The Brownie Problem on Keto
If you eat keto or low-carb, you know the moment. Someone brings out a plate of fudgy brownies, and you either eat one and spend your carbs for the day, or you skip dessert and watch everyone else enjoy it.
A regular brownie is built on wheat flour and sugar, which is about as far from a low-carb snack as you can get. If you keep carbs tight, one square can use up most of your day's allowance and leave little room for vegetables, nuts and the other foods you'd rather spend them on.
Sugar brings its own trouble. That first hit of chocolate fades fast, and a lot of people find themselves hungry again soon after, wanting another one.
We wanted a brownie we could eat without that trade-off, so we bake our own.
Before you buy your next brownie, read the nutrition label. Check total carbs, fiber and sugar. Most regular brownies make the case for you.
Why Many Gluten-Free Brownies Fall Short
There are more gluten-free brownies around than ever. Gluten-free isn't the same as low-carb, though, and most of them land in one of two camps.
The first camp makes up for gluten-free flour with extra sugar, honey or maple syrup. Gluten-free flours take careful handling, and sweetener is an easy way to cover a flat-tasting blend. You end up with a brownie that's gluten-free but still full of sugar and carbs.
The second camp leans on sugar alcohols like maltitol and sorbitol. They have fewer calories than sugar, but maltitol still raises blood sugar for many people, and both can be hard on your stomach. If you're picking a gluten-free brownie for keto, that's a problem.
Plenty of popular gluten-free brownie mixes are made for people avoiding gluten, not carbs, so the numbers on the back can surprise you. We started from the other end: a keto brownie first, and gluten-free because everything we make is.
When you look at any "healthy" brownie mix, find the net carb count and the sweeteners. If maltitol sits near the top of the ingredient list, skip it.
What Goes Into Our Brownies
Our keto brownies are sweetened with allulose and monk fruit instead of sugar.
Allulose is a rare sugar found in small amounts in figs, raisins and maple syrup. Your body doesn't metabolize it like table sugar, so it has an insignificant effect on blood sugar and insulin, and it has about 0.4 calories per gram. Monk fruit sweetener has zero calories, and its sweetness comes from compounds called mogrosides. Between the two, we get the sweetness without the sugar.
For flour, we use almond flour and coconut flour. Almond flour brings richness and moisture, and coconut flour helps give a brownie its structure. Everything we make comes out of our own dedicated gluten-free bakery in Texas, where gluten-containing ingredients aren't allowed.
Because every one of our desserts uses almond flour, none of them are nut-free. Most of our desserts also contain butter, and our kitchen processes peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs and soy.
The full ingredient lists are on our Nutrition & Ingredients page. Read the list before you buy any dessert, ours or anyone's. It's the fastest way to know what you're eating.
Taste and Texture: What to Look For
A good brownie has to taste good first. The label comes second.
A lot of gluten-free brownies come out gritty, or dense with a slightly off taste that gives the substitutions away. People eat them because they're better than nothing. We wanted a brownie that holds its own next to a regular one.
Chocolate does most of the work. Unsweetened cocoa gives a brownie its deep, earthy flavor, and real chocolate adds richness. If the chocolate is weak, the sweetener is what you taste.
Texture is the hard part. Gluten-free flours soak up moisture differently than wheat flour. Too much moisture and the brownie turns cakey. Too little and it crumbles. Fat is what keeps it fudgy, so a keto brownie needs enough butter or coconut oil to stay rich.
Cakey or fudgy is a matter of taste, and some people like a cakier brownie. If you want dense and fudgy, try a couple side by side and notice which one you reach for again.
How to Read a Keto Brownie's Numbers
Net carbs are usually total carbs minus fiber. We also subtract allulose, since your body doesn't use it like sugar, and the FDA doesn't require it to be counted as added or total sugar on labels. Brands don't all do this math the same way, so check how a product gets to its net carb number. If you can't follow it from the label, be skeptical.
Watch for sugar alcohols too. Xylitol and maltitol can cause bloating and cramping in sensitive people. We sweeten with allulose and monk fruit instead.
Fat is part of the point in a keto dessert. Butter, coconut oil and almond flour make a brownie rich and filling, and that matters more than it sounds: a brownie that satisfies you is one you don't follow with a second.
The ingredients carry a little nutrition, too. Cocoa has magnesium, and almonds have vitamin E. Nobody's calling a brownie health food, but it doesn't have to be empty either.
Next time you have a brownie, log it in your tracker and see where it lands in your day. Knowing the real number makes it easier to plan a treat in rather than feel bad about it afterward.
Ready-Made or Baked at Home
Some days you want a brownie you can just unwrap. Other days you want to bake. We make room for both.
Our ready-made brownies ask nothing of you. Open the package and eat.
If you'd rather bake, our home baking mixes take the guesswork out of low-carb baking. Our cookie mixes come in Chocolate ChipMonk, Cinnamon Snickerdoodle and Lemon Poppyseed. The dry ingredients are measured for you. You add butter, egg and extract (it varies by flavor) and bake for 10 to 15 minutes. Each bag makes 20 medium-sized cookies.
Low-carb baking is less forgiving than regular baking, because almond and coconut flour behave differently than wheat. If you've never tried it, a mix that's already balanced is the easiest place to start.
Our Money-Back Guarantee
Trying a new keto dessert can feel like a gamble, so we take the risk off you. ChipMonk has a 100% money-back guarantee. If your order isn't right for any reason, email info@chipmonkbaking.com and we'll refund you.
Shipping is free on orders of $60 or more, and it applies automatically at checkout.
We bake everything ourselves, in our own dedicated gluten-free bakery in Texas, so we know exactly what goes into every batch.
How to Get Started
Start small. Browse our keto brownies, and if you'd like to bake, have a look at our home baking mixes.
One small order is enough to see if they're for you without stocking up.
When they arrive, eat one when you can actually pay attention to it. Is it fudgy enough? Does one do the job? Are you still happy an hour later? If you like them, stock up and use the free shipping threshold. If you don't, the guarantee has you covered.
You can also keep ready-made brownies around for busy days and bake from a mix when you want something warm from the oven. Either way, a brownie can be part of how you eat keto instead of the thing you skip.
