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 made these brownies and It didnt come out well……do u know any reason
I did it exactly the way you told and showed
Pls reply if I hv to do anything else to make this brownie a perfect one
It was rised and it was tasting like a chocolate cake and looking like it too
Hi Hikmah, It’s really hard to troubleshoot without being there and without having more information about how the recipe was made. I would recommend rewatching the video and making sure that the ingredients were measured correctly. Please check out my article on How to Measure Ingredients.
Just tried it now and it’s perfect 😍 😍😍
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Monalyn!
Hi Natasha, can I use slab of cooking chocolate instead of chips for the brownie batter? If so how much pls?
Hi Dil, I haven’t tested with that to advise. If you experiment please let me know how you like that.
Hi Natasha!!!!! Do I need to adjust the recipe or cooking time if I am using a 9*5 loaf pan?
Hi Esther, it will make a taller brownie, so you may need to adjust bake time. It may be best to make a half batch.
Hi Natasha!!!!! Do I still use the same measurements and baking times if i am using a 9 by 5 loaf pan?. If not can you please tell me the changes. Thank you!!!!!!!
Hi Esther, please see the notes above in the post for using a different sized pan.
Hi Natasha! I have a question.. am I gonna achieve cracks on top of the brownies with this recipe?
Thank you in advance for your response!
Hi Desy, yes you can. Minor cracks are inevitable and it looks classic too.
I just made these and they were phenomenal! It’s amazing how you can take a basic dessert like brownies and make it sooo good. I can’t stop myself from eating more and I got so many compliments from friends on it!
Hi Jane, that is so nice of you. Thank you for your wonderful words and feedback. I appreciate it!
I want to try this recipe but would like to know how deep the pan is. 9×9 I get.
We used a 9×9 square pan for this recipe. You can check the tips that I mentioned in this part of the recipe Can I Bake these in a Different Pan?
Delicious but a lot of chocolate. I see why you put vanilla ice cream with it. Lol.
The perfect way to balance this brownie! But we do love our chocolate!
Hi Natasha,
I have followed everything on the recipe
why don’t my brownies have a crust on top?
What am I doing wrong ?
Thank you very much!
Hi, if yours looks different than what you see in our photos, I highly recommend watching the video tutorial to see if anything looks different in your process or your ingredients. Also, if you bake for longer, it will dry out the top more but they would be less fudgy.
Hi! I made these last night in an 8×8 so I followed your recommendation and cooked them for 45 minutes. The center was still very raw. I believe I cooked them for an hour and 10 minutes and the center was fudgey but after they sat for 15-20 mins the center sunk. Im not sure why this was the case, do you have any tips for the future of making these? The flavor was amazing I just dont understand why the center sunk in.
Hi Alaina, it likely sank in the center due to using a smaller pan – the sides will get hotter from the pan and rise more which will make it look more like a sunken center. Another reader reported great results baking for 45 minutes though – I wonder if maybe your oven needs re-calibrating if it runs cool?
I absolutely love love all the recipes I’ve made from Natashas kitchen! I made the fudgy brownies twice and they came out tasting really good. The only thing is they are sinking in the middle. First time I used a smaller pan 8×8 and I thought that was the problem. I bought a 9×9 and same thing happened. They look great when they came out of the oven, nice and uniform, but When they cooled, the middle sank. The 9×9 did come out better than 8×8. I measured as instructed, used baking powder and did not change any ingredients. the top came out beautifully crunchy. the taste and Fudginess was great. Just the cuts on the edge were taller than the middle. Its a gas oven with the heat element on the top. Do you know why it Sinks? I was afraid to cook it longer
Hi Debbie, I would check to be sure your baking powder is not expired. We also recommend our post on measuring.
I made this today and although the flavour was lovely, it was a chocolate cake! I really wanted a fudge brownie and was so disappointed – I only baked for 30mins.
Hi Munnar, it sounds like either the flour was miss-measured (check out how we measure here), or it was baked too long (which can happen if your oven runs hot or if convection oven settings were used).
Hi, i’ve tried your brownies recipe twice but failed😭, i wondee what was wrong, because my batter consistency is not as thick as yours, by the way i substitute butter and choc chips with margarine and dark cooking chocolate, is it the same measurement? Pls reply… Thank you😘
Hi Erine, I would highly recommend making the recipe as written without substitutions. It may be due to the margarine. I haven’t tested it with that but if that was the only big change, it might be the culprit.
hi natasha. love ur video and vibe. just wanted to know if i can make it with 55% dark chocolate or dark compound chocolate. pls let me know which is more prefferable. guys if anyone of u hv tried with either of these pls help me out.
When cutting brownies of any kind…use a plastic picnic knife and the cuts will come out clean every kind. I have made this recipe before minus the coffee and we love it.
Nice one, thanks for the tip and for sharing that with us.
I just made this today and followed the recipe as written. I compared Natasha’s recipe to Ina Garten’s and I like this one better. I’ve made both recipes and definitely like Natasha’s because it’s full of chocolate flavor. Btw, to the people who simply reduce the sugar in half and then claim how great tasting that is. I can assure anyone who is considering doing that – don’t. The brownies made in that way really suck. Just stick with Natasha’s recipe as written if you want delicious brownies. Otherwise, why not just eat fruit and ditch the making the brownies part.
Hello Jessica, thanks for your good comments and feedback. I’m glad you love these brownies!
Hey natasha,
So the other day i attempted to make your recipe. It went wrong first of all I used a stand mixer, I used an 8×8 pan and I used double acting baking powder. The middle was completely raw. What do you think could have happened and what do you think I need to do to make it right?
HI Deseray, I always recommend making the recipe exactly as written with the same leavening. If your oven runs a little cool, you may need to bake longer and follow the visual cues for when the toothpick is inserted n the center.
Hi Natasha,
Can I use milk chocolate chips instead of semisweet chocolate chips?
Hi Iman, the brownies will be sweeter so you might cut back a little on sugar but that should work.
Trying this recipe for the first time and I followed all the instructions except that I had to use a round cake pan because I didn’t have anything else. I don’t know if that’s why, but I put the brownies in for 36 minutes and when I pulled them out they had the crackly top but it was jiggly. I put it in for an extra five minutes and it was still jiggly. I’m now worried about overcooking or undercooking the brownies. To my knowledge, my oven works just fine, in fact I made another brownie recipe last weekend and they came out perfect so I don’t think it has to do with my oven.
Any tips or insight? Really don’t want to mess up these brownies.
the brownies also looked like they had doubled in size, they got really tall. i don’t if this is also the reason why they’re taking longer to bake.
Hi Jay, I’m curious if this is due to the pan size? Was it a similar size to the pan we used?
I removed the coffee and cut the sugar at a half. Oven for 35 min on 12×9 pan. The result is a keeper – a must to serve warm and with icecream.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me Claudia!