Better than box-mix by a thousand miles, these easy brownies from scratch are made in just one bowl! They’re outrageously fudgy, chocolatey, and absolutely irresistible. Recipe includes a how-to video!
Never Buy a Box-Mix Again
Toss the box-mixes (and their artificial flavors and whatnot) and scrap any other brownie recipe you may have saved, today I’m introducing you to your new favorite. This is an easy recipe for one bowl, ridiculously fudgy, chocolate-chip-stuffed, brownies from scratch.
I shared this recipe years ago and it’s one of my personal favorites on the blog, a classic right up there with my “worst” chocolate chip cookies. It’s been used over and over again here as base of many of my other recipes (most deliciously, my cheesecake brownies) and is perfect for beginner and advanced bakers alike.
At its core, this is really a no-frills, easy brownie recipe that really needs little introduction, but if you’re like me and love nerding out about nitty gritty recipe details, please read on (otherwise, hit that big “Jump to Recipe” button overhead!
Why You’ll Love This Brownie Recipe:
- Easy! Comes together in just one bowl in 10 minutes. Minimal mess & no mixer needed!
- Intense chocolate flavor. True chocolate lovers will enjoy the rich, fudgy decadence of these brownies coupled with the added chocolate chips!
- Shiny, crackly tops. While this may merely be an aesthetic issue, everyone loves those shiny meringue-like tops and this recipe delivers!
- True brownie texture. They’re moist, dense and chewy, no cakey brownies here!
Ingredients
We won’t go over every ingredient in detail (who has the time when there are brownies to be made!), but I think you should know what it is that truly makes these the best brownies from scratch. The ingredients are common enough, but there are a few extras mixed in, along with a bit of technique… (more on that later). Let’s dig in.
- Sugar. A blend of granulated and brown sugar is the way to go in almost every recipe, honestly, but especially here. The subtle molasses-ness of the brown sugar rounds out the flavor of the chocolate and adds extra chew to our brownies!
- Eggs… plus an extra yolk! While egg whites are important here and help account for the meringue-like crackly top (coupled with the above sugar), adding a whole extra egg, yolk and call, would make these brownies cakey. Adding an extra egg yolk enriches the brownies and makes them more tender and fudgy!
- Chocolate. When I make brownies from scratch I don’t mess around. For a truly intense chocolate flavor, we build the brownies on a base of melted chocolate and butter and then toss in some cocoa powder while the mixture is still warm (to help bloom it, as we do in my chocolate cake). This gives us the richest, chocolatiest (I’m being told this isn’t a word, but you know what I mean!) results possible. Oh, and then we toss in some chocolate chips at the end, too!
- Instant coffee. If you prefer chocolate that’s a bit on the darker side, this is a must-add. Just half a teaspoon of instant coffee granules enhances the chocolate flavor, particularly the more bitter flavors that you’ll find in dark chocolate.
Sam’s Tip: Chocolate chips work just fine here, but when I have baking bars on hand I much prefer to use them instead (for melting with the butter). Use semisweet baking bars, or, if you like a darker chocolate, use 60% cacao instead!
How to Make Brownies from Scratch
- Melt together butter and chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate bar). I recently shared in my post on how to melt chocolate in the microwave that it’s critical you heat the mixture slowly and in short increments, stirring well in-between. That applies here as well!
- Stir in the cocoa and instant coffee right away, while the mixture is still warm.
- Stir in the sugars and then the eggs. Add the eggs one at a time and stir vigorously after each addition. Is it a bit of an arm workout, sure, but it’s worth it for those crackly tops!
- Add the vanilla and salt and, finally, flour. Stir very well, then stir in some chocolate chips, spread into a 9″ pan and bake until a toothpick comes out fudgy.
Just one bowl and 10 minutes and you’ll truly have the best brownies from scratch… or really just the best brownies, period.
Tips for Perfect Brownies
- Melt the butter and chocolate slowly. I touched on this above, but it’s worth reiterating. Heat the butter and chocolate in 15-20ish second increments and stir well in between. If your mixture becomes gritty or grainy, it’s been heated too quickly or for too long and will need to be tossed.
- Stir the eggs very well. This step helps to encourage those delicate meringue-like crackly tops. With many of my recipes (like my muffins) I encourage mixing gently and slowly, but there’s no need to worry about over-mixing here.
- Chill the dough… or don’t. This one’s optional, but it’s a step I used to use consistently when making brownies from scratch. Chilling the dough in the refrigerator for as little as 30 minutes or for as long as overnight can give you a fudgier brownie with a cracklier surface. This is a tip I learned long ago from Bon Appetit. I wanted to include this because I used to always chill my brownies before baking, but recently I’ve been skipping this step to save time, and honestly no one has noticed a difference.
- Don’t over-bake. This will yield dry, tough brownies. Always better to slightly under-bake rather than over-bake. Your toothpick should yield fudgy crumbs (not wet batter, and make sure you didn’t accidentally spear a chocolate chip with your toothpick!). A completely clean toothpick indicates brownies that may be over-done.
FAQ
An extra egg yolk, a bit of brown sugar, real melted chocolate, a bit less flour than you might expect, and no baking powder or baking soda all contribute to the rich fudginess of these brownies. If your brownies turn out cakey after following my recipe, it may be that your flour was accidentally over-measured.
After lots and lots of testing, I can definitively say that butter yields the best flavor, the best crackly tops, and the best texture. While there’s a case to be made for substituting a small bit of the butter with some oil and most box-mixes do best with oil, I recommend using all butter when making brownies from scratch (and even recommend this in my homemade brownie mix).
Unfortunately, a straight substitution of the chocolate called for with white chocolate yields results that are too sweet and a bit oily. This is due to the ingredients that make up white chocolate. However, I do have a white chocolate brownie recipe that I recommend you try instead, or for a chocolate-less version try my blondies!
This is truly the easiest, ultimate, best brownie recipe. And I really think you are going to love it.
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Brownies from Scratch
Ingredients
- 12 Tablespoons (170 g) unsalted butter cut into Tablespoon-sized pieces
- ½ cup (100 g) semisweet chocolate chips or you may use a 4 oz semisweet baking bar, chopped
- ½ cup (50 g) natural cocoa powder (unsweetened)
- ½ teaspoon instant coffee grounds optional
- ¾ cup (150 g) sugar
- ¾ cup (150 g) light brown sugar firmly packed
- 2 large eggs + 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup (150 g) semisweet chocolate chips
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and line a 9×9 baking pan¹ with parchment paper²
- Combine butter and ½ cup (100g) semisweet chocolate chips in a large, microwave-safe bowl.12 Tablespoons (170 g) unsalted butter, ½ cup (100 g) semisweet chocolate chips
- 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.½ cup (50 g) natural cocoa powder (unsweetened), ½ teaspoon instant coffee grounds
- Add sugars, stir until completely combined.¾ cup (150 g) light brown sugar, ¾ cup (150 g) sugar
- 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).2 large eggs + 1 large egg yolk
- Stir in vanilla extract and salt.1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon salt
- Add flour, stir until completely combined. You cannot overmix this batter, make sure it is mixed very well.1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
- Stir in chocolate chips.¾ cup (150 g) semisweet chocolate chips
- Spread into prepared 9×9 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
¹Using different pans
This recipe can also be made in a 13×9 pan, it will need to bake for about 16-18 minutes in a 13×9. I used a metal baking pan for this recipe, if you opt to use a glass dish keep in mind that the brownies may need to bake for longer.²Greasing the pan
Alternatively you may lightly grease the pan with butter — the parchment paper is a little wiggly when you’re trying to spread your batter into it, but I prefer it for ease of cleanup.Adding nuts
You may add chopped nuts to this recipe if you would like. Stir up to ¾ 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!Storing
Store brownies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
I originally shared these brownies from scratch on 02/01/2017. Recipe remains the same, but I’ve updated some of the photos and added a video and tried to make the post itself more informative.
Lyn
I have made these brownies several times and can honestly say this recipe is great, actually amazing. I love serving the brownies with vanilla ice cream and fresh raspberries. Anyway I have a friend who is gluten intolerant and I wanted to make these brownies for him so a few days ago I made this recipe using gluten free all purpose flour. The brownies took longer to bake (42 minutes) which wasn’t a big deal but they just were not as amazing. Good but not good enough that I would want to share them with anyone. I wish I had thought to check out your brownie recipes because if I had I would have seen the flourless brownie recipe. I hope to try that recipe sometime soon. Thank you for sharing your recipes.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you love the brownies, Lyn! Definitely try the flourless brownie recipe for your friend–we think those will be a better success for you ❤️
Tahera
Hi Sam, I’m a biiig fan….all your recipes are just awesome and especially this brownie recipe is so simple yet so delicious, all my familymembers just love it..I would request you to give some suggestions for an eggless version of it as I want to make it for one of my friend who’s a vegetarian. Thanks
Sam
Hi Tahera! I’m so glad everyone has enjoyed everything so much! Unfortunately I don’t have an eggless brownie. I haven’t experimented with one either so I can’t say exactly how to do it. 🙁
Sharon
I made these brownies a few days ago and they are to die for! The perfect texture. Fudgy, yes! Wet and mealy? Not at all. I’ve been dissatisfied with box brownie mixes for a few years now. Specifically, the Ghirardelli brand. Always seemed great on the edges and raw, wet in middle. No matter what I did. Made this recipe in a metal 9×9 pan and they are perfection all the way through! Dense, fudgy, dark chocolate flavor and not just on the edges…I baked them for 37 minutes, I believe. When I got dull crumbs instead of shiny wet batter on the toothpick when I tested, I called them done. Thank you for this recipe!!! My new go-to brownie recipe.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so glad you found our recipe, Sharon! Sounds like it was exactly what you were looking for 🥰
Jessy
I just came here today to say that this really is the best recipe! I made some brownies today for first time in a long and couldn’t figure out why they didn’t come out as well as usual- it’s because I used the wrong recipe saved in pintrest thinking it was this one! Lesson learned.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so glad you found our recipe, Jessy! Thanks for the review ❤️
Jess
I have been loyal to the Ghirardelli boxed brownies for years, but I’ve been moving away from packaged food in favor of making more from scratch. Tonight was the first time I made these brownies, and I knew they’d be fantastic (based on the fact that every other recipe I’ve tried on this site has knocked it out of the park.) I wasn’t wrong! No more boxed brownies for me. FYI, I baked these in an 8×8 metal pan and 40 minutes was perfect.
Aidan
So easy to make, yet so good! I’ve been trying all your recipes, and they’re all just as good! Thank you for making this site!
Katie
Delicious chocolatey chewy brownies! And the top was perfect too! I’ve never made a brownie where the top looked like the usual box brownie way, but this recipe did it! I did put the batter in the fridge, which I’ve never done before either. I am so happy that I decided on Sam’s recipe. I was getting overwhelmed from which brownie recipe to choose from in Google, but luckily I remembered sugarspunrun never lets me down. Also, just to add: I melted the butter on the stovetop, then added cocoa powder, then added the chocolate chips.
Perfect recipe!
Nelly
I noticed that the brownie batter was much thicker than yours in your video. I couldn’t pour it out of my bowl and I had to scrape it into my baking pan. As you can imagine, spreading it was much harder than expected. I used a 9×13 baking pan with your recommended baking times, and they do taste good! I’m just confused about the thickness of the batter and I wonder if it could be a mismeasurement of the flour? I did mix a lot, as you recommended, but I know overmixing for other desserts like cake and cupcakes can be problematic.
Sam
Hi Nelly! I’m so sorry this happened! This one is really, really tough to over-mix. Did you weigh your flour by chance? It does sound like there may have been too much flour in the dough. 🙁
Katie
Mine was thick too, and I measured by weight, mixed by hand mixer. And the brownies turned out great 🙂 Funny the different batters. 🙂
Prajna
I came across this recipe by chance after my kids insisted I make some brownies today. The brownies were a super hit with my family and my nephew has insisted that I make some more tomorrow. I did not have brown sugar today but the next time I will make sure to add them. Also did not refrigerate the batter but it was still so fudgy.. Add a dash of ice cream to it and I’m sure it’s going to be yummy😋
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy it was a hit! Also, we have a post on how to make brown sugar, if you run out again 😊
Wendy
Yum! Chocolate! Chocolate! Chocolate!
Jada
I don’t have any brown sugar, will that make a difference?
Sam
Hi Jada! It will change the flavor a bit.
Casey
I’ve had your recipe saved for awhile, and I noticed your note that the recipe hadn’t changed even though you updated the post, but I thought the original called for blooming the cocoa powder in water. Made these the other night and didn’t quite turn out the same as usual.
Thanks!
Sam
Hi Casey! I did not change the recipe, just updated it for some better pictures and to make it a little better for the reader. I’m sorry they didn’t turn out quite the same. 🙁
Carlos
Hi, I don’t have a microwave at home. Can I combine the chips and butter in an electric oven? And if so, How?
Sam
Hi Carlos! It may be quicker to do it on the stove top in a pot. You could stick the butter and chocolate in a bowl in the oven. You really need it to just melt together. 🙂
Carlos
Thanks, I will try this recipe soon
Sarah
Hey there Sam,
First off I am so glad to have stumbled onto your page. Thank you for all you have invested in this gem of a resource for all of us. You are gifted for sure. Bouncing from one recipe to another (wiping drool from my chin) product recommendations and learning tools, an hour goes by like five minutes!
I have a question. Can I use a stand mixer for this brownie recipe? To beat the eggs in easier? I didn’t see it mentioned anywhere and I just wanted to make sure before I went ahead and did it.
Thanks again and I’ve got a whole list of your recipes I am excited about trying. 🙂
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Sarah! We are so happy you are such a fan of our site–that’s so nice to hear! You can definitely use a mixer here. 😊
Sarah
Thanks Emily,
The brownies came out great, dangerously great… I’m heading in to make another batch! Thanks again. 🙂
Sam
Hi Angela! I’m so sorry this happened! Could it be that an ingredient was mis-measured? I think a little extra sugar could cause them to be oily. The batter is a pretty thick batter but shouldn’t come out oily. 🙁
Erin
This is my go to brownie recipe. It is perfection. I usually do the full 30 minute chill. I LOVE that it all comes together in a single bowl; so easy to make.
Dianne
I love all your recipes I have received so far that I made a separate folder just for your recipes so I can find the one I want easily.
Sam
Thank you so much, Dianne! I’m so honored and happy to hear it. 🙂
Paula
Hi! I make this recipe often, always in a 9×9 pan, and I cut my brownies into 9 large 3×3 bars. If I wanted to double this recipe, which I want to do, what size pan would you suggest, in order to maintain the thickness that I get with the 9×9 pan? Do you think a 13×9 would give me the thickness? I would cut 12 3×3 bars from a 13×9 pan. So, I would just be getting 3 more. Any suggestions? Thank you! Great recipe btw!!
Sam
Hi Paula! A 9 x 9 typically holds about 8 cups of batter and a 9 x 13 typically holds about 10 cups of batter. Using these measurements, doubling would give you some really thick brownies. You could increase it by 50% and then your brownies would just be slightly thicker. 🙂