These Chocolate Banana Brownies are sweet, rich, and fudgy. Made with just 7 basic ingredients, this is a simple healthy brownie recipe that is so easy it only needs a fork, spoon, a couple of bowls and a baking tin.
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Why Make This Recipe
- Perfectly sweet with ripe banana and a hint of maple syrup
- Medjool dates makes these brownies fudgy so they will stay moist and fresh for days
- You can make 9 brownie bars, or use a small silicone muffin tray to make 12 or 18 mini brownie bites
- They are great for lunchboxes, picnics and to keep after dinner cravings at bay
- You can't beat a good fudgy chocolate brownie with a cup of coffee in the morning.
- These brownies are easy to customise with your favourite addins (suggestions below!)
Check out these Chocolate Pumpkin Brownies, my Black Bean Brownies or these Chickpea Brownies. They are also super simple to make, and high protein and little less sweet (but still fudgey) than these ones. Or, this Chocolate Coffee Cake for the perfect cake to have with your morning cuppa.
For a delicious dessert brownie, check out these fudgy cheesecake brownies with blueberries.
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- Bananas: The riper the better, and if they have brown spots that means they are perfect. Ripe bananas have the right amount of sweetness for this recipe. The riper your bananas the easier they will be to mash as they’ll be softer.
- Dates: Medjool dates are a must for this recipe as they are big, juicy and sweet. The skins also break down better to form the paste.
- Cocoa Powder: Unsweetened cocoa powder is the way to go, and I tend to find it in the healthy food aisle. Regular drinking chocolate would be way too sweet.
- Almond Meal: This is the basis of the recipe. You’ll find Almond meal in the baking aisle of supermarkets. Its coarser than Almond Flour and gives these brownies great texture. You can also blitz almonds in a high powder food processor to get almond meal.
- Olive Oil: Extra virgin olive oil is best as its milder in flavour than regular olive oil. Alternatively you could sub with vegetable oil, grapeseed oil or coconut oil.
- Maple Syrup: Regular maple syrup or sugar free maple syrup work in this recipe. I love to use Lakanto Maple Syrup - a naturally sweetened maple syrup, lower in calories than regular syrup.
- Vanilla Essence: adds a great hit of additional flavour.
How To Make This Recipe
- Prep Bananas: Peal the bananas and break into chunks. Add to a bowl, and mash with a fork until smooth and creamy.
- Prep Dates: Break each of the dates into two pieces, add to a large bowl. Cover with hot tap water and soak for 5 minutes. Drain water off completely, and squeeze the water out of the dates. Use a fork to mash dates to create a paste.
- Add All the ingredients: In a large bowl, add the almond meal, cocoa powder, oil, syrup, vanilla extract, mashed banana and date paste. Mix together with a spoon until well combined. Spoon out the mixture into the lined baking tin, smoothing out the top
- Bake: Bake for 30 minutes at 160 degrees C / 320 degrees F. Once cooked, it should be just firm around the edges. Remove from oven and let brownies rest in the tin until cooled.
- Slice: Life Brownie out of tin and onto a large cutting board. Cut into 9 squares using a sharp knife. Keep brownies in an air tight container in the fridge for 5 days.
Expert Tips
- Add Ins: ¼ cup chocolate chips, sprinkling of granulated nuts on top, stir through ½ cup macadamias or hazelnuts into the mixture before putting into the tin to bake
- Storage: Store in an air tight container in the fridge for 5 days. I don’t recommend keeping them on the bench. Much nicer in the fridge.
- Freezing: Cut into slices, and place baking/parchment paper between slices. Store in freezer safe container for 4 weeks. To defrost, put into the fridge overnight.
Common Questions
Should brownies be gooey in the middle?
They can be gooey or firm, or anywhere in between. Its really a matter of personal preference. The shorter the cooking time, the more gooey they will be.
Do you cut brownies warm or cold?
Cutting them warm with a sharp knife is best to achieve clean cuts without crumbling.
What does a banana look like when its ripe?
Ripe bananas will have brown spots and marks on the skin. This is good, and you want a banana that is also a little bit "soft" when you press on the skin. Perfect unblemished skin and a firm outside means the banana is not ideal for brownies and probably won't be sweet enough.
More Chocolate Baking Recipes
- Chocolate Avocado Cake with Thick Frosting
- Chocolate Coconut Date Balls
- Almond Meal Chocolate Cake
- Fudgey Black Bean Chocolate Cake
Chocolate Banana Brownies
These Chocolate Banana Brownies are sweet, rich, and fudgy. Made with just 7 basic ingredients, this is a simple healthy brownie recipe that is so easy it only needs a fork, spoon, a couple of bowls and a baking tin.
Ingredients
- 12 Medjool Dates - seeds removed/room temperature
- 2 medium Ripe Bananas - 400 grams, approx (See note 1)
- ⅔ cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder, - 70 grams
- 1 ½ cups Almond meal/Ground Almonds, - 180 grams
- ¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil, - 60 ml
- ¼ cup Maple Syrup, - 60 ml
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven: Preheat fan oven to 160 degrees C / 320 degrees F. Line a 20cm square baking tin with baking/parchment paper on base and sides, using a little spray oil to help it stick.
- Prep Bananas: Peal the bananas and break into chunks. Add to a bowl, and mash with a fork until smooth and creamy.
- Prep Dates: Break each of the dates into two pieces, add to a large bowl. Cover with hot tap water and soak for 5 minutes. Drain water off completely, and squeeze the water out of the dates. Use a fork to mash dates to create a paste.
- Add All the ingredients: In a large bowl, add the almond meal, cocoa powder, oil, syrup, vanilla extract, mashed banana and date paste. Mix together with a spoon until well combined. Spoon out the mixture into the lined baking tin, smoothing out the top
- Bake: Bake for 30 minutes at 160 degrees C / 320 degrees F. Once cooked, it should be just firm around the edges. Remove from oven and let brownies rest in the tin until cooled.
- Slice: Life Brownie out of tin and onto a large cutting board. Cut into 9 squares using a sharp knife. Keep brownies in an air tight container in the fridge for 5 days.
Notes
- Bananas: The ripeness of the bananas will affect the sweetness of the brownies when they are cooked.
- Very ripe bananas will result in sweet brownies with a strong banana flavour.
- Less ripe bananas will yield a less sweet brownie with less banana flavour.
- A general rule of thumb is that the more spotty they are the sweeter they are and the stronger the banana flavour.
- Also....the riper your bananas the easier they will be to mash as they’ll be softer.
- Dates: Medjool dates are a must for this recipe as they are big, juicy and sweet. The skins also break down better to form the paste.
- Cocoa Powder: Unsweetened cocoa powder is the way to go, and I tend to find it in the healthy food aisle. Regular drinking chocolate would be way too sweet.
- Almond Meal: This is the basis of the recipe. You’ll find Almond meal in the baking aisle of supermarkets. Its coarser than Almond Flour and gives these brownies great texture. You can also blitz almonds in a high powder food processor to get almond meal.
- Olive Oil: Extra virgin olive oil is best as its milder in flavour than regular olive oil. Alternatively you could sub with vegetable oil, grapeseed oil or coconut oil.
- Maple Syrup: Regular maple syrup or sugar free maple syrup work in this recipe. I love to use Lakanto Maple Syrup - a naturally sweetened maple syrup, lower in calories than regular syrup.
- Vanilla Essence: adds a great hit of additional flavour.
- Add Ins: ¼ cup chocolate chips, sprinkling of granulated nuts on top, stir through ½ cup macadamias or hazelnuts into the mixture before putting into the tin to bake
- Storage: Store in an air tight container in the fridge for 5 days. I don’t recommend keeping them on the bench. Much nicer in the fridge.
- Freezing: Cut into slices, and place baking/parchment paper between slices. Store in freezer safe container for 4 weeks. To defrost, put into the fridge overnight.
Nutrition
Calories: 307kcalCarbohydrates: 39gProtein: 6gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 2gFiber: 7gSugar: 12g
Note: Sugars contained in this recipe are from naturally occurring sugars in fruits, vegetables or other natural sweeteners. Calories have been calculated for your convenience using My Fitness Pal and are based on the ingredients listed in the recipe card.
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Jonti Kumar
Hello! One of the ingredients is labeled soy sauce, just double checking it’s cocoa powder?
Kim
Oops, that was a typo on the image. Definitely Cocoa Powder. Its been fixed on the ingredient photo.
Amina
Hi, this recipe was great. Very fudgy, but just to confirm is it actually 400g of bananas? I ended up putting 4 bananas in and the flavour was very strong!
Kim
When I make these, yes the banana flavour is quite pronounced, however this does also depend on the bananas and how ripe and sweet they are.