I’m about to make a lofty claim, but these are the best brownies you’ll ever have. These easy brownies are the perfect mixture between fudgy and cakey. You’ll love these uber chocolatey fudgy brownies!
The Best Brownies
If we know one thing about you guys it’s that you LOVE brownies (as you might be able to tell from the 50 recipes on the site), and this one is my solid go to brownie recipe. You’ll love these brownies because they’re the perfect mixture between a cakey and fudgy brownie. I like to call them my goldilocks brownies because they are just right. And I think once you’ve made them for yourself, you’ll agree with me!
Ingredients for homemade brownies
While throwing together a boxed mix of brownies is obviously the easiest way to whip up brownies, homemade brownies are *so* worth the extra effort. And this homemade brownie recipe is actually pretty easy to make. You’ll need just 7 ingredients and one large microwave safe bowl. No fancy kitchen mixers, artisanal ingredients or crazy techniques AKA the best kind of recipe. Here’s your grocery list.
Butter
Brown Sugar
Eggs
Cocoa Powder
Salt
Vanilla Extract
Flour
What makes these brownies the BEST?
This girl has eaten A LOT of brownies. Like, I don’t think you can even comprehend how many brownies I’ve eaten in my lifetime. You could say I’m somewhat of a brownie connoisseur. I’ve tested out hundreds of brownie recipes to land on this one and it is truly *chef’s kiss.* These brownies are the perfect combination of fudgy and cakey. They’re dense, but not too dense; fudgy, but not claggy; super chocolatey, but still sweet. And of course they have that signature crackly top, chewy edge and gooey center.
I mean…you need them.
So let’s break down exactly how to make the best brownies ever.
Step One: Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and line a 9″x9″ pan with parchment paper and set aside.
We had an awfully good helper to keep watch over the ingredients 🙂
Don’t worry. She didn’t get any chocolate (even though she tried).
Step Two: In a large microwave safe bowl, combine the butter and sugar. Microwave for 30 seconds, then remove and stir with a whisk. Repeat 2 more times.
You can always do this step on a stovetop too, the microwave just makes it super easy. By the time you finish the process, the mixture should have a glossy and shiny finish. Don’t be alarmed if some granules of sugar don’t dissolve completely into the butter–as long as it’s shiny, you’re good to go!
Step Three: Allow mixture to cool slightly, then add in eggs one at a time.
You’ll want to vigorously whisk the mixture between each addition to fully incorporate the eggs. Our ultimate homemade brownie recipe calls for 4 eggs, which helps to give the brownies the structure of a cakey brownie, while the butter and sugar mixture you made in step one, along with the high cocoa powder content keep it fudgy. Best of both worlds!
You’ll know this step is done once the mixture has lightened slightly in color (see photo below).
Step Four: Add the vanilla extract and mix well.
I have to say, vanilla extract can really make or break a baked good and I don’t know why more brownie recipes don’t stress the importance of a good vanilla extract. It perfectly complements all the chocolate fudge goodness. So make sure you’re using a good brand…and we won’t judge a good heavy handed vanilla pour
Step Five: Add in the cocoa powder and salt.
Now time for the CHOCOLATE. Hell yes. Because of the large amount of cocoa powder in this brownie recipe, it’s important to use a high quality cocoa powder! This is one of those cases where it is most definitely worth the splurge. Our favorite brand is Rodelle!
Step Six: Add in the flour and mix until no lumps remain.
As soon as everything starts to look smooth stop mixing! It will look so beautiful and you’ll be tempted to keep stirring, but you don’t want to ruin the crumb!
Step Seven: Transfer the batter to your prepared pan and bake for 45-50 minutes. Enjoy!
I’ll just leave these here for you.
If you’re not a brownie person, you’re about to become one. I promise.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and line a 9″x9″ pan with parchment paper and set aside.
In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine butter and sugar. Microwave for 30 seconds, then remove and stir with a whisk. Repeat process 2 more times. Though granules of sugar will remain, the goal is to get the mixture to a glossy finish.
Allow mixture to cool slightly, then add in eggs one at a time, whisking in between each addition. Whisk until the mixture lightens in color slightly.
Add in cocoa powder, salt, and vanilla extract. Fold in flour until just combined.
Pour mixture into prepared baking pan and bake for roughly 45 minutes, testing for doneness by inserting a knife into the center of the brownies beginning at 40 minutes. You’ll know they’re done when the edge is set, but a knife inserted into the middle still comes out with a bit of brownie batter on it. It might take up to 55 minutes for them to cook through depending on your oven!
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Keywords: brownies recipe, the best brownies, brownies
Notes
Make sure you’re using a high quality cocoa powder. I’ve made the with both Dutch processed cocoa powder as well as natural. I prefer to use Dutch processed as it has a smoother, deeper flavor, but natural will also work if it’s all you have on hand.
Be careful not to over bake your brownies. When you insert a knife into the middle you’ll want it to come out a little gooey as the brownies will continue to bake as they cool.
I made this for my best friend family, and they all loved it!! They have such a good texture, and they’re rich in flavor too… I have never made brownies such as good as this ones… I recommend 20/10… Note: The brownies really had me looking like a pro at baking hahaha
These brownies are so amazing!!! I bake a lot, but I had never made brownies from scratch and I read through several recipes before trying this one. It was super easy to put together, I just used semi-sweet chocolate chips and the nestle cocoa powder and the result was divine. I baked them a little longer than called for, about 30 minutes, but i blame my oven. Once they’ve cooled completely, they’re just set enough so that you can pick up the brownie, but it melts in your mouth immediately. So perfectly dense and chocolaty, thank you so much for sharing your recipe!!
Holy guacamole were these tasty! I burned them very slightly because i missed the instruction to watch from 40 minutes 😅 however i was unable to achieve a crackly top. I have a few reasons as to why i think this is and would like some input.
1. I didnt heat my sugar and butter long enough. My sugar was still very chunky, but it seemed the butter was separating from the sugar, so i was worried i put it in the microwave too long (or maybe not long enough since the sugar didnt turn to liquid)
2. My eggs were not large enough. I live outside of the US and the US has wildly big eggs! Should I maybe add another next time, or maybe an extra egg white?
3. My eggs were not room temperature enough. (I had taken them out 15 minutes prior, i was anxious for brownie heaven 😅)
Even without the crackly top, they were soooo delicious. Not over fudgy but better than a moist chocolate cake. I recommend especially since it was so easy to put together!
P.S. I used a pan that was 23cm×23cm and my brownies came out thiiccck, much thicker than the picture. Was this pan not big enough? Thanks for a yummy recipe ^^
How do you measure your flour? Does 1 cup of flour weigh 120g, 130g, or 150g? This may not sound like a big deal, but in a recipe like this, 15g can be the difference between too dense and perfection or perfection and cake.
Question… if I double the recipe I saw you said to someone to use a 9×13” pan… what if you want to triple the recipe? What size pan should I use? Thanks, Geri
Leave a comment and rate this recipe!
I made this for my best friend family, and they all loved it!! They have such a good texture, and they’re rich in flavor too… I have never made brownies such as good as this ones… I recommend 20/10… Note: The brownies really had me looking like a pro at baking hahaha
★★★★★
These brownies are so amazing!!! I bake a lot, but I had never made brownies from scratch and I read through several recipes before trying this one. It was super easy to put together, I just used semi-sweet chocolate chips and the nestle cocoa powder and the result was divine. I baked them a little longer than called for, about 30 minutes, but i blame my oven. Once they’ve cooled completely, they’re just set enough so that you can pick up the brownie, but it melts in your mouth immediately. So perfectly dense and chocolaty, thank you so much for sharing your recipe!!
★★★★★
Holy guacamole were these tasty! I burned them very slightly because i missed the instruction to watch from 40 minutes 😅 however i was unable to achieve a crackly top. I have a few reasons as to why i think this is and would like some input.
1. I didnt heat my sugar and butter long enough. My sugar was still very chunky, but it seemed the butter was separating from the sugar, so i was worried i put it in the microwave too long (or maybe not long enough since the sugar didnt turn to liquid)
2. My eggs were not large enough. I live outside of the US and the US has wildly big eggs! Should I maybe add another next time, or maybe an extra egg white?
3. My eggs were not room temperature enough. (I had taken them out 15 minutes prior, i was anxious for brownie heaven 😅)
Even without the crackly top, they were soooo delicious. Not over fudgy but better than a moist chocolate cake. I recommend especially since it was so easy to put together!
P.S. I used a pan that was 23cm×23cm and my brownies came out thiiccck, much thicker than the picture. Was this pan not big enough? Thanks for a yummy recipe ^^
How do you measure your flour? Does 1 cup of flour weigh 120g, 130g, or 150g? This may not sound like a big deal, but in a recipe like this, 15g can be the difference between too dense and perfection or perfection and cake.
Hi! We use a spoon to fluff up our flour and then spoon and level it in our measuring cup!
Question… if I double the recipe I saw you said to someone to use a 9×13” pan… what if you want to triple the recipe? What size pan should I use? Thanks, Geri
Hi Gerri! You could make inn a 9 x 13 and just have thicker brownies, you could make a 9 x 13 and one 8 x 8! Hope this is helpful 🙂