This decadent brownie recipe has been on my website since 2009, and I made sure that it was in my first cookbook—that’s how good it is and how much I stand behind its excellence. This has been one of the most popular recipes on my website for years and years now, so I’m giving it an update with new photos and new tips and tricks. This is honestly the best brownie recipe; it’s all that you are going to need from here on in!
The Best Brownie Recipe
Ever since I made the best chewy, fudgey brownie recipe ever, that were the most delicious, chewy brownies I have ever eaten and promptly lost the recipe for them, I have been searching for a recipe that creates the same chewy-riffic, chocolate bliss that I once experienced. In the search to learn how to come up with the best chewy brownie recipe that I possibly could, I learned a few things. Read on to learn how to make thick, fudgey, NOT CAKEY brownies! We aren’t making cake; we are making stick-to-your-teeth-and-smile-a-chocolate-smile brownies.
How To Make Brownies from Scratch
Making brownies from scratch is super easy! You guys, this is a one-bowl dessert, and trust me, once you try these ooey, gooey brownies from scratch, you will never use another recipe again. Remember, these were in my cookbook; these homemade, from-scratch brownies are the best! And I never say that lightly because claiming something is the best is a bold thing to do. The reviews on this recipe speak for themselves, however!
To make brownies from scratch, all you need to do is:
- Preheat your oven.
- Line a 9×9 pan with parchment paper or grease it really well with butter.
- Melt the butter in a pot. Stir in the sugar, then the cocoa.
- Add in your eggs, then stir in the vanilla.
- Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Add in your flour and barely stir it in.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the brownies pull away from the edges slightly. Cool the brownies.
How to Make Brownies Step-by-Step Video
Ingredients Needed for Brownies
Brownies are one of the easiest things to bake up and a great recipe to start your kids baking with! To make a chocolate brownie, you only really need five ingredients :
- salted butter
- eggs
- white sugar
- flour
- cocoa powder
How to Make Them Extra Chewy
People usually fall into two camps when it comes to brownies and their preferences. Either you like your brownies like cake, fluffy and a little moist, or you want them thick, chewy, and so decadent you can barely stand it.
Adding chocolate chips to the batter ensures that these are even richer and chewier!
If you need proof that this is the best brownie recipe ever, take a look at the photo below. These brownies aren’t under-cooked and raw-looking, like some brownie recipes are, to get that fudgey look and feel. They are simply wonderfully thick, chewy, and fudgey, with no raw batter middle in sight. There is a vast difference between raw batter and fudgey!
Use Butter, Never Oil in Your Brownies
It’s all about the fat, baby. A brownie recipe that will yield you fudgey, delectable brownies will have a higher fat ratio than flour. Look at how small the flour I use is – it’s only 3/4 of a cup! This ensures that it’s NOT a raw, under-cooked brownie that will yield your result of chewiness; it’s the butter. And it should only be butter, so why waste your fat calories on tasteless oil? If you see a brownie recipe with oil, skip it! (The boxed mixes use oil; do I need to say more? They have their time and place, but only when camping!)
Karlynn’s Tips & Tricks for Baking up the Best Brownie Recipe Ever
- You need to learn how not to mix the heck out of them when you put in the flour; thus, you need to do things in a particular order to do that. Make sure to follow the directions for success!
- You do NOT need any leavening agents at all in authentic brownie recipes! No raising of these brownies; thank you kindly! We are aiming for thick, fudgy little bites of chocolate heaven. If you use a leavening agent ( baking soda or powder), you turn these into a cake, making them rise and become airier.
- UNDER BAKE THEM. Always. Remember that your baked products are safe to eat when the temperature reaches 165 °F in the middle, which kills any germs from the raw eggs. Baked goods firm up around 200-210 °F, so you have a lot of area in between to play with. You want them to be chewy but not raw. The brownies will continue to cook a little after you pull them from the oven, so if you insert a toothpick and it comes out reasonably clean – you still want some fudgeyness on it, though – remove them before they bake too much.
Happy baking, everyone! Let me know in the comments below if you tried this brownie recipe!
Love,
Karlynn
The Best Brownies AKA Chocolate Chewy Wonders
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup salted butter
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 3/4 cup cocoa
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2/3 cup chocolate chips (this makes them extra fudgy, omit if desired.)
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F.Line a 9×9 pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- On the stove over medium heat, melt the butter in a medium pot. Remove from the heat and stir in the white sugar, stirring to dissolve the sugar as much as you can.
- Once that is combined, mix in your cocoa until thoroughly combined into the mixture.
- Beat in the eggs until fully incorporated, then add in the vanilla.
- If you are using chocolate chips to make these extra fudgy, mix them into the batter now.
- Add in your flour and barely stir it in. This will prevent the brownies from being too cakey. You want to just mix the flour into the batter.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the brownies pull away from the edges slightly. A toothpick inserted should come out fairly clean, with no raw batter on the stick. A few crumbs sticking to the toothpick means they are baked and fudgy inside.
Emmalyn says
I’m in 8th grade and I love to bake for my friends, I usually would just use a box recipe, but I didn’t have one on hand and I found this recipe. So good, I will most likely not be going back to box brownies after this. My friends loved them as well.
CJ says
This recipe is fabulous! I just wanted to suggest baking for more like 25-27 minutes. I didn’t have a 9×9 pan so I used a 7×11. Technically it should have taken a little longer. It was a little dry baking for 30 minutes. So next time I will do a shorter time.Perfect texture and taste!!!
Andrea D says
Hey. This was a great base recipe! I made some changes and thought some people might like them this way too. This is the recipe with the changes I made:
3/4 cups unsalted butter,
1 cup light brown sugar+ 1/2 cup white sugar, 3/4 tsp salt,
3/4 cups Dutch processed cocoa powder,
1 tsp espresso powder or instant coffee powder, 3 eggs,
1 tsp vanilla,
1/4 tsp baking soda,
1/3 to 1 cup chocolate chunks (your preference), 3/4 cups flour.
Absolutely beautiful recipe, and it’s easy to make! Thanks, Karlynn!
Whiteysgirl says
Not the best brownie. I think the brownie from the box is better. They are okay, but it leaves a weird aftertaste because of the espresso. It isn’t what the flavor I was expecting to be. It never enhanced the flavor. It could have been the baking chocolate I used. Eh.
Alli D says
Perfect brownie!
Maureen says
These were just OK. They definitely needed some salt to balance out all the flavors.
Stacey says
Made these and they were so yummy!! I doubled the recipe in order to make more and used a 13×9 pan. So many compliments! May never use boxed mix ever again!!
MJ says
These brownies live up to their name. Truly the best I’ve ever made/eaten! I cut them up and froze them, microwaving for 40 seconds and the taste and texture were as it was when they came out of the oven. I added chocolate chunks and walnuts to the top and used an 8×12 casserole dish because that’s all I had, but it worked fine.
Mark Krieter says
These are by far the best brownies I have ever had in my 50 years. No more Ghirardelli brownie mixes for me. I could go on and on about how chewy and soft they are. So amazing!
Wendy says
Simply fantastic..I added orange extract instead of vanilla essence, exquisite citrusy aroma, moist and fudge chocolate brownies!
BJ says
Recipe says 1 cup of chocolate chips; instructions say 2/3 cup – can you clarify?
Mark Krieter says
Personally I’d say just go with either amount, depending on how much you like chocolate. I use a full cup.
Carol Luman says
2nd time I have made your brownies. They are truly the best EVER! Changed absolutely nothing, no need to mess with perfection! I am putting them on my Christmas dessert tray for family and neighbors. Thank you sooooo much!
Lori Rafter says
I doubled the recipe and used a 9 x 13 pan. They were a bit thicker (yum!) so I baked them for an extra 15 minutes and they came out ooey gooey good! Moist all the way through but no raw batter! Awesome recipe!
Hal says
Pretty much followed the recipe, esp. the part about not mixing too much. Did not come out fudgy. I’ve yet to find a recipe that uses cocoa powder that I liked. My go-to recipe uses a combination of 100% and semisweet and only 1/4c of flour.
Jackie says
I can’t wait to try these! I have a question. I do prefer a little more cakey brownie, if I were to add a leavening agent, what should I add and how much or would I add more flour? Thanks!
Sue Bowden says
Made this for the first time after using packet brownies – goodness how amazing are your brownies – got full marks from brownie connoisseurs here. They really are so delicious. There are soooo many recipes out there but am definitely going to stick with your one 😋
A.S.T. says
Question: salted or unsalted butter. What’s the difference in baking? If I have unsalted and recipe using salted that’s ok right??
Josh says
If a recipe says salted butter do not use that recipe. You always want to be able to control your salt when baking or cooking.
Kimmy says
Omgosh!!!… I’m In love!!!♥️♥️♥️😎..
Deeeelectable recipe! I absolutely love melting the butter in the pan and then adding ingredients one by one…. perfecto! By far The best brownie I’ve made.. & it’s disappearing quickly… my hub LOVES IT!! Bravo!!!!
Linda says
These look really good! I’m an experienced baker so I hope they come out great! I wanted to comment amd say I love the cover of your cookbook!! So attractive and inviting! I might buy it just because of THAT!💕
Charles says
I didn’t follow recipe exactly. I substituted honey (300 g) in place of the white sugar. It was a lighter, more mild honey than clover honey. Still affected taste a bit. At the end of the day, however, very delicious. Not sure if it was the honey or stirring flour too much, but came out a bit more like cake and not fudgy, chewy. Certainly will try this one again, absolutely delicious and they do work with honey and I know a scoop of ice cream on top will be real nice.
Oliver Smith says
So you didn’t follow the recipe and then give the recipe a lower rating because of something you changed? Imagine….
Julia says
WOW!!! These look amazing!! Thank you for sharing with us! In glad I read the comments before I am to make them, so now I know what to look out for, what-to-do and what-not-to-do.. I’m excited and so is my fiance!! Pretty much the only difference is that my fiance is having me sub and use weed butter..?? Hope they turn out as delish as yours and everyone else’s!! I’ll come back and let ya know how they turned out..Wish me luck… I’M OFF TA BAKING!!!
Anna says
Hi I’m new to making edibles, how would I include the cannabutter into the recipe?
Malin Pho says
Perfect brownies! Have tried a couple other recipes and this is by far the best! Will be using this recipe for every batch from now on 🙂
Lynda says
Ive only ever made 1 batch of brownies in my 62yrs, but in the last few weeks I’ve made about 20 batches trying to perfect them to our liking. I thought I’d finally worked out my favourite recipe & method & then I discovered yours.
I was a bit sceptical as everyone claims there’s are the best ever brownies, but, O M G yours are near perfect to how I’ve been trying to get them.. Yum, Yum, Yum😊. I did tweak the ingredients a tiny bit, but mostly followed yours & your method & now I finally have my perfect recipe & method. The only changes I made was I added 1 extra egg yolk & whisked the eggs really fluffy before adding because I’ve read that helps with a crackly top, which it does, & I used 1cup white sugar with ½cup dark brown sugar. I cooked them in a brownie tin @ 160°C for 16mins exactly then gently removed them from the tin before they cooled. Im now in Brownie heaven, Thank you😊
Deedee says
I whisk my eggs before adding them as well!
Anastasia says
Whooooa, this is the best fudgy brownie recipe I’ve ever tried. So rich, moist inside. But crisp on the top. Plus, it’s so easy, we just need spoon.
Andrea says
These really are the best brownies I have ever made, hands down. Thank you for sharing this simple but truly fudgy, gooey good recipe 🙂 I used Hershey’s special dark cocoa and man, they are over the top!
Lu says
Hello. First time on your site. Brownies look amazing. My question is. How can I make these for a 13x 9 baking pan. I rarely ever use a smaller baking pan. Would it be alright to just double the recipe. Thanks in advance
Mr. Kitchen Magpie says
Yep just double the recipe and cook them for a little bit longer and it’ll work just fine!
Ebony says
These brownies were AMAZING yet super simple to make. Love it 💗
Marica Sottile says
What recipe did you use for the white frosting on your brownies?
Ty says
I love making these easy and delicious brownies!!!
Liv says
Most amazing, delectable brownies ever!! Absolute favourite recipe and have already made them four times!
After looking for the perfect chewy brownie recipe for years with no luck this is just perfect!! 💖
Rachel says
Might be my favorite brownie recipe ever. I used dark chocolate chips and only baked for 25 minutes. They were perfect!
Alana says
Amazing brownies! The perfect consistency and level of sweetness. It’s a good thing I made 2 pans. I used some chocolate chips and crushed up a mint chocolate bar and mixed that in. I’m already ready to make these again. I will try to share more of them this time, maybe.
Kuda M says
Great recipe so easy and delicious. For the sugar I used 1 cup instead of the 1 1/2 cups which was just perfect for me
Mr. Kitchen Magpie says
Glad you liked it!
Pappitha says
Can we make without eggs.
Hope-Ann Argent says
Hi Karlynn, I’ve been following you for a couple of years now. I’ve cooked your soups which my children love and baked many of your cookies. We love them all and all easy to follow instructions. I know I can always count on you for something that EVERYONE will love. THANK YOU