These healthy yogurt brownies are rich and fudgy. They are easy to make and need only 4 ingredients. They don’t contain any flour, refined sugar, eggs, butter or oil. They are a great dessert or snack.
I love baking with yogurt. Yogurt adds a wonderful rich fudginess to these brownies and gives them extra protein as well. What I especially love about these brownies is that they have a texture like regular brownies.
Ingredients
- Greek yogurt
- Cocoa powder
- Peanut butter
- Maple syrup
Greek yogurt: Make sure to use Greek-style yogurt to make these brownies. Regular yogurt is too runny. I used nonfat plain Greek yogurt to make these brownies
Cocoa powder: You will need unsweetened cocoa powder for these brownies. Either dutch or natural cocoa will work. I prefer dutch process because I think it adds a richer chocolate flavor and color.
Peanut butter: These brownies are made with natural peanut butter. This is peanut butter that has no added oils. Make sure only peanuts and salt are listed in the ingredients on the nutrition label. The recipe will not turn out correctly with regular peanut butter that has added oils. Peanut butter can be substituted with natural almond butter.
Maple syrup: A little maple syrup is added to give the brownies some sweetness. You can substitute maple syrup with your favorite sweetener or sugar substitute.
While not necessary, you can also add some chocolate chips on top or add frosting if you prefer frosting on your brownies.
How to Make Yogurt Brownies
The ingredients are all added together to a large bowl and mixed until you have a uniform mixture. The mixture will be very thick, almost like cookie dough.
Press the brownie dough into your prepared loaf pan until it is evenly distributed. If desired, top with chocolate chips. The brownies are then ready to be baked. They will need about 30 minutes in the oven.
Texture and Sweetness
Even though these brownies don’t contain any flour, they will have a cake-like crumb to them. The brownies are very rich and fudgy. They are not very sweet as these are supposed to be a healthy low sugar brownie. You can add chocolate chips or frosting for more sweetness. This photo features a double batch of the brownies.
More Healthy Brownie Recipes
4 Ingredient Yogurt Brownies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (113 g) nonfat plain Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup (128 g) natural peanut butter
- 1/4 cup (22 g) unsweetened dutch process cocoa powder or unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup (59 ml) maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line an 8 x 4 inch loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Add all ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Mix with a spatula until everything is evenly combined and the mixture is uniform in color. The mixture will become very thick as you mix it and will have a consistency like cookie dough. You can taste the dough and if you desire sweeter, you can add 1-2 tbsp more syrup.
- Add batter to your prepared loaf pan. Use a spatula to spread it evenly across the pan and smooth the surface. If you are adding chocolate chips, sprinkle them on top now and then lightly press them a little into the brownie dough.
- Bake brownies for about 30 minutes or until done. When the brownies are done, the surface will look done and slightly cracked. A toothpick inserted should also come out mostly clean. Let brownies cool fully before cutting and serving.
Notes
- Make sure to use natural peanut butter that doesn't contain any added oils. Peanut butter can also be substituted with natural almond butter.
- The chocolate chips are optional. I found the brownie to be sweet enough without them. I added them mainly for decoration.
- Maple syrup is used only to sweeten the brownies so it can be substituted with a sugar substitute or other sweetener of your choice.
- These brownies are lightly sweetened. If you want them sweeter, you can use sweetened vanilla Greek yogurt or add chocolate chips to the brownies. You can also add a frosting after the brownies are done baking.
- The nutrition estimate does not include optional chocolate chips.
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
I just made these and they’re better than I expected. I doubled the recipe, added the chocolate chips and baked for 30mins. The texture of these brownies is wonderful, fudgey and cakey. I do get a sour’ish after taste from the Greek yoghurt but it’s not all unpleasant. I’ve cut them into bite sized pieces for when I’m craving something chocolatey. 🙂 great recipe, I’ll definitely make these again.
I’m glad they worked out for you! I love the texture of these brownies too.
Do you think you think this would work with dairy free yogurt and sunbutter? We have allergies to nuts and dairy.
Unfortunately I have not tried with a dairy free yogurt. Sunbutter will probably work for the nut butter substitute.
Thoroughly love these! And so easy
So glad you like them!
I am glad I found these recipes I can’t have gluten and I definitely am going to be trying these recipes Thank You so much for sharing and God Bless you and your family
We hope you love the recipes!
Do you think it would be possible for me to substitute cocoa powder for chocolate protein powder?
I think you would need to make additional tweaks to the recipe if you use protein powder because chocolate protein powder will absorb more liquid than cocoa powder.
Can dairy free Greek yogurt be used as well?
We haven’t tried it.
Actually, this is a question. When you made a double batch of these delicious looking brownies, did you use a different pan and did you bake them longer? I am looking forward to trying them. Thank you, Annie.
If you want to double the recipe, you should bake in an 8 x 8 inch pan. The baking time will be almost the same as the original, maybe a few minutes longer to get the center cooked.
Will regular yogurt work for this recipe or is the Greek yogurt used for thickness or as a binder?
It needs to be Greek yogurt because of the thickness
I love your recipes so easy to make and healthy.
Thanks! We’re glad you’re enjoying them
Hello:
I don’t have an 8 x 5 loaf pan. I do have a 9 x 5 loaf pan. Can I bake these brownies in something other than the 8 x 5 pan? Thank you very much.
Mary
The recipe actually calls for an 8 x 4 pan, not 8 x 5. A 9 x 5 will work but your brownies will be much thinner and will cook faster
How is the pan prepared before adding the mixture
You need to line it with parchment paper. This is explained in step 1 in the recipe card. Hope that helps!