This is the easiest vegan Pumpkin Brownies recipe ever! Canned pumpkin puree adds moisture and richness without eggs, dairy, or oil - or any complicated substitute. The end result is a chewy and extra fudgy chocolate pumpkin brownie that will become your new favorite fall dessert!
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🎃 The Best Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Brownies
After several trials and errors, I finally came up with the ultimate vegan pumpkin brownie recipe that's simple and fuss-free. Even if you're not vegan, this tasty brownie is perfect for you! It's full of rich chocolate flavor with warming fall spices that enhances its coziness. After all, chocolate and cinnamon is a very traditional pairing in Mexican cuisine!
The best part of these pumpkin chocolate brownies is how easy it is - even easier than boxed brownies! No eggs, butter (or dairy of any kind), or oil is needed. And you don't need any complicated substitutes. The pumpkin provides all the fat and moisture you need for a deliciously chewy, fudgy, and soft brownie. But it tastes 100% like chocolate - just better.
So whether you're looking to use up some leftover canned pumpkin or craving an ooey gooey chocolate dessert, this vegan pumpkin brownie is for you! And if you're looking for more easy pumpkin desserts, you've got to try these No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars or Pumpkin Cream Cheese Crescent Rolls.
Why You'll Love It
- Versatile: Pumpkin brownies made from scratch are great during the fall. They're portable, easy to transport, and great for a crowd. So take them to your autumn festival, Halloween parties, or Thanksgiving potluck. Or simply make a batch for an easy after-school treat or dessert.
- Healthier: I wouldn't call these brownies healthy, but they are made healthier with some hidden vegetables and less fat. Pumpkin is a great source of fiber, beta-carotene, and vitamins. And dark chocolate is full of antioxidants! Plus these are vegetarian/vegan, eggless, and dairy free.
- Quick and easy: You don't need any fancy equipment for these brownies. Even vegan chocolate chips are easy to find nowadays. Otherwise, everything else is just pantry pulls. These only take 10 minutes and 40 minutes so you can whip these up anytime the craving strikes!
🧂 Ingredients
- White and brown sugar: A combination of both sugars provides sweetness, structure, and moisture. You can substitute with coconut sugar but I would not recommend a liquid sweetener (like honey or maple syrup) or else the vegan brownies will be too soft and crumbly.
- Pumpkin: Make sure to use canned puree and not pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin should be the only ingredient. The squash adds fat and moisture without eggs or dairy.
- Vanilla extract
- All purpose flour: Provides structure and lightens the batter.
- Cocoa powder: Make sure to use unsweetened (also called natural) cocoa.
- Baking soda: Reacts with the acidic cocoa powder to leaven the brownies and make them lighter.
- Salt: Enhances flavor, even in desserts.
- Pumpkin pie spice: I use this blend in all of my pumpkin recipes, even savory ones like Pumpkin and Mushroom Risotto. The warm spices makes everything cozier and more delicious.
- Vegan chocolate chips: Makes the brownies extra fudgy due to the double chocolate, but feel free to leave it out. I use Enjoy Life dark chocolate chips. They also have vegan semi-sweet mini chocolate chips or semi-sweet chocolate chunks available. You can also chop up a vegan chocolate bar like Hu Kitchen.
Substitutions & Variations
- If using Dutch processed coca powder, replace the baking soda with double baking powder. Dutch powders are not acidic like unsweetened (natural) cocoa powder so using baking soda can result in a metallic taste and denser texture.
- To make gluten free vegan pumpkin brownies, replace with 1:1 gluten free replacement flour.
- If you don't have pumpkin pie spice, make your own with 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon nutmeg, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, ½ teaspoon allspice, and ½ teaspoon ground cloves.
- For more texture, feel free to add in nuts like chopped walnuts or pecans. You can also sprinkle pumpkin seeds over the top.
- To enhance the chocolate flavor, add ½ teaspoon espresso powder.
- Make vegan pumpkin brownie bites by baking these in a muffin pan. Line with cupcake liners and bake for 15-20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- To make these in a 9x13 pan, double the recipe.
👩🏻🍳 How To Make Pumpkin Brownies (Vegan)
⬇️ Please scroll down to the recipe card to see full ingredient amounts and instructions.
STEP ONE: First, preheat the oven to 350ºF and line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper.
Then in a large bowl, combine canned pumpkin purée, white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract. Whisk well.
STEP TWO: Next, sift your dry ingredients. You can combine all the ingredients into a bowl first or add it directly into a sifter (I'm using a large colander) over the bowl of wet ingredients. Sift the all purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.
Gently fold the dry into the wet batter. It'll look too dry at first, but keep stirring until the dry ingredients are fully incorporated. Make sure not to overwork the batter or else the vegan pumpkin brownies will deflate.
STEP THREE: Add the vegan chocolate chips and gently stir them in.
STEP FOUR: Pour the batter into the greased baking dish. Use an offset spatula or back of a spoon to spread the batter into an even layer. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until an inserted toothpick in the center comes out mostly clean. Let cool in the pan briefly before transferring to a cooling rack and slicing.
💭 Top Tips
- Generously line your baking sheet! These chewy vegan pumpkin brownies are very moist so they will be difficult to remove if you skip this step. You can even be extra careful by oiling the pan before lining with parchment paper.
- For the most accurate results, use a kitchen scale when baking.
- Don't over-mix the batter. This will flatten and deflate the brownies. Instead, gently fold in the dry ingredients until everything is moistened.
- The bake time may change depending on the material of your pan. I recommend metal pans for all baked goods as they conduct heat very well, meaning they warm up and cool quickly for even cooking. Glass and ceramic takes longer to heat up but will retain heat for a longer period of time. This can cause the edges of your baked goods to brown faster so I recommend decreasing the oven temperature by 25ºF with glass or ceramic pans.
- To cut clean slices, let the pumpkin brownies cool first. Since these ones are softer, make sure to cut in one slice, rocking from the bottom to the top, instead of see-sawing. Wipe the knife down after each cut.
🥡 Storing & Freezing
Storing: Let the vegan Pumpkin Brownies cool completely before storing in an air-tight container. They'll last for 3-5 days on the countertop or 1 week in the fridge. I recommend letting the brownies come to room temperature as they'll be drier and denser when cold.
Freezing: Store in a freezer-safe zip-top bag in a single layer. Or separate with parchment paper between each layer in an air-tight container. The brownies will last 3 months in the freezer.
📖 Recipe FAQs
The fat to flour ratio will determine if a brownie comes out fudgy or cakey. More fat - like eggs, butter, or milk - will result in fudgy brownies while more flour and baking powder will result in a cakier brownie.
If your pumpkin brownies turned out too soft and gooey, the pumpkin purée may have been too wet. Add more flour and bake for a few minutes longer to dry it out.
You can use a mashed banana, applesauce, yogurt, extra butter, or a flax egg. In this recipe, we use only canned pumpkin purée
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📋 Recipe
Pumpkin Brownies (Vegan)
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup white granulated sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar tightly packed
- ¾ cup canned pumpkin purée
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup vegan chocolate chips I used dark chocolate
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine white sugar, brown sugar, pumpkin purée, and vanilla extract. Whisk until well-combined.
- Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ingredients and gently stir until mixed in. It'll look dry at first but continue folding it in until everything is evenly mixed together.
- Stir in the chocolate chips. Then pour into the lined baking dish and use an offset spatula or the back of a spoon to evenly spread the batter.
- Bake for 28-35 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out mostly clean. Let cool slightly before slicing.
Notes
- For the most accurate results, use a kitchen scale when baking.
- Don't over-mix the batter. This will flatten and deflate the brownies. Instead, gently fold in the dry ingredients until everything is moistened.
- The bake time may change depending on the material of your pan. I recommend metal pans for all baked goods as they conduct heat very well. Glass and ceramic takes longer to heat up but will retain heat for a longer period of time. This can cause the edges of your baked goods to brown faster so I recommend decreasing the oven temperature by 25ºF with glass or ceramic pans.
- To cut clean slices, let the pumpkin brownies cool first. Since these ones are softer, make sure to cut in one slice, rocking from the bottom to the top, instead of see-sawing. Wipe the knife down after each cut.
- To make these in a 9x13 pan, double the recipe.
- Substitutions:
- If using Dutch processed coca powder, replace the baking soda with double baking powder.
- If you don't have pumpkin pie spice, make your own with 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon nutmeg, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, ½ teaspoon allspice, and ½ teaspoon ground cloves.
- To make this gluten free, replace the flour with a 1:1 gluten free replacement flour.
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