[✅ 2026 May Update]
It’s been a few months since I first shared this recipe. I’m still baking this brownie every two weeks because I still haven’t found a cafe in Canberra that satisfies my craving for a “less-sweet, firm-textured” brownie. The ingredients (Noshu chocolate and rice flour) are still widely available at Coles and Woolworths as of May 2026.
Quick Shopping Tip for Noshu Chocolate:
- The original price of Noshu baking choco is $5.50 at Coles and Woolworths, but it sometimes goes on sale for around $3.80. I recommend grabbing a few bags when they are on sale.
Simple One-Bowl Brownie Recipe
Sometimes I really crave brownies. Instead of paying $7–8 for a single store-bought brownie, it often feels easier and more satisfying to buy ingredients and bake them at home.
Cut brownie after cooling slightly – warm, moist, and slightly dry, the best time to eat.
Baking at home means:
- You can adjust the sweetness
- You can control the texture
- Most importantly, you can make brownies exactly to your own taste
If you like brownies that are firm on the outside, slightly dry, but still moist inside, I highly recommend trying this at home. This recipe is based on very simple ingredients and a one-bowl baking method, and all ingredients are easy to find at Australian supermarkets.
One-bowl Brownie Ingredients
- Soy milk 320g
- Baking chocolate chips 100g
- Rice flour 100g
- Almond flour 50g
- Plain flour 10g
- Cocoa powder about 5g
- A pinch of salt
👉 Optional ingredients
- Honey / syrup / sweetener syrup 5–10g
- Chopped nuts, cacao nibs, and coconut long slices
Ingredients are easy to find at major Australian supermarkets, except for the almond flour (Costco).
Texture Focus: Crispy Outside, Moist Inside
The key point of this recipe is: Using rice flour as the main base, reducing crumbling, and creating a firm outside with a moist inside. I have tried making brownies with 100% rice flour many times before. They were too dry, crumbled easily, and it was difficult to get the texture I wanted. After many trials and errors, I finally settled on this flour ratio.
Soy Milk vs Oat Milk – How They Affect Texture
I am not professionally trained in baking, but based on personal experience:
Soy Milk
- Protein helps the batter hold its shape
- Results in a firmer texture
- Brownies crumble much less
Soy milk brownie cross-section with optional walnuts, showing a firmer structure and less crumbling.
Oat Milk
- Has a weaker structure
- Brownies break apart easily
- Inside is more moist than dry
Oat milk brownie made with 320g oat milk and coconut long slices instead of walnuts, using the same base ingredients.
Oat milk brownie texture that breaks very easily and feels much more moist than the soy milk version.
When using oat milk, I usually freeze the brownies and eat them the next day. Even then, the texture is less firm than with soy milk. Without freezing, they crumble very easily. 👉 If you want a firmer brownie, soy milk is recommended.
Milk & Chocolate Base
- Warm 320g of soy milk in the microwave
- Add 100g of baking chocolate chips and melt (skip the double boiler for simplicity)
Chocolate choice tip:
I use Noshu 97% sugar-free chocolate. Too milky or too sweet chocolates do not match my personal preference. 👉 You can use your preferred chocolate, but changing the chocolate may slightly affect the texture.
Flour Ingredients for Texture
Base Flours
- Rice flour 100g
- Cocoa powder about 5g (improves colour and richness)
- Almond flour 50g (adds oil, nutty flavour, and better texture)
Plain Flour
- 10g to slightly improve structure
- Add last and mix only until no dry flour remains to avoid overworking gluten
Optional Add-ins: These add optional texture and bite
- Chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans)
- Cacao nibs
- Coconut long slices
Batter fully mixed with walnuts added as an optional ingredient.
Batter poured into a baking dish lined with baking paper (ceramic dish in my case).
How to Make One-Bowl Brownies
- First, prepare the milk and chocolate base. Then add the dry ingredients to the same bowl and mix gently until combined.
- Mix well, add plain flour last and mix only lightly
- Preheat oven to 170°C
- Bake for 40 minutes
Baking check:
- Use a cake tester to test doneness
- If done: remove and let cool slightly to maintain firm texture
- If underbaked: bake 5–10 minutes longer
⚠ Baking time may vary depending on your oven
Brownie was baked for 40 minutes and left to cool slightly in the baking dish.
✅ Who This Recipe Is For
- People who dislike overly sweet store-bought brownies
- People who enjoy dry, firm desserts
- People who want to reduce gluten in baking
🛠 Troubleshooting Common Problems
Even with the same recipe, the texture can vary depending on the products you use, so that some small adjustments might be necessary.
If Brownies Crumble Too Much
- Switch to soy milk
- Add 5–10g more plain flour
- Keep almond flour the same or add 10g more
- Cut only after completely cooled
If Brownies Are Too Hard
- Reduce baking time by 5–10 minutes
- Add about 20g more milk
- Reduce rice flour and replace with almond flour
- If frozen, let sit at room temperature 5–10 minutes before eating
Final Thoughts
This is a true one-bowl recipe: measure, mix, bake. Mixing thoroughly without flour lumps is very important, even though it takes less than 10 minutes. Before baking, taste a small amount. The baked brownies will taste slightly less sweet than the batter. The outside is slightly firm but not like a biscuit, and the inside is soft and moist with a very subtle dryness. Storing in the fridge can make the texture slightly drier and the taste a bit less sweet. Enjoying it with a flat white adds another layer of enjoyment.
Chilled soy milk rice flour brownie after one day, showing a firmer and drier texture as moisture is reduced. This is unavoidable with refrigeration, so the best time to eat them is right after they have cooled slightly.
*This review is based on my personal experience, and results may vary for others. Please take it as a friendly reference.
