Vegan Christmas Brownies (Santa Hat Dessert)

Christmas is almost here, so what better way to celebrate than with a sweet treat? These vegan Christmas brownies are a festive, crowd-pleasing dessert, and I put together this step-by-step recipe to help you nail them on the first try.

These vegan Christmas brownies are rich, fudgy chocolate brownies baked without eggs or dairy, then dressed up for the holidays with a swipe of homemade Nutella, a dollop of coconut whipped cream, and a fresh strawberry on top. They look like little Santa hats, which makes them perfect for a holiday table, and they come together with pantry staples plus a few festive finishing touches. If you want a showstopper dessert that happens to be plant-based, this is the one.

Every year there’s that tough question: what dessert do you make this Christmas? Between everyone’s tastes, your budget, and how much time you actually have, the options can feel endless. This is why I created this step-by-step recipe to help you settle it. It’s the kind of dessert that photographs beautifully, disappears fast, and works whether your table is fully vegan or just curious.

What you’ll need for these brownies

The recipe has three simple parts: the brownie base, a coconut whipped cream, and the festive topping. For the brownie, you’ll use melted dark chocolate, cocoa powder, all-purpose flour, sugar, coconut oil, a spoonful of applesauce, vanilla, baking powder, chocolate chips, and a pinch of salt. The egg replacer is psyllium husks softened in warm filtered coffee, which keeps the whole thing plant-based. If you’d rather make a vegetarian version, the card lets you swap in one large beaten egg instead of the psyllium.

For the topping you’ll need canned coconut milk (for the whipped cream), a little vanilla and powdered sugar, homemade Nutella, and fresh strawberries. That Nutella is the secret weapon here. You can make your own so the recipe stays entirely plant-based, and it gives the brownies a glossy, chocolate-hazelnut layer under the cream.

Why psyllium and coffee instead of eggs

Psyllium husks are the trick that lets these brownies skip the egg without turning crumbly. When you stir psyllium into the warm coffee and let it sit for about 10 minutes, it forms a thick gel that binds the batter and holds moisture, much like an egg would. The warm coffee helps it hydrate faster and, as a bonus, coffee deepens the chocolate flavor without making the brownies taste like coffee. Give the gel its full rest before mixing it in, otherwise the batter won’t bind properly and the brownies can crumble when you cut them.

How to get fudgy brownies every time

The order of mixing matters. Cream the coconut oil, applesauce, and sugar first until smooth, then work in the psyllium gel (or egg), vanilla, and melted chocolate before you add anything dry. Fold in the flour, cocoa, baking powder, chocolate chips, and salt gently with a spatula, just until you no longer see dry streaks. Overmixing at this stage develops the flour and gives you cakey, tough brownies instead of fudgy ones.

Bake in a greased square tray at 200C for about 40 minutes. Ovens vary, so start checking toward the end: a toothpick should come out with a few moist crumbs, not wet batter and not bone dry. Then be patient and let them cool for at least 30 minutes in the pan. Warm brownies fall apart when you cut them, and they need that time to set into clean, fudgy squares.

Nailing the coconut whipped cream

The coconut whipped cream is what turns a plain brownie into a Santa-hat dessert, and it lives or dies on one detail: chill the can. Refrigerate the canned coconut milk overnight so the thick cream separates from the watery liquid. When you open it, discard the liquid and scoop only the firm cream into your bowl. Beat it with an electric mixer, then add the vanilla and powdered sugar and keep whipping until it’s light and fluffy. If the cream is too soft to hold a peak, your can wasn’t cold enough or was low in fat, so reach for a full-fat can next time.

Assembling the little Santa hats

Once the brownies are fully cool, spread the homemade Nutella evenly over the whole slab, then cut into equal squares. Top each square with about a teaspoon of the coconut whipped cream and finish with a fresh strawberry. The white cream and red strawberry give you that instantly recognizable Santa-hat look. For the neatest presentation, assemble close to serving time so the strawberries stay glossy and the cream stays firm.

Make-ahead and storing leftovers

The brownie base is very make-ahead friendly. Bake it a day or two in advance and keep it covered at room temperature or in the fridge, then add the Nutella, cream, and strawberries the day you serve. The coconut whipped cream also holds well in the fridge for a day or two, so you can whip it ahead too. Store fully assembled brownies in an airtight container in the fridge and enjoy them within a couple of days, since the fresh strawberries won’t last much longer than that.

If you’re building a whole plant-based holiday dessert spread, these fit right in next to a batch of vegan Christmas cookies or a slice of vegan Christmas pound cake. If you need them gluten-free, take a look at my gluten-free vegan brownies for a version without wheat flour. And for more inspiration, this dessert is part of my bigger roundup of vegan Christmas recipes.

If you make these vegan Christmas brownies, I’d love to know how the Santa hats turned out. Leave a star rating and drop a comment below with your tweaks, whether you went for the psyllium or the egg version, or found a strawberry substitute that worked beautifully. Happy holidays and happy baking!

Vegan Christmas Brownies

Fudgy, eggless brownies topped with chocolate hazelnut spread, fluffy coconut whipped cream and a fresh strawberry, so every square looks like a little Santa hat. Completely plant-based, with psyllium husks doing the binding instead of eggs.

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Rate

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Choose Serving Size 9

Ingredients 

• ½ cup dark chocolate melted
• 2 Tbsp psyllium husks or one large egg, beaten, for a vegetarian version
• 6 Tbsp filtered coffee warm
• ¾ cup sugar
• 6 Tbsp coconut oil melted
• 1 Tbsp applesauce
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ⅓ cup chocolate chips dairy-free
• 1 pinch salt

For the whipped cream:

• 1 cup coconut milk canned, chilled overnight
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp powdered sugar

For the topping:

• 3 Tbsp Nutella homemade
• 2 cups strawberries fresh

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 200C.
• In a small bowl, mix the warm coffee with the psyllium husks. Let it sit for about 10 minutes, until it turns into a gel.
• In a large bowl, add the coconut oil, applesauce and sugar. Mix until well incorporated, then stir in the psyllium husk gel (or the beaten egg), the vanilla extract and the melted chocolate. Mix until the composition is smooth and homogeneous.
• Using a spatula, fold in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, chocolate chips and salt.
• Grease a square baking tray. Transfer the batter to the tray and bake for about 40 minutes.
• Let the brownies cool in the tray for about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, prepare the whipped cream.
• Discard the liquid from the can of coconut milk and use only the thick cream on top.
• In a medium bowl, beat the coconut cream with an electric mixer. Add the vanilla extract and powdered sugar, then keep mixing until fluffy.
• To assemble, spread the Nutella evenly over the cooled brownie and cut it into equal squares. Add 1 tsp of whipped cream on each square and top with a strawberry.

Notes

Chill the can of coconut milk overnight so the cream separates from the liquid and whips up properly, and let the psyllium-coffee gel rest the full 10 minutes before mixing it in. Store the plain brownies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days and add the cream and strawberries just before serving, so the topping stays fluffy.

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