3-Ingredient Banana Brownies made with mashed bananas, peanut butter and cocoa powder; delicious vegan brownies that are flourless, no refined-sugar added, low carb, low calorie, and pretty perfect as a healthy snack for every occasion. The prep is minimal, and they are ready in well under 30 minutes. My kind of snack!
I have finally found my perfect snack/dessert that doesn't make me feel too bad about having a second helping. These brownies are absolutely brilliant! They are sweet, like any dessert should be, but it doesn't come with the hundreds of calories a decadent dessert does. How amazing!
I always have bananas around just staring at me and begging me to do something before they turn sad. First choice would be a delicious Honey Banana Bread, which is not too bad, given that is has no refined sugar added either. But then you get bored of the same things baked over and over.
And when I feel like low-carbing, I'd rather stay away from anything even remotely carb loaded. I have made countless brownies before, from Creme Egg Brownies that go down a treat at Easter, to Fudgy Vegan Brownies that come without eggs and butter, or the yummy scrummy Cakey Walnut Brownies.
But they all have flour added, where these peanut butter banana brownies don't have. Let's see how to make them!
Jump to:
Ingredients needed
- bananas - make sure they are proper ripe, if they look kind of brown and sad, that's perfect. They are really sweet, and the right texture for these brownies
- peanut butter -either smooth or crunchy, it doesn't matter much. This can be replaced with almond butter or any other nut butter of your choice
- cocoa powder - your regular baking cocoa powder would do
Variations
Optionally, you can top them or mix in the same composition any nuts or seeds or your choice, chocolate chips, dried fruit, or anything else you fancy. I topped mine with chopped hazelnuts and dark chocolate chips, but that's optional.
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
You can also swap the banana for cooked butternut squash, sweet potato or pumpkin, my Flourless Sweet Potato Brownies are to die for!
Step-by-step photos and instructions
- Once you have the ingredients ready, add to them a food processor and blitz until you get a smooth paste - Alternatively, you can mash the bananas using a fork, mix in the peanut butter and cocoa powder, and mix well until you get the right consistency.
- Bake at 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit) for 20-25 minutes until the top and edges are set and the brownies are well risen.
- Once they come out of the oven they will deflate a bit, but that's fine. Leave them to cool down completely before serving.
Expert tips
I must say, a food processor does a quick job, and I much prefer that, but if you don't have any, it's not a big deal. That's the beauty of the home baking, you can tweak everything, and that includes ingredients or the whole process itself.
I chose to bake the brownies in a 6-hole muffin tray, but you can use a small square baking tin too. With the ingredients used you get 6 muffin-shaped brownies, so adjust the amounts needed if you use a bigger tray.
NOTE! Make sure you grease your baking tray well wither with oil or butter, depending if you want them vegan or just vegetarian, otherwise they will stick to the edges and won't come out easily.
If you’ve tried my 3-INGREDIENT BANANA BROWNIES or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’m getting up to.
3-Ingredient Banana Brownies
Ingredients
- 3 ripe bananas
- ½ cup peanut butter
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- optional: dark chocolate chips and chopped nuts to top the brownies
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit).
- Peel the bananas and add them to a food processor together with the peanut butter and cocoa powder.
- Blitz until you get a smooth consistency.
- Grease a 6-hole muffin tray/small square baking tray with oil or butter, and distribute the batter evenly.
- Top with chocolate chips and chopped nuts - optional.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until the edges and the top are firm and the brownies are well risen.
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool down completely.
Video
Notes
- I must say, a food processor does a quick job, and I much prefer that, but if you don't have any, it's not a big deal. That's the beauty of the home baking, you can tweak everything, and that includes ingredients or the whole process itself.
- I chose to bake the brownies in a 6-hole muffin tray, but you can use a small square baking tin too. With the ingredients used you get 6 muffin-shaped brownies, so adjust the amounts needed if you use a bigger tray.
- NOTE! Make sure you grease your baking tray well wither with oil or butter, depending if you want them vegan or just vegetarian, otherwise they will stick to the edges and won't come out easily.
Chloe says
*PLEASE READ* I've noticed a lot of people saying the bread did not rise and remained in a liquid consistency- I had this issue UNTIL I realized I preheated the oven to 150° fahrenheit. Per the recipe, it's 350°F, and most ovens are in fahrenheit. Do not make the same mistake I did if you saw the 150° Celsius in a rush- IT WILL NOT BAKE AS IT SHOULD. Once I did it right- it was a delicious healthy snack.
Daniela Apostol says
Thank you for your feedback, indeed it's 350 Fahrenheit and 180 Celsius - we use Celsius in Europe, that is why I mention them both.
Peter says
Hi, will this work in the air fryer?
Daniela Apostol says
Hi! I am sure they will, you just need to keep an eye on them, as they will be ready a lot quicker than in the oven.
diane Oliver says
hi could you please 🙏 put weight in grams so I can follow recipes
thanks
Lolly says
Can I use mixed nuts instead of peanut butter if I blend it all up in the blender??
Daniela Apostol says
Yes, that should work.
Lolly says
Awesome! How long do they keep, are they best refrigerated? Can I freeze them?
Daniela Apostol says
They can definitely be refrigerated for a few days, and they should also be ok for freezing.
Aleyda says
Excellent recipe, I have been doing it with almond butter, it works perfectly. I also topped with homemade no sugar wiped cream.
It is perfect for dessert wen you need something sweet but you don’t want to eat carbs or refined sugar 👍🏼
Daniela Apostol says
Thank you so much for your feedback, I am glad you enjoyed them!
Gayle says
So easy in my food processor and it really satisfies the chocolate craving! Be sure to top with chips! I will be making these again.
Debby Farmer says
Amazing! Delicious!
Added chocolate chips and walnuts to the last minute or two of the food processor.
Also cooked in mini muffin pan for about fourteen minutes... The perfect bite size to satisfy my sweet tooth
Daniela Apostol says
Amazing, thank you for for you feedback, I am glad you enjoyed them!
Kale S Lalonde says
Followed the directions directly but after 20 minutes of baking it was still a liquid and hadn't set at all, I ended up having to cook it for an hour and it was still pretty goopy. While the batter was lightly sweet, the cooked brownie is bitter due to the cocoa powder. I'd suggest adding a sweetner to this to help, as for the getting it to bake correctly I think some baking powder and maybe a touch of flour would help.
Daniela Apostol says
Have you checked that the oven was at the right temperature? There is no way you can have liquid if you only use bananas, peanut butter and cocoa powder, something sounds wrong here. There is no need for baking powder or anything else, they bake really well without, as long as the exact amounts of ingredients are added. You can try using less cocoa powder for a sweeter touch. I hope this helps!
Claire says
I had this experience too. The only places I strayed from the recipe was by hand mixing instead of food processing, and adding some maple syrup. I watched the video and noticed my batter consistency was different. Tasted good though!
Baker says
I baked for an extra ten minutes and they still were not fully baked. Complete goo on the inside. Yummy, but more like a pudding, and not attractive since they sank in as they cooled.
Daniela Apostol says
The brownies should have been baked at that stage, perhaps the oven temperature wasn't right?
Emma says
Not really a brownie texture, of course. But still really good! They really satisfied my chocolate craving. I did add a bit of liquid monk fruit to mine because my bananas weren’t as ripe as I’d like. I also had to leave out the chocolate chips. But they still turned out really good! I’ll definitely be making these again and tweaking the recipe to suit my taste more.
Daniela Apostol says
I am glad you liked them! They are more of a cakey texture, rather than a gooey brownie, but they are really yummy!
Maria says
These were very tasty, but I like a bit more sweetness. I’m going to make them again and add some honey. I poured honey on the last ones I made and it was so good.
Daniela Apostol says
The addition of honey sounds delicious!
Alexandra says
I've noticed others came out as liquid as well, and I've spotted the error! I realized halfway through baking that I had preheated my oven to 180°F (silly I know!) upon seeing the 180°C. Everyone note that if your getting a liquid result, it is 350°F on most ovens!
Sakra says
The butter was so delicious even without baking it...like a quality chocolate pudding.
I added a pinch of salt, vanilla extract and half a teaspoon of baking powder. Instead of chocolate chips, I added coarsely broken walnuts.
I divided into 4 silicone cups and baked for 20 minutes at 170C.
It turned out perfect!
Daniela Apostol says
That sounds delicious, I am glad you liked them!
Billy sharp says
Can you freeze these?
Also what’s the best way to reheat?
Daniela Apostol says
They can be frozen, to defrost, just pop them in the fridge to thaw, they should be ok.
Charlotte says
These are perfect for my husband!
So healthy! Thank you for sharing!
Daniela Apostol says
I am glad you liked them!
Sussi says
I got nut allergies but decided to try make the 3 ingredient Banana Brownies with Chickpea butter instead and in a square pan.
That seems to work fine and the mixture taste really good before baking it.
I am glad to find this recipe that is free from gluten, soy and now even nuts with my version.
The brownies are still in oven and our kitchen smells wonderful....can't wait to try them.
Daniela Apostol says
I am glad you could find an alternative, l hope they are as yummy as they smell 😊
Aline says
These did not come out well for me. They did not rise at all and were bitter and gluey.
Patti Hinkle says
Is the nutritional info for 6 brownies or 1 brownie?
Daniela Apostol says
1 brownie.