Olive Oil Brownies: The Recipe and Why Extra Virgin Works
Olive oil brownies are what happens when you take butter out of a brownie and put extra virgin olive oil in its place: a dense, fudgy square with a shiny, crackly top, a soft centre that stays soft for days, and a faint fruity, peppery depth behind the chocolate. Below is our own recipe, written from scratch for this article, with metric and US measures side by side, then a plain explanation of why extra virgin works so well in a brownie, which style of oil to choose, how to convert your favourite brownie recipe or a boxed mix to olive oil, and how to fix the usual problems. If you want a cake rather than a brownie, our olive oil cake recipe and our chocolate olive oil cake cover those.
For our own oil, see our Cold-Pressed Single-Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil - Marrakech (500ml).
The Short Answer
- Yes, you can make brownies with olive oil, and extra virgin olive oil makes some of the fudgiest brownies there are, because the fat stays liquid at room temperature and brings no water into the batter.
- Our recipe uses 120ml (½ cup) of extra virgin olive oil, 115g (4 oz) of dark chocolate, cocoa, two eggs and only 70g (½ cup + 1 tbsp) of flour in a 20cm (8in) square tin, baked at 175°C / 155°C fan / 350°F for 22–26 minutes.
- The brownies are dairy-free as written: no butter, milk or cream. They do contain eggs and wheat.
- Dark chocolate can carry a fuller-flavoured oil: a medium-fruity extra virgin is the easiest choice, and the oil's peppery notes read as depth rather than "olive".
- To convert a butter brownie recipe, use roughly 75ml of olive oil for every 100g of butter; to replace vegetable oil, including in a boxed mix, swap it one for one.
- Sidr & Stone's olive oil is a single-estate, cold-pressed, unfiltered extra virgin oil from our own farm on the plains outside Marrakech, Morocco, sold in 500ml dark glass.
Olive Oil Brownies Recipe: Ingredients (Metric and US)
This makes one 20cm (8in) square tin, 16 brownies. Weighing gives the most reliable result; if you use cups, spoon the flour and cocoa into the cup and level it off rather than scooping, because a heavy hand with flour is the most common reason a fudgy brownie turns cakey.
| Ingredient | Metric | US |
|---|---|---|
| Dark chocolate (60–70% cocoa), chopped | 115g | 4 oz |
| Extra virgin olive oil | 120ml | ½ cup |
| Caster (superfine or granulated) sugar | 150g | ¾ cup |
| Light brown sugar | 75g | ⅓ cup, lightly packed |
| Large eggs, room temperature | 2 | 2 |
| Alcohol-free vanilla paste (optional) | 1 tsp | 1 tsp |
| Cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process) | 30g | ⅓ cup |
| Plain (all-purpose) flour | 70g | ½ cup + 1 tbsp |
| Fine salt | ½ tsp | ½ tsp |
| Dark chocolate chunks (optional) | 60g | ⅓ cup |
| Flaky sea salt, to finish (optional) | a pinch | a pinch |
Tin and oven: a 20cm (8in) square metal tin, lightly oiled and lined with baking paper that overhangs two sides so you can lift the brownies out. Oven at 175°C conventional, 155°C fan, 350°F, or gas mark 4. A glass or ceramic dish works but bakes more slowly at the edges, so add a few minutes.
We use vanilla paste labelled alcohol-free, or leave vanilla out entirely, because standard vanilla extract is an alcohol-based ingredient: the US standard of identity for vanilla extract (21 CFR 169.175) requires an ethyl alcohol content of not less than 35% by volume. The brownies taste fully of chocolate without it. Many dark chocolates contain no milk, but some do and others carry a "may contain milk" warning, so check the label if you need the brownies dairy-free.
Method: How to Make Olive Oil Brownies, Step by Step
- Prepare. Heat the oven and line the tin. Weigh everything before you start; the method moves quickly once the chocolate is melted.
- Melt the chocolate in the oil. Put the chopped chocolate and the olive oil in a large heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water (the bowl should not touch the water), and stir until smooth. Or microwave in 20-second bursts, stirring between each. Take it off the heat as soon as it is melted.
- Whisk in the sugars. While the mixture is still warm, add both sugars and whisk for about a minute. It will look grainy and slightly separated; that is fine at this stage.
- Beat in the eggs. Add the eggs one at a time with the vanilla, if using, whisking hard for at least 30 seconds after each. Keep going for another minute after the second egg, until the batter turns thick, glossy and smooth and the oil no longer looks separate. This step builds the crackly top and binds the oil into the batter, so do not rush it.
- Fold in the dry ingredients. Sift the cocoa, flour and fine salt over the bowl and fold with a spatula until no streaks of flour remain, then fold in the chocolate chunks. Stop as soon as it is combined; beating after the flour goes in makes brownies tougher and more cake-like.
- Bake. Scrape the batter into the tin, level it, and scatter over a little flaky salt if you like. Bake for 22–26 minutes, until the top is set and shiny with a few cracks, the edges are firm, and a skewer in the centre comes out with thick, moist crumbs clinging to it but no runny batter. Start checking at 20 minutes in a fan oven.
- Cool completely. Leave the brownies in the tin on a rack for at least an hour, then lift them out and cut into 16 squares with a sharp knife wiped clean between cuts. They finish setting as they cool; cut them warm and they will be gooey and ragged.
The skewer cue matters more for brownies than for any cake. A brownie baked until the skewer comes out clean has gone too far and will be dry and cakey by the next day; moist crumbs mean fudgy. For working olive oil into other bakes, our guide to baking with olive oil sets out the wider principles.
Why Extra Virgin Olive Oil Works So Well in Brownies
Extra virgin olive oil works in brownies because a fudgy brownie wants exactly what oil gives it: soft fat that stays liquid, very little water, and a flavour that stands up to dark chocolate. Five things are happening in the tin:
- The fat stays liquid when the brownies cool. Butter firms up again at room temperature; olive oil does not. That is why oil brownies feel soft and fudgy straight from the tin on day two or three, where butter brownies can turn firm and need warming.
- Oil is all fat; butter is not. US law defines butter as containing not less than 80% milk fat by weight (21 U.S.C. 321a), with most of the rest water. Oil adds no water, so there is less steam in the oven to lift and dry out the crumb. The result is denser and more fudge-like, the texture most people want from a brownie.
- Fat-coated flour makes a tender bite. Liquid oil coats the small amount of flour in the batter thoroughly, so it forms less gluten. With a low flour quantity and gentle folding, that keeps the brownie tender rather than bready.
- Extra virgin brings flavour, not just texture. Extra virgin is the only grade that is simply pressed fruit, never refined, so it is the only one that adds anything to the taste. In a brownie its fruity, slightly bitter and peppery notes sit behind the cocoa the way coffee or salt does, making the chocolate taste deeper rather than making the brownie taste of olives.
- The oven is not a problem for good oil. A common worry is that baking "burns" extra virgin olive oil. The oven air is hot, but the moist batter inside cannot rise much above the boiling point of water while it still holds water, which keeps the oil in the middle of a brownie far below the temperatures at which a good extra virgin starts to smoke.
There is also a practical win: no butter to soften or melt and no mixer to wash. The oil goes straight into the bowl with the chocolate, and the whole batter comes together in one bowl. For the full comparison between the two fats, including nutrition and where butter still wins, see our article on olive oil vs butter.
Which Olive Oil to Use for Brownies
Use extra virgin olive oil that you would happily taste on a spoon. Chocolate is a loud flavour, so brownies can take a fuller oil than a lemon cake can; the main thing to avoid is not a strong oil but a stale one. Refined and "light" olive oils give the same fudgy texture with almost no flavour, as our article on what "light" olive oil means explains.
| Oil style | In the brownie batter | Best with |
|---|---|---|
| Delicate, ripe-fruity extra virgin | Fudgy; olive notes barely noticeable | Milk-free chocolate around 55–60% cocoa |
| Medium, green-fruity extra virgin | The easiest choice: rounder, deeper chocolate | 60–70% dark chocolate, flaky salt |
| Robust, bitter and peppery extra virgin | A noticeable peppery finish; grown-up and bold | 70% chocolate, orange zest; avoid with very bitter 85% bars |
| Refined, "pure" or "light" olive oil | Fudgy and neutral; no olive character | When you want a plain chocolate brownie |
| Stale or rancid oil of any grade | Tastes stale; chocolate does not hide it | Nothing; replace the bottle |
The terms used on olive oil labels, such as fruity, bitter and pungent, are explained in our article on what "fruity" means in olive oil. Freshness matters more than style: rancid oil smells of crayons, putty or old nuts, and an oven concentrates that note rather than covering it, so give the bottle a sniff before you bake; our guide to telling whether olive oil has gone off walks through the checks. When buying, look for a harvest or best-before date, dark glass or a tin, and a named origin, as set out in our guide to choosing a quality olive oil.
Using Olive Oil in Your Own Brownie Recipe or a Boxed Mix
You do not have to use our recipe to make olive oil brownies. The swap works in most brownie recipes, and the rule depends on what the recipe started with.
- If the recipe uses vegetable, sunflower or rapeseed (canola) oil: replace it with extra virgin olive oil one for one, by volume. Both are liquid fats and behave the same way in the oven; olive oil simply adds flavour. This includes the oil a boxed brownie mix asks you to add.
- If the recipe uses butter: use roughly 75ml of olive oil for every 100g of butter (about 6 tablespoons of oil for every stick, or ½ cup, of butter), because butter is part water and oil is all fat. Melt the chocolate in the oil instead of in the butter, and skip any instruction to cream butter and sugar.
- If the recipe relies on creamed butter for a cakey, risen brownie: expect a denser, fudgier result with oil. That is usually an improvement, but it is a different brownie.
For the wider picture on swapping oils, our comparison of olive oil vs vegetable oil explains what is actually in each bottle.
Variations worth trying
- Salted olive oil brownies: scatter flaky sea salt over the batter before baking, and finish each square with a few drops of oil and another pinch of salt.
- Orange: whisk the finely grated zest of one orange into the sugar in step 3; it pairs especially well with a robust oil.
- Nuts: replace the chocolate chunks with 60g (½ cup) of toasted walnuts or shelled pistachios, roughly chopped.
- Extra dark: use a 70% chocolate and Dutch-process cocoa, and keep the oil to a medium-fruity style so the bitterness does not stack up.
Troubleshooting Olive Oil Brownies
My brownies are greasy or oil pooled on top
The oil did not bind into the batter. Usually the eggs were whisked in too briefly, or the chocolate was very hot when they went in. Whisk hard after each egg until the batter is thick and glossy, and let very hot chocolate cool for a couple of minutes first.
They came out cakey, not fudgy
Too much flour (scooped cups are the usual culprit), too much mixing after the flour, or a few minutes too long in the oven. Weigh the flour, fold gently, and take the tin out at moist crumbs.
No crackly top
The shiny, crackly crust forms from the sugar and egg whisked into the warm chocolate mixture. If it is missing, the sugar and eggs were not whisked long enough. A full minute after the second egg usually fixes it.
They taste bitter or too much of olive
A very robust, peppery oil combined with a very dark chocolate can stack bitterness on bitterness. Next time use a medium or delicate extra virgin, or a 60–70% chocolate rather than an 85% bar.
Storing and Serving Olive Oil Brownies
Keep the brownies in an airtight container at cool room temperature and they will stay fudgy for three to four days; because the oil stays liquid, they do not firm up the way butter brownies can. They also keep in the fridge, where they become denser and chewier, which some people prefer; let them sit out for 15 minutes before eating. To freeze, wrap squares individually and freeze for up to two months, then thaw at room temperature.
Serve them as they are, with fresh raspberries or orange segments, or with a scoop of dairy-free ice cream to keep the plate dairy-free. A few drops of extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of flaky salt over a square sounds unusual and works very well with dark chocolate.
Why Sidr & Stone
In an olive oil brownie, the oil is the one ingredient that decides whether the chocolate tastes of something more than cocoa, and it is the one we can speak for. Sidr & Stone's extra virgin olive oil comes from one place, our own farm on the plains outside Marrakech, and we control every step from tree to bottle.
- Single-estate: Sidr & Stone's olive oil comes from our own family-owned farm near Marrakech, Morocco, with no blending across origins.
- Rain-fed: the trees are not irrigated; they take what the season gives.
- Organically grown: no synthetic fertilisers, pesticides or herbicides are used (not yet certified; certification is in progress).
- Single harvest: each batch is small and limited, picked when the fruit is ready; once it is gone, it is gone until the next harvest.
- Cold-pressed: to protect flavour, aroma and polyphenols.
- Unfiltered extra virgin: minimally processed, so a little natural sediment at the bottom of the bottle is normal.
- 100% natural: a single ingredient, olive oil, with nothing added.
- Dark glass with a gold label: 500ml bottles that protect the oil from light.
- 10% of profits to charity: a Sidr & Stone commitment across every product.
- Fulfilment in the UK, EU and US.
We will not tell you ours is the best olive oil for brownies; the tin will be the judge of that. What we will say is that it is single-estate Moroccan, rain-fed, organically grown and cold-pressed, and that the product page carries the details of the current batch, so you can check its freshness for yourself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you use olive oil in brownies?
Yes. Olive oil works in almost any brownie recipe, and extra virgin olive oil gives a fudgy texture and a deeper chocolate flavour. Use it one for one in place of vegetable oil, or roughly 75ml for every 100g of butter.
Why are olive oil brownies so fudgy?
Olive oil stays liquid at room temperature and contains no water, so there is less steam to lift and dry the crumb, and the brownie stays soft as it cools. A low amount of flour and a slightly underbaked centre do the rest.
How do I know when olive oil brownies are done?
The top is set and shiny, the edges are firm, and a skewer in the centre comes out with moist crumbs but no runny batter. If the skewer comes out completely clean, they have baked slightly too long.
Can I use olive oil instead of vegetable oil in a boxed brownie mix?
Yes. Use the same amount of olive oil as the box asks for vegetable oil. Extra virgin adds a gentle fruity depth; a refined or "light" olive oil gives the same texture with a neutral taste.
Is Sidr & Stone's olive oil good for brownies?
It is a fresh, unfiltered, single-estate extra virgin olive oil, cold-pressed, which is the kind of oil a brownie rewards. Taste it on a spoon first and decide whether you want it in the batter, as a finishing drizzle, or both.
Are olive oil brownies dairy-free?
Our recipe is: it has no butter, milk or cream. Check that your chocolate and cocoa contain no milk, since some dark chocolates do. The recipe does contain eggs and wheat.
Where can I buy single-estate extra virgin olive oil for baking?
Our Cold-Pressed Single-Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil - Marrakech (500ml) is available directly from the Sidr & Stone website, with fulfilment in the UK, EU and US.
Is olive oil a medicine?
No. Olive oil is a food, not a medicine. It has a long traditional history — including being honoured in the Prophetic Sunnah — and a substantial body of modern research, particularly around polyphenols, cardiovascular health, and the Mediterranean diet pattern. It can be a worthwhile part of a healthy routine, but it does not cure diseases and is not a substitute for medical care. Be cautious of any olive oil marketed with specific disease-cure claims.
Final Thoughts
Olive oil brownies are not a novelty or a compromise. For the brownie most people want, dense, fudgy and soft for days, oil is arguably the better fat, and extra virgin adds a quiet depth that makes the chocolate taste more like itself. The method is simple: melt, whisk, fold, and take the tin out a little before you think you should.
Because the oil is a main ingredient, it is worth using one you enjoy: fresh, extra virgin, with a clear origin. Our Cold-Pressed Single-Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil - Marrakech (500ml), single-estate, rain-fed and cold-pressed, is available to pre-order now, with fulfilment in the UK, EU and US.
Our extra virgin olive oil is grown organically on our own single-estate farm on the plains outside Marrakech: we control every step from tree to bottle, and no synthetic pesticides, herbicides or fertilisers are used. It is not yet certified organic — certification is in progress, and we will publish it as soon as it comes through.
Disclaimer: This article shares a home-baking recipe and general cooking information at the time of writing; ovens, ingredients and individual dietary needs vary. The recipe contains eggs and wheat, the nut variation contains nuts, and chocolate or cocoa may contain milk or traces of other allergens, so check labels. Olive oil is a food, not a medicine, and is not a substitute for medical treatment of any condition. For any health concern, consult a qualified medical professional.