Chewy, fudgy and the best of two classic desserts, these gluten-free vegan chocolate chip cookie brownies, also lovingly known as brookies, will make your dessert indecision a thing of the past. This allergy-friendly treat is free of: gluten, dairy, egg, soy, peanut & tree nuts. It’s top-8-free too!
Growing up my mom baked a lot. I have many fond memories of sitting in the tall chairs that faced the stove and talking with her while watching her make something delicious. Because of that, I’ve always had a huge sweet spot for baked goods.
My husband on the other hand is a candy man. He can eat handfuls and handfuls of candy.
Unfortunately, now he’s rubbed off on me and I can pretty much down either something homemade or something from the gas station. It’s bad! There is basically only a handful of sugary things I don’t enjoy anymore. Someone send help.
So, don’t mind me if I want a super sweet, doubly delicious dessert combining not just brownies but chocolate chip cookies too. Because, YOLO!
The brownies are perfectly chewy and the buttery (don’t worry though–dairy free!) chocolate chip cookies on top just make for a divine dessert.
I liked to marble these a bit, by pressing the dough flat in my hands and laying it on top of the brownie. You could also simply put a smooth layer on top, but I just think it’s so pretty with little rivers of brownies poking out on top. Because I chose to marble it instead of layer it, I had probably 1/4 of a cup of chocolate chip cookie dough left. My kids gladly obliged eating it, and man was it good all on its own! One of the few perks of eating egg free is no guilt cookie dough devouring.
We’ve been having a lot of leftovers lately since we’re moving next week and trying to clean out our fridge and pantry (EEK! I can’t wait…and I also can, because moving is going to be the death of me!), so I am so grateful I made these so that I can have some bribery to talk my kids into eating that leftover chili…AGAIN. “But if you eat a good dinner, you can have a brookie!”
Honestly, my kids and I have inhaled these gluten free vegan brookies so fast, and because my husband has been working so much (and taking two classes) that I don’t even think the poor guy has had any. Good thing I can just give him some of the leftover Starburst jelly beans and he’ll be satisfied (mostly because he won’t know what he’s missing out on!).
So, if you need an impressive dessert, these gluten-free vegan brookies are the dessert to bring to a party…and I promise you no one will know they’re so allergy-friendly. The texture is spot on with crisp edges and a fudgy center–just like the kind my mom used to make.
PS–did you notice the bit of grease on the paper bag? That’s when you know it’s good! BAM! A little grease never hurt nobody, and before you go feeling all guilty about it…it’s coconut oil for Pete’s sake.
And lest you think it might be difficult to make two batters, they both are super simple. I made the brownie one first, and then didn’t even rinse out my kitchenaid and made the chocolate chip cookie dough in the same mixing bowl. And, since the brownies have to bake for 10 minutes first, you can make the cookie dough while the brownies are cooking, so you’d be standing around waiting for them to cook anyways! It’s really no additional time! And, you’ll already have out a majority of the ingredients anyways. So…have I convinced you yet to make these top-8-free brookies yet?? Huh? Huh?
Did I mention it’s almost my birthday? I think this could almost count instead of my birthday cake, because this is going to be really hard to top!
I hope you and your food allergic family can also enjoy these gluten-free vegan brookies!
If you need some other variations: If you need a paleo version, check out these paleo brookies from Perchance to Cook. If you can have dairy, check out these Dulce De Leche Brownies by my friend Amanda at Eat At our Table. And if you can have eggs and almond flour, check out these Protein Brownies by my friend Texanerin.
Gluten-free Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies (AKA Brookies)
Chewy, fudgy and the best of two classic desserts, these gluten-free vegan chocolate chip cookie brownies, also lovingly known as brookies, will make your dessert indecision a thing of the past. This allergy-friendly treat is free of: gluten, dairy, egg, soy, peanut & tree nuts. It's top-8-free too!
Ingredients
BROWNIE LAYER:
- 3/4 cup gluten free flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your gluten-free flour already has this in its blend)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup coconut oil
- 2 flax eggs (2 Tablespoons of ground flax + 5 Tablespoons water)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE LAYER:
- 1 stick vegan butter (1/2 cup)
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar, packed
- 1 Ener-G egg (1 and 1/2 tsp Ener-G + 2 Tablespoons water)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 and 1/8 cup gluten-free flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup vegan/dairy-free chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a mixing bowl combine the dry ingredients for the brownies: gluten-free flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, xanthan and salt.
- Next, add the melted coconut oil, the flax eggs and the vanilla. Stir to combine. The dough will be thick, be sure you mix well.
- Smooth batter evenly with greased hands into a greased 9x9 baking dish.
- Bake for 10 minutes (or more, depending on how gooey you like them.)
- While the brownies are baking, make your chocolate chip cookie dough layer.
- In the same mixing bowl (the brownie batter should have come out cleanly, if not, they will mix together anyways,) mix the vegan butter and the sugars. Cream until they're fully mixed.
- Next, add the rest of the wet ingredients: Ener-G egg and vanilla.
- Add in the baking soda, xanthan and salt and mix well.
- Next add in your gluten free flour and combine.
- Finish by stirring in your chocolate chips.
- After the brownies have cooked, pull them out and layer the cookie batter on top. I did this by grabbing about a Tablespoon's worth at a time, and pressing it in between my hands to flatten it and then layering it on top of the brownie mixture. Be careful as the brownies are hot! You can either marble it like I did, so you have some brownie showing through, or use all of the dough and make a thicker layer. My kids were happy to eat about the 1/4 cup of leftover cookie batter I had.
- Bake for the final ten minutes.Or until the top is golden brown and the edges are set--may vary depending on ovens.
- This is the hard part, but allow the brookies to cool completely before cutting and enjoying. Note that it will puff up a bit while cooking and will settle a bit while it cools.
- Keep covered room temperature for 1-2 days--if they can last that long!
Notes
Brownie layer adapted from my The Best Gluten-free Vegan Allergy-friendly Brownies.
Cookie layer adapted from Pinch of Yum.
DON’T FORGET TO PIN THIS, SO YOU DON’T LOSE IT! ALSO, BE SURE TO CHECK OUT MY OTHER ALLERGY-FRIENDLY PINTEREST BOARDS!
If you’re looking for more allergy-friendly brownies and cookies…look no further:
Triple Layer SunButter Brownies (Top 8 Free!)
Brownie Sundae Cups (Top 8 Free!)
Black and White Cookies (Top 8 Free!)
Allergy-friendly Homemade Oreos (Top 8 Free!)
Hi! I’m Megan, a mom to four kids, two with multiple food allergies & one with EOE. I’m a published cookbook author that constantly tweaks recipes to make them allergy friendly–it’s an addiction. I share every recipe & tip with the hope that they help you as you manage your food allergies & dietary restrictions. You can still be awesome, even with food allergies!
Sarah
Hi! This recipe looks so good and I want to make if for my Mom who has celiac disease. Often times I see xanthum gum in recipes that use GF flour mixes that don’t already have xanthum gum included in the mix. Does this recipe need “extra” xanthum gum, or can it be eliminated if your mix already has it in it?
Thank you for all your hard work with these recipes, I have tried a few due to different family members having different allergies when we have large get togethers. They always turn out great!
Megan Lavin
Sarah, The reason this recipe says xnathan gum is because the flour that I link to does not already include xanthan in the mix. If the brand of flour you use has xanthan already included in it, you can omit this. It does not need extra xanthan (though I doubt it would hurt it).
Thanks so much for the kind words. That’s so nice of you to be so inclusive for various family members. Happy baking. I hope your Mom enjoys it.
Leslie
I made these for a friend with tons of allergies and they’re amazing!!!!
Megan Lavin
What a great friend you are!
Mandy
These are so good! I just discovered I have slight allergies to multiple foods and I love sweets. This was the first homemade recipe I made that did not have any of my allergens and it impressed me and made me realize I can do this! I can avoid these things. The cookie dough was surprisingly good to eat which is my ultimate favorite guilty pleasure. Thank you for this recipe! Highly recommend and really easy. They turned out perfect.
Megan Lavin
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed these. It’s a whole new world when you figure out how to bake around your food allergies and hope you can find other recipes on my site that will work for you!
Amanda Kasserman
Can you freeze these?
Megan Lavin
We always eat them right away, so I’ve never had a chance to try. I don’t know why they wouldn’t. If you try it, please report back 🙂
Rachel
I made these this week and my kids loved them! I actually started tearing up after the first bite because I was so happy that my son could enjoy it also. I did have to change a few ingredients because of our allergies. We can have all purpose flour in our house so I used that. We can not have coconut so I replaced the coconut oil with corn oil. We do not currently have a safe butter replacement (Almond, Cashew, Coconut, Milk, Olive, Soy + allergies), so I used lard instead. It was so good! Thank you
Megan Lavin
I always appreciate when people tell me other substitutions they’ve tried and that work, in case others have the same allergies. Thank you for taking the time to do so. I’m so happy you and your kids could enjoy them together. That’s the best.
Lisa
These look so good! Do you think a one-to-one sub of real eggs for the flax eggs would work?
Megan Lavin
Absolutely! You can sub back in eggs into any of my recipes! Enjoy!
Veronnica H
Was wondering if there is a replacement for the coconut oil? Coconut allergy over here, unfortunately.
Megan Lavin
You could try canola oil, though I haven’t personally tested that.
Lauren
I made these a few weeks ago for a friend’s birthday. They were a HIT! So delicious! I used flax eggs only and it worked out perfectly. Highly recommend this recipe!
Megan Lavin
Hooray! So glad to hear you like them. I so appreciate you coming back and giving me feedback. Please make sure you click the stars to rate the recipe as well. Thank you! 🙂
Zaneh
Is one ener-g egg equivalent to one flax egg?
[email protected]
Hi Zaneh. One Ener-G egg is equivalent to one flax egg, in the sense that they both substitute one egg. However, I feel they both have their strengths and weaknesses. I specifically call for a flax egg here because I find Ener-G to be drying to the brownies and flax eggs help them be gooey and moist.
Amanda
Hi! Looks amazing! For the cookie layer, do you think other egg substitute options would work, or does it have to be Ener-G replacer?
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Hi Amanda! Good question. I’ve only ever used Ener-G egg replacer in this, but I also frequently love flax eggs. If you try another, please comment back so others can learn! Happy baking 🙂