Better than box-mix by a thousand miles, these easy homemade brownies from scratch are made in one bowl and are supremely chocolaty, fudgy, and entirely addictive. This might just be the best brownie recipe in the world!
The Best Brownie Recipe (Seriously!)
If I were asked to sum up the past two weeks or so of my life in a single word, it would be Brownies. In a sentence: OMG, somebody help me, I am drowning in brownies.
There’s been a lot of testing. I made six batches of brownies in a single night, none of them perfect. I think I made nearly 20 batches in a single weekend.
I was on a mission, because I wanted to give you a fudgy brownie recipe, a chewy brownie recipe, a one-bowl brownie recipe from scratch. It needed to be easy, and it needed to be chocolaty. Is there anything else I can italicize?
And finally, after lots of stress, lots of Pandora-soundtracked baking sessions and collective hours of Leia pouting that I wouldn’t play tug with her, the ultimate easy, one bowl brownies from scratch have arrived.
A Recipe Worth Making Again & Again
I originally shared this recipe with you a few years ago, and since then it’s received rave five star reviews and more fan mail than just about any other recipe on my site (except maybe my worst chocolate chip cookies). And I get it, they’re that good.
With a thin, delicate, slightly crinkly meringue-esque crackle-top that gives way to a decadently rich, chewy, moist brownie center. Brownies so insanely chocolatey, they are a chocoholic’s dream.
Today I’m re-sharing this recipe with some updated photos and a video as well as tips and tricks. At its core, this is a no-frills, easy brownie recipe that really needs little introduction or explanation, but if you’re like me and love nerding out about nitty gritty recipe details, read on.
So What Makes these the BEST Brownies From Scratch?
Intense Chocolate Flavor — These brownies are made with melted chocolate (either chips or a chocolate bar) and cocoa powder, which are blended together in such a way to bring out the richest, chocolatiest flavor possible.
We’re also adding a sprinkle of instant coffee which will not make these brownies taste like coffee, but will enhance that chocolate flavor even more. And I haven’t even mentioned yet that we’re tossing in even more chocolate (chips) before all is said and done.
Two Types of Sugar — Many brownie recipes stick to white granulated sugar only. Here, we’re using a blend of granulated and brown sugar. The molasses in the brown sugar helps to not only enrich the flavor of the brownies, but also to make them more moist and chewy than they would be otherwise.
An Extra Egg Yolk — While egg whites often add airiness and levity to our baked goods, yolks help to make them more tender and richer. Since we want dense, chewy brownies, we’re tossing in an extra yolk to help with the texture, but leaving out the egg white, which could make these brownies more cakey rather than chewy.
Tips for Making the Best Brownies
Melt Chocolate and Butter Gradually. When melting your butter and chocolate together, make sure to heat in brief spurts (about 15-20 second intervals) stirring well in between. Heating everything at once for a long period of time 1) increases the chance that the butter will explode all over your microwave 😫and 2) makes it more likely that your chocolate will get too hot and will seize (/it’ll be grainy and won’t be usable). Go slowly and stir often!
Add Cocoa Powder While Butter and Chocolate are Warm. Immediately after melting together butter and chocolate, stir in your cocoa powder. Combining the cocoa powder with the warm butter and chocolate encourages the cocoa to “bloom” (I talk about blooming cocoa powder more in my chocolate cake recipe). This infuses your brownie batter with an intensely rich chocolate flavor that you wouldn’t achieve by simply sifting cocoa into your flour.
Stir Your Eggs Really, Really Well. This helps to encourage those delicate, crackly brownie tops. With a lot of my recipes (like my muffin recipes) I recommend mixing cautiously and slowly. No need to worry about over-mixing when it comes to brownies!
Chilling — An Optional Step. I know a lot of my cookie recipes call for chilling, but have you ever chilled your brownie batter? During my brownie-recipe-research, I spotted a few suggestions to chill the batter before baking. Fudgier brownies, crinklier tops, richer taste, and more were promised by simply chilling the brownie batter in the fridge.
Bon Appetit suggests refrigerating for at least an hour and up to 24 hours, but I hardly have the patience for that. However, I did find that 15 minutes in the fridge seemed to yield extra fudgy brownies with shinier, cracklier tops, so I’ve included chilling as an optional step in the brownie recipe below.
OK and just one more thing!
Slightly under-bake your brownies. Just ever so slightly, just enough that there are still some moist crumbs on your toothpick when you test the brownies. Normally we look for a clean toothpick when baking, now we’re looking one with moist crumbs (but not liquid batter). We want chewy, moist brownies, so just slightly under-baked is perfect. Plus, your brownies will continue to cook slightly as they cool out of the oven.
This is truly the easiest, ultimate, best brownie recipe. And I really think you are going to love it. Enjoy!
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Let’s bake together! Check out my how to make Brownies video at the bottom of the recipe! If you enjoy watching, make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel!
The Best Brownie Recipe
Ingredients
- 12 Tablespoons unsalted butter cut into Tablespoon-sized pieces (170g)
- 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (100g) or you may use a 4 oz semisweet baking bar, chopped
- 1/2 cup natural cocoa powder (unsweetened) (50g)
- 1/2 teaspoon instant coffee grounds optional
- 3/4 cup sugar (150g)
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar firmly packed (150g)
- 2 large eggs + 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (125g)
- 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (150g)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and line a 9x9 baking pan¹ with parchment paper²
- Combine butter and 1/2 cup (100g) semisweet chocolate chips in a large, microwave-safe bowl.
- Microwave for 30 seconds. Stir well, microwave for another 15 seconds and then stir well again. Repeat for 15 seconds until chocolate and butter are completely melted and well-combined.
- Add cocoa powder and instant coffee (if using), stir well.
- Add sugars, stir until completely combined.
- Add eggs, one at a time. After each addition, stir well, and then stir another 30 seconds (the better you stir your batter, the cracklier your brownie tops will be).
- Stir in vanilla extract.
- Sprinkle salt over batter and stir.
- Add flour, stir until completely combined. You cannot overmix this batter, make sure it is mixed very well.
- Stir in chocolate chips.
- Spread into prepared 9x9 or 13x9 pan.
- Optional, for crackle-topped brownies: Place pan with batter in refrigerator for 15-30 minutes to chill (you can skip this step if you don't have the patience to wait).
- Remove from refrigerator and bake on 350F (177C) for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out slightly fudgy, but not wet with batter.
- Allow to cool before cutting and serving.
Notes
Can I Add Nuts to this Brownie Recipe?
You may add chopped nuts to this recipe if you would like. Stir up to 3/4 cup of nuts in at the end with the chocolate chips (you may leave out the chocolate chips if you prefer). Pecans and/or walnuts make great additions!Nutrition
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I originally shared this Brownie Recipe 02/01/2017. Photos updated and video added 08/14/2019. Original photos below:
Carmen says
Really easy, very little mess, super-delicious, chewy, fudge brownies! We Melted the chocolate/butter in the bowl on a pot of hot water, mixed really well, chilled for 15 min or so and greased a 9×13 pan and baked for 20 minutes. Otherwise followed recipe exactly. We just tried them and They’re perfection! I think I prefer them a bit thinner in the larger pan as they are certainly rich! Thank you for this recipe!
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Carmen! 🙂
Monica says
Can I add M&Ms or Reese’s pieces? What quantity would you suggest-3/4 cup like the nuts?
Loved these I tried your Oreo brownie recipe !!
Sam says
Hi Monica! Those additions would be fine and use the 3/4 cup measurement, or less. 🙂
Tramelle says
I made these with semi sweet baking chocolate instead of chocolate chips. Also replaced the second set of chocolate chips with 70% dark chocolate shaved into small pieces. (Someone ate the chocolate chips, so had to substitute. )
These were some of the best brownies from scratch. These were fudgy, but not too fudgy as other recipes have been. I really enjoyed these. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Tramelle! 🙂
Brittany says
Okay…so if I’m being honest these weren’t bad but they weren’t great. I’ve not made a ton of brownies so I still need to do some recipe exploration before I can render the final verdict. My comments/experience:
– these are very Chocolatey. It would behoove you to have ice cream or milk nearby while consuming (but let’s be honest, you should ALWAYS have brownies with ice cream ESPECIALLY when fresh out the oven)
– I’m not sure if it’s worth the extra effort/ingredients to melt the chicken chips and butter beforehand. I’ll have to compare with recipes that don’t call for that.
– I cooked for 30 minutes in a square glass baking dish and it seemed that it took forever for the inside to cook while the edges were well done at 30 minutes. Inserting the toothpick always produced liquidy chocolate and crumbs when removed. I maybe put it back in the over for “five more minutes” three or four times (perhaps more)….before just giving up and hoping for the best.
Bernard says
Will be giving it a try. Just curious though, will ribboning the egg and sugar work for this too?
Sam says
He Bernard! I honestly have never tried it here, but I think it could work. 🙂