Chocolate Pumpkin Swirl Brownies (Vegan GF)

Rich and fudgy chocolate brownies with a pumpkin and tahini swirl on top. Full of ginger, cinnamon and mixed spices, these seasonal brownies are warming, chocolate-y, naturally plant-based with a GF-option. They are quick and easy to bake and perfect for Halloween treats!

I am a little bit in love with these brownies for a few reasons; they’re so easy to make, they’re super fudgy and rich, and they have the most flavoursome pumpkin cinnamon swirl on top. They come together in two bowls (one for the swirl and one for the batter) and they’re the perfect balance between a cakey and fudgy brownie.

Chocolate Pumpkin Swirl Brownies
Chocolate Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

I first made these with a Ginger Orange flavoured chocolate which works so well with the pumpkin swirl and seasonal flavours, but you can use any chocolate here! The rest of the ingredients that go into these brownies are fairly simple and easy to find, too:

  • Ground chia seeds or ground flaxseeds: these act as the β€œegg” replacer and form a gel to hep bind these brownies together. If you can only find whole seeds, blend or grind them to a fine flour for the best gel-consistency and smoothest texture.
  • Plain or oat flour: I’ve not tried these with a GF flour blend but I have with oat flour (which you can opt for a GF variety) and they work really well. Plain flour will give the smoothest texture while oat flour is slightly more textured. Don’t bother buying oat flour, just blend your own oats until fine.
  • Cocoa powder: or cacao powder, both will work here.
  • Coconut sugar: I always choose coconut sugar for the delicious flavour and colour, but you can use caster sugar instead.
  • Baking powder and salt: for a little rise and flavour!
  • Pumpkin puree: pretty essential for these Chocolate Pumpkin Swirl Brownies. The puree keeps the texture really light and squidgy.
  • Plant-based milk: use any variety you have open like oat, coconut, soya or almond. It’s a good idea to warm the milk so the temperature difference doesn’t cause the chocolate the start to solidify.
  • Vanilla: for flavour. It is not essential so you can skip it.
Chocolate Pumpkin Swirl Brownies
Chocolate Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

Simply make the chia seed gel, stir together the dry ingredients before pouring in all of the wet ingredients to form a thick and luscious batter. This forms the base of these Chocolate Pumpkin Swirl Brownies and then the fun part: the swirl!

The base of the swirl recipe is also pumpkin:

  • Pumpkin puree: this adds the classic pumpkin flavour and creamy smooth texture. Remember you can make your ow by roasting whole pumpkin and blending till smooth (or try with squash or sweet potato).
  • Runny tahini or almond butter: I love tahini here, but any nut butter will work although they will all being their own flavour to the swirl. It’s best to go for a really runny and smooth one.
  • The spices: cinnamon, mixed spice and ground ginger. These get added to the swirl batter to make a really seasonal and warming mixture that smells and tastes amazing! If you don’t have all of the spices needed, you could just use cinnamon.

Add spoonfuls of the swirl batter on top of the brownie base and drag a knife or small spoon to make patterns (don’t worry if they don’t look perfect or very neat!) and then bake.

Chocolate Pumpkin Swirl Brownies
Chocolate Pumpkin Swirl Brownies
Chocolate Pumpkin Swirl Brownies
Chocolate Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

The smell is pretty amazing, and you’ll be so ready when they come out of the oven. You will have to wait to cool down slightly but then serve them drizzled with more melted chocolate and a good sprinkling of flaky salt for the tastiest afternoon treat!

I hope you will love these fudgy, easy, plant-based and gluten-free brownies as much as we did. They are great for Halloween baking and using up pumpkin but they’re equally as delicious all year long. The spiced pumpkin swirl batter adds a wonderfully crisp topping as well as a gorgeous colour. Serve these with a cup of tea or coffee for an afternoon snack or with some ice cream for dessert.

How can I makes these Chocolate Pumpkin Swirl Brownies gluten-free?

These are easy to make gluten-free, just use your favourite 1:1 baking GF flour or use gluten-free oats.

Can I make these nut-free?

Yes, of course, use tahini instead of almond butter to make these free of nuts and also make sure to use a nut-free plant-based milk like oat, coconut or soya.

How long will these fudgy brownies last?

You can keep these brownies in an airtight container for 2-3 days at room temperature or free 3-5 days in the fridge. You can also freeze the brownies for up to 1 month. If you are keeping them in the fridge, allow them to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes for the best flavour.

If you are looking for more chocolate snacks, how about my: 

Chocolate Pumpkin Swirl Brownies (Vegan GF)

  • Servings: 18
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Rich and fudgy chocolate brownies with a pumpkin and tahini swirl on top. Full of ginger, cinnamon and mixed spices, these seasonal brownies are warming, chocolate-y, naturally plant-based with a GF-option. They are quick and easy to bake and perfect for Halloween treats!

Ingredients

    Pumpkin Swirl:
  • 100g pumpkin puree
  • 50g runny tahini or almond butter
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • Β½ tsp mixed spice
  • Β½ tsp ground ginger
  • Brownies:
  • 2 tsp ground chia or flaxseeds + 6 tbsp water
  • 110g plain, GF plain or oat flour (use GF oats where needed)
  • 80g cocoa powder
  • 60g coconut sugar
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • A pinch of salt
  • 180g chocolate, melted
  • 200g pumpkin puree
  • 240ml plant-based milk, room temperature or slightly warmed
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • To serve: extra melted chocolate, flaky salt, vegan ice cream or yoghurt

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 160Fan/180*C and line a tin with baking parchment (approx. 18x28cm).
  2. Make the chia or flaxseed egg by stirring together the ground seeds with the water and leave to form a gel.
  3. Prepare the pumpkin swirl by stirring together all the ingredients until smooth.
  4. Meanwhile melt the chocolate and warm the milk, if necessary. *
  5. Add the flour, cocoa powder, coconut sugar, baking powder and salt to a bowl and whisk well. pour in the melted chocolate, pumpkin puree, milk and vanilla essence and whisk to combine.
  6. Pour into the dish and smooth over the top. Spoon the pumpkin swirl on top all over the brownie and use a blunt knife or small spoon to swirl the pumpkin mix through the brownie batter.
  7. Bake for 25-30 minutes until firm on top. Allow to cool before slicing into 18 brownies. Serve with a drizzle of melted chocolate and flaky salt, if desired. Store brownies in an airtight container for 2-3 days at room temperature or for 3-5 days in the fridge. You can freeze the brownies for up to 1 month.
  8. *this prevents the hot melted chocolate and cold milk from curdling due to extreme temperature differences.
Chocolate Pumpkin Swirl Brownies
Chocolate Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

I look forward to hearing what you think of these Halloween-inspired Chocolate Pumpkin Swirl Brownies! Let me know in the comments below and tag me in your brownie bakes – I’m @nourishing.amy on Instagram and use the hashtag #nourishingamy. I’m also on TwitterFacebook and Pinterest  β€“ please say hello!

With pumpkin swirl brownie love x

  1. This look amazing! Definitely saving the recipe for later!

  2. Hey my great friend Amy! Absolutely delicious πŸ˜‹ looks super. Aww I do love vegan 🌱 brownies and never knew using pumpkin πŸŽƒ before. Wow amazing for sure, definitely will be saving to my WordPress saved collection. Splendid photography as always and perfect for Halloween πŸŽƒ and for rest of the year. Your blog has definitely inspired me to learn how to cook and make me smile each day as I have been 😒!
    Thank you and also you are definitely not judgmental- sorry for posting twice on here and on your Instagram xxxxx

  3. Sorry for only commenting now! Looking forward to seeing you on creative impact awards online. Finally I can attend xx

  4. […] Chocolate Pumpkin Swirl Brownies […]

  5. Zeenat says:

    Hi Amy,
    Thank you for your recipes
    I intend to try your chocolate pumpkin swirl brownies tonight or tomorrow.
    Can you please help me?
    1) How many eggs may I use instead of chia or flax?
    (You may give an indication in grams as this is how I measure eggs in recipes since different countries do not use the same calibre)
    2) Can coconut sugar be replaced by muscovado sugar or fine brown sugar?
    Which is best?
    3) In this recipe, is it possible to swirl the pumpkin mixture alongside the chocolate mixture?
    So that you have swirls of brown & orange in the final result.
    Thanks in advance

    • Hi Zeenat, thanks so much for your questions and so glad you want to make these brownies! I never bake with eggs so have not tested any recipes with non vegan ingredients. 1 tbsp chia seeds with the water is about 1 egg. Muscovado sugar would be too strong. Light brown sugar might work but white or golden caster sugar is probably a better substitution. And yes you should be able to swirl the batter like that – let me know how they turn out!

  6. Zeenat says:

    Amy, sorry!
    Upon reading the recipe again, after posting above comment, I saw that, yes, the pumpkin mixture is swirled through the chocolate mixture.
    I was confused bc the photographs did not seem to show 2 different shades.

    Is it better with an electric hand held mixer or mixing by hand is fine?

  7. GERRY FALLON says:

    Hi. I found your recipe on Divine site: https://www.divinechocolate.com/divine-world/recipe/sweet-potato-chocolate-chunk-blondies/
    Can you tell me if the line which says ‘ΒΌ cup oat flour 70g coconut flour’ is to include BOTH oat and coconut flour? Or is it either or?
    Thanks.

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