These Vegan Homemade Cosmic Brownies are reminiscent of your childhood lunchbox favorites, but plant-based and made from scratch! Don't worry, they still have the thick frosting on top and signature rainbow sprinkles!
Happy Friday, friends! I am soooo excited about the recipe I'm sharing today. If you follow me on Instagram, you already knew this was coming 😉 But if you're a child of the 90's, you should have no problem recognizing these. Say hello to my Vegan Homemade Cosmic Brownies! Rich and fudgy, with a layer of thick ganache on top and those irresistible rainbow chocolate chip sprinkles on top. UGH. These seriously made all my vegan dreams come true!
I have had cosmic brownies on my to-bake list FOREVER, and once I got my hands on those signature sprinkles a few months ago, I knew it was just a matter of time! I purchased THESE from Wilton (I found them at Target) and thought they were vegan, but after I shared them on my IG stories, a reader told me that confectioner's glaze isn't actually vegan. So that is annoying! Someone told me to look into Sweetapolita sprinkles, and she has these "Happy Pill Bit Chips" which are V/GF and perfect for this recipe! Another option is these Sweets & Treats Sprinkle Crispies (which I used for these pop tarts) - they're not chocolate, but they are vegan friendly as well and still give you that bright multicolored effect!
I am obsessed with how delicious these cosmic brownies came out! The good news? They're super easy to make, too! The brownies are all made in one bowl and just need a whisk and a spatula, so you have minimal dirty dishes. Then you just melt down some vegan chocolate and nondairy milk for the ganache on top, and sprinkle on your rainbow chips. I find that the texture is best if they're in the fridge, for that really thick & fudgy feel! Oh but wait... I have even more good news. I'm turning this into a Throwback Treats mini-series! I already have some other desserts in the pipeline and I am SO EXCITED. If you have treats you'd like to see made at home & veganized, let me know!
I hope you guys love these vegan homemade cosmic brownies as much as I do! They're rich, chocolatey, and tastes just as good (actually, better) than the brownies from your childhood. Enjoy with a big glass of milk... or pack one in your lunchbox next to a PB&J sandwich for maximum authenticity 🙂
vegan homemade cosmic brownies
Ingredients
- *for the brownies*
- 2 tablespoon ground flaxseed + 6 tablespoon warm water
- 1 cup white sugar
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup melted vegan butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- *for the glaze*
- ¼ cup vegan chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoon nondairy milk more or less as needed
- rainbow chip sprinkles for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- In a small bowl, combine the ground flaxseed and water and mix to combine. Set aside to thicken.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder, flour, salt, and baking powder.
- Add in the melted butter, vanilla, and thickened flaxseed mixture. Mix until brownie batter comes together - it will be thick!
- Line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment (VERY important, as these brownies like to stick!), and pour in the prepared brownie mix.
- Smooth out with a spatula, and bake for 35 minutes, until brownie appears dry on top, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs.
- Let brownie cool to room temperature, then make the glaze. Combine the vegan chocolate chips and milk in a microwave safe bowl, and heat in 15 second increments until smooth and creamy. You may have to add a little more milk if it's too thick. It should be easy to pour!
- Pour chocolate glaze all over the brownie, and sprinkle the rainbow chip sprinkles on top.
- Place cosmic brownies in the fridge to help the glaze set. After it has solidified, you can store brownies at room temperature or in the fridge for a fudgier texture (my fav!).
Ellen says
I have never had cosmic brownies. They looks so rich and delicious! I love the colored sprinkles.
Michael @ DiligentChef says
These brownies look so thick and rich. My son was just asking me to make brownies and I know he will love the fun toppings too. Thank you, Valentina, for this wonderful recipe! Pinned!
Katie says
What brand of rainbow sprinkles are you using? 🙂
valentina says
Hi Katie! I have a whole paragraph in the blog post discussing the different kinds of sprinkles you can use. The ones I used for the photos are from Wilton, but I discovered after the fact that confectioners glaze is in them and that is technically not vegan. But you can find a few different options to give you that same rainbow look!
Ashley H says
I've made this recipe around 4 times and it comes out great every time. I love how simple the recipe is and always brings results. I will be using this everytime I have a hankering for brownies.
abby says
love love love this recipe! I've made it a few times but I wish I had read everything because until now I missed the info on the Wilton sprinkles. such a bummer! I brought these to a vegan dinner using wiltons and totally thought they were vegan! I want to make them for another party today and I guess I won't use the wiltons. They wont be so cosmic though! Have you found any similar rainbow chocolate sprinkles that are vegan? Thanks for the awesome recipe!
Jenna_B says
These rainbow chips from Stern's Bakery are vegan:
https://a.co/d/3sxPLcO
Jana says
Hi! I really love, how easy it was, to make these awesome tasting brownies! But I had one problem: The dough didn't want to bake in the oven... Not at all, not even after 60min of baking time. I finally took them out of the oven and now, where are basically eating the raw dough (which is really cool as well, but it was not as I expected it to be). Do you have any ideas why it came out like this? Greetings, Jana 🙂
brooke says
ugh same! im so disappointed I wasted all the ingredients
valentina says
I am so sorry to hear that, Brooke!! I retested the recipe today and have slightly increased the flour. It should be better now 🙂
E says
Ah, the downsides of using volumetric measurements of flour! It's a bummer to have to keep a scale, but for recipes trying to balance fudgy with cooked, different brands or batches can make all the difference if you only have the volume. Maybe it would be worth adding the weight in parenthesis for people who do have a scale?
valentina says
Hi E! Thanks for your insight! I will try to get the metric conversions for this recipe next time I make it.
Zoe Lee says
Where did you find vegan rainbow chip sprinkles? The only ones i've seen are by Wilton and they contain confectioners glaze. Which is shellac/bugs 🙁
Zoe Lee says
I don't want to use Crispies Sprinkles because they're not chocolate
Chrys says
Hey sweetapolita makes rainbow bit chips.
I have never tried them but they sound about right and they're vegan. https://sweetapolitashop.com/collections/vegan-sprinkles/products/rainbow-bit-chips
valentina says
Thank you Chrys! I will have to look into these 🙂
Jackelyn says
These are also no longer vegan
valentina says
I had heard that from another reader as well! I did leave feedback on the Sweetapolita website and they had said it was a change made by the manufacturer. Super disappointing as they were a perfectly good product when vegan-friendly!
Robin Bull says
These were amazing.
valentina says
Thank you Robin! <3
Alexa says
hello! I just made these and was super duper excited and I tried one and all I smell and taste is flaxseed. tased like nothing, no chocolate or brownie flavor at all. I'm kind of disappointed. did I do something wrong?
valentina says
Hi Alexa! Are you sure that you followed the recipe correctly? There is quite a bit of cocoa powder in the recipe and these should taste very fudge and rich!
Alexa says
yes it says 1/3 cocoa. unsweetened I thought would make it not taste fudgey at all. unless its the flaxseeds that just overpower the taste.
Cassie says
would you change this recipe for high altitude locations? how would you change it if you did?
I tried making these and it seemed like all of the butter bubbled up to the top and they did not cook correctly. They were extremely mushy and did nit cook like normal brownies.
Jo says
I was SO excited to find this recipe! made them last night and the entire pan is gone! One question, the brownies ended up being pretty oily. I used earth balance vegan butter for the recipe and noticed that the brownies were bubbling in the oven during baking, I even had to blot the brownies with paper towels to try to get some of the oil out. Would you suggest decreasing the amount of butter to lessen the oiliness? Otherwise, super easy recipe and the kids LOVED it!
Julia says
I am so excited to try these! Thank you for sharing!! 🙂
Pau says
hi! could I use something instead of vegan butter for this recipe? 🙂
valentina says
Hi Pau! I have not tested this recipe with anything else. The brownies are very soft and fudgy so you definitely need something that solidifies when it cools off! I would think shortening or coconut oil could work. I recommend refined coconut oil if you don’t want any coconut flavor. But I wouldn’t recommend any oil that is liquid at room temp.
Kelsey says
just baked these tonight! had the hardest time finding the rainbow chips! they are SO delish! used coconut milk and the chips for the glaze and I enjoy the texture! would you happen to know the calories for this recipe?
Hayley says
Can these be made gluten free?
valentina says
Hi Hayley! I have not tried it myself, but I have gotten feedback from a gluten-free friend that the recipe as written (just substituting GF flour for all purpose) does not turn out as intended.
Jasmine says
I’ve made these brownies several times usually with King Arthur Measure for Measure and they turn out great!
valentina says
That is awesome to hear! Thank you for your feedback Jasmine!
Kerri says
Just to let you know, I went to the website for the rainbow chips and the website states that they are no longer vegan. They now have confectioner's glaze.
valentina says
Oh no!! That is the biggest bummer! Thank you for letting me know 🙁 How frustrating as they were a perfectly good product without the confectioner's glaze.
Jenna_B says
These rainbow chips from Stern's Bakery are vegan:
https://a.co/d/3sxPLcO
Amanda M says
Hi there! I was going to try subbing the flax seed mixture with our Bob's Red Mill egg replacer.
Would you by chance know how many "eggs" your flax mixture constitutes?
valentina says
Hi Amanda! I think the egg replacer should work just fine in these! My flax mixture replaces two eggs 🙂
Karissa says
Super yummy! This was the only recipe I could find where it didn’t ask for crazy ingredients like coconut milk( not that crazy but I don’t always have that) I did have to add a little water to my batter though.
Jenna_B says
For those who are still looking for vegan chips, these rainbow chips from Stern's Bakery are vegan:
https://a.co/d/3sxPLcO