The ultimate Fudgy Brownie Recipe! These homemade brownies are decadent and stay moist for days. Plus, there’s a secret ingredient that makes them super chocolatey without being overly sweet.

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Brownies Video Tutorial:
These brownies are unbelievably satisfying. Watch the video recipe and you’ll know why everyone loves this recipe!
The Only Brownie Recipe You’ll Need!
The inspiration for these brownies came from Ina Garten’s Outrageous Brownies in the Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. We made them fudgier and supremely chocolatey. Here’s why these are the best homemade brownies:
- Easy brownies – No fancy equipment or tools required. All you need is a saucepan, spatula, whisk, and a couple of bowls to make the batter.
- No Room Temperature Ingredients Needed – you don’t have to plan ahead and can start making brownies as soon as the craving strikes.
- Fudgiest Center – these literally stay moist and fudgy for days. I made the last batch on a Wednesday and ate the last piece on Sunday and it was still moist and satisfying.
- Rich Chocolate Flavor – adding the cocoa powder and chocolate chips make these intensely chocolatey without being overly sweet.
- Crackly Top – These brownies have that classic, irresistible crackly top.
The “Secret” Ingredient for Brownies:
Just like with our Chocolate Cake, adding coffee amps up the flavor of chocolate without tasting like coffee. We used Instant Coffee Granules. The rest of the ingredients are simple and will give you the perfect brownie texture.

How to Make the Best Brownies:
1. Melt Chocolate: In a saucepan over low heat, melt together 2 cups chocolate chips and butter. Set aside to cool 15 minutes.
2. Wet Ingredients: Whisk together eggs, sugar, instant coffee granules, oil, and vanilla extract. Whisk the cooled chocolate mixture into the egg mixture.

3. Dry Ingredients: Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt then fold these dry ingredients into the chocolate batter until no streaks remain.
5. Pour and Bake: Spread brownie batter into prepared pan, sprinkle the top with the reserved 1/2 cup chocolate chips, and bake at 350˚F for 35-40 minutes.

How Long to Bake Brownies:
Fudgy Brownies – Bake for 35-37 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center will come out fudgy.
Soft and Moist Brownies – Bake for 40 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out with moist crumbs attached.
How to Store Brownies:
- At Room Temperature – Brownies can be stored at room temperature in a low humidity environment. To keep them fresh and moist, cover with plastic wrap directly over the brownies and store in an airtight container for 4-5 days.
- Freezer – brownies can be frozen for up to 3 months. To keep brownies moister, do not cut brownies until you are ready to eat them.
How to Serve Brownies:
Our favorite way to serve brownies is to top with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream. You can also try a dollop of whipped cream drizzled with chocolate, or top with fresh raspberries.
For Frosted Brownies: cover them with Chocolate Ganache or Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting.

What Mix-Ins Can I Add to Brownies?
Once you have a great brownie base like this one, you can change them up and make them your own.
- Caramel – Drizzle the top of the brownies with Homemade Caramel and a sprinkle of kosher salt.
- Walnuts or Pecans – chop 1 cup of walnuts and fold them in at the end, sprinkling a few over the top for walnut brownies.
- Chocolate Chunks – fold in some chocolate chunks in addition to sprinkling them over the top.
- Zucchini – if you want to sneak in some veggies, try our Zucchini Brownies

Can I Bake these in a Different Pan?
For this brownie recipe, we used a 9×9 square pan. Using different sized baking pans will affect the bake times, and the recipe. These tips should help.
- Bread Loaf Pan – Cut the recipe in half and bake as directed for a small batch of brownies.
- 8×8 Pan – this smaller pan will result in taller brownies that require a longer baking time (40-48 minutes) minutes).
- 12×9 Pan – this larger pan works, but the brownies will be flatter and will require less baking time (30-35 minutes).
- 13×9 Pan – Make 1 1/2 times the recipe or the brownies will be pretty flat. Bake about 40 minutes, or to your desired doneness.
Love Chocolate? More Chocolate Desserts:
- Chocolate Cake – so moist with the best frosting
- Chocolate Lava Cakes – with a gooey surprise center
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread – with melty morsels of chocolate
- Chocolate Chip Cookies – stay soft for days
- Chocolate Mousse – a classic, chef-approved recipe
Fudgy Brownie Recipe

Ingredients
- 1/2 lb unsalted butter, (softened or cut into pieces if cold for faster melting)
- 16 oz semisweet chocolate chips, (2 1/2 cups by measuring cup), divided
- 4 eggs, large
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp instant coffee granules, (6.2 grams)
- 3 Tbsp light olive oil , or vegetable oil
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350˚F. Butter a 9x9 pan and line with parchment paper.
- In a medium saucepan over low heat, Melt together 2 cups chocolate chips and butter while whisking then set aside to cool 15 minutes.
- In a second large bowl, whisk together 4 eggs, 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar and 1 Tbsp coffee granules, 3 Tbsp oil and 1 Tbsp vanilla extract.
- Stir cooled chocolate mixture into the egg mixture.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together 2/3 cup flour, 1/2 cup cocoa, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt then use a spatula to fold mixture into the batter and fold just until combined. Do not over mix.
- Transfer batter to prepared pan and sprinkle all over with remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Bake at 350 for 35-40 min depending on the desired doneness.* Cool until nearly at room temperature then cut into bars before serving.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen




Hi what brand of chocolate chips did you use in this recipe?
Hi Renata, we usually go with Nestle or Ghirardelli.
Amazing recipe
Haven’t tried yet, but sounds delicious! Preparing for a family beach vacation- do you think I could place all dry ingredients in a ziplock bag and mix with wet ingredients when needed (1 week later)?
Hi JoLynn, I bet that could work! I hope you love this recipe!
Thanks Natasha… no have no idea how many brownie recipes I have tried until I found your recipe. This has been far most the best fudge brownie recipe ever!!! 🤗
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite!
Best fudgy-brownie-recipe
Love it! Thanks for your short but sweet review, Lilly!
Look no further! I’ve tried many recipes trying to beat the brownie box mix my husband just loves. I was on a mission to find a homemade brownie!
These were perfect.. chewy in the middle with crunchy ends. Thick! Delicious!
Everything I’ve made from Natasha has been a hit!
Thank you for Natasha.. my family thinks I can cook! 😆
Quick question.. my husband said the only thing that would make them even more perfect was a cream cheese mixture running through. Do you have a recipe like that?
Thank you!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that, Kim. Thank you for sharing that with us! I haven’t tried this with cream cheese running through it, but I bet that could work. If you experiment, I would love to know how you like that.
Hi dear
Ur all recipes are super, plz tell me the measurements in grams , me confuse in lb or oz.
Hi Bushra, I’m so glad you’re enjoying my recipes! If you scroll down to our printable recipe card, most of our recipes have a metric conversion option on the printable recipe card. We are currently working on adding metric measurements to all of our recipes, but it is taking some time to add them one at a time. Thank you so much for being patient! In the meantime, check out our post on measuring which should help.
I love brownies Natasha.Sound so easy to make.I love to watch you cooking you’re so organize and easy to follow your cooking and instructions.Thanks for sharing this lovely and delicious brownies.
You’re welcome, Gilda. I’m happy to know that you’re enjoying my recipes and videos. Thanks for your review!
I was looking for an icing for my brownies. One that will set and not be a mess to handle. Any help, please.
Hi Elena, we have this note in the recipe, I hope it’s helpful: “For Frosted Brownies: cover them with Chocolate Ganache or Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting.”
Hi, Natasha!❤️ I have a few questions if you don’t mind❤️
1 – Can i swap the semisweet chocolate to bittersweet/dark?
2 – Should i wait for the chocolate butter mixture to be completely cooled or warm enough to touch?
3 – How does the baking powder affect the brownies with and without it?
That is all. I hope to hear from you soon. Thank you so much!❤️
Hi Riah, this will work with bittersweet, I’m sure. One of our readers mentioned adding “3 types of chocolate chips both in and on top of the batter: milk chocolate, semisweet, and bittersweet. They are absolutely outstanding!”. I would follow the recipe steps exactly to make sure you have the ideal outcome. The baking powder is needed for this recipe, and it will turn out flat without it.
Hi Natasha
I’ve made this twice now with the same out come PLEASE HELP … batter looks gorgeous like yours and starts off amazing in the oven but then at around 25min or so in it starts to flop in the middle :0(
Hi Roberta, if you are using a different type of pan (different size or materials), that caving in the center can be more prominent. Also, in steps 2 and 3, make sure not to overbeat the mixture which can incorporate more air and make the center cave in more.
Mine bubbled up and over the side of the pan (and caused a smoke disaster) and they sunk in the middle. This is the only recipe of Natasha’s that hasn’t worked for me.
Hi Rebecca, I have never had that occur and this is the first report of that. Did you possibly use the wrong kind of leavening or use too much or too small of a pan? That seems highly unusual for it to run over the top if made per the recipe.
I did! And I went back and double-checked everything after. I still love everything you do though. 🙂
Hello Natasha,
I had the same problem as Rebecca although I tried this recipe many times previously and it worked perfectly. But this time I don’t know what was the problem… it didn’t work 🙁
Hi Natasha . How do you get your lining paper to fit so perfectly . Mine never comes out so well. More crinkly . Thank you
Hi Sheila, here is a fun way to line a baking pan.
Oh thank you Natasha . That’s great ! I’ve just bought my chocolate chips and my pan is arriving today . I’m a Brit living in Spain so I sometimes have to adapt your ingredients. But I love your recipes . Thanks again z
I made the fudgy brownies they were delicious. Just my chocolate chips melted on the top
Glad you enjoyed the brownies!
Love these!
IfI didn’t want them so chocolatety, can I reduce the amount of chocolate chips?
Do you have a blondies recipe?
Hi Beverly, thank you! You can reduce the chocolate chips, that will be okay. I don’t have a recipe for blondies yet but thanks for the suggestion.
Hi Natasha
Love your recipes
Do you know how to update this recipe to brownies in a cup?
Hi Amira, I wish I had an answer for you, but I haven’t tried this in individual cups to advise. If you happen to test that, I would love to know how you like this recipe!
hi Natasha! I tried this recipe and it turned out like a cake even though I followed the recipe meticulously😭 (the flavor is heavenly but it didn’t became fudgy). I have trouble making fudgy brownies.. What have I been doing wrong? Can you help me? Thanks a lot!
Hi Aly, that is most likely due to overbaking. I suggest taking it out sooner. Also, make sure you are using conventional oven settings since this recipe is not written for convection.
Thinking trying this recipe this weekend, can this recipe baked in a cast iron skillet?
Hi Denise, I haven’t tested this in a cast iron to advise on timing or outcome, but I bet that can work! If you experiment, I’d love to know how you like this recipe!
I tried the recipe with cast iron skillet. I reduced the recipe to 8 servings, reduced granulated sugar sugar slightly, and used an 8″ cast iron skillet baked for 30 minutes at 350F. Although it was not as gooey as I would’ve hope (might need to cut time to 25 minutes or so), it was still fantastic!
I’m so glad it worked out, Denise! Thank you for that feedback!
Good morning!!!!☀️
I love to see and cook your recipes the only problem is that I don’t know which recipe prepare because all your recipes are so delicious and easy to prepare, congratulations and thank you for giving us the opportunity to prepare such a delicious recipes. God bless you and your family in everything you do and thank you again 🌻
Aww! Thank you and good morning Bertha! I’m so happy to hear you’re enjoying my recipes!
Hi Natasha. Your recipes are amazing. I am diabetic and would like to know how to replace the sugar with stevia. And if another ingredient needs to be increased/decreased or added/deleted.
Thank you very much.
Diane
Thank you, Diane. I honestly haven’t tried using stevia or reducing the sugar in this recipe to advise. If you do an experiment, please share with us how you liked it.
I Just made it. Came out perfect. Thank you very much❤️
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Shaz!