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 Natasha, I don’t have instant coffee. I use espresso powder in a lot of chocolate recipes, can I sub this for instant coffee?
Hi Renee, I havne’t tried that myself. I use an espresso machine to make mine too. If you happen to try it with powder, I’d love to know how you like that.
SO BAD, WE SHOULD HAVE MADE 2 BATCHES THIS IS THE BEST HOMEMADE BROWNS EVER!!!
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, Jack and Polly! I’m glad you loved it!
Is there any reason you can’t melt the butter and chocolate chips in the microwave???
I always make it on the stovetop for more even melting and heating, otherwise, butter has a tendency to spurt in the microwave, creating a mess. I think you could make it work if you were careful not to overheat it.
Hi Natasha – I was just wondering why this recipe is not more cake like using 4 eggs. I thought the more eggs the more cakey results?
Thanks !
Hi Elaine, this recipe doesn’t have a cake-like consistency but more of a fudgy browning with the proportion of wet to dry ingredients.
Hi Natasha. May I know what is the weight of a large egg? Also what is the measurement for the bread loaf pan? Using a bread loaf pan, do I still bake it at the same time and temperature?
Hi Cheryl, I haven’t measured egg by weight before to advise on that. I did a quick Google search, though, and this is the answer I got “1 egg is equal to 63 – 73g”. A standard 9″ loaf pan may work here. You will need to cut the recipe in half and bake as directed for a small batch of brownies.
I made the brownies today and it taste super good. But my batter is not thick like in your video, it’s slightly watery and it has lots of bubbles. Any reason why it is like that? Also it looks like the brownies will be a little dry after a few days. Any advice on how to keep them moist for days?
Hi Natasha. Can I opt out oil if I use 250g of butter instead of 227g? Could adding more butter cause the batter to become slightly runny?
Hi Cheryl, The oil in brownies helps the texture but also allows the chocolate flavor to shine. I haven’t tried vomiting or adding less, but adding slightly less may work. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe
Hi Cheryl, did you make any substitutions in ingredients. Also, make sure to measure ingredients correctly which will make all the difference in baking. Lastly, make sure not to overbake which is the primary reason why brownies end up dry and there’s not really a way to make them moist again once that happens. I hope that helps with troubleshooting.
Hi Natasha. I used a weighing scale to measure all the ingredients. The only difference is the butter which I use 250g instead of 227g. Could that be a reason why the batter is very bubbly and the batter turns out to be slightly runny?
Hi Cheryl, it’s hard to say without being there was caused it. If ingredients were substituted, including the amount that could have caused the runny texture.
Hi Natasha,
I only have medium size egg. Could this work? Or do i have to meet a certain weight?
Hi Tash, that will work too. Hope you love it!
Hi Natasha,
I like to make my brownies in cupcake tins so I don’t have to cut them and they are easy to serve….Any idea how many this would make? Thanks!
Hi Caroline, I honestly haven’t tried that yet to advise how many this recipe would make. If you try it, please update us on how it goes.
Hi. Your recipe has 1/2 cup of butter but your video states 16 tablespoons of butter. The measurements aren’t the same.
Hi Landry, the recipe says 1/2 pound of butter which is 16 Tbsp or 1 cup or 223 grams.
I want to make these soon😍
have you got any very important tips for me to make sure I get them perfect first time?
Hi Kiara, I highly recommend reading through the post where I share all of our best tips and watch the video before starting. I hope you totally love the brownies!
Best brownies I’ve ever had! This forever will be my go to recipe! Thank you.
That makes me smile big. Thank you for sharing your awesome review!
Hi Natasha the brownies taste great! The only thing is that can I reduce the sugar down to 1 cup or should I just reduce the chocolate chips down to 14 oz? Other then the sweetness we loved the brownie. Can I substitute chocolate chip with baking chocolate bar? Thank you.
Hi Ann, make sure to use semi-sweet chocolate chips and not milk chocolate which can make these quite sweet. I haven’t tested it down at 1 cup but that should still work well.
Hi Natasha the brownies taste great! The only thing is that can I reduce the sugar down to 1 cup or should I just reduce the chocolate chips down to 14 oz? Other then the sweetness we loved the brownie. Can I substitute chocolate chip with baking chocolate bar? Thank you.
Hi Ann, 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.
Hello. Any idea how to modify the recipe/baking time if I want to make it in a 23 cm round pan?
Hi Hiba, Please see the section Can I bake these in a Different Pan?
I love this recipe! However, my brownies always are greasy and buttery from the bottom. How do I fix this?
Hi Dhriti, it sounds like fat separates from the batter, although it’s hard to know what the culprit without being there. I recommend making sure nothing was substituted in both the ingredients and process.
Your brownie recipe looks like what I have been looking for..more chocolate flavor with the chocolate chips! Question!??
Can I leave out the oil since it calls for so much butter??
Hi Susie, it really needs the oil here. I hope you love this recipe!
Hi,
I love this recipe. I used sugar substitute ( monk fruit sugar) as my mum can’t have sugar and I was making this for her. I did not achieve the crackle top. Is this because I had to use monk fruit sugar? I would appreciate your feedback. I really wanted a crackle top.
Hi Holly, I honestly haven’t tested this recipe yet using that sugar substitute but that could be the cause of it.
Eeeek I’m still struggling so much with brownies rising in oven and then major flop happening…. I have a gas oven …. should I decrease bake time or heat? I’m not sure if it’s maybe too hot?? Could that cause the rise and drop
Hi Roberta, I haven’t had that happen but if your oven runs too hot normally, you may need to reduce the heat. Also, make sure you are using baking powder and not subbing with baking soda by mistake which is 4 times stronger and can cause that kind of rise and caving in the center (speaking from my own experience).
Hey Natasha, hope you are doing well! I tried this recipe in 8*8 inch pan and it was too tall. I was thinking to divide the batter in 2
8*8 inch pan… Can you please let me know how long will it take to make the fudgy brownie?
I haven’t tried this in 2 8×8 pans, but the total bake time will depend on the thickness poured. I would follow the recipe as much as you can to get the best outcome!
Thank you for replying. I baked for 20+7+4= 31 mins( I divided the baking time like that to be in a safer side, so that I could check every time). Let me tell you the brownie was the perfect one and so delicious . My friends and family they had extra servings at my place and they asked me to pack the brownies for them for the next day. This was a big hit. Thank you so much dear.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Sudeshna!
Do you have to add instant coffee?
Hi Becky, coffee brings out the flavor of chocolate. They won’t taste like coffee but they will have a richer flavor with coffee. I always make them with coffee though and haven’t tested substitutes.
I don’t like coffee either… I always substitute dark brown sugar when the recipe asks for coffee.
Hi Natasha, the brownies are really delicious and everyone loves them when i bake them, but i had a question. my brownies have a thick crust at the edges. how do bake the brownies without getting the thick edges.
Hi Dareena, I’m not sure what else it could be. If you suspect your oven runs cold or hot, you can adjust the temperature. Brownies normally do have a raised edge and a slightly thicker edge, but it’s not a dramatic difference between the crust and the center. I wonder also if it may be the material of the pan? For example, the glass heats up really hot and that could affect how brownies rise at the edges.
Looking forward to trying these. Recently, I started using long strips of damp paper towel and wrapping them in foil to form large “cake bands.” I wrap these bands around the edge of my dishes, for more even heating. Helps with dry, crusty edges. Good luck!
will the recipe work if I doubled it and then use an 8×11” pan? or it will ruin the recipe?
Hi Trish, please see my recipe notes: “Can I Bake these in a Different Pan?” I hope that helps.