I’ve tried lots of brownie recipes: Boxes, scratch, frosted, plain, nuts, chips, fudge … Each of them has something to like, but depending on my mood I might want a change of pace.
Not any more. My wife found this recipe, and it’s perfect. I’m done looking. This is the brownie recipe that I’ll use from now on.
Ingredients
1½ cups sugar
¾ cup flour
¾ cup cocoa powder (see note below)
3 eggs
¾ cup butter, melted
½ teaspoon salt (if using unsalted butter)
¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (see note below)
Directions
A NOTE ON CHOCOLATE: You’ll notice the list of ingredients is very short. That means the quality of the chocolate makes a huge difference. The chocolate flavor is front-and-center — not the sugar, not the richness, the chocolate. I used Ghirardelli unsweetened cocoa powder, and Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips.
The assembly is about as easy as you can get. Combine the sugar, flour, salt (if using unsalted butter), cocoa, eggs and melted butter and mix.
Do this by hand, until the dry ingredients are just incorporated into the wet, and stop. You don’t need to beat it, and in fact want to avoid producing gluten from the flour. (Kneading flour produces gluten, the springy protein that makes bread chewy.)
Stir in the chocolate chips.
Line a 9×13 baking dish with parchment. I over-did it a little bit here, because I wanted to be absolutely sure it didn’t stick. As long as you cover the bottom you should be good, as it will pull away from the edges while baking.
Pour the batter and spread it out. Don’t try to spread it like mayo on bread, or you’ll move the parchment around. Poke at it with the tip of a rubber spatula.
Bake at 325° for 20-30 minutes. It’s done when a toothpick inserted in the tallest part comes out clean. Keep in mind you’ve got chips in there. If you hit one with the toothpick it will have melted chocolate on it. You might need to poke a couple of spots to make sure you aren’t hitting a chip.
Very carefully lift the parchment out of the baking dish. Get a spare set of hands if you can.
Peel the edges and let cool for a few minutes before slicing.
Pour yourself a glass of milk, and that’s it.
Make these in two minutes flat
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530 Comments
Well, they do look awesome. I have a go-to brownie recipe but I'm always up for trying new ones. Heh.
My mom always used cheap chocolate when I was a kid and I clearly remember the first time I baked some brownies with really good chocolate. The difference was drastic.
well thats cool
I stopped looking for brownie recipes when I got this one from my sister-in-law, who says it's a Martha Stewart recipe (although I can't find this exact one on the Web anywhere, even on her site). Here's the basic recipe:
Ingredients
* 1 1/2 sticks butter
* 6 ounces semisweet chocolate (or unsweetened, and increase the sugar a bit)
* 3 large eggs
* 1/2 tsp. salt
* 1 cup sugar (more if using unsweetened chocolate)
* 1/2 cup light brown sugar
* 1 tsp. vanilla
* 3/4 cup flour
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease and flour an 8×8 baking pan.
3. Melt together the butter and the chocolate. In a good microwave oven, 2-2.5 minutes on high should work. Stir the chocolate and butter together until it's smooth.
4. Whisk 3 large eggs in a large bowl.
5. Add the salt, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla, and combine until smooth.
6. Stir in the chocolate.
7. Fold in the flour. Mix only until the flour is combined; don't overmix.
8. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 30-40 minutes.
That said, I'm happy to try yours, Drew. Even in the unlikely scenario that it's not as good, it's hard not to enjoy that collection of ingredients.
Thanks for posting it.
This is Martha’s Brownie Hearts recipe, I’m pretty sure. It is my favorite too.
I just baked these brownies – simple and absolutely amazing! One mention, in an 8×8 pan they turned out pretty thin so I will double the recipe next time. Thanks for posting.
thank you so much!
everybody likes them and can’t stay away! I have to defend the brownies from my brothers so I can take them to my friend’s house and have I always have to keep an eye on the refrigerator. Thanks again!!
I just made brownies with your recipe to bake for valentines day (i am testing it out) and they are amazzziinnggggg. I just turned 17 and brownies are my specialty to make. I only make them for special occasions so I won’t put on pounds haha. This recipe is easy and fast
Leave a batch out, but hide all the milk. That’ll teach ‘em.
My One True Brownie Recipe (from America's Test Kitchen) is similar to yours, except it specifies cake flour. And I can't bake them very often because I eat the whole pan myself.
They look mighty yummy!
They do look wonderful–I am a brownie fan myself. Love the addition of chocolate chips for an over-the-top chocolate-y-ness!
Great recipe! But could you please clarify the oven temp? Should it be 350 degrees or 375 degrees? I'm thinking probably 350, but it never hurts to ask… thanks!
It says 325
325 doesnt work with these. musta meant 350 and 30 minutes
Hey Drew,
I believe that should be 350 degrees NOT 35 degrees for the oven! Boy they would take foreverto bake at 35 degrees!
Thanks for all the wonderful recipes!
It says 325, imagine cooking at 35, lol! I’d have to wait forever!
Heh, yeah, I fixed it.
I would love to have a piece of that! My go to recipe has to have pecans or walnuts in it After all I am a southerner. But brownies are a universal snack enjoyed by all.
I will definitely be making these! Ever tried this: add a symphony bar after you pour in half the batter, everyone goes nuts when I do this!
Ok, so how exactly do these come out with no leavening agent? It wouldn't surprise me so much if it had called for self-rising flour…
Eggs both leaven and bind. This recipe has 3 eggs, which is enough to give enough leavening for a rich, fudgy brownie.
Thanks for answering this one for me. It looks like Audrey posted while I was writing my answer below and I missed her question.
Oh, I hate when I do a typo that isn't obvious. Well, I updated to show 325°.
Bob, the difference between Hershey and Ghirardelli is amazing.
Mike, that looks more fudge-y, and I actually am not a huge fan of fudge. Don't get me wrong, I'll still eat them …
Kristin and Audrey, no self-rising here, just plain all-purpose white flour. The eggs provide just enough leavening.
Linda, they are.
Jenni, what, you're not going to tell me they need salt? Honestly I forgot until they were in the oven. It's hard to believe they'd be better.
Jan and NY Baker, thanks for catching that.
Julia, next time it'll have walnuts, at least in half of it. The kids don't like nuts.
Anon, do you break it up, or just have a huge hunk-o-chocolate in the middle?
somebrownies have vanilla extract on them.Why did this recipe have no vanilla exctract by the way thnks for your brownies i enjoy eating them! ^_^
James, they don’t need it. Chocolate does just fine on its own.
As a matter of fact, my wife just made a cake with the girls today. She forgot to add the vanilla to the chocolate frosting until we were spreading it on the cake. We didn’t miss it there either.
the batter tastes amazing! i’m in the process of making these now!! great easy recipe!!
Drew, I grew up in San Francisco, so I know how good Ghiradelli is. If you can find it Guitard is great too.
When I make brownies I'll put a teaspoon of cinnamon in them. The flavors are wonderful together.
This sounds almost exactly like my recipe, except I usually make a bigger batch. I would make these for my dad every year on his birthday, and they turned out perfect each time.
Ok I'm bookmarking this, they look fantasatic, I just love recipes that call for melting the butter, don't ask me while I just do. I think it makes what you're making so much more moist and delicious!
Mmmm… I always enjoy looking at your recipes but this is the first one I have made. They are fantastic!
I made these tonight and they are WONDERFUL! I couldn't find Ghirardelli cocoa, they only have Hersheys at our store, but these are still fantastic. I have made brownies with at least four different recipes in the last year looking for the perfect one, this one is a keeper! Thanks!
Drew, I actually thought about writing that, but then I decided to just let it ride;) And, yes, they would have been better w/salt. Honest!
PS I also believe that leaving out a chemical leavener is sometimes the difference between a brownie and a cake. I'm all for letting the eggs and minimal aeration be the only leaveners, but then again, I don't like cakey brownies. As they say, YMMV.
I made brownies the same time you did, Drew! The ones I made look very much like yours, except the proportions are a little different. I am a brownie freak.
I'm like your kids, though – I HATE nuts in my brownies. Abomination!!
I made these yesterday for my niece and nephew who are spending their 4th of July vacation with us. I used Scharffen Berger cocoa and skipped the chips because I had none in the house.
These brownies were declared the "best ever" by the kids. My husband and I agree!
Stephanie, I'm not saying cinnamon isn't good, but I want my brownies to be chocolate.
Megahan, bigger is about the only thing I plan to change on this. (Well, that and adding the nuts.)
Bunny, it's not just your imagination. Melting the butter first means the sugar doesn't aerate it, so it stays a bit more dense.
Cele, awesome, glad you liked the first try.
Stef, keep your eyes open for the Ghirardelli. It's worth the extra buck or two for the can.
Jenni, I assume it's because I used salted butter, and lots of people stick to unsalted for their baking.
Melissa, my kids are allowed to say that. But you … well, you are just wrong. So there.
Valerie, if you didn't have the chips this time, then I guess you're just going to have to make them again, aren't you?
I love brownies….these look fabulous!
I just made these. They are delicious. Not quite as nice once they have gone cold but they are still great. Thanks.
interloper, here, lol. i have a go-to brownie recipe that is really similar to yours. and chocolate quality does make a difference.
one thing i do because i'm so laaaazy is take a whole bunch of chocolate chips and sprinkle them all over the brownies right after i take them out of the oven. after about a half hour, they're all melty. i spread them all over the top of the brownies. it hardens. voila!
because you can never have enough chocolate in one sitting.
love your site!
I tried this recipe last night with just some generic cocoa and chocolate bits I had in the house, and they were wonderful! I can't wait to try them with high quality chocolate… mmm. Thanks!
Mitchell, I don't know. I had them the next day and they were still pretty doggone good.
Wrekehavoc, now that's a frosting I could maybe get behind.
Britney, come back and let me know how much difference the chocolate makes. I saw a review on Stumbleupon that said the chocolate didn't matter.
What? No pecans? Blasphemy.
Uh. I tried to make them today. Well I failed miserably. They turned out very dry and even slightly bitter. Although, it looked very nice before baking. Oh well. It's not the recipe. It's me.
Dave, I actually like walnuts, but the girls don't like nuts of any kind. It's my cross to bear.
Neringo, I'm sorry to hear that. Without any more details it's hard to know what went wrong, but my first guess would be environment. Do you live at high altitude? Or someplace extremely dry? Baking is very susceptible to environmental effects.
Great recipe! As a former San Franciscan, I always use Ghirardelli- it's blatantly the best!
Homemade is almost always better than a box or you need a huge batch, Ghirardelli makes a box brownie mix that is fantastic as well.
Sezzy, as simple as this recipe is I can't really think of a reason to use a boxed mix, even if it is Ghirardelli.
I actually live in Eastern Europe. The climate is mild. So I guess it's not the problem. It MIGHT be our oven's fault, because the temperature is not shown – you have to decide and measure it by turning the little lever. And well, there's not much cacao to choose from in our stores.
I guess the bitternes is from too much of the cacao I found in the store.
I'll look around your site. Maybe I'll find something that doesn't require specific ingredients and the torturing of our oven : D
Thanks for your reply.
Hi again,
I've taken a picture of my culinary fiasco in case you want to take a critical eye on it.
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/4431/rudnosiukai.jpg
These look amazing and I'm always looking for a great from-scratch brownie recipe. My question is this, I have an only edges pan that I love. Will these stick to the bottom without parchment?
If you don’t have parchment paper, or your pan doesn’t really work with it, you can try greasing the bottom and sides of the pan with a (very) thin layer of butter or Crisco (or something similar), then put a tablespoon or two of flour (as little as possible, but enough to fully coat the bottom and sides) into the pan and tilt it around so the bottom and all the sides are coated with it. Pour the batter in and immediately put it in the oven. It should help with the sticking.
Steph, even better is to use cocoa powder instead of flour.
I use the Baker’s Joy cooking spray/flour…everything comes out great…I have Parchment paper, but rarely use it…Just saying’
Neringo, down at the bottom corner that looks a little scorched. If the bottom looks black and flaky, then it was probably too hot.
Sara, my brownies have always stuck to the bottom until I got parchment.
I always grease my pans with a thin film of butter and then use sugar instead of flower or cocoa. It creates a super yummy crust all around the brownies or cake! My mom taught me to do it this way and anyone who isn’t family always raves about the bonus sugar crust. It works on both the bottom and sides!
same here! always add sugar, not flour. makes ‘em extra special…
It must have been. If I'll give it another try, I'll let you know how'd it go. Thank you.
Random thought: Is it possible to add coconut to the recipe, or would baking coconut not work out?
(As you can probably tell I dont bake alot lol)
How do you measure 3/4 cup of butter?
I know it sounds daft, but I'm used to weighing it, being a Brit cups aren't that common to us – dry ingredients are fine, can cope with that.
Just a bit befuddled by butter do you squish it into the cup and then scrape it out again?
Sticks are weird aswell, our butter comes in 1/2lb (250g) blocks?
Impulse, you can add coconut, but why would you? Ick. Okay, sorry, personal preference there. But yes, add shredded coconut at the same time you add the chocolate chips. I really can't say how much to use, since I'm not a fan, so just do it by appearance. If it looks like enough, it is. (But probably go with a little less than you think you need the first time.)
Tim, it's always funny to hear what assumptions just don't work in other cultures. In the U.S. we've pretty much standardized on four sticks of butter to a pound. Each stick is 8 tablespoons, so one stick is 1/2-cup, meaning 1 cup is the same as one of your 1/2-pound blocks.
I add unsweetened liquid coffee concentrate to my brownies to make them richer and browner. And I put frosting on them. No chocolate chips – I use chopped walnuts instead. I like taking a basic recipe and messing around with it.
These look great! I usually just use my easy, go-to, fantastic brownie recipe that I have, but these look so great I might have to try and compare! If you're interested in another great recipe check mine out at http://paprikaprincess.blogspot.com/2009/07/carol-brownies.html
I would love to know what you think!
wait, when do you put the hash in?
LOL
Anon above me wins.
Actually, if that comment was for real, you should put the ground bud with the butter in a double boiler and simmer (stirring frequently) on low heat for 30 minutes. Each brownie should have between .5 and 1g, depending on your tolerance.
Just one baker helping out another! (if that comment were actually a real question)
I used the recipe and have eaten brownies for days. They were very good (although it may just be that I never make brownies so I was unusually impressed). I used Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa, and the brownies were nearly black. Excellent.
Hi I posted your recipe at my blog, here: http://pixelgelati.blogspot.com/2009/07/brownies.html Hope you don't mind. Thanks for the recipe!
Michele, neither my wife nor I likes coffee. But the walnuts I agree with.
H, I've finally admitted to myself that I don't really like fudge all that much. I think it was when I tried to make it and it seized up, and I asked myself, "Why am I trying so hard? I rarely eat the stuff so why should I care if I can make it?" So for anyone who wants a more fudgey brownie, yours looks like the recipe to use.
Anon … hmm, wonder why you posted that anon? Thanks, I think. (PS: If anyone does that, are there any differences in how you should get baked? Err, I mean how you should bake it?)
Nathaniel, I've only ever seen the regular Hershey's, and didn't like the last brownies I made with it. (Yes, I prefer dark.)
Eida, thanks for the link.
In my younger days my friend and I made “special” brownies, and it was before I was an avid baker. So to answer anon or anyone else who wants to get baked =P
You would take the 3/4 cup butter (if we’re speaking about this recipe) and add your ground herb, cook it on the stove , I remember it smelling like home made popcorn. Cook it for maybe 5-10 minutes (you can find out precisely by googling it) and then filter the herb out of the oil (the same way one does with filter coffee).
Throw away the herb (I know that sounds scary and wrong, but do it!) and add the herb infused melted butter to the recipe.
NOTE: You probably won’t have the amount of butter remaining that the recipe requires, so just add in the extra.
It’s better to use a recipe that has oil, as cooking your butter also pulls the water out of it turning it to clarified butter.
Thanks for sharing! I generally don't eat a lot of sweet things, and when I do, substitute ingredients for the unprocessed equivalent. Will try it with your Perfect Brownie recipe as well, and agree with you that the secret is in using the best dark chocolate that you can find.
Looks to-die-for yummy! I had to include this on my "End of the Week Links" post today. And I've already been to the store for some cocoa… These will be being made this weekend! Thanks!!
looks good but i'm far to lazy for that and i like my brownies very chewy. i just use the regular Betty Crocker box and use 1 large egg, instead of 2 or 3, then i cook them for 35 minutes instead of 40.(in my 9×9 aluminum pan)
oh yeah! throwing in some chocolate chips is always the best extra!(i like a lot in mine) they melt perfectly while cooking! mmmm… i'm starting to crave brownies now.
I think that your recepe is very good, altough i'd like to suggest some things… you could add to the mix one or two tsp. of sodium bicarbonate, or instead that a sprinkle of "royal" (that's the name in Mexico, I don't know the name where you live). Try it… it make the brownies sponge, wich means bigger brownies!
Di, I don't know that this is the best I can find, but it's my favorite.
Erin, it's always good to have something to look forward to.
Anon, this really is almost as easy as using the mix. Sure it's a couple more ingredients, but it takes about three minutes to make.
vertigomaster, that sounds like the brownie cake. For these, I like them thick and rich.
Excellent, excellent brownies! Made them yesterday for family night and they are all gone. Plan on making another batch today for just the hubby and me. Good chocolate should not be wasted on children! hehe
Yazmin, I just read your comment to my wife and she agreed. Kind of surprised me, because so far the only thing she's hidden from the kids is the black cherry soda made with sugar instead of corn syrup.
Of course I had to do the same thing with the brownies as I did with the cheesy poofs, MORE CHOCOLATE! lolll http://kyrieeleison2008.blogspot.com/2009/07/cheese-and-bacon-casserole.html
Chocolatesa, was that chocolate sauce recipe your own creation? I've never seen that one before.
Yup, it was only a question of time before my two favourite brownie ingredients were melted together lol.
I made these today and while I was mixing my dehydrator dinged me that the blueberries were ready. On an impulse I threw some in. 1/4 cup.
GONE TO HEAVEN!!!!!
Really? I've had chocolate with a blueberry filling before and didn't like it at all. I like chocolate with strawberries, but haven't found any other berries I like with chocolate. Weird, I know.
Made brownies with this recipe last night and it is super gooey good. I would definitely make it again.
I only had milk chocolate chips and Andes mint chips. I decided to go for the full-on mint flavor. Now these chips are smaller than my usual Guittard or Ghirardelli dark chocolate ones, and I got carried away and poured in the whole bag! They are baking now, and smell great. We'll see… I'll post an update after they have been tested out by the family tonight.
Ok, I cut off all of the edges (they look so nice that way!) and ate them all. SO good. Sometimes minty stuff can taste kind of like toothpaste, but these were so rich and chocolatey that they were just great. I will stock up on regular chips and make this recipe again and again for sure. One thing I particularly liked about them is that they came out very flat and tender, not tough. Thanks for the great recipe!
Glad to hear it. I didn't want to say anything at first, because I've also noticed the toothpaste thing. But still, even though it worked for you … I think I'll stay will all chocolate.
I made these brownies a few days ago, and they are amazing! I used medium, not large eggs, so they're a bit flatter than the picture. My friend was equally impressed, and I'm pretty sure they're the best brownies I've ever had.
Those look amazing. I also make some great brownies but I like to use Oil instead of Butter.
Made this recipe for a recent
get together. It was something that didn't need to be refrigerated or heated so it fit the plan. Made a double batch–so easy– they were gone in minutes with lots of compliments!! CH
My sis and i made these today, and yeah, they're great! We used nestle cocoa powder and hershey's chips. Maybe one day we'll make em with ghiradeli. Recommend them to everybody. Thanks for the recipe!
Breanne, please do try it with the better chocolate. So worth it.
"You don't need to beat it, and in fact want to avoid producing gluten from the flour. (Kneading flour produces gluten, the springy protein that makes bread chewy)"
I don't believe this is true since my sister has Celiacs disease and must avoid gluten. Gluten is found in regular flour even before beating/kneading it. Just thought I'd point it out just in case!
That's a good point. You actually develop the gluten by kneading it. But yes, the gluten is there whether you knead or not.
you forgot the '1/4 oz cannabis' in the ingredients, THOSE would be the best brownies ev4r!
I just did these, with crap cocoa but quite good chips and whole wheat flour instead of refined (added a little oil, could have used butter but I'd already done my melting and didn't want to do more when I thought of it–lazy!), and they're delicious–full-on chocolate, rich and crumbly with slightly chewy edges. I do have a question, though–I was thinking of adding this to my list of baked goods that can be basically mixed ahead of time (I have a dream of keeping a big jar on my counter full of the dry ingredients for a given baked good, so I can mix it up for unexpected guests…), and–why do you put the chips in after mixing? Would it be a problem if I put the chips in my dry ingredients and then added the eggs later?
Ally, I added the chips last just to make it easier to mix the eggs in without mashing up the chips. I've done other brownie recipes in jars, just like you're talking about, and this one would work perfectly.
I made these today. Unfortunately, the European ovens are different and I had to play with knobs to make the right temperature. It ended up taking about forty five minutes to bake. Still delicious! Thank you for this delicious recipe, Mr. Kime. I will share it with my French family, a group of people who will finally understand what a "brownie" is.
Leslie, what kind of chocolate did you use? I'm guessing they don't have the Ghirardelli, not that you'd prefer it to the local varieties.
PS: You can call me Drew.
Hey Drew,
I noticed that in several of your recipes.
What do you mean by 1-1/2 cups ?
1 cup and you can add another half cup if you want?
Greetings from Germany
Sorry, I thought that style was well-known. Maybe it's a U.S. thing. It means one-and-a-half. How would you write that?
Gotta tell ya. Not only does this recipe sound delicious, I love that you used pictures to show us how each step should look. Kudos!
Thanks. I've always hated when I'm doing a recipe for the first time and I think, "That looks awfully dry (or wet). Is it supposed to be like that?"
Hi from Scotland! For those of you in European countries,try baking on 220 C. Most of my recipes from the US have come out perfectly at this temperature. And the cocoa powder I'd use would be Green & Blacks Dark chocolate. Hope that helps!
They look delicious , hope I have the patience to make them soon
These really don't take that much longer than boxed brownies. Maybe an extra minute, two if you're slow with cracking the eggs.
Thanks for the reply.
I understood the "-" as in saying "to". Like 1-2 TBS Salt as in 1 to 2 TBS Salt when it comes down to personal taste. In Germany you mostly measure flour and water by weight and not by Volume but i would just use "1 1/2 cups" without the "-".
Assuming you manage to not eat all of them in the first hour, do you have any idea how long you can store them and how?
We have a cake stand with a heavy glass dome. We've kept them in there, and they're still pretty good after two days. (Maybe more, but that's when we finished them.) I suspect that because they aren't really gooey, like some box recipes, that they last longer without noticing much difference.
I can't remember off the top of my head what brand it was. It was the best brand we could find in Gallery Lafayette's grocery store. I told my husband, Franck, to buy the best because that's what you recommended!
I served them to my family to much success, but the French keep calling it a "gateau" or cake despite my many explanations.
Thanks Drew! ;D
Ohh, these are delicious! We added a secret ingredient as well!
Leslie, French people refusing to use an English word for something, instead insisting on their own name for it? I am shocked … shocked I say.
They do look pretty damn good, ill have to jot down the recipe and get cooking when i get home, try them for my self. Im hungry just thinking about them
They do look pretty damn good, ill have to jot down the recipe and get cooking when i get home, try them for my self. Im hungry just thinking about them, just hope they taste as nice as they look, im sure they will
Although the recipe looks great, I have a few questions. First, is it okay even if there's no vanilla extract? I find it a little questionable…
Also, would it be okay if I put in two eggs instead of three? I want my brownies really fudgy, instead of cakey…I made that mistakes many times before!=(
I hope somebody could answer my questions as soon as possible!! Thanks, I think I'll try this recipe.
Don't u need salt???w/out it, i would never use this recipe~~~~~
Jack, like I said to Jenni up above, I suspect it's because I used salted butter, not unsalted like most pastry recipes call for. I think that's so that you can control the amount more precisely, since different brands of butter can have different amounts of salt.
Since lots of recipes that call for unsalted butter don't call for the salt that they need, I just use salted butter and call it even.
Haha..thnks for replying, Drew! So, if I only have unsalted butter, would it be necessary if I put in about a pinch of salt?
According to OChef: Salted butter can contain as much as 3 percent salt, or about 3/4-teaspoon per stick. But it may be half that for another brand or in another part of the country.
I've seen the "rule of thumb" listed as anywhere from 1/4-teaspoon to a full teaspoon per stick. So if you do this with unsalted, you'd need to add more than a pinch. Closer to a full teaspoon.
Wow, Drew! These look great, but would it be ok if I put in only 2 eggs, instead of 3? You see, I have two daughters, and they always complain that my brownies are either chewy or cakey..=( If I put in two eggs, would it come out fudgier?
Claire from Britain
Yhey don't only look great, the taste is even better!!!!!
The only thing i've changed is cocaopowder out and melted rich dark good quality melted chocolate in(about 100gr) . More chocolate is always better!!! hahaha
Melt the chocolate together with the butter, let cool a bit and stir in. The last batch i've made even had both and that was heaven!!!
Claire, I'm sure that would work. But if you look at the pictures, these were still moist enough to press two pieces together and have them stick. I preferred these to the super-moist, almost oily, ones that you get from box mixes. Take what I say with a grain of salt, though, since I'm on record as not liking fudge all that much.
Sylvia, in theory the cocoa powder is the same stuff as the baking bars, it's just easier to measure out precise amounts. If you know how to convert grams to cups, go for it.
Made these just last week, they were brilliant!! I'm drooling just thinking about how fantastic they were…
My tip for keeping everything dense and chewy – mix wet and dry ingredients as much as you can separately, and try to combine the two with as little mixing as possible.
Drew, I made these brownies with just three eggs this weekend, and they came out great! My kids loved them..=)
They were fudgy and moist enough, and very tasty most importantly!!
Thanks!
Claire from Britain
Amy, that makes sense. I'll try mixing the wet and dry separately next time, see if I notice a difference.
Claire, great to hear. It's really hard to talk about whether brownies are "fudgy enough" when there are people like me who don't like fudge. But I do like dense, chewy brownies.
I've made these a couple of times now, and they are amazing. I have some in the oven right now to bring to a neighbor! Thanks for sharing this simple but amazing recipe. I never knew brownies from scratch was so easy!
I know I said, "This is the brownie recipe that I'll use from now on." But I just had some a neighbor made that had a really interesting twist: Black bean brownies.
I know, sounds weird. But you'd never know if someone didn't tell you.
We made these brownies last night. They were really good. However, I would like a thicker brownie in the 9×13 pan. How do you accomplish that without overdoing it? Thanks so much for the recipe!
Becca, this one scales up pretty easily. Try this:
2 cups sugar
1 cup flour
1 cup cocoa powder
4 eggs
1 cup butter, melted
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
It's got very basic proportions, so it's easy to scale up or down as much as you need.
How much longer on the cooking time please…thanks!
I'd start checking at 25 minutes. It's not an exact science when we're not using the same dish and the same oven.
Drew, I almost had a heart attack when your site went down! I needed the recipe again to make for a lunch party. Thank goodness it came up hours before I needed to bake!
And yes, they keep calling it a gateau.
This time, I added walnuts. Nommy!
What a great recepie. My mother in law is jealous because they came out better than hers. hahaha
~
I had to give her recepie though.
PS. My 5 year old wanted to eat the whole thing.
Leslie, I was having some chest pains about it, too. I hope that mess is over now.
Anon, yes, you did have to give her the recipe.
I just made these for my friends! All of us say it's delicious : )
Drew,
chest pains are what you get for having a fabulous website that people keep coming back to!
These look wonderful but for one omission: chocolate recipes really need a pinch of salt to bring out the chocolate flavor, otherwise it can tase a bit cloying. Salted butter may do the trick but I like an added pinch of salt.
Deb, did Jenni put you up to this? Actually, like I told her several comments back, I planned on adding the salt but completely forgot until they were already in the oven. The salted butter seems to have been enough in this recipe, but I'll add a pinch next time just for comparison.
Any time i bake ANYTHING, I use unsalted butter. Always get lots of compliments on my baked goodies too…seems my friends all use salted butter and the difference is remarkable!
This is my third time making these brownies, and I'm consistently having the problem of the outsides cooking faster than the insides. I've thought of some possible factors:
-I add about 1.5 cups walnuts, and I'm told that could make a difference.
-I use slightly less sugar because I only have milk choc. chips.
-My oven is heavy-duty, so I usually have to cook things at about 25 degrees lower temp, which I did with the brownies.
Otherwise I follow it to the letter. I've tried lowering the temp and cooking it for an extra 10 minutes, but the center is still undercooked. Any thoughts or suggestions?
p.s. LOVE the recipe — much better than cake or fudge style.
Laura Lou, it could still be the oven, but I suspect it might be the pan. Are you making them in a metal pan? That can make a huge difference.
See here for details: "Various types of baking pans will be slow to become hot, such as stoneware, oven-safe glass and pottery, but once they are hot, they retain the heat well, providing a well-browned or crispy crust."
Nope, glass pan. That's what you used, right? I thought I saw it in the photo.
I finished making this batch and I cooked it for 18 extra minutes, still it was a little gooey. This time I baked them at the recommended 325 degrees. And it takes -forever- (as in 30 minutes) to cool enough so that it doesn't crumble when I cut it.
So you don't think it's the walnuts? I hear they could act as an insulator.
Laura Lou, I guess if you've got a whole bunch it could make a big difference. I've never done two batches back-to-back to compare. Maybe I should do that.
I made these twice in two weeks. They were absolutely perfect! What a great recipe. Thank you so much!
I made these for my colleagues and they all fell in love with them! Delicious!!
No, Delphine. They fell in love with you. They're just a little shy.
Pecans would be a great addition…Tried it excellent a perfect compliment..
I'm a walnut guy myself, but pecans sound good. Hmm … no, I'll keep the almonds in M&Ms. If only I could find them again.
Sounds like an AMAZING recipe, thank you for revealing this. I got a question though and it may sound odd but is it possible to add Reese's peanut butter cups and Reese's peanut butter chips instead of chocolate chips to make this a hybrid of peanut butter and chocolate brownies? Thanks!
The peanut butter chips I could go for. But Reese's cups are coated in really bad, waxy milk chocolate. (In my opinion, of course.)
Awesome. Chewy, dense, and delicious. Made them again in a cupcake pan, and after they cooled. served them with ice cream on top.
Okay – I've made these now (TWICE) and they are yummylicious. Seriously the best I've ever made (I have tasted something similar before but that was from a specialty shop and cost a fortune)
I made these last night again, I added nuts and afterward I spread melted chocolate over it and sprinkled more nuts on. These were then cut into squares and served with vanilla ice cream.
Thank you – thank you – thank you. My hunt for the perfect brownies have come to an end (after many years).
hey what happens if i use s elf raising flour?
help!
i'm craving brownies, but i've had more than my shares of baking mishaps!
Self raising flour has baking powder added to it. Use it in this recipe and you'll have puffy, cake-like brownies. They'll taste good, but won't have that dense texture that (in my opinion) makes brownies better than cake.
they look amazing. must try ! i like them dense… very dense and chocolaty
HOLY NOM! I just made these, and they have the best texture I've ever experienced. The flavor is just a tiny bit too dark for me, though, so I think next time I'll add a smidge more sugar and maybe a little vanilla. Aaahh, but these go soo good with a scoop of vanilla ice cream! Yummy!
Drew,
Thank you for the great recipe. I just made them and they are delicious. I modified your recipe for a 9×9 pan as follows for anyone that bakes smaller.
1 cups sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder (see note below)
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
I also added 1/2 cup of chopped pecans.
I don't know how you get these to cook so quickly. I baked in pyrex and bought an oven thermometer today just to check. My oven was running 325-350 and it was more like 45-50 minutes to cook. At 20 minutes, it was still dough except for an inch of the edges. I still had a bit of brown on the toothpick when I took them out but they are great after cooling.
Forgot to add. Got Milk is not optional with these. Mmmm mmmm good.
DR, I've had typos before, so I went and double-checked. I name all my photos as the timestamp on them, and the before and after photos were taken at 8:55 and 9:32 respectively. Leave a few minutes before and after for futzing with the camera, and it was probably just over 30 minutes.
With brownies I'd rather go slightly under-done, unlike cake or bread where you want it fully cooked. The toothpick test, in my opinion, is no good for brownies. You want it to come out with a little chocolate on it. Otherwise you've got dry brownies, and all the cold milk in the world won't fix that.
Thanks Drew for posting so a great recipe. I viewed the comments posted before making the 2 pans that I made today. I adjusted the recipe by using salted butter and added another pinch of salt, some vanilla, and a little water. I purchased some bakery bags, with Christmas decorations, and turned them into nice gift bags for the holiday. Everyone loves baked goods! They were a hit!
Thanks Drew for posting such a great recipe. I viewed the comments posted before making the 2 pans that I made today. I adjusted the recipe by using salted butter and added another pinch of salt, some vanilla, and a little water. I purchased some bakery bags, with Christmas decorations, and turned them into nice gift bags for the holiday. Everyone loves baked goods! They were a hit!
Drew,
Thank you for double check the times for me. I discovered the problem. My 40 yo stove needed a new door gasket. All seems well now. I can’t wait to show up for Christmas dinner with your brownies.
DR, glad to hear you figured it out.
hi! i really love your recipe… i try different recipes and im not satisfied but when i try your recipe the search is over… this is it!!!!! thanks you so much….
Thanks Drew! This looks great! I will have to try your Perfect Brownie recipe in my Perfect Brownie Pan… LOL. Is it okay if I link to this from http://www.BrowniePan.net ?
Thanks again!
Derek, sure, it makes sense that you’d need to perfect brownie recipe to make the perfect brownies.
Hi!
Thanks so much for this amazing recipe! I’m a French student who loves cooking, i was a bit afraid because of the US measures but i’ve found out US measure cups and i’m very happy because i could make and eat this gorgeous brownie.
Just perfect
Alizuko
Nothing beats brownies with a good cup of tea.
I’m not much of a fan of semi sweet chocolate. Could I use milk chocolate chips instead? And I thought the brownies weren’t as sweet as I like them, but they were still delicious. But I’d still like to know how much more sugar could I add for my sweet tooth?
Sindy, you’re just going to have to experiment with that. I’d go with a quarter-cup at a time. Less than that and you’ll wonder, “Can I really taste the difference or am I just imagining it?” Worst case, you have to bake several more batches of brownies. And wouldn’t that just be horrible?
Thank you, Oh yes, it would…my tummy will ache for weeks..
I found this recipe two months ago and LOVED them. Somehow I lost the link and searched, quite literally for over an hour for it…Out of nowhere, I “stumble upon” it again tonight and I am SO DARN HAPPY! YUM!
Katrina, when you’re searching just type “how to make whatever” into Google and there’s a good chance mine will be on the first page.
Hi Drew, I have made this brownie recipe 3 times now. Thie first time they were absolutely perfect but the following two times it was as if the butter ‘split’, so I am not sure if Iheated it too long when I melted it in the microwave. They still tasted nice but the texture was too hard and ‘chewy’. Could there be something else that I am missing? I would like to try these again.
thanks
sam
Sam, butter will separate if you overheat it. I actually learned that one melting butter to put on popcorn. I try to heat it until it’s almost all the way melted, then let it sit out on the counter to finish.
If it starts bubbling in the microwave, you’re going to get a foam of milk solids on top of thin, clear liquid.
This looks like a recipe I’ve been searching for for years! I probably couldn’t resist adding a Tablespoon of cinnamon and a teaspoon of chili powder, though. Brings out the chocolate taste even more.
Can you make these brownies in an 8 x 8 inch baking dish?
Emily, you can, but they’ll be so much thicker — nearly twice as thick — I’d worry about the edges being overdone before it’s done in the middle. Let me ask around, see if anyone has any tips for changing the cooking time or temperature to compensate.
UPDATE: Okay, my expert source says lower the temperature by 25 degrees, and expect baking time to be 25% to 50% longer.
Ohhh, okay. I’ll just try my best to get my mom to get me a 9 x 13 baking dish first. Then I’ll use the 8 x 8 if I’m really desperate. Thank you!
Hi Drew! I just made these brownies today, but they came out looking a bit flat. They’re only about 3/4 inch high and the top doesn’t look like yours in the picture (I got a 9 x 13 inch pan though). Mine are dark brown on the top, not light brown. And its very hard to see the chocolate chips. Is it because I used Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa powder and Hershey’s semi-sweet chocolate chips? Or is it because I didn’t put in any salt (I used unsalted butter)? The taste isn’t bad though.
are you sure that’s a 9 x 13 dish in your photo. it looks a bit smaller, like am 8 x 11.
thanks!
You’ve got a good eye. It’s about 8 x 11-ish. But everyone else has a 9 x 13 so that’s how I wrote it up, and I adjusted the cooking time a little to compensate. All oven vary a little bit, so you always need to test it anyway.
Emily, mine weren’t more than an inch high either, so I think yours were probably about the same. These are closer to fudge than to cake.
As for the taste, if you used unsalted butter and didn’t add any salt, the taste would be a little bland. And like I said, there’s not much else in these, so the quality of the chocolate is going to make a big difference.
I’ve seen taste tests where they make the same recipe with different brands of chocolate and the results are never even close. There might be some personal preferences among the various premium brands, but the “mainstream” brands — Hershey and Nestle — are never even close.
I’d really love to hear what you think if you do these again with different chocolate.
I tried these today, and OMG!!!!!! We have decided to rename the PMS killers in our house!!!! So simple but so amazingly good!!!!
I made these a few times now. I have searched for years for the perfect Brownie recipe. This is it and my search is over.
I recently made a new friend who is a master at just about everything. She is in many ways the perfect woman. On our first visit to her house she gave us brownies with ice cream for desert.
After making this recipe for my family I knew I had to share it with her.
Her kids will now not eat brownies made with the old recipe but insist that she uses the one that I gave her.
It made my day that I could contribute in such a special way – thanks for that
I’ve heard the debate around nuts or no nuts (in brownies) so many times. Personally – I think a Brownie without nuts (especially Pecan) is just not a REAL brownie (wink)
I love your blog and I LOVE trying out your recipes!
Keep it coming. I can’t wait until my daughter is old enough to start cooking with me!
I followed your directions exactly but they turned out a little cakey! Tasty, but definitely on the cakey side. The only thing that I did differently was leave it in for 25 minutes and added the dry ingredients to the eggs and then the butter last. Could that have made the difference?
Kira, it’s amazing the difference it can make what order you add the ingredients. In my latest newsletter, which is going out today, I linked to a couple of articles about Hervé This, a French scientist who studies cooking. Another article that I didn’t link to says:
He’s spent his life studying how eggs work in recipes, and gets into some hard-core science. For a more approachable view, Jenni has a great comparison of different mixing methods over at Pastry Chef Online.
I’m reading through all the comments while my brownies are baking and am suddenly afraid they won’t turn out! I have to remember to read all the comments before I try a recipe to make sure I get all the extra tips found in there.
My friend and I have come up with an unofficial “Perfect Brownies” description, and we have long been trying to find a recipe that measures up. I’ve been making boxed brownies for years (*gasp*, I know), because I love how they turn out… just enough gooey with that crispy almost sparkley top. It’s been quite the adventure trying to find a “from scratch” recipe that delivers similar results. But as soon as I saw your picture, I knew this was going to be the one. Only a few more minutes until they come out and I can measure them against our perfect brownie list. Haha.
Thanks for posting this recipe!
Oh, and the perfect brownie does NOT include nuts. Too much texture takes away from the essence that is a wonderful brownie.
I guess I had nothing to worry about. The brownies turned out AMAZING! I will never use another recipe again.
And, thanks to a little oversight, I left the whole pan of them at home instead of bringing them to my event… so I get to enjoy them all myself.
Hi Drew! I made these brownies again using Ghirardelli cocoa powder and semi sweet chocolate chips instead of Hershey’s. They were soooo yummy! They still don’t look the same as yours, but they’re so good. I doubled the ingredients and made two batches. Tomorrow I’m bringing them to my friends. I’m going to have fun watching them fight over the brownies. Thank you so much!
Oh yes, you “accidentally” left them at home. Whatever you say.
Emily, like I said, when you’ve only got a few ingredients the quality really matters. I used to think Hershey’s was chocolate.
Just wanted to say my fiance and I absolutely love these brownies! We use Hershey’s cocoa powder & Tollhouse nestle semi sweet choc chips. We used a different cocoa powder while visiting family over Easter, and it was still great, but not as good as the Hershey’s one. Thanks so much for this fantastic recipe!
Robyn, try it with better chocolate. Ghirardelli is pretty easy to find, and really makes a difference. If you like them now, you’ll love them with the good stuff.
I made these today for a party. They exceeded my expectations! Thanks so much for doing the leg work in creating this!
I made those brownies yesterday and they were FANTASTIC! I will admit that I added 1/2 tsp salt and 1tsp vanilla, but they were insane. It was my last day of a baking class, and the teacher said we could all bring in our own recipes instead of doing the one from the book, so I brought yours. Even she asked me for the recipe at the end of class. Thanks again for another awesome recipe!
Jessie, have your teacher email me. I’m working on something, and I’d love to have a baking teacher involved.
I want to experiment with all your recipes now! I’ve only ever baked the Tollhouse recipe for chocolate chip cookies so when I was asked to make brownies for a bake-off (Betty Crocker need not apply), I was nervous in finding a good recipe (though I’m pretty good at following recipes, in general).
I was nervous, and almost had a freak out about salt vs. unsalted butter (the second comment reassured me that my choice was good) and was convinced it would either end up undercooked or burnt to a crisp.
Just had one, and think maybe, just maybe I may have a winning chance at the bake off. (Undercooked, in case you were wondering, but just a bit.)
I use the brownie recipe on the back of the round box of GHIRARDELLI sweet chocolate. After I tried that recipe, it became THE recipe for me, and I have never strayed. I like my brownies classic, which means that I omitt the chocolate chips the recipe calls for. This is my daughter’s signature dish. When she was very little, I taught her how to make these brownies from scratch, and now she makes Arinna’s Special Brownies whenever there is an occasion at school. It did wonders for her self esteem, and she is always eager to learn how to cook something new.
i’ve tried it d very day i saw d receipe it tastes AMAZING !!!!!
Wow look soooo delicious i will try this..thank you for sharing..
i made these a few days ago, with hershey’s cocoa powder and nestle mini choc. chips (because thats what i had) and they were amazing.
i’m definitely going to make them again with better chocolate.
but let me just say, my mom’s boyfriend ate a huge one in a brownie ice cream sundae, and he is NOT a dessert person at all.
in his words “i ate all of it, and that NEVER happens.”
so, this is definitely THE best brownie recipe ever. thank you for sharing!!
Brittany, I’d love to hear from you again after you make them with better chocolate, see what you think.
Where would I find the Ghirardelli cocoa powder and chocolate chips?? I have to ,ake brownies for church on Sunday and I wanna try this recipe so badly!
Oh! And about how much do they cost?
JeAndra, they carry Ghirardelli at my local grocery store. Sometimes they don’t have the chips, so I have to get them at World Market. You can mail-order both, if you really want them. I don’t know that I’d try it during the weather we’re having right now, though.
As for the price, I don’t even count the flour, cocoa and sugar, so three eggs, a stick of butter and some chocolate chips. Depends on how close you live to a farm, and how much you spend on the chocolate.
Now I am confused. Your recipe calls for 3/4 cup of butter. If I am not mistaken that is 1 1/2 sticks of butter. 1/2 of a stick is 1/4 of a cup. Am I wrong here Drew? Did I put too much butter in my brownies?
Oops! I must have cut-and-pasted that wrong when updating it a while back. That’s supposed to be a half-cup.
If you already made them, how did they turn out with the three-quarters?
Hold on … I just checked, and it’s been listed as three-quarters since I first posted this. I’m going to have to make them again this weekend to confirm.
Hi, made these today but they turned out more cakey than brownie with the crisp crust but they were YUMMY! I suspect might have to do with the fact that the cocoa I used was Cadbury rather than Ghiradelli since we dont get that brand here! The only other brands we get here are Hintz and Hersehey which do not also seem to be great ones to use, sigh! My sugar didn’t melt so I could tatste the sugar granules. They added great texture to the cake {rather than brownie
}. Do you think it makes sense to powder the sugar before adding it?
brownies are my Achilles heel, never seem to get them right! Wonder what I am doing wrong? They tatse great but they are not brownies. Not sure where I messed up!
Manisha, my guess would be you beat the dough too much and developed the gluten in the flour. My wife figured out (before either of us knew the chemistry of it enough to know why) that beating cake batter more made it rise higher.
Are you using white granulated sugar, or something like raw or turbinado sugar? I use granulated and it’s never been a problem.
I found your recipe on stumble, and decided to try it! Let me just say that, my family isn’t big on sweets (except for the children) and it was GONE. This is really a great brownie recipe, and I am DEFINITELY going to continue to use this from now on!
(I used nestle and Hershey’s chocolate chips and cocoa, and they came out beautiful!)
Once again, Thanks so much!
those look incredible, and they must taste amazing
I came across this recipe will looking on the BBC website for lactose free recipes .
So I decided to make them but with a couple of slight alterations.
First of all you cant get that type of cocoa here in the UK (or if you can I don’t know where) so I used Green and Black organic free trade cocoa, and I used 95% cocoa chocolate to make the choc chips (just breaking up a bar of it).
The biggest change was that instead of melted butter I used a dairy free spread, I cant have butter as I’m lactose intolerant, other wise the ingredients are the same.
Well it turned out absolutely fantastic, its first time I’ve been able to have something chocolatey in ages. My girlfriend loves them despite not liking dark chocolate, my 2 children adore them, and I’m looking forward to sharing with all my friends and family.
Steve, I’m glad I don’t normally have to deal with restrictions. I wouldn’t have guessed that substitution would have worked, but I’m glad it did.
Can anyone tell me what, if anything, can be substituted for the white flour? I no longer use refined flours or sugars. As I just started doing this again after a couple of years of unhealthy eating, I lost all of my conversions. Or does anyone have a conversion chart for stuff like that? My family – including my two elderly parents – looooove brownies. After making them with my “conversions,” I’ll post the results! Thanks!
Just wanted to say these brownies taste like angels. I was planning on taking some to my friends tomorrow. Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.
THOSE LOOK AWESOME I’m going to have to make some of these today. I’ll pull the url out of the box and leave it on my desktop as a reminder. We have some boxes of crap downstairs that’ll have to make due for now but I’m definitely saving your recipe.
Mmm mmm! I just made these for the first time and they’re delicious! I added some chopped walnuts too cause I like nuts in my brownies and they are fantastic! Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Drew, I made these brownies over the weekend to bring to a friends place for dinner and I dont know whether this is a compliment or not…initially my friends did not praise the brownies they deserved coz they thought they were store bought!!!! the compliments started flowing only when I made it clear once more that they were made from scratch!!! They were simply mouth melting and since I didnt get too many that day, I’m making another batch today just for me!!!! Thanks for the awesome receipe!!!!
Wow, that’s so true. When did we start thinking that if something is “too good” it obviously must be store-bought? That is wrong on so many levels.
I am studying abroad in Germany, and recipes I have from home are usually hard to make here because the availability of ingredients is different, but the simplicity of this recipe really made it happen and my German friends loved it! I put more than enough chocolate chunks (just chopped up chocolate bars, as chocolate chips aren’t sold here) in the batter (and sprinkled some crumbled mint-filled chocolate pieces on top), and the brownies came out so deliciously gooey and chocolatey! Really rich, but they were gone in about 5 minutes!
No chocolate chips? I never would have guessed that.
I made these yesterday for a party at my house. They got absolutely decimated and made me a popular person! So good, so very good!
Thanks for sharing this Drew. I grew up eating my moms homemade brownies and when I stumbled on this web page, I went straight to the store to buy everything I needed to make these. They turned out perfect! Exactly like the photo! I used “Fry’s Premium Cocoa Powder” and “Presidents Choice Decadent Chocolate chunks” (popular Canadian brand) and they were amazing!
I think that perfect brownies MUST have nuts in them!! What kind of nuts would you recommend I use with this recipe?? Also I read the order of the ingredients in this recipe is important, when should I add them?? Thanks a lot I love your site!!
Finally someone who understands nuts are not optional! I’d use coarse-chopped walnuts. I wouldn’t think you’re crazy if you went with peanuts or pecans, but as much as I like cashews I wouldn’t want them in brownies.
As for order of ingredients, look at that cluster of pictures up near the beginning. We just put everything together and gave it a quick stir. When you’re making cake or muffins the order you add and how you mix makes a big difference. With these, you’re mixing just enough to get everything wet and putting it in the oven.
I just sent my husband to the store and he came back with Ghiradelli sweetened cocoa powder. Can this be used the same, or do I need to reduce the sugar, or should I just go back to the store for unsweetened cocoa powder? Thanks!
If it were me, I’d go get the right thing. You could try checking the ingredients, though, and figure out the ratio of sugar to cocoa and adjust as needed. You’d need to increase the cocoa, because of course the 3/4 cup wouldn’t be all cocoa.
Have you ever tried these brownies with gluten-free flour??
No, I don’t know that I’ve ever had gluten-free flour. If I want gluten-free brownies, a friend has a recipe made with black beans that tastes surprisingly good.
For a gluten-free brownie that ordinarily calls for 1/2 cup of flour (there are such recipes and they are very good!) I have used ground almonds and now ground pecans as substitutions. The pecans have a richer flavour but if the amount of flour is more than that, this will not work. Just FYI.
Hi Drew, i’m from México and I don’t know where to find that chocolate, can you recommend one international brand? i’d be very grateful =)
Fabiola, I’d try asking at a bakery, see what they think is the best brand available locally.
This brownies are perfect. I recently moved to Turkey where home entertainment is very popular ( rather than going out ). We constantly have people over and I try to search new receipes to serve. This was perfect. People in Turkey had not even heard of brownies where I live and everyone asks me for the recipe. My husband now requests that I make these every time someone comes for dinner. Thanks again Drew.
Robin, I’m going to bookmark this comment, so in 20 years when people wonder who introduced the brownie to Turkey, I’ll have the answer.
I’ve been looking for a good brownie recipe – the last one I tried came out cakey and just a bit too heavy on the stomach. (Lots of ingredients!)
Is there any way this could be converted into ounces or grams? I have no clue how cups work, I’m english xD
Also, would green & blacks chocolate work, and would marg instead of butter work as I’m a little weight concious? xD
Sarah, I know the rest of the world (and most professional chefs in the U.S.) measure their ingredients by weight, but most of my recipes are still based on volume, which means cups. I know a pretty reliable conversion for the flour, but I have no idea what the sugar and cocoa conversions would be.
I would suggest checking with Jenni, the Online Pastry Chef. That’s who I got my flour conversion from, so maybe she could give you some tips for the sugar and cocoa.
can you use just normal coco powder? and no choc chips?
and where can i buy this powder in the uk?
x
It’s got to be unsweetened cocoa powder. If you use sweetened — the kind you’d use to make hot chocolate — it will be more sugar than cocoa.
And yes, you can leave out the chips. They’re your brownies, after all.
You can order Ghirardelli online, but I can’t tell if they ship to the U.K. from that page.
Oops, wait, just found their shipping page. They only ship to the U.S. and Puerto Rico. (And Canada, seasonally.)
Check with your local bakery. Ask them what’s a good local brand.
you forgot the ganja
Oh man, something must be wrong with my short-term memory.
MmmMmmmm! I seriously drooled a little. MUST make these. Thanks!
Fantastic recipe Drew & Family. Kudos! I needed a big batch – as to feed myself, the boyfriend, his co-workers, and my parents – so I doubled it. 3/4 of a pound of melting butter never looked so good. *laughing* That also means I had to increase the baking time from 30 mins to 50. Used a 15″ x 11″ glass baking container, filled to about 1.5″ from the bottom, and the parchment works like a charm (thank you!). Also added a tad of coffee (purely aesthetic – to give a darker color), some vanilla (to enhance the chocolate flavor), and some almond extract (for a barely detectable nutty tone). I was reading the comments people have left you above, and I have to say something about the Symphony bar suggestion – my old boss made these and it was amazing. You tile the Symphony bars (whole – do not break them up) on top of 1/2 of the batter, then pour the remaining batter over it. The effect you get is when the bar melts, it turns into velvet and tastes much like frosting. Interestingly, it keeps this velvet characteristic even after they cool. Plus the bits o’ toffee add another level of luxury to the palate. If you don’t like toffee, maybe try it with another favorite chocolate-based bar. Thanks again for your recipe – Brownies are my heroin. It’s a wonderful website you’ve got. I keep coming back for various things.
…as a side comment to my earlier novella I posted (I apologize)….
Thank you for cooking with real ingredients, real butter, real cream, rich ingredients, fresh foods, and things that just taste good. Too many recipe sites I see today are based around calorie cutting, flavor skimping, and general tasteless habits of ‘substitutions’ – ick! Who says you can’t have your cake and eat it to? Pooh-pooh to the naysayers! I am 28, in good health, get my exercise, and thoroughly enjoy cooking with butter. Enjoy life while you can people.
Made these for Xmas…they are the best brownies ever, hands down and I have tried tons of recipes. They are amazing. Not too sweet and sugary. You’re so right, they are all about the chocolate. Thank you!
Dear Drew,
I cannot thank you enough for this incredible brownie recipe. I’ve been “eyeing” them on your website for a while now and just made them for the first time yesterday. My husband didn’t believe that they were from scratch. They were perfect. You are also so right about what kind of chocolate you use. DRAMATIC difference. I also couldn’t believe how easy they were to make! Thanks again!
Thank you for the recipe. I made this brownie recipe recently and we ate all of it that day. I did made it slightly differently from the resume all because I didn’t have everything exactly, but things turned our great and I know that it would. I wished I had some nuts at the time. They were crunchy on the top and gooey in the center. Thanks so much.
Dr. Leon
In the oven, paitently waiting….
Only had Nestle Choc Chips, and Hershey Cocoa.
Anyone else notice that thats pretty much everyone else had too?
P.S.
My sister, which is only 9 (I know), is making them. Barely any help from me or my grandma.
Never underestimate the power of the dangerous mix: little youngsters and brownies.
I’ve tried these twice, and I now realize that I forgot to add any salt (I used unsalted butter). I didn’t miss it but will try it next time.
I made a couple of small changes that made me like the second batch even better than the first: I added an extra 1/4 cup of sugar and used 1/8 cup less of cocoa. I used 1/2 semisweet chocolate chips and 1/2 white chocolate chips (both reputable brands!). For me, this was perfect: it made them a little sweeter, which I like, and still chocolatey and delicious without being (dare I say it?) too chocolatey. I’d go back to all chocolate chips (ooh…or maybe try some peanut butter chips! I love those!), but in the future, I’ll continue to add more sugar and use a little less cocoa. I’m sure that would ruin it for some of you hard-core chocolate lovers, but it works for me!
Thanks for a great recipe!
I tried it w/ Hersheys and Ghiradelli, I personally like Hersheys better. I did not have chocolate chips, so i broke a big bar of chocolate up. I also like adding m and m’s, kids love how colourful they are!
Also, i am trying again tonight, but i have unsalted butter. How much salt should i use?
I’d go with about a teaspoon, maybe a little less. Salted butter typically has up to 3/4 teaspoon per stick.
I love having go-to recipes, this one is now my most perfect brownie recipe. THANK YOU!!!
I will never buy a box brownie mix again. This recipe was awesome to make and to eat.
I made these brownies last night and they are beyond delicious! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe. I will never make another box brownie mix.
Just made these. Not too big a fan, though I think that can be blamed on my lack of quality ingredients. I only had Hershey’s cocoa powder and no chocolate chips. Still, it was better than no brownies, so thanks for the recipe. =)
I prefer cake-ier brownies, in general. I know (or think…) that adding baking soda (or powder?) will give that affect, but I don’t know how much to add. I used 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup flour, etc. etc. Any suggestions?
If I add pecans, should I alter the baking time or anything else?
Caitlin, baking powder is really potent stuff, baking soda even more-so. If I were experimenting I’d start with about a half-teaspoon of baking powder.
Did you only use a cup of sugar and half-cup of flour, but followed the rest of the recipe? They’d end up much denser and less sweet.
As for pecans, I’d leave the baking time and everything else the same. Remember, you can’t assume that the time will be exact, you have to do the knife or toothpick check to be sure.
This is an easy recipe…
My god! First time iv ever made brownies and thanks to this it wont be the last!!
Greetings Drew!!
I found this website searching for another brownie recipe to try, after trying a lot of them, and this one is a SUREFIRE winner! Thank you SO much for sharing this wonderful recipe
I made two substitutions. Used about 1 cup and 1/4 of sugar and it was not too sweet to my tastes. How much do you think the taste would be affected? I did use the G—brand btw.
1. Used the sweetened cocoa powder
2. Used bittersweet chocolate chips (verses the semi sweet the recipe calls for).
^^^ This was not on purpose, but a misunderstanding to a family member who was picking up these items for me.
How would these changes change this recipe? I want to make these again (and maybe 100 more times haha), but was curious.
Thank you!
Hi again Drew,
I forgot to ask in the message above I just posted, that if I use 2 eggs (instead of 3) will they be harder at the top and sides and chewier? I cooked mines at 325 F for 20 minutes and let cool.
They’ll be denser, for sure. In most cake recipes you have baking soda or baking powder to provide some lift. In this recipe it’s just the eggs.
Reducing the sugar because you had the sweetened cocoa powder was exactly right. If you liked them, then stick with what works for you.
As for the bittersweet chips, I almost used those myself, and probably will next time I make them. The one (minor) downside is that the bittersweet chips are bigger than the semi-sweet. (The Ghirardelli ones, anyway.) So the semi-sweet disperse better throughout the batter.
I FOUND IT!!!!!!
After being without an oven for nearly a year, my new kitchen is finally finished. Imagine my distress when I discovered that I had lost this most amazing brownie recipe!! It is the first thing I want to make in my brand-spanking-new oven.
Now, after days and days (literally) of searching, I have finally found it. I don’t know why it was so hard to track down (bloody google) – maybe because I am not in the US and it kept trying to find ‘local recipes’.
I will save this website on three computers, print off a hard copy for my filing cabinet and stick one on the inside cover of my favourite cookbook so I never lose it again.
Now – here’s hoping my oven is up to the task!
followed the recipe to a T. Mediocre brownies… I won’t try this recipe again.
You forgot one important step. Add Hash
I tried this but I have an even better recipie. The brownies come out super thick and gooey.
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup baking cocoa
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease and flour an 9×13 baking pan.
3. Combine the sugar, cocoa, oil, eggs and milk.
4. Combine the flour, salt and baking powder; add to egg mixture and mix until combined.
5. Fold in chocolate chips.
6. Pour into pan and back about 30 min.
Alex, that looks good but I’m not into gooey brownies. Usually.
I have made these today and they are definitely the perfect brownies! <3 I have enjoyed eating them!
<3
these brownies are much better than the ones in the box
About to go make a batch now.
http://www.blairlockout.com
Made and blogged =] They turned out well
http://svereb.blogspot.com/2011/04/brownies.html
Perfect! We can’t eat prefab food. This is the first brownie recipe that is as good as anything I have ever eaten. My birthday present to me will be your books. Thank you for posting your recipes.
Kristin C
Could you use couverture chocolate instead of semi-sweet? Its all I have and I can’t be bothered to go to the shop
DK, baking with tempered chocolate “de-tempers” it, so I don’t think that should be a problem. I’d love to hear back from you once you try it.
These were soooo good! Even though I just used Hersheys chocolate- Ghiradelli was too expensive, and I had some Hersheys- they came out sooo good. The only modifications I made were adding 3/4 tsp salt, since I used unsalted butter, and adding walnuts. Thanks!!
Time for me to say goodbye to instant brownie mixes. Now you’ve given me the perfect recipe to play with. Thank you for this. Expect to see some of my renditions of this brownie.
These are good. Very good, in fact. But I wouldn’t say the best.
First and foremost, these are in desperate need of at least 1/4 tsp salt. Otherwise they are just too sugary and missing depth. I think that adding vanilla could be that depth that I was missing. Otherwise, I think the texture was perfect.
I can see how they might benefit from the salt, particularly if you used unsalted butter. But having just had these this past weekend, I can definitely say I can’t agree with “too sugary”.
That said, I’d go for salt or added walnuts before adding vanilla. Maybe even top with large-crystal sea salt.
Amazing! Perfect! I made these tonight, three times actually, and they were exactly what I wanted them to be. I only planned to make two batches, one for home and one for work, but my three year old was “helping” me the first time and I totally left out the sugar. Doh! I thought the batter looked like it was missing a little something. Had to throw it the whole batch as I had used Ghiradelli unsweetened cocoa and without sugar it was awful. An expensive mistake. But the second two batches, topped with coconut ice cream, were absolute perfection. I subscribed to your blog, put it on the side of mine. Thanks!
Well do you need parchment paper?
Eva, I’ve never had brownies come out cleanly without it. I’m sure it’s probably possible, but using the parchment is easy, cheap, and a sure thing, just like a good first date.
I don’t have chocolate chips, but I do have white chocolate chips. Do you think that the brownies will be fine or will they taste a little weird?
Morgan, they’ll taste less chocolatey, but they’ll still be good.
Incredible brownies. I made a “test” batch last evening for my family. I got up this morning to discover that they were gone. Seems my 19 year old son liked them. If I put pecans in them he won’t eat them so next batch will be loaded. He asked me to put this on the list of items we send him in college. Ha! Is it possible to make a batch of these and send them off to school without at least trying one? I had mine with a bowl of Hagen Daz vanilla. Yum!
I thought it could use less butter and sugar, we didn’t use parchment paper, it basically stuck to the pan( very crumbly). it was too too sweet! my rank for 1 through 10 was 3-4 for a brownie but this would make an excellent molten chocolate dessert served hot with vanilla ice cream.
Well, you kind of proved why it needs the parchment, didn’t you? And the only way it came out too sweet was if you used sweetened cocoa. Did you use the kind you’d make chocolate milk or hot chocolate with, or did you use unsweetened cocoa?
Hi, i’m portuguese, and here in portugal we dont have the same measures that you guys have there. Can you tell me the size.of that “cup”, cause my brownies arent perfect yet. Do you have the measures in ounces, kg ou somehing?
Thank you, kisses from Patricia
Patricia, try this:
375 g sugar
95 g flour
95 g cocoa powder
170 g butter
Chocolate chips just use what looks good, maybe a handful or two.
I haven’t actually made these by weight, so that’s just using standard conversions. Let me know how they come out.
WONDERFUL!!! I made these for a bridal shower and everyone flipped over them! They were a hit, and made me look really good
–Dayna
I’m going to try making these today, since I’m making them as a ‘thank you’ for my uncle for letting me stay at his house when going abroad. Anyway, I was wondering if- in the future- adding peanut butter would make it taste good too (In a different way of course). I love peanut butter and chocolate together, so would adding a little peanut butter at the last step work? I’m not new to baking really… I just am new to experimenting with baking XD
Paige, I love them just as they are. (Well, I recently tried sprinkling the top with a tiny bit of coarse sea salt. Neat addition.)
But if you did want to do the peanut butter, I’d try to put just a little bit on top and swirl it into the top layer only, like in this version. In fact — because I’m a bit of a perfectionist — I’d load the peanut butter into a pastry bag and pipe it in even rows over the top, then cut crosswise with a knife to get an even pattern.
Here from Venezuela it will be my first try so wish me luck on this yum brownies, is there a way to make brownies for diabetics?
Your best bet is black bean brownies. Try that recipe, and use the honey option.
You can’t get around the fact that brownies are a sweet treat, so if you can do without that’s probably better. But if you’re going to have them, make sure they’re good so you’re satisfied with just one.
What if i make them with splenda or something like that? i just want to try it out for my parents and my fiance, so i wanna try out some nice deserts that i know it wont affect them with the diabetes thing.
Diabetics have trouble with carbs, not just sugar. In my recipe, the 3/4 cup of flour has about 70 grams of carbs. Replace the sugar with Splenda and you’ll probably come in under 100 carbs for the whole thing.
In the black bean brownies recipe I linked to, the half-cup of honey has about 70 carbs. Which means they’d be about the same amount of carbs as my recipe made with fake sugar.
Given the choice, I’d take the second recipe, made with all real ingredients.
Interesting emphasis on the chocolate,,,,,,,and i agree. However I think some blind taste tests are in order here. Being a bartender for over 30 yrs, I won tons of money asking patrons to name their “favorite” vodka, or scotch…..blindfolded………….It’s all in the mind!! I recently tried it with chocolate. I had a dinner party and when it was about desert time, I steered the conversation towards chocolate. My friends oozed confidence in praising their favorite chocolate. Then I surprised them all with a blind taste test!!!! Nothing scientific or anything but the results were staggering. All 18 people were to taste three chocolates, and declare their favorite. LOL!!! Results? All 18 wrote down Ghiradelli at #3, Lindt at #2 and DOVE as #1. I doubt the results would have been the same had thy seen the labels!!!!!!!!!
If I did the taste test it would totally depend on which Ghirardelli and which Lindt you had. The Ghirardelli semi-sweet is a good snacking chocolate, but the Lindt extra dark (anywhere from 80% – 90% cocoa) is great for one small taste with a milk chaser to quickly satisfy a craving.
For baking, I’d have to try various cocoa powders to say if there’s one I like as well as Ghirardelli, but I’m totally confident in saying brownies are better with Ghirardelli than with Hershey’s.
Those look so yummy. I am going to try and make these tomorrow! So excited.
Just made a batch of these last night, with hazelnuts and a bit of hazelnut syrup, without a doubt the best brownies I’ve ever tasted – eaten about half of them myself today, oops. Thank you!
Drew
I am from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Could you pls advise me, how to make the chocolate stay in the brownies without melting?. Thank you.
Only mix in about half the chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the backing dish then pour the other half the chips on top. Press them down a little so they’re just into the top of the batter.
That way if the chips melt, at least they’ll still be on top and not dripping onto the plate.
Drew
Thanks for your info. Am baking again tomorrow and will do exactly you said.
Drew
I did your above brownie using gm measurment and it turned out superb. This will be my favourite brownie. Thank you very much.
Aswome recipe tried it to good
drew, since i don’t have the cups u are using.. can you tell me how much are the ingredients in grams? thank you^ ^ ur brownies do look extremely delicious
300 g sugar
100 g flour
100 g cocoa powder
170 g butter
115 g chocolate chips
This is just from an online conversion site, I haven’t actually tried it yet. Please let me know if anyone makes these using the weight measures and tell me how it came out.
They look good – I’ll have to try them. I have been a fan of Alton Brown’s cocoa brownies recipe – lots more ingredients, much smaller pan! I highly recommend Penzey’s High Fat Cocoa powder – these would probably also be amazing with some Black Cocoa powder!
I just made these brownies last weekend and they were terrific! I think these are the best brownies I’ve ever made. The short ingredient list and high quality of those ingredients, were key.
I made the recipe exactly as written, except I did not line the pan with parchment because I used a brownie pan. Instead I used spray with flour and it worked out just fine.
We brought them to a football game and they disappeared. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe! It will be a “keeper”.
Holy heck – these are awesome…
I SOOOOO wish I had bought milk….
Thank you Drew for this completely simple, quick and delicious recipe!!!!
I used a mix of peanut butter chips and chocolate chips! Yum
Made these this weekend – yes they were amazing – good quality cocoa = to die for chocolate taste! I used Frontier Spice Organic Dutch Process Cocoa + Plus Ghirradeli Dark Chocolate Chip = my new brownie recipe. I am waiting on my order of Black Cocoa powder and can’t wait to try these with that! (will probably sub 1/4 cup of cocoa for black cocoa) I also didn’t use parchment – I use Karp’s Bakery Spray and I think it has flour in it so it was like greasing and flouring – but I don’t think I have ever had a problem with brownies sticking to the bottom of the pan? I think I overbaked by a hair as well but it didn’t seem to matter because of how fudgy they were!
Thanks for the great recipe!
opps forgot to say – I added vanilla as well!
God love Pinterest, which is where I first found a picture of these brownies that led me to this awesome recipe. I’ve always been a Brownie Mix kinda girl, but no more. I tried these out this weekend. They were so easy and soooo good. Thanks for sharing and for the note about the quality of the chocolate. It’s all true.
Take your brownie to the next level…
Pastel de Chocolate
Wow, that looks pretty damn good. Not something I could make here, though. I’ve tried chocolate with chile before, and the wife and kids are unanimous in their “No”.
Hahaha… I am always sneaking chiles into everything to the point that my friends and family expect it. Chiles in everything!!
I am going to make these (probably not soon because of all the special ingredients) and leave out all references to chiles and cinnamon. It’s gonna be gooooood!
It would be even great with 1/2 tsp or more of cayenne pepper in this recipe. If you love foods with a little bit of heat or anything spicy ~ you will absolutely devour these brownies!
The Cinnamon will accentuate the peppers and add depth of flavor which reaches new heights with every bite. The chocolate ganche with cinnamon and cayenne has an unexpected but delightful sensation which leaves a fun tingle after you are finished eating. Somehow that sounds naughty, but it is quite good!
I’m a sucker for chocolate with cayenne pepper. I know the cayenne pepper probably scares off some of you, but Be daring! You only live once!
And if you haven’t ever *HAD* the pleasure of TRYING chocolate with cayenne pepper, get ye to an oven, because you must. There is some sort of wonderful chemistry that goes on when the two meet–couple that with the cinnamon (which also lends an added richness to the chocolate) How can you pass THAT up?
A dash of cayenne pepper in my hot chocolate: I have been ‘accused’ of eating the strangest things. I just like adventure.
Great recipe, Drew. I used to be a pretty big fan of the Ghirardelli mix they sell at Costco, but after making these, I’m never going back.
I was bored this evening, browsing around on StumbleUpon, and I came across your recipe. Six ingredients (well, seven if you count the mandatory milk) and ten minutes of prep equals deliciousness.
I put them in for 32 minutes at 350 (albeit at altitude of 6,200 ft), and I think it was still a bit undercooked. Next time, I’m going to shoot for 35 minutes.
One tip – if you live in the boonies like me and don’t have easy access to Ghirardelli, get the Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder instead. Not as good at G, but still pretty damn good.
As for some of the other posts regarding cayenne pepper, cinnamon, nuts, salt, and vanilla, well, I guess I’ll just have to experiment…
We are hooked !!!!!!!!!
Mmmmm I’ve only ever made brownies from boxed mixes but this way looks like it would allow for much more creativity
What is your advice in getting creative i.e. making mint chocolate brownies or perhaps a hazelnut coffee brownie? Are there lots of different flavored cocoas for this?
Instead of flavored cocoa, I’d try adding a few drops of flavor oils. Lots of flavors to choose from.
Oh, and make sure you mix it into the melted butter before mixing with the dry ingredients.
amazing! we made a double batch. . .took forever to bake but sooooooo good
next time, I believe I will reduce the sugar by 2-4 TBSP.
Annabelle, I’m finding that I like less and less sweetness all the time. And these really are all about the chocolate.
Lemme start by saying..I made the original recipe for my husband and I last week and we ate the entire pan in 1 day…I just made a 2nd batch and tweaked it a bit…I mixed the chips..half milk, half semi sweet…added pecans and milk caramel bits…they are currently baking and smell delicious..I thought of your recipe right away when I found the caramel bits in the baking aisle today..(think the same caramels you would melt to make caramel apples, only in small ball form to bake with–fantastic!)
This recipe is so easy to play with!
Try Scharffen Berger chocolate, most say its the best. http://shop.scharffenberger.com/Unsweetened-Natural-Cocoa-Powder/p/SFB-HBNCP&c=ScharffenBerger@Baking
I mixed up a batch last night and my kids loved it, I added some powered sugar on top!
As a confirmed chocoholic, you can bet that this is one brownie recipe that’s been bookmarked. I have a recipe for cheesecake brownies (very special and made at Christmas only) from a book by Judy Rosenberg adapted to be gluten-free as my best friend has celiac disease. Now it’s the only way I make it…she says she wants to be eating it when she dies. If there is a way to do this with yours, you bet I will! She needs some variety in her life, don’t you think?
Please let me know if that works. I’m low-carbing now, so I’d love to have a good weekday dessert.
These look absolutely fantastic! I cant wait to try them out!
Here, check out this great cookie recipe:
http://vancitybookgirl.blogspot.com/2011/07/delicious-healthy-cookies.html
I will probably never make another brownie recipe again. I’ve made them twice so far and they are a huge hit!!!! The first time I made them, I only had the cheap stuff at hand. They were pretty good. The second time I splurged and used the Ghirardelli cocoa and Ghirardelli mini chips. Big difference I have to say. Thank you so much for posting this and I am so glad I stumbled on it!!!
Awesome recipe! I love brownies!
I’d like to start off by saying I’m not very good at baking and my attempts often go rather wrong. And that’s what happened with these brownies. Mine turned out completely flat and quite dry. Also the top was dark and glossy and a bit tacky, it didn’t develope the light brown crust your pictures show. Now I baked them in a slightly smaller dish than you suggested (which made me doubly confused that they turned out so thin) and dish was glass (don’t know if that might have effected it?). I didn’t add the chocolate chips and I used less sugar (one cup). Other than that, I think I followed the recipe fairly precisely. Any idea what might have gone wrong?
Thanks.
Oh just thought to check something else. I didn’t convert the temp you said to use into gas marks, I just assumed it’d be 4/5 because that’s what’s used in every other recipe. However, I’ve just looked it up and seems like I should have had it on gas mark 3. Maybe this was the issue?
Bec, flat and dry sounds like a problem with the eggs. I didn’t specify in the ingredients, but I usually use either large or extra-large eggs. If you used small or medium that would be a problem. Next time I talk to my friend Jenni, the Online Pastry Chef, I’ll ask if she has any other ideas.
Oh right, thanks! I think the eggs were small.
I just checked with my wife. (This is her recipe, she’s the baker in the family.) By leaving out the chocolate chips and a half-cup of the sugar, that’s nearly a third of the volume of the recipe.
One other thing. If your oven doesn’t have a thermostat, you need to get an oven thermometer. They cost a couple of bucks at the grocery store. Baking is very sensitive to temperature. I wouldn’t be surprised if this one thing is the root of your problems with baking.
Yeah will add choc chips if I try this again. The only reason I didn’t put them in was because I was too lazy to go out for chocolate specially and too impatient to wait till I went shopping haha.
I’d like to blame it on the oven temp, but my mum’s done the same recipes on the same temperature in the same oven and gotten better results than me. I must just make some sort of silly little mistake somewhere along the line almost every time I bake *sigh*
I did this, but with a brownie mix instead because I didn’t have cocoa on hand..and added the eggs, butter, and chocolate chips according to this recipe.. it still turned out delicious. Just a quick fix.
These brownies look delicious. Thanks for the recipe.
Yummy…. I love chocolate and i am goin to try it as soon as possible.. thanks for sharing.
Very impressive indeed.
May I publish this recipe on my website with the reference of your website.?
You can include the recipe itself — the ingredients — but please don’t copy the rest of the instructions. Feel free to re-write your own version. And please don’t include more than one of the photos.
Hi Drew! I am 9 months pregnant, came across your recipe by way of Stumbleupon.com, and am going to make these brownies for breakfast…lol!
Why not? People eat donuts for breakfast all the time.
This recipe looks so delicious! My mouth is just watering over here…I will try the recipe as you have stated above but I am also anxious to give some of the other ideas that your users have as well!
Thanks,
Matti
came across this recipe from stumbleupon, just wondering if all the measurements are US ones and if the temperature stated is degrees Fahrenheit
Yes, all U.S. measurements, and the temp is Fahrenheit.
First, you obtain 12 grams of premium marijuana…
I have just started making brownies, they are not as popular in Australia as they are in the US. I also have a great recipe from Jamie Oliver which is super easy and has pecans and sour cherries on top! But this one I am definetely going to try! Thanks.
Teddy Bears
Thanks so much for this great recipe! I’ve never baked anything before … without the use of a box that is
or the smoke detectors going off hehe. They turned out perfect just like you said! So perfect that my boyfriend wouldn’t believe that I actually made them from scratch. Much appreciated
these brownies suck!!!!!
YOU suck.
Uhm..! I’m going to try this! I loooove chocolate. In Denmark there is a cake cooking book called “Michael’s ChokoladeSvineri” and in his brownie he also uses very good chocolate because it IS the ingedient that makes the cake.
Btw “Michael’s ChokoladeSvineri” can be translated into “Michael’s Chocolate Mess”
//Maja
//www.prikprik.wordpress.com
Looking delicious! Simple and good like you’d expect from an old family recipe.
I love how short and quick the ingredient list is!
I’ll definitely be trying these out – they look fudgy and delicious.
This is greatly awesome
Weird I love brownies
I’ve made brownies with this recipes a lot of times and they never fail!!
I have a quick question though…
How long can I keep the brownies in the pantry before they go stale? How about the fridge and freezer?
Would the texture still be the same if I froze them?
Thanks!
The two things that matter for storage are moisture control — you don’t want them to dry out or absorb moisture — and, if you freeze, damaging the structure.
The best way to keep them (and by the way, can I point out that I’ve never had leftovers of these long enough for this to matter?) is to cut them to size, individually wrap them tightly in plastic, then freeze them. When freezing, keep them spread out enough that they freeze as quickly as possible. When something freezes slowly, ice crystals can form which will turn the brownies soggy when they thaw.
I just made them this week for the first time, and they are AWESOME! And so easy to make.. Ready in 35 minutes, including the 30 minutes they are in the oven…
I added a few drops of vanilla essence which gives a really nice flavour as well!
You have to try Swedish Br0wnies – those are perfect to me – http://delishhh.com/2010/04/08/swedish-brownie-%E2%80%9Dkladdkaka%E2%80%9D/
Oh these look so good. i cannot wait to try the recipe out. I am really into fudgy brownies, and i love the fact that these brownies use actually chocolate (not just the cocoa powder)
Just a few tips I thought I’d share after making these. The first time I tried these, they came out terrible… dry, dense, and gritty. I knew it was probably how I combined the ingredients, so I tried again with much better results. So, for those of you that can’t get these to turn out, try these few tips/tricks:
1. Combine all the dry ingredients first by using a sifter. I actually used a tight broth colander, and it worked just fine. Put the sugar, flour and cocoa in the sifter and shake through. This helps combine, which means less stirring, plus it helps eliminate those unwanted chunks in the batter.
2. Beat the eggs separately before you add them. Again, this lessens the amount of stirring you will have to do to the batter, which is a good thing.
3. After sifting the dry ingredients, add the melted butter and stir very briefly, then add the eggs and finish combining. My batter actually came out even more smooth than the picture by doing this!
4. And last tip, I used aluminum foil in the dish since I didn’t have any parchment. Worked just fine, and I didn’t have to use anything to keep it from sticking.
Hope these tips help some people!
I used tin foil too.
I just made these. I added white chocolate chips for colour and doubled the recipe. I found 325 was taking way too long so after 25minutes I raised it to 350 and they are fabulous
You are correct about the salted vs unsalted butter. The other thing to note about unsalted butter is that it does not store as well (goes rancid faster) so it should be as fresh as possible. The salt acts as a “sweetness enhancer” even though it is not in itself sweet. Very little is necessary for this effect. Salted butter often has “too much” (still won’t make it taste salty, but for those who are controlling sodium intake, better to keep all amounts minimal). Salted butter also tends to have more water in it. This is not critical in brownies (nor with cookies), but can cause problems with more delicate recipes.
Mixing the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa, and salt if you’re using unsalted butter) first is a good idea as it means you will develop less gluten (as I think you also noted somewhere along the way).
If you “over-melt” the butter, it will separate and mess up the texture (though the flavor will be fine). If the butter is cold and hard it won’t wet the dry ingredients very well and again you’ll get the wrong texture. I like to soften butter in the microwave, but it’s easy to overdo it. It helps to put a Pyrex cup of water in the microwave along with the butter, to “soak up” the microwave energy and thus reduce the amount going into the butter. This gives you a bigger window for getting the butter soft-but-not-melted.
It’s also good to have the eggs closer to room temperature, although this is far less critical for brownies than for flourless tortes (where you separate the eggs and then beat the whites, usually with a bit of cream of tartar although a copper bowl avoids the need for cream of tartar, to make a meringue that leavens the batter).
Somebody’s been doing their research.
Good point about over-melting the butter until it separates. I don’t think I mentioned that before.
PS: the reason for going by weight instead of volume is that the amount of flour in “one cup” changes a lot depending on things like humidity (and sifting / packing into measuring cups and so on). Again, it’s not all that important for brownies. If you have a nice digital kitchen scale (as I do now), it may be easier to weigh than to go by volume.
I’ve never gotten around to converting my own recipes from volume to weight measures, though.
Yeah, I’ve got way too many recipes on here to think about going back and converting them all.
These look crazy delicious! I wish it wasn’t day 1 of my latest health kick or I’d already be making them
I tried these for the weekend but added a few dollops of peanut butter all across the top and after 25 minutes they were raw raw raw. Not sure what went wrong. I baked them for another 20 full minutes and by then the top was super crispy and dry and the bottom still looked loose. I left them to sit overnight and by the morning they were perfect, except the top was a bit crispier than I would have wanted. Maybe the butter was too hot when I added it, what do you think? I just saw your comment above about not letting the butter heat up enough to separate, well, in this case, it did. You said to leave them for a few minutes before slicing but they fell apart when I tried that, and only another 20 minutes in the oven saved them. The good news is, after all that, they were still a hit! Pretty impressive for quick and easy brownies. Thanks Drew!
I should add that I accidentally baked them at 375, I was in a rush and tired and made these late at night, thought i saw a 7 instead of a 2.
these are good, but i think i messed up so i give mine that i made a 7/10
Everytime I want to bake some tasty treats, this recipe comes to my mind. And because I don’t keep bookmarks, I always end up googling the ingredients along with “perfect brownies”. And every time I find this page again, I’m in a sea of joy.
The only thing i do to this recipe is halving the sugar, because we Europeans aren’t as used to sweet things. And I go nuts with the ingredients, this time i added chocolate chips, walnuts and toffee bits. Sometimes i also like to add vanilla sugar and/or cinnamon to the dough.
Fantastic, and so easy to memorize! Thank you!
Do what I do with great recipes — copy and paste to Notepad, print, and put it in a plastic sleeve protector in a 3 ring binder. Your recipe stays clean, you can take out just the recipe instead of the whole book, and you have it forever!
these look so good. thanks for sharing
It may have already been posted but I cannot find it. I live in a high altitude, how can I adjust this recipe to assure quality?
Tricia, I’ve never baked in high altitude, but have a couple of good pointers for you: High Altitude Baking at AllRecipes, and Altitude adjustment at SWColoradoHome.
Thanks for this recipe! I have always made brownies from a box, but with this recipe they are so easy to make!
They don’t sell chocolate chips in the grocery stores here, so I got dark (72% cacao) Swiss chocolate bars and cut them into little pieces. Next time, I think I’m going to try mixing chunks of dark and white chocolate… hmm!
Used this recipe to make my first batch of brownies. They came out super-duper!
Hello
i have a question
how can i bake brownies in a microwave oven???
thanx for such an easy recipie
I’ve seen mixes in the grocery store that were specially formulated for the microwave, but I’ve never seen one from scratch. Sorry I can’t help.
I Stumbled on this recipe, being all bored and just wandering around the net. Now I’m going to get up and go make these brownies.
Because brownies trump the internet any time.
OMG these are the best brownies in the world!!! I had to bake them 36 min, and I did add a pinch of salt, because salt just makes sweet baked goods better. My husband, who is a brownie connoisseur, said they’re the best brownies he ever put in his mouth.
I had to use Hershey’s cocoa, because that’s what we had, but we’ve been using Ghirardelli chocolate chips for years. I can only imagine how absolutely phenomenal they’ll be using Ghirardelli cocoa….
Drew, I had to do volume to weight conversions on this recipe for a site I visit and share recipes on
1½ cups sugar (287.5 gm)
¾ cup all-purpose flour (75 gm)
¾ cup cocoa powder (83.4 gm)
3 large or extra-large eggs
¾ cup butter, melted (172 gm)
pinch of salt
¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (135 gm)
Also converted the baking temperature
1. Preheat oven to 325° F (160/170°C, gas mark 3, or moderate)
Please feel free to use these in your recipe. I shared it at http://www.cosforums.com/group.php?groupid=302&gmid=177124#gmessage177124 and rewrote the directions.
Thank you!
I read this post before and went “…Deviled eggs on bread! I can do that!”… but it didn’t come out as well as I had hoped. I *love* my deviled eggs, but they don’t make the best egg salad for me…
So reading it again today, I simplified it even more, and added more mustard even though I’m not a huge fan, and it’s wonderful!
Thank you so much!
By the way, I also made your Potatoes Au Gratin for friends and they were a hit, so I’m making them for a bigger crowd and expect kudos for them again – because they are, to fall back to my adolescence, “wicked awesome!”.
Thanks again!
I am going to try this, and add some xmas peanut m&ms for a treat for the kids
I cant wait
I cooked these tonight and they turned out fine. Very tasty and gooey. I was wondering, though, mine don’t seem as thick as yours. Mine are 1/2 inch thick. I did not use parchment paper (don’t have any), and I’m at 4,500 feet. Any input appreciated!
Jason, I didn’t use a typical 9×13 pan, this was 8×12. I don’t usually see this size in stores, so I just recommend the 9×13.
Alrighty, thanks!
I just made these, and OMG I think my tastebuds exploded. I managed to just eat one for now and save the rest for when my fiance gets home. But these brownies will not see 2012!
i found this recipe on stumbleupon.com & immeditaly went and made them. i just tasted one and they are delicious! especialy when they are still warm!!! the batter was a little thick and tasted a little funny but once i added the choc’o'chips and baked them they were fantastic! if you have not made them yet go make them now!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi Drew!
A big big thank you for posting this recipe. I love baking and I have been looking for the perfect brownie recipe for ages! All my brownies would either end up cakey or just not have that delicious crust on top! These brownies turned out excellent even though I did not have chocolate chips….I can’t wait to try out a new batch with chocolate chips soon!
Tim: Thank you for asking that question about how to measure a 3/4th cup of butter. We in Pakistan have the 250g butter slabs just like you do in the UK. I was thinking of melting the butter and then measuring it out but then I read your comment and Drew’s response to it and was saved a lot of trouble
I hate how you american’s measure everything in cups! I can’t find out anywhere how much a cup is in grams! Can someone please tell me?
Hello Drew!
Could you please put that thing about the salt in your recipe? I just put my dish in the oven and I didn’t use any salt, nor did I use salted butter. So that probably means I ruined them.
I’m not quite the baking expert, so I didn’t think about that myself and just came across the comments about it. Allthough it’s smelling great in my kitchen right now!
S, they won’t be ruined, and yes, I’ll go add a note in the recipe.
Awesome muchie food! I’m going to try them right now!
Thank you! And by the way, they were delicious!
Thank you! And by the way, they were delicious!
buna seara. http://themitchellblog.blogspot.com/.Fan grup piata universitati 2012.
Sooo…this may have been asked already but, what’s the texture like (cakey, fudgy, chewy, etc)? This recipe looks fantastic and I’m dying to try it. Thanks so much for sharing it with us!
More dense than cakey, but not fudgy. Press two of them together and they’ll stick.
These are the best brownies I’ve ever made. I’ve made them twice in the last week and they are fantastic. I prefer a thicker brownie, so I used a 9 x 9 pan the second time. I think I baked them for 31 minutes. I used the Natural high fat cocoa from Penzey’s (http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeyscocoapowder.html) along with regular old Nestle semi-sweet chips. These are so easy, I will never use a box again!
so yummy omg
Thank you for sharing this! I love your website!
I made this today for my husband and I and we have already ate half the pan and they are still warm! I didn’t have any parchment paper, but I used butter to rub the pan.
After searching for a good brownie recipe, I came across this blog. Very few ingredients, but like you said, the QUALITY makes all the difference! This is THE brownie recipe, hands down. They were soooo good, both warm out of the oven, and amazing after being refrigerated. I couldn’t decide which way I liked better, guess it depends on your mood. Thanks again for the recipe. You definitely did your research trying lots of brownies, better you than me
Nice recipe. I love a simple brownie recipe which is easy enough for the kids
I also like the below brownie recipe.
http://www.wascene.com/food-drink/perfect-chocolate-brownie-recipe/
Thanks for sharing,
Jess
Just made these crack brownies! They look dangerous! I will be sharing them with a group of friends tonight
I own a small cafe in my little town. I’m trying them out now with the ingredients I had in the store. I will say, that we have a brownie right now that is to die for! I would also like to add that when using liquid coffee in the mix, instead of giving a coffee flavor to the brownies, it actually just enriches the flavor of chocolate. Well, that has been our experience at least.
Made these last night and they were fantastic.
A very rich chocolate flavour, gooey and very yummy.
My family loved them and couldn’t stop eating them.
Thank you for this wonderful recipe, this is the only recipe I will ever use from now on.
Carole
Thanks for sharing! I’m not the best at baking and this will definitely help me!
hey um i taste some of the batter while i was making them and it taste a little bitter will they not taste good ?
This recipe is definitely more chocolaty and less sweet than most brownie recipes. That’s what I like about it.
Try it and see if you don’t agree. If they’re not sweet enough, you can always add some frosting.
Perfect brownies requires loads of good pot. Just sayin’.
But don’t you find that after a bunch of pot you end up eating all the batter before it makes it into the baking dish?
Hi, I found your recipe after a search for “brownie recipe from scratch” on Pinterest. I can’t wait to try the recipe (in five minutes!)
I also love the name of your site. Cooking Like Your Grandma – just wonderful! (I’m looking forward to getting the recipes, too.)
I am repinning this on Pinterest, but I want to make sure it’s ok with you. Here is the link, if you want me to take it down I will (I don’t want to mess with your copyright): http://pinterest.com/pin/48061920993356201/
Thanks!
Kind Regards,
Holly
Actually I just noticed the copyright on the photo so I took down the pin from Pinterest. If you want me to put it back up, you have my email address in the comments section. Thanks! – Holly
A single photo for the purposes of pointing to the original is fine.
I found this recipe by stumbleupon last month and since my kids are home with spring break we decided to go to the store and get the ghirardelli cocoa and chips. The brownies were AMAZING the chocolate makes the difference. My nine year old is a brownie fanatic. Thanks for the recipe we may just make another batch of brownies later in the week.
hi i’ve been wanting to make this brownies and i was wondering if i could bake them in a 9×9 baking dish, would it be different?
9×9 will work, but they’ll take a little longer to cook.
hey i want to make brownies but i dont have chocolate powder can i just blend chocolate chips untill they are powder?
Sorry Cathy, chocolate chips are mostly not cocoa. Even Ghirardelli extra dark are only 60% cocoa, the rest is sugar, milk, and a few other things.
Thank you SO much! My brownies never come out very good so I am definitely going to try this recipe this weekend. Crossing my fingers!
Okay let me say. . . .THIS RECIPE IS DA BOMB!!!!!! I just finished making a batch and they turned out PERFECT!!!!!! The parchment paper really helped! I’ve always made box brownies and even they turned out crappy, but this recipe will forever be my go to when I want to make brownies. I’m going to have one with a cold creamy scoop of vanilla ice-cream. Thanks for the tasty recipe!!!!!!
I am wondering if the cocoa powder can get “old?” Thanks.
I don’t know, I’ve never had it around that long.
Seriously, though, as long as you keep it air-tight it’s got a really long shelf life.
They look so delicious! Yeah, the parchment paper is a great idea
hi there drew, can i use melted dark cooking chocolate instead of chocolate ships? thanks
If you melted it, would you mix it in? That would just make the brownies more chocolatey, and they’re already pretty chocolatey. If you do want really dark chunks in them, I’d break up the cooking chocolate into small pieces, but don’t melt it.
Hi Drew!
Thank you for this amazing recipe, I made it a couple times, and it’s the all time favorite in the family, and my friends love them too! I made this for Christmas too, and served it with some not-so-sweet vanilla ice cream! They were soo delicious!
Thanks again!
Here is a picture of the last one
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2LnJNfeweJw/T4q9CuAeMzI/AAAAAAAAAFA/ZunjUKRirgI/s1600/02.jpg
Ooh, warm ‘n gooey. Yumm.
These look amazing!! Thank you for sharing your recipe!
These brownies look great, I’m going to have to make them soon
Okay, so I thought I’d share my own special Chocolate Sauce recipe-because these brownies are so simple and perfect looking. If you love more chocolate, or are serving a la mode to friends, just heat some Heavy Cream, (just before boil) in a saucepan. Remove from heat, add chocolate chips. About a 1:1 ratio should do. So 1/2 cup to 1/2 cup. Like that (Makes about a1/2 cup sauce.) Pour over your dessert, refrigerate leftovers (You have extra?!) in a jar in the fridge for about a month and a half. Reheat for a few seconds in the microwave next midnight snack. Or eat out of the jar anytime. You’re welcome!
That simple and easy to remember. I’ll be trying that this weekend. Thanks.
Just made these, but ran out of Cocoa Powder (gasp!), so I had to use what was left of some Hershey’s Super Dark Unsweetened Cocoa Powder my hubs got once on a (failed) attempt to find Scharffen Bergers. I had to add about 1/4 tsp bkg pwdr for alkalinity since I was using about 1/4-1/3 cup of the dark stuff. Also substituted Light br. Sugar for 1/2 cup since the dark is bitter. All else being the same-the texture and flavor is awesome! I have made every type of from-scratch brownie and these are top 2! I added Scharffen Berger chunks to the top before and after baking(they melted in). Will make these again, and again-the crust is the best!
oops-1 more post. I meant I added baking soda, not baking powder
Just had to say these are DELICIOUS!!!! I did add vanilla b/c I can’t make any desert without vanilla. But the texture, taste is just perfect!! Finally a brownie that is super easy and no need to frost–which can be a pain to make! Also, I didn’t have ghirardelli anything and still tasted excellent!
Looks fudgy! My grandmother would have love it.
is 1 cup 1 dl?
Kurdi, I listed the conversion to metric in a previous comment: http://cooklikeyourgrandmother.com/2009/07/how-to-make-perfect-brownies/#comment-32802
I’m sure the odds aren’t very high, but for anyone browsing for potential medical cannabis recipes, this one works VERY well. :] My patients always ask for these before anything else I make.
Hi,
When I was adding the recipe in my favorites, I realized that there is no mention of salt in the recipe card.
Just thought I would let you know.
What would happen if I didn’t use cocoa powder?
The short answer is they wouldn’t be brownies. But really, why would you want to make brownies without cocoa powder?
I am making these brownies for the third time. Love them! This is now my go to brownie recipe. Thank you!
I tried this out today, and got amazing results! Thank You!
Just found this recipe on Pinterest and it looked SO good that I’m whipping up a batch right now! 15 minutes to go and my son & I can’t wait!
Made these today! So delicious! I used nestle chocolate chips
I am having the hardest time getting any recipe of brownies to come out the way that I want! Even ones from a box! HELP!!! I want chewy texture inside and flaky on the top. Every time I am getting nothing even close to that. It seems like I am over baking them but I following the time and temp to a tee and check when the time is close with a toothpick. What am I doing wrong?
Rachel, I’ve never seen brownies that were flaky on top. You might want to check with Jenni. She’s my go-to person for pastry issues. You can use her contact form here.
I’ve been searching for a quick and simple brownie recipe for ages and these seem to be exactly what I was looking for. They look great and very easy to make – think I’m going to try them out for my daughter’s college fundraiser bake sale next week.
As I’m from England, please could you tell me, are the cup sizes equal to the following amounts?:
1/4 cup = 2 fl oz/60 ml, 1/3 cup = 3 fl oz/80 ml
1/2 cup = 4 fl oz/125ml, 1 cup = 9 fl oz/250ml
The reason I ask is because I have cups with these measurements on and was wondering if they are the exact same quantities as the US. Also, how much is a stick of butter in weight? We always weigh our ingredients over here but the cup method seems so much quicker/easier than faffing about with scales. I made a batch of brownies recently which called for 1lb of sugar (this seemed an enormous amount!) but halved the ingredients because I didn’t have enough chocolate and added slightly less sugar as I want chocolatey tasting brownies rather than sugary! Although they looked/tasted good the tin was actually too big (used the smallest I had) so they were rather flat which was disappointing. Also, when it comes to chocolate we have white, milk and plain/dark, is this the same as your semi-sweet (milk) and bittersweet (plain/dark)? I always use good quality 70% or more dark chocolate when baking as I’ve yet to find decent quality chocolate chips in my local shops. Is it possible to make brownies with just cocoa powder and omit the chocolate altogether or would they not have a good flavour? Sorry for all these questions, as you can probably tell I don’t make brownies often, tending to stick to Victoria Sponges, fairy (cup) cakes and scones. Thanks in advance for any advice.
I listed the metric conversion in this previous comment.
You can leave out the chips and just use the cocoa powder. The chips don’t melt, they’re there for texture. I actually prefer walnuts for texture and flavor, but my kids don’t like nuts.
Our “semi-sweet” is darker than our “milk” chocolate, but it varies widely by brand. “Bittersweet” here can be as low as 60% cocoa, which isn’t all that dark — not once you’ve started eating the 85% stuff. I’ll use 80% and above as chips in ice cream, cookies or brownies, but for eating on it’s own I like about 70-75%.
Its quite difficult to find ghirardelli chocolates in Singapore. Can I use Van Houten cocoa powder to substitute for that? And what chocolate chips do I use? Please advise. Thank you
Afee, the point was just not to use the cheapest stuff you can find. It’s like they say about wine: Don’t cook with something you wouldn’t drink. Same with chocolate: Don’t bake with something you wouldn’t eat.
Hi, I’m hoping to make these lovely brownies for my daughter’s college bake sale this Wednesday (27th June) as they look very quick and easy compared to other recipes. Can anyone confirm if the following UK cup measurements are equivalent to US ones? If not, I will have to find another recipe with weighed ingredients. Many thanks.
1/4 cup = 2 fl oz/60 ml
1/3 cup = 3 fl oz/80 ml
1/2 cup = 4 fl oz/125ml
1 cup = 9 fl oz/250ml
Ooh, I just noticed the date. Sorry, I’ve been laid up with a bad back for the past two weeks. I hope you found a other recipe you liked.
Hi, thanks for your reply and I hope your back is improving as I know only too well how painful that can be.
Well I took the risk and made your brownies with the UK cups I had and they came out perfect! I followed the recipe exactly except for adding a few drops of vanilla extract because I wasn’t sure if the dark chocolate and cocoa would be too strong/bitter for youngsters, although the sugar probably counteracts that anyway. At first I thought they were going to be too spongey when the mixture rose quite a bit, but it sank back down and they were lovely and dense with a very moist gooey centre after 30 mins cooking. Mine didn’t quite have the same crunchy top as in your picture although overnight it seemed to ‘set’ a bit more. The only other difference was my chocolate chips looked smaller and therefore didn’t add quite as much texture because they melted somewhat, but the brownies still tasted great nevertheless (I had to taste test one of course) and sold out in a flash at my daughter’s fundraiser which was the important thing.
Thanks very much for posting this recipe, it’s the one I will use from now on when baking brownies as it’s very quick and simple, especially since the amounts are so easy to remember. I just need to make a batch for my family to enjoy now! Thanks also for the info on the chocolate.
You know, that’s a good point that I don’t make often enough. A recipe that you can remember is better than one that you have to write down, and possibly lose.
Just made again for the second time. Still delicious. For some reason, I have to cook mine about 38 minutes for them to not be goopy in the middle.
Looks like pure chocolate, very delicious picture!!!!
Just made these brownies!
They were great ! Thank you so much !!
I’d spent a while converting to metric units, only to discover Drew’d already done that. The way you posted them worked fine, Drew. But I thought eggs *and* butter was going to be too much for me, so I used 250 grams of zucchini and honeydew melon puree to replace the eggs. Beetroot also works well in brownies (I usually do vegan). I used the whole lot of butter though.
To replace the chocolate chips- seems to be an American thing! in Europe we don’t use them but I bet if someone made them locally for cheap, people would be flocking to get their hands on some- I used Dark Toblerone that I placed in a canvas bag and jumped up and down on. Vee-ola, chipped chocolate!
Used 100 grams less sugar, and unsweetened cacao powder.
My oven lacks temperature-setting apparatus so I just set it on high. Those baby brownies were blasted into hell, and came out devilishly good post-20 minutes. I panicked seeing them so skinny-like, but after one square you’re already rubbing your belly and life is complete for a while.
Linda, you must do a lot of baking. That’s quite a few substitutions all at once and it still came out good. I’m thoroughly impressed.
in this recipe i used penut butter and chocolate chips i hope they turn out great with my peanut butter and chocolate chipes :0
So … how were they? People want to know.
I tried it and it was just amazinggggg!!!!
BEST RECIPE EVERRR!!!
Hi – I’ve been reading the comments but have yet to read where anyone baked these in mini cupcake pans. My daughter is getting married a week tomorrow and I’ve been looking for an over the top brownie recipe to go along with our “Sweet Reception” where we’re serving bite size finger foods and think I just found the perfect recipe. How would the brownies do in the mini cupcake pans? Can anyone help me out here please? Thanks so much….
Just watch the baking time. They’ll get done a lot faster.
Got up early this morning to make a treat for my Sunday school class and came across this recipe. I made 2 batches and brought them to class without trying them beforehand, so I was a little weary. They were a huge hit!! Everyone went back for seconds and cleaned the platter! I was glad I left two squares at home. I was able to come home and see what everyone was raving about. They are awesome! Great job! And thanks for sharing the recipe!
Well… I used sweet chocolate powder…. puaj!! DON’T DO IT!!! They taste so sweet and the bottom is full of caramel… they were supossed to be my best friend birthday gift but they taste so sweet that i don’t know what to do…
i do not hav oven… is there any way to make this ccake…??
how many servings do the brownies make
I’m not sure I’ll waste good chocolate on this recipe as printed if they are going to turn out so dense. The brownies don’t look like they’ve finished baking. Lol… you eat raw chocolate-chip cookie dough, too, don’t you?
Oh, they’re done. And yes they’re dense. If you prefer cakey brownies, you might like the chocolate brownie cake.
I made brownies using this recipe twice. They were absolutely amazing! I made it for a family gathering and everyone loved it.
Please help Drew, I just can’t make brownies, i thought i’d try your recipe because they look so yummy, well still no success – the mixture seemed a lot thicker and finished brownie a lot flatter! and they stuck to paper what am i doing wrong. Please please can you help
Are you by any chance at a high altitude?
This is a silly question but I’ve never baked before and I would like to try this recipe. My question is does the actual chocolate come in a bag/container….are they chocolate bars….and are they located in the baking aisle? And how much chocolate would I add once I begin mixing?
Take a look at the picture next to the ingredients. (You can click the picture to see a larger view.) There are two kinds of chocolate: cocoa powder, and chips. Use the amounts listed, combine everything except the chips, and mix just until all the cocoa and flour are moistened. Then fold in the chips. It only takes about two minutes.
You could even include the chips right in the beginning, I just find it easier to mix before adding them.
Dear Drew,
Your brownies look great. I have been trying all kinds of recipes to find a great scratch brownie that is as good as a mix. I thought yours looks great. I tried it and they are as flat as a pancake. In checking the recipe noticed that there is no pakin powder or soda in it to make them rise. I that a omission? I’ll keep trying
The eggs should be enough to rise a little bit, but this is a very dense brownie. Not quite fudge-dense, but close. You might try a smaller pan. Mine is 8×10, not the typical 9×13.
Do you think it would still be good if I used coconut sugar instead of “sugar”? I want to make these but I don’t consume white sugar/refined sugar anymore. Help?
I haven’t baked with coconut sugar. I know baking is more like chemistry than cooking is, and sugar serves a structural role in how things are textured.
I’d go ahead and try it. What will it cost you, a couple of bucks worth of ingredients and five minutes of your time?
I made these last week- amazing… I made them tonight.. I’m assuming that I had the oven too hot. They are more like cakes than brownies… I’m sure they will still be yummy but disappointed that they don’t have that gooey goodness that the last batch had!
thanks for the recipe
These turned out amazing! I saw this recipe on Pinterest a while ago and just found time to make them today! I didn’t have any parchment paper on hand so I was a little worried about that, but thankfully they came out of the pan just fine. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
hey… Thankxxx a lot for the recipe…. I made it and they turned out to be gr8… Can u post some more easy to cook recipies?? W8ng… W8ng…
So simple yet so delicious.
This recipe does sound like the perfect brownies
Brownies are an all time favorite in my house!!!
Not sure what all the fuss is about-these were the worst brownies ever tasted- would not even call these brownies-plain awful.
The good news is I still like them.
i had never made brownies from scratch. And these looked like they were worth a try. i bookmarked the page but did not get around to it until i ran into the bookmark about 6 months later and was inspired to make them for my girlfriend. They came out great, but were just a LITTLE cakey. I loved the parchment paper trick. i did not realize that such a simple recipe for brownies could be so great.
A week late i made them again, but this time i used a whole cup of semi-sweet chips and gave a generous coating of walnuts. they were more to my liking and came out delicious
thank you for the recipe
I couldn’t agree more on the walnuts. But my kids don’t like them, so I do without.
Made these (basically) last night. Only change is that I used Ghiradelli bittersweet chips, Hersey’s Baking Cocoa and dark chocolate baking cocoa (ran out of regular lol), and added almonds. The batter was amazing. lol. And the brownies, were, brownie like! Only thing, is that I used a glass pan and it took much longer than 30minutes to bake thoroughly, but were still delish.
Hello Drew
I live in South Africa and we bake at degrees celcius.
I am just asking (for the purpose of confirmation) that your recipe which calls for 325 degrees is farenheit?
When I do the conversion I get a temperature of 162.78 degrees celcius.
Could I bake then at 160 degrees and add an extra 5 minutes?
What would your advice be?
Thanks for the recipe. Keen to try it with my family during the Christmas holidays.
Sune, yes that temperature is in Fahrenheit. And for that small difference in the conversion, I wouldn’t worry about the extra time. Just check it when the recipe calls for and leave it in a little longer if it’s not done. Let me know how it comes out.
Baked this brownies tonight and I must say, they are wonderfully crisp on the outside and still moist on the inside! Must bookmark this page because I am sure my four kids will enjoy these for years to come! Thank you from us in the Netherlands (Europe)
These are the best brownies I’ve ever tasted. Been making them for my friends and family for about a year now. Thank you!
This was just what I was looking for! The steps are really simple and everything was perfect! The only things I didn’t do were add chocolate chips or put parchment paper on the pan. Though, it worked out fine because I subsituted it for cookie non-stick spray… I didn’t have anything else to use
Thanks.
Do you have to use Chocolate Chips? PleAse answer ASAP
Nope, but the little bit of added texture is really good.
Hi Drew!
I just made these delicious looking brownies, they turned out a bit flat, but that’s because of our German cake pan. Next time I will scale up. I didn’t use high quality chocolate because it’s Sunday and I couldn’t buy any, so I had to stick with what I had. Anyway, I tried a little piece… Simply delicious. Thank you for this recipe!
Best wishes for 2013
Chayali from Germany
How many people does this recipe feed
My kids? Maybe two.
Seriously though, it’s enough for a normal 9×13 baking pan, though the pictures up above show a pan more like 8×11.
Just made your receipe…delish!!! They came out more cake-like, I was wondering if you ever tried using 2 eggs, is it possible they would come out more chewy?
Eggs generally tend to leaven cakes and give them structure, so I don’t think that would be it. Did you use all-purpose flour or bread flour? The ones in the pictures used all-purpose.
It’s also possible you just need to shorten the cooking time. Start checking them sooner.
Simply awsomuzisious (awesome amazing and deliciouss put together) like bighting into chocolate!
Simply awsomuzisious (awesome amazing and deliciouss put together) like bighting into chocolate!
I have been using the same recipe for many many years now..I felt like something different. I am stunned !! These are truly PERFECTION !! I made whip cream and a raspberry Ganache to go over it…AMAZING !! Thank you this is certainly my forever recipe that I will hand down!
Those additions sound amazing.
These look sooooooo amazing aghh ima make some!! Thankyou 4 the recipe!!
I ‘ve just finished making the brownies. They are delicious! However, I failed to get a shinny crackle top. It is matte with many tiny holes. How can I get a shinny top next time ?
Typically you’d brush with an egg wash: one egg white beaten with a couple of tablespoons of water. Brush on before baking. Though I like the matte finish on my brownies.
I’ve tried these brownies a few times. They are good but the problem I have is they get too hard, especially after a couple days. Could I be cooking them too long?
You still have some left after a couple of days? Wow, never had that happen before.
If you’re going to keep them, make sure they’re in something air-tight. Zip-top bag or plastic container with a tight seal should do it.
THESE WERE AMAZING!!!:):) i wanted to make them a little bit healhier and so i substitued the butter with yogurt, but we didnt have vanilla so i used strawberry yogurt and by goodness it was amazing!! iv never found sucha good recipe thank you!!
Just curious, how is yogurt healthier than butter? They’re both dairy products, and if you use a flavored version it’s probably high in added sugar. But that bit of strawberry flavor sounds like an interesting addition.
Hi,
I came across your recipe and though I didn’t have Ghiradelli on hand, I used organic products from trader joes… decent enough, for now. I added natural peanut butter to the batter it was delicious. I personally enjoy cooking from scratch and I look forward to trying more recipes.
Thanks for the site. = )
I am trying it now!!!!!!!!!!!
is it 325 Celsius?
No, that’s Fahrenheit.
I just made these the other day and this is now my official go to brownie recipe! After trying many brownie recipes, many of which consisted of long and in my opinion, un-needed ingredients, I’ve found that they’ve all disappoint; We’re a family of five, and at times, hard to please, lol! So for a while, have resigned to making brownies of the store brought variety, which, while some were pretty good, just isint the same as baking from scratch, which I love to do. So I decided to continue searching for the ‘perfect brownie’ and found this. I had all the ingredients, except for the ghiradelli, which I promptly got, and made this. To be honest, I thought this was gonna be another failed experiment- but lemme tell you, upon their first bites, my kids exclaimed; “these are the BEST brownies ever!”, “delicioso!” and then, the magical words “better than boxed brownies” . Even papa bear was pleased, lol.
The best part is that this recipe only requires minimal ingredients- but sometimes the simpler recipes are the best! These were rich, with just the right amount of sweet and chocolate- thank you so much for the recipe, Drew!
Oh man, this. Is the best recipe. It should be shoukD be called, “better then brownies”!
I didn’t have chocolate chips, but made the recipe, before putting into the oven, I opened a jar if hot fudge sauce (not syrup) and warmed it in the microwave then spooned out 3 thick lines (half a jar) on top of the brownie mixture. Then ran a knife long wise on the hot fudge and baked as directed. Was so good!
Thanks for sharing the recipe, I will never buy the box mix at the store again!
These. Are. Spectacular! I subbed dark cocoa and dark chips as a personal preference, but they are just wonderful. My favorite part is the simplicity of the recipe.
I will make them again and again.
These brownies are amazing! Fluffy, and didn’t stick. Easy to make! Thank you!!!
these brownies are so good and easy to make, they didn’t taste very good fresh out of the oven in my opinion, but after they were cooled, I put chocolate icing on them, and they very very good.
Hey, do you know where you can buy cocoa powder somewhere near Orange County, CA?
Sorry, I’m in Cleveland. See if they have a “World Market” near you.
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