easily substitute oil in its place. For this recipe, I used olive oil, but any liquid oil, such as vegetable oil or melted coconut oil, would work.
No. Cocoa powdered doesn’t contain dairy. The ingredients in cocoa powder should be just cocoa powder and, in some cases, a alkalizing agent. If there is milk listed in the ingredients, it’s probably hot cocoa mix.
More dairy free chocolate recipes: microwave fudge / hot fudge sauce / dairy free hot chocolate / No bake chocolate peanut butter pretzel bites
Olive Oil Brownies
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
- 2/3 cup olive oil, divided
- 1/2 cup boiling water
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips*
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350˚F and line a 9×13 baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
- Whisk 1/3 cup olive oil and boiling water into cocoa powder mixture until smooth.
- Add sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and remaining 1/3 cup olive oil. Whisk until smooth.
- Slowly whisk in flour until smooth.
- Fold in chocolate chips with a rubber spatula.
- Pour batter into pan and top with extra chocolate chips (if desired). Bake for 35-40 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 30 minutes before slicing.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
Going on my MUST TRY ASAP list! Brownies are my weakness!
Oh my gosh. I hadn’t had a brownie for years, but I think they might be weakness now, too! I hope you like them!
Too dry and flakey. Olive oil does not work wel with this recipe.
Olive oil makes them very dry. Don’t recommend this recipe.
They are good but they are dry 😭😭
Weird, mine turned out wonderful. Maybe bake them for less time next time? Not sure this will help but just a suggestion
I cooked my brownie in a smaller pan 7″ x 10 1/2″ ( 18 cm x 27 cm ) and it turned out perfect.
Also try putting extra choco chips on top after baking it to melt for a great topping.
Excellent Brownie Recipe. I also baked this in a smaller pan and in addition to the cocoa, I added 2 teaspoons of Instant Coffee to enhance the chocolate flavor.
Oh great idea! I will have to give it a try sometime! I’m glad you liked the brownies 🙂
This is my first time attempting dairy-free brownies and to be honest, these are so good that no one will miss the butter-filled version! I did make a couple of alterations based on the reviews and my own experiences in the kitchen.
1. Smaller pan – I used 10 X 7ish (baked for 35 minutes on 350*). So moist!
2. Added espresso powder – a must when making chocolate cake or brownies in my house
3. Increased the vanilla to 1 TBSP
Thanks for the recipe! It’s a keeper!
Thanks for sharing! I love that you added extra vanilla. It’s one of my favorite ways to amp up the flavor, but I try not to suggest it in my recipes because it can be so expensive. I’m glad you liked these!
Incredibly fudgy and decadent. I used dark chocolate and just cut it up. Also used smaller pan as that’s all I had. Really nice brownie recipe.
Thank you! I’m so glad you liked them!
This is SO GOOD.
Like another reviewer, I didn’t have chocolate chips so I chopped up a couple dairy-free dark chocolate bars. It ended up they didn’t hold their shape like chocolate chips, but they created little areas of melty deliciousness.
A couple other reviewers mentioned using espresso powder. This sounded like a great idea but I didn’t have any, I I substituted the 1/2 of boiling water with hot, dark decaf coffee. Also increased the vanilla to one tablespoon.
Seriously, you wouldn’t know these are dairy free — so fudgy and flavorful — and they’re actually better than just about any dairy-full brownies I’ve made. (Rocky Road was my family’s go-to in my dairy-full days…your recipe could probably easily be modified to include the nuts and marshmallows!)
Thanks so much for the recipe!
Oh my goodness. I’m totally making rocky road brownies ASAP! That sounds so good. I am really glad to hear that you liked the brownies, and I love the coffee add-in!
Not bad. I didn’t have semisweet dairy free chocolate chips, so I used dark chocolate instead. I cooked them in smaller pans, and they turned out well. The corner pieces are a bit dry, but it’s very rich and fudgelike towards the middle. It’s definitely a keeper.