This recipe for brownie quinoa cookies was an entry in our Spring Fling Dairy-Free Recipe Contest, created and submitted by Jessica Stier of Desserts with Benefits. Though sweet and fudgy, these rich brownie quinoa cookies are relatively low in sugar and have an even lower sugar option.
Not Sugar Free or Dislike Stevia? Swapping the stevia out will definitely change the consistency of these quinoa cookies. I would suggest omitting it, tasting the batter (no eggs!), and adding your granulated sweetener of choice just until it hits the sweet spot for you. According to the charts, 1 teaspoon liquid stevia equals 1 cup of sugar, but that amount of sugar added could make the recipe fail.
Special Diet Notes: Fudgy Brownie Quinoa Cookies
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, peanut-free, optionally nut-free, soy-free, vegan / plant-based, and vegetarian.
For nut-free brownie quinoa cookies, simply sub your favorite “safe” milk beverage for the almond milk.
- 4 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon coconut oil
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
- ½ cup unsweetened dairy-free almond milk beverage
- 1 teaspoon liquid stevia extract (I used SweetLeaf)
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup evaporated cane juice (or granulated erythritol for a sugar-free version)
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
- 1 cup quinoa flour (I used Ancient Harvest)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In a small, microwave-safe bowl, add the coconut oil, applesauce and almond milk. Microwave at 20-second intervals, stirring between each one, until the coconut is melted. Stir in the stevia and vanilla.
- In a large bowl, stir together the evaporated cane juice and cocoa.
- In another small bowl, stir together the quinoa flour, baking powder and salt.
- Add the liquid microwaved mixture to the cocoa bowl and stir together. Slowly stir in the flour mixture (it will be the consistency of brownie batter rather than cookie dough).
- Drop circular spoonfuls of the batter onto the prepared cookie sheet about 2 inches apart (they don't spread much) and bake for 10 to 11 minutes, or until the surface of a cookie springs back when tapped. Slide cookies off the cookie sheet and onto a wire cooling rack and let cool slightly before devouring.

3 Comments
Hi! I wanted to know if not adding the evaporated cane juice changes the recipe too much, some ingredients are hard to find where I live! Loving your website, by the way!
Hi Sofia, it would, but you can use any granulated sweetener in its place to keep the textural integrity.
Thank you so much, I’ll definitely try this!