Mint Chocolate Brownie Cookies featuring a fudgy grain-free batter and fluffy vegan buttercream frosting for a decadent but healthy dessert!
SPONSORED BY NATURAL DELIGHTS
Do you ever find yourself semi-resentful at just how much space your muffin pan has the audacity to claim in your baking pan drawer for a piece of equipment that only makes one thing? One very magical thing no less, but still. Refusing to stack neatly with the others? Refusing to even stack neatly with its own miniature version? A bit self-important I think. But friends, I have found our retribution: brownie batter but as a cookie baked in a muffin pan and frosted like a cupcake. Do you follow? I’ll explain…
Fudgy Chocolate Brownie Cookies
We will address the fantastically fluffy green frosting goodness on top in a moment, but for now let’s just focus on the brownie/cookie/muffin underneath. I took my favorite flourless brownie batter, tweaked it slightly to swap the sugar for Medjool dates, and then tweaked it again to make it more chocolatey by adding more chocolate in mini chip form. But bake all that in a muffin pan only filled a third of the way and you get the most delicious THICK but so so fudgy chocolate brownie cookies.
Vegan Date-Sweetened Ingredient List
- Natural Delights Pitted Medjool Dates. The only sweetener we need in this perfectly sweet but healthier brownie recipe, and they make the cookies really moist and extra fudgy too. Natural Delights is always my go-to Medjool brand, and their pitted variety could not be any easier for baking with.
- Almond milk. Or whatever non-dairy milk you love.
- Almond butter. Or whatever nut or seed butter you love (although I’m not sure PB would pair very well with the mint frosting).
- A flax egg. A.k.a. one tablespoon of flax meal mixed with 3 tablespoons of water (preferably warm) and set aside to gel for a minute before you start mixing.
- Cocoa powder. This recipe is flourless, so the cocoa is our only dry ingredient.
- Vanilla, baking soda, and salt.
- Chocolate chips. I really like mini ones in this recipe, more little bits of chocolate in every bite. And semi-sweet or darker is my personal preference.
Mint Matcha Buttercream Frosting
I have plenty of healthier frosting substitutes in the archives for you to choose from, but I felt these fudgy cookies deserved a true fluffy buttercream. Dairy-free of course with vegan butter and almond milk, naturally colored with matcha instead of food coloring, and lightly mint flavored (or skip it if you’re not a mint person!) It’s so creamy and fluffy and delightful I can (did) eat it with a spoon. If you’d prefer a naturally sweetened frosting, try one of these…
- Coconut cream based and also matcha dyed: RECIPE HERE
- Cashew based, just skip the lemon juice and add matcha and mint: RECIPE HERE
- My favorite date-sweetened chocolate frosting if you want to go the double chocolate direction: RECIPE HERE
More Date-Sweetened Recipes You’ll Love
- Vegan Chocolate Cream Pie
- The BEST Healthy Chocolate Cupcakes
- No-Bake Brownie Buckwheat Crunch Bites
- Healthy Chocolate Fudge
Mint Chocolate Brownie Cookies
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 16 cookies 1x
- Category: cookie
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: american
Description
Mint Chocolate Brownie Cookies featuring a fudgy grain-free batter and fluffy vegan buttercream frosting for a decadent but healthy dessert!
Ingredients
- 1 cup packed (~200g) Natural Delights Pitted Medjool Dates
- 1/2 cup (120g) almond milk
- 1/2 cup (125g) almond butter
- 1 flax egg (1 tbsp flax meal + 3 tbsp water)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (45g) cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup (75g) mini chocolate chips
Frosting*
- 1/2 cup vegan butter
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tsp matcha powder
- 1 tsp mint extract
- 1 tbsp almond milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In a food processor, blend Medjool Dates, almond milk, almond butter, flax egg, and vanilla to a smooth paste (a few small chunks are okay).
- Add cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Blend to combine.
- Pulse in the chocolate chips until just blended.
- Grease a muffin pan. Drop 2-3 tablespoons of batter into each cavity of the muffin pan and press to flatten (should be 1/3-1/2 full).
- Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350°F.
- Cool 10-15 minutes in the pan, then gently remove the cookies from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.
- For the frosting, use a hand mixer to beat the vegan butter until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time, continuing to mix in-between. Add matcha powder, mint extract, and almond milk (only if your frosting is too thick) whipping to a thick fluffy buttercream consistency.
- Generously spread frosting on the cooled cookies, and enjoy!
Notes
Keywords: chocolate, fudge, brownie, gluten free, paleo, dairy free, st patricks day, mint, dessert, vegan, healthy
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love all of these much more healthy ingredients than the conventional ones, and using dates instead of cane sugar especially, and love the mint flavor too, even after Saint Patrick’s Day, thank you
★★★★★
Yes lots of healthier but still fudgy swaps here🤗 So happy you like them, I appreciate the feedback Sabrina!