The Very Best Brownies.
Rich, chewy and fudgy homemade brownies with a beautifully swirled, flaky top. These really are the best brownies! This delicious brownie recipe is flavored with cocoa powder and brown butter.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 29, 2024
Let’s rewind to Valentine’s Day. I’m single. I’m not feeling well. My mom is in town and our plan is to eat dinner and watch movies. As the sun goes down, I decide that I need a brownie—like I really need a brownie, for aforementioned reasons—and proceed to pull every baking book off of my shelves in my search for my ideal brownie recipe.
I wanted rich, dark, chewy, legit café-like brownies with crackly tops. I didn’t want gooey, fall-apart, stick-to-your-front-teeth brownies. I also didn’t want health-ified brownies or brownies swirled with cheesecake. I wanted one perfect brownie. Sometimes a girl just needs a brownie, you know?
I finally found a promising recipe in my copy of Alice Medrich’s Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts. It was a thinner brownie than I wanted, but it looked dark and delicious and had the most magnificent shiny, crackly top. The recipe contains a fair amount of butter, as legit brownies should, and the butter is browned before the addition of sugar and cocoa powder. If you’re going to put a lot of butter in something, you might as well brown it for extra flavor.
Alice’s recipe also called for a lower-than-usual baking temperature (325 degrees) and specified that the brownies be baked in the lower third of the oven. All of the chocolate flavor came from cocoa powder, too. Interesting.
Alice’s brownies made from scratch turned out beautifully. Crackly top. Dense, fudge-like interior. Rich, complex flavor. They weren’t quite matching my idea of the quintessential brownie, though. I wanted a taller brownie, one that is a little more like a brownie than fudge, with some chopped dark chocolate thrown in for textural interest. Thus began my obsessive quest for the quintessential brownie recipe.
Five batches of brownies and a bunch of brownie research later, I think I’ve found it. I learned a lot along the way. I learned that in order to achieve the shiny, crackly top, you have to stir the sugar into hot butter so it melts. Alice’s low baking temperature and rack positioning also seem to improve texture, but I couldn’t tell you why.
My final recipe calls for more flour and a little baking powder to help the brownies rise. I also used whole wheat flour, as always, but there’s so much chocolate in the brownies that I promise no one will be able to tell. I don’t make statements like this very often, but this really is the best brownies recipe I’ve ever encountered. (I’ve provided footnotes in my recipe so you can adjust the recipe to produce your ideal brownie.)
Ever since I started making simple baked goods from scratch, I’ve wondered how boxed mixes ever became mainstream. Sure, you don’t have to measure out flour and baking powder, but you still have to add liquid and crack the eggs. That hardly saves much time, and comes with the additional cost of preservatives and ingredients that should never be in your food. (Hydrogenated oil is the devil.)
Michael Pollan, my favorite food writer, came to Kansas City last summer to talk about his latest book, Cooked. He finally solved the boxed mix mystery for me.
Pollan explained that the first boxed mixes contained powdered eggs, which removed the step of cracking eggs into the bowl. I mean, why go to the trouble of cracking eggs into a bowl if you don’t have to, right? Wrong. American women initially wanted nothing to do with the boxed mixes. They felt like they were cheating when they used them. Once the manufacturers took out the powdered eggs so we could crack eggs over the bowl, we felt like we owned the final result. The baked good was then homemade enough to present to our loved ones.
If you have never made brownies from scratch, give these a try and I promise you’ll never reach for a box again. If you’re pinched for time, throw in chocolate chips instead of chopping the chocolate by hand. Ta da! Homemade brownies made from scratch and baked with love.
The Very Best Brownies.
Rich, dark, chewy and fudgy brownies made from scratch. These brownies are flavored with cocoa powder and brown butter and feature a beautifully swirled, flaky top. I don’t dare make claims like this very often, but this is the very best brownie recipe!
Ingredients
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch slices
- 1 ¼ cups cane sugar
- ¾ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon espresso powder or very finely ground coffee (optional)
- 2 cold large eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup white whole wheat flour or flour of choice
- 2 ounces dark or semi-sweet chocolate, roughly chopped, or ⅓ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit with a rack in the lower third of the oven. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with two criss-crossed pieces of parchment paper, making sure that the paper is long enough to go up the sides a couple of inches. Grease the parchment paper.
- Brown the butter: Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Continue to cook the butter, while whisking constantly, until it’s a pale golden brown and the particles suspended in it are reddish brown. This usually takes me about 10 minutes.
- Remove the pan from heat and stir in the sugar. Then add the cocoa powder, sea salt, baking powder and espresso powder. Stir until the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated. Let the mixture cool for 5 minutes.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating vigorously with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula after each one. When the mixture looks thick, shiny and well blended, add the vanilla extract and the flour. Stir until you no longer see streaks of flour. Then beat vigorously (put those arm muscles to work!) for 50 strokes with the wooden spoon or spatula.
- At this point, the mixture should be no more than slightly warm (if not, let it cool for a few more minutes). Fold in the chocolate chunks or chips.
- Spread the batter in the lined pan, then use a knife to make light swirls in the top of the batter. Bake on the lower rack for about 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. Cool the brownies in the pan on a baking rack.
- Once the brownies are completely cool, lift the edges of the parchment paper and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Use a sharp chef’s knife to cut the brownies into 16 or 25 squares.
Notes
- Adapted from Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts and King Arthur Flour.
- These brownies freeze well. Store them in a freezer-safe bag and let them defrost at room temperature.
- For more dense and fudge-like brownies, cook the brownies a minute or two less.
- For more fluffy and cake-like brownies, add another egg.
- For less rich brownies, skip the chopped chocolate.
- If you like nuts in your brownies, fold in 1 cup walnut or pecan pieces along with the chopped chocolate.
- I haven’t tried, but I think an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend could be substituted for the whole wheat flour with good results. (Update! Here’s proof that Cup4Cup flour works great in this recipe.)
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
P.s. If you really want health-ified, naturally sweetened brownies, I have some dark chocolate zucchini brownies over here. Note that they don’t have the crackly top that these brownies do and that the zucchini hardly adds much nutrition because it’s almost entirely water. If I made them again, I would try skipping the zucchini altogether, upping the cocoa powder to 2/3 cup and decreasing the baking powder to 1 teaspoon for richer and less cakey results. 5/2/14: sorry folks, Terri says the brownies don’t turn out well when made this way!
I’ve made Alice Medrich’s “best cocoa brownies” recipe fifty times in two years, after finding the recipe on “The Wednesday Chef,” and have never considered that anything possibly could be better. I’m excited to try your variation, though. Thanks!
If you give my version a try, I’d love to hear what you think!
These look so good! Brownies are probably my favorite food ever, and I can’t quite nail down any one version that I like better than the others. It just needs to be brownies all the time! I especially love your close up photo of the baked swirl in the top – beautiful!
Giiirrrrllll we are SO on the same page. Brownies are probably my favorite thing (shh – don’t tell cake!) and these sound like they might fit my “perfect” brownie description, too. I’m currently working on a search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie, which I will be discussing on my blog in the future. But after that, it’s on to brownies, and these will most likely be on my list for competition as a top contender!
Sara,
I have a perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. it takes one stick of melted and cooled salted butter, then stir in 1/2 cup of dark brown sugar and 1/3 cup of white sugar. Once is it thoroughly combined, add one tablespoon of water and 1.5 teaspoon of vanilla and stir some more. Then add 3/4 teaspoon of baking soda and one cup of all purpose flour. After combined, I add a half of bag of semi sweet morsels and bake at 325 degrees for about 20 minutes. They are crispy, chewy, and amazing. People beg me to make them for them. I often make them into balls and put them in the freezer and pop them out when I am in the cookie mood.
I’m so picky about brownies (and that top crust), these look like perfection! I enjoyed that section of Cooked too – so crazy how “food” in this country has evolved…
I think we’re all on the hunt for that elusive, perfect brownie aren’t we? And it’s interesting because we all have different perspectives on what a “perfect brownie” truly is, since it’s really quite subjective. I myself prefer the more dense and fudgy brownie compared to the lighter, cakier variety. These look like they’re right smack in the middle and they look absolutely delicious, especially eyeing that perfectly crackled top!
Very interesting tidbit about boxed baking mixes!
I believe that many coffee shop brownies are made from a mix ;) but I think the reason for boxed brownies or cake is three-fold.
1.The chemical taste gives people the nostalgic feeling of what they got as kids, something that can’t (and should not) be replicated in scratch baking.
2. With a box you don’t have to stock baking powder, baking soda, vanilla, butter, sugar or even flour – how many times have I had to run to the store because I was just missing one item
3. People think baking is this elusive thing that they can’t do – they get intimidated by having to measure out exact amounts.
These look yummy!
All good points. It’s just unfortunate that the boxed mixes come with so many unnecessary additives and unhealthy ingredients.
For those that had crumbly or oily brownies your emulsion did breakdown. My guess is that the ratio of oil to water can easily be off in this recipe due to the browning of the butter. In my case more vigorous stirring just accelerated the separation. I wish I had tried it, but I think adding a little water would solve the problem. Lest those of you look down your noses at the box mix bakers this is why they use them. They are engineered to work even if you make mistakes. They also taste fine. Baking from scratch is riskier but more fun.
Thanks, Anne. I’m sorry your brownies separated. I’d be really interested to know if adding a little water would help.
I’ve been making Alice Medrich brownies for a couple of years. They knocked my previous favorite Supernatural Brownies by Nick Maglieri off the top of the heap. I like the idea of making them thicker with the baking powder and will try. Thicker means you get more and that’s a good thing with this brownie. Also wanted to mention that many baked recipes that use browned butter call for adding a tablespoon of water per 8 oz of butter as the browning causes the water to evaporate. So adding water might do the trick. I know I add water when I make the original Medrich brownies. Hope that helps.
I do love a good brownie with a crispy top! These sound incredible. I heard that story, too, about powdered eggs in cake mixes and the ladies rejecting that notion. I feel the same way about boxed cake mixes (why?) and for heaven’s sake, pancake mix. Pancakes are just a few pantry ingredients plus milk. I just don’t get it.
Oh man, I don’t understand pancake mixes at all! Those marketers really got the best of us.
These DO look like the very best – lovely recipe Kate!! xx
Brownies are my kryptonite! And I also lovingly call myself a ‘brownie whore’. Whenever I make them, I might as well sit down with a fork and the pan and go to town. Just by the look of these, I can tell they would do me in! Delicious.
…and now I want a brownie with a big pot of coffee…thanks.
These look amaaaazing! I think we love the exact same type of brownie. I just posted recently about not really liking the fudge-brownies and how brownies are just not something I want to healthify. I’ve just always been afraid to try making them GF! 8+ trials later I landed on the perfect recipe. So happy to have brownies back in my life. Although, so very dangerous. haha :) Looks like you nailed it!
Do you share your GF brownie recipe? If so, please do!
Well, these may have to happen just about immediately. It’s been…six months? Maybe? since I last made brownies. This is clearly unacceptable! Brownies for all! :)
These brownies look amazing! I tend to always go for the box mix when making brownies because I can never get my from scratch brownies to be as thick and fudgy. Thanks for taking the time to figure out the perfect brownie recipe, so now all I have to do is buy the ingredients! Also, that is a really interesting story about the evolution of box mixes, thanks for sharing!
These look PERFECT and the brownie that I’ve been searching for for soo long! A thick, fudgey brownie with a shiny top!! I am in love with this recipe – Can’t wait to make it :D Pinned!
the best way to enjoy valentines day..and that crispy top..sometimes the most sinful desserts give you happiness :)
oh my these look amazing. I love simple brownies best and these look like they’d definitely hit the spot. I made similar brownies once with red wine – I highly recommend it! Thank you for sharing!
Um, that sounds AMAZING. How on earth did you come up with that idea?! Share the recipe? My mom has always made Kahlua brownies (Drizzling kahlua on top when they come out of the oven so it cooks in a little bit with the residual heat), but baking wine into a recipe is not something I’ve ever heard of!
Mmm crackly tops are the BEST! And anything with brown butter is automatically qualifies something to be “the best” because…duh…it’s delicious! I must try these soon!
These look tremendous and I love that you took the time to research and plick and pluck until you got them just so! I ADORE your new blog look. So fresh and easy to navigate!
Thank you, Claire!
These do look like they are the very best! I can’t wait to make them!
What was the purpose of increasing the flour from Alice Medrich’s original recipe’s 1/2 cup?
I think , to make them less fudgy and more cakey?
Hey there, the recipe I was working from in Sinfully Delicious Desserts actually called for only 1/3 cup flour. The brownies tasted amazing but they were bordering on fudge. I wanted taller brownies and I wanted brownies with chocolate chips, so instead of doubling all of the ingredients in her recipe, I doubled the amount of flour and the added chocolate makes up for any loss of rich flavor. (I decided to go this route after consulting a bunch of King Arthur recipes.) I hope that all makes sense!
Thanks so much, Kate! Makes sense!
From scratch is far superior to out of the box any day, if you ask me! Cracking eggs is a small price to pay for deliciousness (and better nutrition too, in the case of lots of boxed products!) These look gorgeous. I bet this was a fun recipe to test – gotta be thorough with recipe testing, right?! ;)
They look like the best brownies!
You’re so right — nothing beats a homemade brownie. I have my own favorite recipe (like everyone does!) and a few “healthy” recipes…but I have a feeling I’m going to have to try this one, too! You know, in the name of “research.”
That swirly top is hypnotizing! I am adding this to my must make recipe list!
Ooh la la! Those do indeed look like the perfect brownies. Thank you for sharing! I love your photos, as always.
I don’t know if my hunt for the perfect brownie will ever truly be over, but these look like they come pretty close :-)
I am definitely going to make these!!!
I never get tired of reading (and making) new brownie recipes and I’m excited to try this version! I played around with Alice’s original recipe a few years ago and it ended badly but everyone speaks so highly of them that I’ll have to try again.
Brownies have been calling my name all week. You had me at “Very Best,” Gotta try. Thanks!
Love that you went through 5 batches to get here. Can’t wait to try these! Homemade brownies can be so, so easy, and are for sure worth the effort. I use a Cook’s Illustrated brownie recipe, which is to die for. But requires a million extra steps, so I’m curious to see how these compare!
I’ve been out of town and just saw the new website…I like it! Very bold. Congratulations on the transition!
Being single on Valentines Day with your mom, movies and these brownies sounds pretty fantastic to me!!! Lovely recipe!
I completely agree about boxed baked goods – why bother?
Love this post – some really helpful tips on getting the perfect brownie. Thanks for sharing your research :)
These brownies are just so stunning!! Wow!
I like to add orange zest and juice from one medium orange or tangerine instead of coffee….although coffee is awesome on the side…in a cup
I feel your pain about Valentine’s Day Kate. Recently single myself, like literally 3 days before Valentine’s Day. I needed brownies that day too! These look great! I’ve never been able to achieve that crackly top like you get from a box mix. So I’ll have to try these out.
Ouch! I hope you are feeling better as time goes on, Liz. Breakups are the worst.
These DO look like the very best brownies! So yum!
A friend and I made these last night and the only difference we made to the recipe was that I was short a yolk, so we had one full egg and two whites. The brownies (while still having great flavor) didn’t get that smooth/matte/crackle top, and were instead seemed fairly oily and glossy. Could being short one yolk really make that much of a difference? Love your blog and curious about your thoughts!
Madeline, that is interesting. Assuming that your oven was set to 325 and the oven rack was in the lower third of the oven, I guess the egg yolk must make the difference. I don’t know what else it could be! I’ve made these brownies six or seven times now and the brownies have never seemed oily. Hmm.
Ahhh, you know what, I don’t think I had it in the lower third. Thanks for responding!
My brownies came out very oily too! i also had them in the third rack. I will try again!
Hey Drea, I’m totally baffled by the reports of oily brownies. Could you please tell me what kind/brand of cocoa powder and chocolate you were using? Could you describe what you mean by oily brownies a little better? Thank you!
I have made these twice so far! The first time they came out perfectly, and I had used coconut sugar, which was very finely ground. This last time I used organic cane sugar, which had fairly large crystals and they came out very oily on top. I did everything else exactly the same, save for the different type of sugar, so that has to be it! They are still delicious and I just blotted the top of them. :)
Hmmm, very interesting! I’m sorry your second batch didn’t come out quite right. Thanks for sharing your results!
Madeline, I’m trying to figure out this oily brownie issue. Could you please tell me what brand/kind of cocoa powder and chocolate you were using? I don’t know what else could be causing the issue!
Thanks for being such a detective, Kate! I hope this isn’t driving you crazy though, we definitely still gobbled up all those brownies!
I will say though that I thought about the cocoa too the other day, since the kind I used wasn’t Dutch-processed. Maybe that would make the difference? It was Nestle brand, which doesn’t have any other added things in it, just cocoa, but it didn’t say Dutch-processed on the box. I used a semisweet baking chocolate (the kind that comes in those little individually wrapped nuggets) and a bit of some Trader Joe’s dark chocolate (from the giant bar) for the chunks. Also, I used cane sugar, but it was the large crystal kind, like tubinado. Perhaps that was my mistake?
Hey Madeline, thank you for getting back to me! I also used cocoa powder that was not Dutch processed, so that doesn’t explain it. I’m not sure if the semi-sweet baking chocolate could have caused the problem. Sometimes that stuff has additives like wax (seriously!), which could make the brownies turn out funny. I used the Trader Joe’s giant dark chocolate bar for my chocolate. The turbinado sugar might be a factor… usually it’s a fine substitute for sugar but since the goal is to melt the sugar into the hot butter, maybe it didn’t melt down as much and that’s why your brownies didn’t get that matte, crackly top. Hmmm! I will let you know if I find a more conclusive answer.
Did anyone try these? Did the 25 min at 325 degrees work for you? I have them in the oven right now and it’s been 45 min and the toothpick is still coming out covered. That toothpick tastes fantastic, mind you, but I’m wondering how long I’ll need to cook them beyond the recipe’s time.
Sheryl, that’s very strange. I’ve made these brownies at least six times and they never needed more than 30 minutes in the oven (I keep an oven thermometer in my oven so I can make sure the temperature is accurate). I’m wondering if your oven isn’t working properly or if you could just be hitting chocolate chunks with the toothpick… If the sides of the brownies are pulling away from the pan, the brownies are done!
I pulled them out at just over 45 min: the middle was a bit moister than I’d like, but the flavour was excellent. Will have to try an oven thermometer.
I’m glad they turned out well regardless! I wonder if maybe your oven has trouble with low baking temperatures.
I’m having the exact same difficulty right now… they have been in for 35 minutes and no where near done. I was wondering if the oven temp was a typo and it was supposed to be 425?
Hi Becky, 325 is correct. I’m not sure why your brownies aren’t baked through yet! I’m sorry that’s happening. Hope they turn out well.
Brownie research = THE BEST KIND OF RESEARCH. Also, should be added to the list of reasons why food blogging is the best. These are perfect.
I have NEVER understood the whole cake mix idea either, Kate, even when I was a child and you don’t think too much about things like that on the whole. I remember wondering what the point was when you still have to add eggs and liquid. I guess people are just attracted by the pretty box and the idea that it’s supposed to be easier, even if it isn’t all that much – clever marketing I suppose! Anyway, thanks for doing all this brownie research. I can imagine that this is a very trustworthy recipe and will pin it for future reference!
I have literally woken up my boyfriend before on multiple occasions to take middle-of-the-night runs to the 24 hour Walmart for brownie ingredients. I can definitely relate to the need for a brownie! These sound delicious (:
reading about the origins of boxed cake mixes was fascinating, I’ve often wondered what the point of them was too! experimenting to find the perfect brownie sounds like such an amazing way to spend the last month!
These came out delicious! I used Hersey Special Dark cocoa and doubled the recipe for a 13 x 9 pan. The batter was very stiff and I had quite the workout–but they came out wonderfully dark & chewy. Oh, they also baked quite a bit longer (I may have an oven issue). These are probably the best brownies I’ve made–thank you!
That’s so great, Kerry! I bet the brownies took longer to bake just because you doubled the recipe. Thanks for commenting!
I also used Hershey’s Special Dark & it turned out excellent. I intended to share some with the kids, but the hubs & I polished them off during Tgiving week;) Thanks Kate!
Too bad for them! Thanks, Mik, glad you both enjoyed the brownies.
Yum! I’ve never made brownies from scratch before but would love to try these!
These look so good, Kate! I also loved to hear about the recipe development process. Will remember this recipe the next time when all I want is a perfect brownie.
Have a great week,
Sini
Thank you for doing all of this hard work and research for the rest of us. I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Lady, I hear you! This past week was a rough one for me: Matt was at SXSW and I was by myself with Neko, who got sick the first day he was gone, wasn’t sleeping and generally being a terror. Add in stress around work stuff and I was in real need of some comfort food. I wish I had this recipe! Brownies are the best kind of comfort. xo
Oh, that sounds rough, Kasey! Hope this week is going much better. I would’ve teleported you a pan of brownies if I could have. :)
There is something so good about brownies, it’s hard pressed to find anyone who does not enjoy them. That crunchy top, the slightly charred corner, the chewy but melt in the mouth texture (how do those two things even happen at the same time??) that make chocolate brownies moreish. Your pictures are literally showcasing the perfect brownie. Am off to bake!
Thank you, Laura! Your description of your ideal brownies makes me want to get up and grab a brownie from the freezer…
These brownies look amazing! Perfectly chocolatey, fudgy, and crispy on the outside. Delicious. :)
I made these tonight, but I forgot to put them in the lower third of the oven. They came out oily and lacked the flaky top that yours have. Do you think baking them in the middle of the oven made that much of a difference?
Hey Rachel, I’m sorry your brownies didn’t turn out like mine. The only time that my brownies didn’t have the flaky top was when I baked them with a pizza stone on a rack above them—that was a mistake! I’m really baffled as to why they turned out oily. I’m wondering if it’s due to the chocolate. Would you mind telling me what kind/brand of chocolate you used in the brownies?
Thanks for the response! I used Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa and added chopped bittersweet chocolate (from those chunks of chocolate at whole foods). I didn’t have a pizza stone in the oven but like I said, I had the rack in the middle of the oven.
Hmm, well, I’m still confused as to how they turned out oily. Sometimes baking chocolate has weird additives like wax (for real), but I would expect Whole Foods’ chocolate to be better than that. I adapted this recipe from one of the most popular brownie recipes out there—I doubled the amount of flour (which should make it less greasy) and added chocolate—so I’m fairly convinced that it has to do with the chocolate.
Mine also turned out really buttery, and incredibly dense looking. Hoping as they cool this changes, but