Freshly inspired by these delicious Brookies I decided to make another brownie treat. I combined two of my favorite things: chocolate + hazelnut butter and ended up with the most delicious hazelnut brownies. Hazelnut butter does wonders in baked goods in terms of flavor and these brownies turned out moist, smooth, and velvety, deeply flavorful and “buttery”. With some almond milk or a cup of coffee — absolutely more-ish...
What these gluten-free vegan hazelnut brownies are not is photogenic! :D These are definitely a homemade messy kind of a treat, but those are also often the best kinds of treats anyhow, right? ;)
They’re hard to cut gracefully and so I highly recommend eating them with your hands and not with a fork. I’m usually a fork in hand for dessert kind of person, but biting into one of these brownies is dreamy so I didn’t mind… For easier cutting let them sit out a little on the counter after the frosting has set so that the frosting is softer.
A few quick tips for making these hazelnut brownies
- I used hazelnut butter here because of the beautiful flavor and smoothness, but I’m fairly certain these will work great with other nut or seed butters (especially almond, pecan, or peanut butter), though of course keep in mind that with each one the flavor and sweetness levels will be quite different.
- Also, feel free to improvise with toppings (or skip if you prefer). I used a mix of chopped hazelnuts, pistachios, and dried raspberries I had on hand and loved the flavors and light crunch and little bursts of color that they added to these brownies.
- If you prefer to make your own chocolate for the frosting, feel free to use some of this vegan “magic shell” recipe instead of the melted dark chocolate.
Last but not least, if you’re looking for other ideas to use up some of the leftover hazelnut butter, here are a few of my favorite recipes:
Hazelnut Brownies (Vegan, Gluten-Free)
Delicious moist and rich baked hazelnut brownies with a creamy chocolate hazelnut frosting. Gluten-free and vegan.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 16 minutes
- Total Time: 41 minutes
- Yield: 6 brownies
- Category: Bars & Slices
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Dessert
Ingredients
Brownies — Dry Ingredients
- 1 cup almond meal
- ¾ cup coconut sugar
- ½ cup white rice flour
- ¼ cup raw cacao powder*
- 1 tsp baking powder (gluten-free)
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
Brownies — Wet Ingredients
- ½ cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- ¼ cup natural creamy hazelnut butter**
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Chocolate Hazelnut Frosting
- 7 tbsp hazelnut butter
- 5 tbsp melted vegan dark chocolate
Toppings
- a small handful each: chopped pistachios, chopped hazelnuts, chopped dried raspberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking dish that’s roughly 7″ x 4.5″ (or a dish of a similar size) with parchment paper along the base and edges and set aside.
- Stir all dry ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl. Add wet ingredients and mix thoroughly to combine everything with a wooden spoon. Transfer the brownie mixture into the prepared baking dish and flatten the top with the back of a spoon.
- Bake in pre-heated oven for approximately 16 minutes until the top feels springy when lightly touched. Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack (don’t remove the brownies from the tray at this stage).***
- Once fully cooled, prepare the chocolate hazelnut frosting by stirring together all frosting ingredients in a small bowl. Spread this mixture over the brownies in the tray (it’ll be quite runny at this stage). Sprinkle with toppings (if using) and place the tray in the fridge for about an hour (or longer) for the chocolate frosting to firm up. Once it seems like it solidified a little you can remove the brownies from the fridge, cut into squares, and enjoy! Store leftovers in the fridge.
Notes
*Or cocoa powder. I just used what I had on hand.
**The hazelnut butter should be very creamy and runny. For best results use a fresh jar of hazelnut butter and stir the contents really thoroughly for the oil and nut butter to become fully incorporated.
***It’s important that the brownies are fully cooled in order for the chocolate frosting (step 4) to firm up (as otherwise it’ll remain runny).
Keywords: Hazelnut Brownies (Vegan, Gluten-Free)
Gemma Edwin says
What can be used in place of white rice flour?
Tanisha says
Please instruct me on how to substitute coconut flour for almond flour as I am allergic to almonds.
Audrey says
Hi Tanisha, this recipe wouldn't work with coconut flour as an easy substitute unfortunately, as that would require experimenting and reworking it completely (as coconut flour requires a very high liquid content in a recipe compared to other flours). You could however just grind down any other nut or seed you're not allergic to (like maybe hazelnuts or sunflower seeds or pecans, etc.) and use them in this recipe in place of the almonds.
If you're trying to avoid all/most nuts, you can find lots of other dessert recipes on my recipes page under the "nut-free" tab: https://www.unconventionalbaker.com/all-recipes/
Nina says
Looks delish and the colors are so beautiful together. Hope to make it soon for those afternoon pick me ups :)
Audrey says
Thanks so much Nina. Enjoy it :)
Carol says
Hi Audrey,
This recipe looks delicious, can't wait to try.
I would like to double the recipe but unsure what size tin to use, any advice on this would be appreciated.
Thought I would try it with hazelnut meal and hazelnut milk instead of almond.
Thanks Carol
Audrey says
Hi Carol, if you double these a standard 8 x 8″ baking tin would do the job. Enjoy! :)