Applesauce Brownies are ultra-fudgy and double chocolate, made without oil, butter, or refined flours—no weird ingredients, just rich, delicious flavor!
Try more baked goods like Flourless Banana Muffins, Healthy Ice Cream, or Healthy Chocolate Cookies!
The Best Applesauce Brownies
Applesauce Brownies are rich, fudgy, and made with simple ingredients—no beans, veggies, or weird stuff. They’ve got a gooey, cake-like texture with a peanut butter-chocolate flavor.
I’m a huge brownie lover, but like most people, sometimes I want a little less of a sugar rush. After trying tons of different “healthy” brownie recipes loaded with beans and random ingredients, I finally decided to get to work and create one that actually tasted good.
After some testing, I truly think I nailed it—these can give regular brownies a run for their money!
Quick Tip
I also created a healthy brownie recipe without peanut butter for those who don’t love peanut butter.
Applesauce Brownie Ingredients
- Creamy peanut butter: Use smooth peanut butter instead of chunky. If using natural peanut butter, stir well to keep it from being oily.
- Honey: Help sweeten the brownies.
- Brown sugar: Not as much as most brownie recipes. Adjust as needed.
- Vanilla extract: Gives a nice flavor.
- Unsweetened applesauce: Grab some that has no added ingredients.
- Egg: Just one large egg needed.
- Oat flour: See below for more details!
- Cocoa powder: Use natural cocoa powder, not Dutch-process.
- Baking soda, baking powder, salt: Make sure they’re fresh for the best results.
- Dark chocolate chips: I love dark chocolate in these but use your favorite.
Quick Tip
Adjusting the brown sugar. Prefer sweeter applesauce brownies? Add more sugar. Okay with less? Use less. They’re great with 1/4 to 1/3 cup packed brown sugar.
Instead of white or whole wheat flour, these applesauce brownies use blended oats as flour. No need to buy oat flour—it takes seconds to make.
How to Make Oat Flour:
- Add old-fashioned or quick oats to a food processor or small blender.
- Blend until the oats look like flour.
- Stir to make sure no big pieces are left.
- Measure after blending, not before.
Applesauce Brownies Tips
- Line the pan with parchment, leaving extra hanging over the sides to easily lift out and cut the brownies.
- Check labels to make sure everything is gluten-free.
- Add some dark chocolate chips on top before baking so there’s chocolate in every bite!
Storage
Store leftover applesauce brownies in an airtight container at room temp for up to 3 days or in the fridge for up to a week.
For longer storage, freeze them in a sealed container or bag for up to 3 months.
More Healthy Baked Goods
- Healthy Zucchini Muffins with Greek yogurt
- Healthy Caramel Sauce with almond butter
- Chocolate Energy Bites with protein powder
- Chewy Granola Bars with mini chocolate chips
- Healthy No-Bake Cookies with coconut
Applesauce Brownies
Equipment
- 8 x 8-inch baking pan see note 1
- Small blender or food processor
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup oat flour old-fashioned oats that have been blended
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1/4 cup brown sugar lightly packed, see note 2
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder not Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips divided, or semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
- Pulse oats in a food processor or small blender until ground into a flour consistency. Measure 1/4 cup after blending.
- In a large bowl, mix peanut butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, egg, and applesauce until smooth. Once smooth, stir in oat flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and 1/2 cup chocolate chips until combined.
- Transfer batter to the lined baking pan, smoothing it evenly. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips and gently press them in. Bake for 20–22 minutes or until lightly puffy. Check doneness by seeing if the batter pulls away from the edges slightly or a toothpick inserted in the center (not in a chip) comes out clean or with moist crumbs or clean.
- Remove and allow to cool in the pan on a cooling rack for about an hour before cutting and serving. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
YUM! These are more like a gooey chocolate cake than brownies, but I am very okay with that. I love that something so decadent can have healthy ingredients in it!
I used whole wheat flour instead of oat, and also added a splash of strong coffee to deepen the chocolate flavor. And I sprinkled some sunflower seeds on top for crunch.
Love them; even better the next day after being refrigerated.
So glad you enjoyed these! 🙂
I’m planning on making these brownies today but just wanted to know how to store them. Can I leave them at room temperature if they are to be eaten later this evening or should I put them in the fridge? Thanks!
They should be just fine at room temperature till your serve them later! I’d cover them with foil or plastic wrap! 🙂
These brownies are incredible! I can’t believe how fudgey and delicious they are while being healthier. I froze half of my batch (to avoid quarantine temptations) then defrosted them a week later and they are just as amazing as before. Recommending this recipe to friends! Ps – for a lighter brownie sundae, heat up the brownie then add some lighter vanilla ice cream. Heaven.
You are awesome Cait! Thanks so much for the tips and for sharing with others! I’m so happy you loved these healthy brownies! 🙂
Brownie making rule #1- Don’t make these on an empty stomach because you will eat a quarter of the pan. I mean seriously these are the BEST brownies. I’ve made “healthy” brownies before and they never quite live up to traditional ones. These do not disappoint! Will definitely make from now on
Hahahaha that is a very good rule to live by. I need to live by it more often!! I’m soooo glad you enjoyed these! Thanks for your comment! 🙂
These brownies are THE. BEST!!!!! I was just wondering if you could make the batter ahead of time and put it in the fridge? I want to make some tomorrow but I would need to make them ahead of time to do so!!
I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW GOOD THESE ARE!!! Literally the best brownies I have ever had!!! The whole batch was gone by the end of the night! Not used to healthier desserts so I used 3 and 1/2 TBSP of brown sugar but they were delicious!!! Definitely will make instead of processed garbage brownies!
Ahh i’m so happy to hear this! I love this dessert for the same reason, I can make a way yummy treat for my family without worrying about all the processed stuff in regular brownies/treats. So glad you enjoyed these! 🙂
Can you use unsweetened cocoa powder? These look delicious!
Yes!:)
Oh my gosh I’m dying! These are SO GOOD!!!!! Just had my first piece & I have a feeling there will be many many more. My oven is weird so I had these in for 25 mins & they are absolutely perfect. SO fudgy. You nailed this one!!
Wow!! I have been on the hunt for a healthier FUDGY brownie all week. I’ve been making numerous batches a week and none of them were the fudgy consistency I wanted. They were cakey. THESE BROWNIES WERE FUDGY AND DELICIOUS. I was very skeptical after the many recipes I tried, but these were the best. I could’ve ground my oats a bit better, but they were still really really good. These are going to be my go-to brownie recipe! Thank you so much!
YAY!! Love hearing that! I’m so glad these were a hit 🙂 Thanks for the comment Jade!
Hi could you tell me how I could store these brownies to consume later? Do they need to be refrigerated or stored at room temperature? Thanks