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
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Yup! Another 5 stars from me!! I was a little nervous because I was making 1 1/2 x the recipe and baking in a 9×12 glass Pyrex. And I didn’t read any reviews for results when increasing. I needn’t have worried. 42 min and they rose fully and were perfectly moist but without being undercooked. They had the fudgy texture you expect, even with the cake like cooking times. I left off the extra chocolate chips on the top because I was going to drizzle her salted caramel sauce on the top and finish with a bit of flaked sea salt. Drizzle the caramel while it’s warm, but not hot. And the brownies are just a little warm, so the drizzling lines don’t melt into it but hold their shape of nice diagonal lines. Because my instant coffee was instant espresso granules, I cut the amount in half. Doesn’t taste of coffee but enhances the chocolate flavor just like she says. These are rich so I cut them into 1 1/2” squares. I got 48 pieces out of the 9×12 pan. Thanks Natasha!!
P.S. can we still order an autographed cookbook? Any left??
Thank you so much for your detailed feedbdack, Paulette. Appreciate it! The autographed cookbooks from Talk Shop Live are sold out but you can try Book Larder, they can ship your order.
I followed the instructions to the letter, but the brownies are not done in the center even after the maximum baking time, although they are completely done around the edges. Oven was preheated properly and I used high-quality ingredients. I will definitely serve these as a home dessert (the flavor is out of this world!), but I made them to take to an event, so I need them to be the right consistency for cutting into proper servings. I want to make these again, but I’m not sure if what went wrong.
Hi Rebecca! Did you use a different size pan by chance? That can affect the bake time and the recipe. They could also be gooey if you cut them before they’ve had a chance to cool a little bit.
My oven will beep when it’s preheated but when I check the internal oven thermometer (Amazon affiliate link) it still shows it needs to heat up about another 25 degrees. I recommend using an oven thermometer to see if your oven is heating correctly. This recipe is written for a conventional oven on regular bake mode. Also, the type of pan used can affect how the heat is distributed so it may take some tweaking. I linked the pan I used above. I hope that helps.
Hello again Natasha! I made those wonderful brownies yesterday with a few changes. I always use dark swiss 74% cocoa chocolate for baking and I also use less sugar (1 cup this time). I weighed it, 12.5 oz since I did not sprinkle any over the batter. I baked them for 37 min. and they were perfect except not as fudgy as yours. May be because of my oven temp or my canadian flour, lol. So next time, I will bake them for 35 min. and will check after 33 min. They are soooo big that I have 16 brownies :-))))
Thank you for those easiest, tastiest brownies that I ever baked. A keeper forever!
Hi Ginette! Thank you for sharing your experience with us.
Hi Natasha! These brownies are so beautiful and look sooooo good that I will make them this weekend. I only have one question: “at what position do you put the rack (not sure it is the right word) in the oven?” Thank you! Ginette
Hi Ginette! These are baked in a conventional oven on the middle rack. I hope you love the recipe!
Thank you very much for the quick response. I also have your book so I will add the information in the recipe also. Thanks again!
These brownies were phenomenal. I am a total brownie snob and these were 🔥. I first started following Natasha cause I loved her adorable positive personality but then found that her recipes are really, really good! I now only look up recipes from her because I have been wowed everytime! And this was another one!
Aw, thank you, Elyse. You are so kind. I’m so glad you’re enjoying the recipes!
These turned out absolutely delicious but crumbled when cut rather than holding together as a square. Has this happened to others? I believe I followed the recipe so wonder what might have caused this
Hi Navina! Did you let the brownies cool enough before cutting? There are several reasons for crumbly brownies. Over-baking, underbaking, or cutting too soon while they are still too hot. I would also ensure that you measured your flour correctly and used enough eggs to hold it together (4 large eggs). Here is my tutorial on How to measure ingredients . I hope that helps.
I let them cool long enough, and I think I let them cook the right amount of time, but I will try again with more precise measurements (happily since they were so tasty!) thanks for your response
I used a 9×9 metal pan (not dark) lined with parchment paper, I weighed out all of my ingredients, I mixed according to the directions with a whisk so it wasn’t overmixed, and I have a thermometer in my oven because my oven is notoriously unreliable when it comes to temperature. This recipe turned out perfectly, so if you are reading the reviews of people who are saying their brownies sunk in the middle or whatever bad thing happened, it’s not the recipe’s fault. If you do with the recipe tells you, your brownies will turn out perfectly.
Hi Heather, I am so happy you loved the brownies and thank you for sharing your thoughtful review. Merry Christmas!
Excellent recipe – thank you for providing it. I used salted butter and skipped adding the salt. During the folding process I added 2/3 cup of walnut pieces. I baked for 35 minutes. The internal temperature in the centre was 185 – 187 degrees Fahrenheit. The flavour was excellent and the appearance was on point. The next time, I will bake them a little longer and maybe aim for an internal temperature of 190 degrees Fahrenheit, as the centre was great for me, but a little too “loose” for my wife. The side and end rows were perfect for her. I also cut the pan into 36 squares as that helps cut the sweetness. If you want a bigger piece, just have 2 squares 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Followed the recipe to the T, measured everything with scale. Brownies sunk in the middle so bad. Terrible recipe.
Hi Sam! This has not been my result and and it’s a well loved recipe on the blog. Pre-heating your oven is of utmost important. If not, they can sink because they needed to bake longer. I highly encourage investing in an Internal oven thermometer . My oven will beep when it’s preheated but when I check the internal thermometer it still shows it needs to heat up about another 25 degrees. Also, the type of pan used can affect how the heat is distributed. I hope that helps.
You shouldn’t blame the recipe or Natasha when it was clearly your fault. Read all the positive reviews.
Brownies came out too wet yet somehow really dry. Coffee flavor was too strong. Easy to make recipe, but not the taste for me.
Hi, I haven’t had that experience before. I’m wondering if maybe you substituted an ingredient or omitted something. For example, reducing the amount of butter can make them seem dry.
NEXT LEVEL! These are the most amazing fudgy, decadent , gooey brownies you will ever have. My husband said they were the best brownies he had ever had . Served them at a book club for 16 people and the room went silent when they were served…just looks around the room that said it all. Natasha has NEVER disappointed me on any of her recipes. She’s my go-to every time! Try her cranberry bread with orange glaze! It is perfect, especially for this time of year ! Thanks Natasha! ❤️
Aw, thank you, Jen! I’m so glad they were a hit!
I made these brownies a couple months or so ago and wow! They were awesome. Big hit in my house. Followed the recipe exactly. However, I don’t have a 9×9 anymore, it was a glass dish. I now only have an 8×8 metal and stone, will either of these matter? Does it matter the kind of dish?
Hi Stacey! The material the pan is made of can affect the way these bake. Not every pan is equal- heat is distributed differently between different materials. See my note above, “Can I Bake these in a Different Pan” for timing recommendations for an 8×8 pan. It may require some experimentation to see which one works best but I would start with the metal pan. I hope that helps.
WOW these are incredible! I used the 9×9 and my brownies were tall and had the perfect crackle type top! Looked just like the picture! At first i thought they were too cake like but put them in the fridge and the next day the perfect fudgy chewiness!! Buying a small kitchen scale was the best thing i have ever done, people need to realize how important it is to measure and weigh flour correctly, i even measured and weighed my sugar and cocoa powder! They don’t even need icing, so perfect as is!!
Hi Jill! Thank you for the wonderful feedback. I’m so glad you loved this recipe.
The same thing happened to me as some earlier reviewers, it sunk in the middle and the chocolate chips melted. It didn’t have the crackly top. My oven was at 350 and I used a 9×9 pan. What the heck happened?!
Hi RD. Did you use a different size pan? Also, make sure your oven is fully preheated before you start to bake. I recommend the use of an internal oven thermometer (Amazon Affiliate Link) to see if your oven is calibrated. Often times using a pan that is too small, over-baking, or your oven being too hot is what causes the cake to sink in the middle. I hope that helps.
Hi Natasha! I’m a fan of your recipes.
I haven’t tried this recipe yet. Just need to know if the chocolate chips can be replaced with a slab of semi-sweet chocolate.
Hi! That should work to chop up baking bars instead, but I would check that the weight of the chocolate is the same and measure that way.
Can you use one TBSP of espresso or strong coffee instead of the powder or granules?
Thanks.
Hi Ruth, we usually use brewed coffee but I suggest following the package instructions which will usually give you a fairly strong coffee.
First of all, your recipes are all excellent. I made this brownie recipe and it did not turn out. After much concentration, I realized I added 1/2 cup of butter…I read your instructions incorrectly. In the future, I feel that it should of said 1 CUP of Butter, not half a pound which can be read quickly as a 1/2 cup. I’m used to seeing more cup measurements rather than pounds with butter. Just wanted to share this with you. Love your recipes and vibrant personality.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Ruth!
Hey there Ruth,
I did the same thing! I am so used to seeing cups rather than pounds. My brownies are in the oven right now, I guess it is what it is. I am glad I wasn’t the only one.
Best,
Jay
Just made these for a housewarming party and they were a huge hit! So fudgy and delicious! My go to brownie recipe now!
I’m so glad these were a hit, Chris!
Can the chocolate chips be cut down to 1 or 1 1/2 cups instead of 2?
I imagine that will be fine. I hope you’ll love it!
Hi Natasha. Will Folgers coffee crystals work? And should i grind them up first, or can i use dark roast coffee beans ground up fine? Sorry just kind of confused after reading all the comments and questions.
Hi David! It’s best to use coffee granules, the ones that you can mix with water and they dissolve right away. You’ll see it labeled as “instant coffee.”