Vegan Peppermint Brownies

These brownies are one-bowl, loaded with holiday flavor (and flair) and secretly vegan! Made with pantry staples and minimal fuss, I was able to partner with my friends, my favorites: CA Prunes to bring you these festive brownies.

VEGAN PEPPERMINT BROWNIES MOISTURE BASE

Your first step when making vegan peppermint brownies is to create your moisture base. To do this, we use a prune puree that consists of prunes, cocoa powder, flaxseeds and hot water. We blitz this into oblivion, and it becomes thick and smooth. 

Using brownies in our base adds a healthy element to our brownies that isn’t normally there as prunes contain a heap of fiber, potassium and zero added sugar (so it sweetens and adds moisture). And although I LOVE the flavor of prunes, you won’t taste them one iota in these brownies.

For more info on healthy baking with prunes, click here!

CHOCOLATE PEPPERMINT GLAZE

Best Chocolate for Your Brownies

Look for a dark chocolate that that has few added ingredients…your best bet is a bar of chocolate, rather than chocolate chips.

Coconut Oil

For the coconut oil measure it out when solid or weigh for the most accurate results. You can taste some coconut in the final product. If that doesn’t strike your fancy, feel free to use a nice extra-virgin olive oil. 

The Baker’s Guide to Measuring Flour

One of the biggest (and most common) mistakes in baking is how we measure flour. If you find yourself without a scale, see my top tips on how to properly measure flour for the perfect amount every time!

STORING YOUR VEGAN PEPPERMINT BROWNIES

Store your brownies in an air-tight container at room temperature. I find they’re best within one to two days of baking.

MORE CA GROWN RECIPES!

Salted Honey Pear Crostata

Flaky Buttery Prune Danishes

Best Pizza + Sauce

Burnt Caramel Apples

Five-Spice Prune Bars

Cherry Jammy Streusel Muffins

For more CA Prunes recipes, click here!

Let’s make some delicious vegan peppermint brownies, shall we?

Vegan Peppermint Brownies

These one-bowl baking wonders are so flipping delicious no one will suspect that they are vegan. We use a combination of pureed prunes, flaxseeds and olive oil to create holiday magic.

5 from 4 reviews

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Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes minutes

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Bar Cookies

Keyword: Vegan, Brownies, Peppermint

Servings: 9 Brownies

Author: Rebecca Firth

Equipment

• High-Speed Blender or Food Processor

Ingredients

For the Brownies

• 8 oz (227 g) California Prunes
• 1/2 cup (43 g) unsweetened cocoa powder (I prefer dark) (sifted)
• 2 tablespoons (20 g) raw flaxseeds
• 1/2 cup (112 g) hot water
• 1 ½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar
• 1 cup (170 g) dark chocolate, ( finely chopped)
• ½ cup (112 g) extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 (13 g) tablespoon real vanilla extract
• 1 (6 g) teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon (5 g) baking powder
• 1 teaspoon (5 g) baking soda
• 1 1/2 (169 g) cup all-purpose flour (how to measure flour)

For the Frosting

• 1 cup (170 g) dark chocolate (finely chopped)
• 2 tablespoons (30 g) coconut oil
• ½ teaspoon peppermint extract

To Garnish

• 1/3 cup candy canes (crushed)

Instructions

For the Brownies

• Preheat oven to 350 F (170 C) and grease and line an 8×8-inch baking dish and set aside.
• In a high-speed blender add the prunes, cocoa powder, flaxseeds and hot water (in that order). Blend on low for several minutes or until very smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the blender to make sure that everything is well combined. Measure out about ½ cup (170 g) of the prune puree and reserve the remaining for your next batch (it freezes great!). Don’t clean your blender and set aside for the next step.
• To a large, heat-safe bowl set over simmering water, add the sugar, dark chocolate, olive oil and ½ cup (170 g) of prune puree from above. Make sure the water doesn’t boil or touch the bottom of the bowl. Stir frequently until the chocolate is melted and then pour back into the blender and blend on low until quite smooth, no more than 1 minute.
• Scrape the chocolate-prune mixture into a large bowl and stir in the vanilla, sea salt, baking powder and baking soda, stirring to completely incorporate. Finally, fold in the flour until just combined. The mixture will be quite thick. Spread into the prepared baking dish, smoothing the top with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Bake in the center of the oven for 30-35 minutes. The brownies will puff up while baking and then deflate a bit as they cool, this is fine. Set on a cool rack and let cool completely.

For the Frosting

• To prepare your frosting, place the chocolate, coconut oil and peppermint extract in a medium bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water; don’t let the water boil or touch the bottom of the bowl. Stir until the chocolate is melted. The chocolate will be quite liquid. Stir periodically as the chocolate comes closer to room temp. Once cool to the touch pour on the brownies, leaving the raised outer edges of the brownies free of glaze. Sprinkle with the crushed peppermint candies and set aside for several hours for the glaze to set.

Notes

**The frosting is more of a glaze/ganache hybrid…it will be quite liquid and then firm up. Some coconut flavor can be detected…you could also use vegan butter in the same ratio. The frosting will become quite firm if chilled, so allow to come to room temperature before serving.

Thanks for baking with me! Please rate + comment this recipe and tag me on social @displacedhousewife #displacedhousewife so I can see your beautiful treats! xo

Thank you for supporting the companies, brands & agencies that support DisplacedHousewife. As a proud partner of CA Prunes, I hope when you’re shopping you’ll look for the CA Grown license plate sticker to let you know that your goods came from our beautiful state. You can also check at this link to see where your produce is coming from.