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 mistakenly used only 6 tbsp of butter but it still turned out fantastic!!! My family went crazy for these and giving the rest to my friend for her birthday, if they last that long that is. This is a keeper!!!
I love your health conscious recipe for Banana Bread, thanks, I love it.
This recipe for Brownies uses 10 tbsp. butter. Unfortunately I was looking for something MORE healthful than my current recipe which uses 2.5 tbsp. butter and 2.5 tbsp. sunflower oil and are delicious.
(I also use 2.5 tbsp. honey and 1/2 cup brown sugar.)
The original recipe for the brownies came from a package of Nestle Tollhouse Morsels, from which I added my modifications. Nestle’s is a much simpler but all too delicious recipe! Awesome! I love simplicity, goodness and above all healthful, thanks again!
Made these tonight and they were fantastic!! I had never made brownies from scratch before and now I’ll never use a mix again. Thank you!!!
Hey! Thanks for the recipe! I’ve never actually had a brownie craving till today (?!) and searched up the web for a recipe. Not really a sweet tooth but this recipe was perfect! Love the taste and all~ but yeah it was a little crumbly, but I guess t might have been because the sides were not leveled out haha. Thanks again! (:
I really wanted to enjoy making these brownies but appearently adding 10 tablespoons of butter made it not. they turned out SUPER buttery so I reccomend everyone to eliminate the amount of butter. good luck. :/
Thank you for this delicious recipe, Kate. I made these tonight with my daughters. I can see how the recipe can yield some finicky results due to the high butter content but I’m really glad I didn’t let that deter me. At first I thought I had failed which wasn’t a surprise because I am totally not a baker. But alas, they just needed some extra time in my gas oven, like 40 min total. And then they were still pretty gooey, but once they cooled completely they took on a sticky, almost fudgey consistency with a crackly top that my husband just loved.
I accidentally used salted butter which I thought was going to be a total bust but because the butter was browned it ended up giving them a rich caramel flavor that I wasn’t expecting. Had a I added walnuts or pecans they may have been the best chocolate anything I’ve ever made! We ate them over a small scoop of vanilla bean frozen yogurt sprinkled with toasted coconut shavings. Superb.
I was nervous making these brownies, especially since a lot of people seemed to have problems. However, mine turned out absolutely delicious. I drizzled dark chocolate over the top of mine and my family told me they were the best brownies they ever had!
The very best brownies ever. They did need a little longer in the oven than stated, but the result was perfect. Be sure you obey the instruction to let them cool before removing or cutting. When they are hot they fall apart but when they are cool they cut very nicely.
My 7-year old daughter was participating in a Brownie Bake-off competition at her school. Since I had never made brownies at home before, I searched & found your recipe as one that I could try – not too complicated. We decided to bake two batches, one as a trial & the second one for the actual bake-off.
Batch 1: We added 1/2 cup more of sugar to your recipe, since the batter tasted a bit bitter. Baked for @ 45 minutes. The end result was a brownie which had a consistent texture throughout & was easy to cut into slices once cooled. We got one of our Indian friends to taste it & she said that adding of ghee (browning the butter)may not go well with the taste-buds of Kiwis.
Batch 2: We added 1/2 cup more sugar (1 cup more than your recipe) – this was an oversight since we forgot how much extra we added for the first batch. We decided to only melt the butter & not brown it. Had to bake for @ 55 minutes. Once cooled, we found that the brownie top was much more crunchier but the insides were a bit gooey. This meant that cutting wasn’t so easy especially since this batch was for the bake-off!! So we cut 2 big pieces & dusted it with icing sugar in a heart design. The brownies were still good enough to win my daughter the first prize in her age range.
In future, I will stick to the recipe I made for batch 1.
I have made this recipe 3 times and Everyone loves them. My only issue is lining the pan, I use a cooking spray instead. Thanks for the 3lbs on my hips
Made these last night and they are absolutely my new go-to brownie recipe! I love the richness and chewiness of these brownies! SO SO SO GOOD OMG. My husband is a happy man :) Thank you for this fabulous recipe!
I so wanted to love these but I had a big oil separation problem as some of the other reviewers. My sugar didn’t melt into the butter, it became more of a paste, and the batter was more clay like than batter. I baked them off anyway since I had nothing to lose; They had almost no rise (maybe a cm thick) and had an oil sheen on top rather than any crunch. They’ll work as the bottom of an ice cream sundae but its too oily to eat alone. I’ve done brownies from scratch plenty of other times before and this is the first time I’ve had this issue, I think it’s something to do with browning the butter as this is the first brownie recipe I’ve tried that with.
Hey there!
Just made these and holy moly! I can’t picture my life without these now. They taste of perfection and the butter and coffee really add depth. My only issue is that (and maybe I should have cooked them longer?) they didn’t hold together well. They weren’t crumbly, they just never stuck together. Very gooey like I like them but maybe too gooey? Idk. But imma gonna try this again. For now, I’ll put them in a bowl and eat them with a fork ;)
I made these and they’ve just cooled .It is now half pass 1am and I wished I had made them earlier. Can’t wait to taste them tomorrow as they look promising. My hubby is going to be one happy man tomorrow being a chocolate lover!
Just tried it – still moist after a night of being in the fridge. However, I find the brownies a tad salty? I might try reducing the salt next time to 1/4 tsp.
I’ve made the brownie and the banana bread and they definitely the best I’ve made so far, my children loves them so much I have to make another one the next day. Thank you!!!
I just made these and I absolutely loved them! I had been looking for a good brownie recipe and this is by far the best. I do recommend using baking soda instead of powder, or at least that is what worked best for me(:
I recently made these brownies and they turned out perfectly.. I shared them with friends and family, and we all felt they were the best brownies any of us had ever had… Simply amazing, simply delicious, simply made. Terrific recipe!! Thanks for sharing.
These brownies are the best I’ve ever made. I used dark chocolate cocoa powder, and I added about a 1 1/2 T water as some folks commented. They were perfect. Shiny, crackly top, and ooey gooey middle. THE BEST. Thank you!
Your brownie looked SO moist, cakey and awesome. I have a question though, can I use an electric beater instead of using hand to stir the batter? I hope you can help me with this as I had never ever got a shiny top like yours. Thank you.
My brownies didn’t turn out as pretty as yours with the shiny crusty top, but they were really good. I wonder if it was my sugar. I had raw sugar.
So these brownies and I officially cannot be alone in the house together—I am powerless to keep myself away from the pan! I’ve long been a fan of cocoa brownies, but the chocolate chunks and flavor balance put this recipe over-the-top.. They tasted even better left over, though I can’t tell you how good they’d be by day four, because ours were long gone by then (and I live in a household of two). Thanks for a dynamite recipe!
This is the best brownie recipe I’ve ever tried. I will keep this and probably use it till the end of time. I used crushed roasted peanuts to add texture and aroma. AMAZING! Thank you very much for the recipe. Everyone loves it!
Tried it tonight and came out perfectly. Thanks so much from NZ
Just tried these and I had to pull myself away from having more than 1. I baked them in an individual brownie pan, like a muffin pan but for brownies square, I had to watch the time a little more closely. I love the caramel flavour the burnt butter gives offset by the coffe notes. This will now be my go to for brownies. Note I used palm sugar instead of raw sugar because that’s what I had.
I made these today, and they were crumbly and consistency was different. I wonder if using my kitchen aid would mix them better. Have you tried that?
Hi Kate,
I tried this for the first time ever. First of all it was perfect and delicious !!! Thank you so much for this recipe !
I always use high quality (mostly organic too) ingredients. I didnt have any of the problems the others here have mentioned (I read the ENTIRE comments section !). In fact I had mistakenly used 150 grams of butter because I thought 1 TBSP was about 15 grams not 14. Anyway, it wasnt oily or anything. The only mistake I made though was that I didnt have the exact size pan. I had this big pie dish and I just plonked it on that, so I didnt get those perfect squares. But hey, it was good for a first time trial !
Mine did take about 8-10 mins more than the said time, as the toothpick was still coming out wet. But even though it was wobbly while taking out, it set perfectly once cooled. The trick is to WAIT until it cooled completely. There was a wonderful crust, and fudgey chocolate brownie on the inside !
I have one doubt though, the all-muscle-power-vigorous-beating made the batter quite difficult to handle – as in it was a little rubbery (I’m sorry I cant find a better word), i think the gluten gets formed – thats the reason it gets that way. Is this how the batter should be ? While the end product was perfect, so I guess I did it right, I’d like to know the final batter consistency because the only difficult part was spreading it on the pan, especially since its lined with paper, it keeps slipping.
Anyway, thanks again !
Regards,
Gayathri
Hi Kate, I have tried this recipe for 4 times and yesss this is the best brownie recipe I baked. My kids love it so much. Its fudgy but not too much and not too cakey with the right sweetness. I shared it with my friends, they give it 2 thumbs up….I am so happy to find this recipe with lots of tips. i followed all your instructions except I used hand mixer when come to vigorously beat the batter :), tried using my muscle the first time then used hand mixer after that, result turn out smoother surface. Thank you for sharing this recipe…
Hi i doubled the recipe the first time i made them and they turned out YUM!! as gooey fudgy and rich as described! Loved the recipe :)
Did you use a 9×13 pan and still use the parchment paper?
I just made these brownies and after 25 mins they were still raw in the middle, I put back in for an additional 10 mins and still raw. I googled some other brownie recipes and it sounds like baking at 350 for 25 mins may do the trick.
These brownies are AMAZING – wondering if the recipe would work in a mini muffin tray to create “two bite” brownies?
Thanks, Danielle! Glad they turned out well for you. I’m not sure, but it’s worth a shot!
I had no intention on baking today but was scrolling through your recipes and this caught my eye. Now I’m sitting here eating brownies in a very happy place. These are delicious. Thanks!!!
Hi Kate, These looked so good, I had to try!. Unfortunately I mistakenly doubled the butter (1 tbs of butter=14g, not 30g! Whoops..) so I ended up with brownie fudge, which still tasted good!. Will let you know when I have another go with the right amount of butter. I also used a grainy sugar, which didnt melt into the butter, so I will use a finer sugar next time as well.
Brownie fudge sounds tasty to me! I’m glad you figured it out for next time.
I was a bit worried about these because of the reviews that said the recipe was finicky but they turned out fantastic! Truly one of the best brownies I’ve ever had, definitely the best ones I’ve ever made myself. My family was raving about them and I know I’ll be getting requests to make them again in the future.
Thank you, Kate! I’m really happy to hear it!
I made this recipe after trying several different recipes. They required a longer baking time but I suppose ovens vary. The look was great and they hold together. Some of the other recipes I tried fell apart. Has anyone tried to double the recipe to fill a 9×13 pan? I loved these brownies, they had the look I was trying to achieve. They tasted rich and fudgy.
I tried the receip, I don’t know what I did wrong but was a total failure :(
* Recipe , sorry !
I’m sorry to hear that! Baking can be tricky.
This really is the best recipe! I no longer have to search for another recipe! I think I will try adding some peppermint extract instead of mint next time too!!!
Just made these brownies and disappointed by the texture. It tastes good though! I feel like the sugar didn’t melt completely and I should have used a mixer since I didn’t mix it 50 times. I also didn’t put it on the lower rack. If you make this recipe, you need to follow the directions exactly. I won’t be making this again; too buttery and seems like a finicky recipe :( I had hoped this was a keeper.
This is my new favorite brownie recipe! I’ve made them several times and never had a problem with texture. I think the browned butter is the key – lends to amazing flavor! Also, my husband is Gluten Free and I use Bloomfield Farms GF flour – no once can tell the difference. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this recipe! Thanks for all your research! :)
Hi Kate, I wanted to let you know these brownies are amazing and came out picture perfect! I read almost all the comments before attempting this recipe. I was a bit worried at first but since you made it seven or more times, I knew if I followed closely it would turn out. I bake by weight and I’ll provide what I used so it may be helpful to others.
140 g unsalted butter (Keller’s)
240 g cane sugar (Aldi)
60 g unsweetened cocoa (Hershey’s)
80 g white whole wheat flour (KAF)
2 ounces Ghiradelli 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate chips
I use an oven thermometer so I know that my oven runs 10 degrees hot. I adjust and preheat well in advance. I think many would be surprised of the actual oven temp when the oven beeps that it’s ready – it’s most likely not! It’s worth the investment!
I browned the butter and WHISKED in the sugar. This is different from your instruction. I whisked in the cocoa, salt and baking powder. I let it cool for 5 minutes. I whisked the mixture again. Then I whisked in the eggs, one at a time. After the first egg I knew what ppl meant about the batter sorta sliding around. I stirred in the vanilla and flour with a wooden spoon as directed. I stirred in the chips, spread in prepared pan and made some swirls with an offset spatula. Baked for 25 minutes turning pan at the half way point.
They are beautiful and delicious! Thanks for all the research! Heather
Thanks for the gram measurements! I’m in the US but love the consistency of weighing my ingredients.
Oh my God, I made these brownies and I am sad to say I will never make them again. I ingested way too many calories and I’m sure I gained about 10 pounds! They were sooo amazingly good and thick and chocolatey! I actually didn’t mix them as much as you said, just until incorporated because I am super impatient. Also I just melted the butter I didn’t brown it. I didn’t get a super crackly top but they were delicious so I don’t even care. Oh yum, thanks!
Well, I’m glad they turned out great! ;)
What temperature are we supposed to bake it on? It is not mentioned in the recipe.
325 degrees Fahrenheit, see step one. :)
Ried the recipe last night and the browmies were great but did not seem quite sweet enough? I think I may try a little more sugar next time. Has anyone tried this?
Hey Mike, a little more sugar should work. Some cocoa powders are stronger than others, too.
Made these last night on a whim and they were awesome. A little fudgy on the inside and flaky on the top. Next time I will try a little less flour. I used brown rice flour and it substituted just fine 1 to 1, but it has a slightly grittier texture than wheat flour so a little less will give it a better mouth feel. Coconut sugar was nice in this too, and slightly healthier. Again a 1-1 sub. I added chocolate and white chocolate chips, yum! Baking time was spot on. I think I added more baking powder than it says but that worked out. I’ll be making these again!
Thank you, Valerie! Your brownies sound delicious!
Hi, Kate! Can I use maple syrup, honey, or molasses instead of sugar in this recipe?
Hey Kat, this recipe is a little finicky as written, so I would be hesitant to change the proportions of liquids to dry ingredients.
These brownies require a fair amount of elbow grease, and the batter is super thick so I did struggle getting it into the pan and spreading it out. That being said, they taste amazing- really chocolately, the browned butter gives them a great subtle nutty flavor, and the espresso powder kicks up the chocolate factor. I’ll definitely make them again.
Thank you, Allison! I’m so glad you enjoyed them.
Hi! Thank you so much for this recipe! I’ve made it in the past but never browned the butter, they still always came out amazingly, even when I would double the recipe. This time I browned the butter and wow the taste is so much more complex. I baked for the same exact time and they looked just like yours. I have no problems at all and they are so so delicious
Thank you, Amber! That’s awesome feedback.
Is it ok to use my trusty Kitchen-Aid mixer to vigorously do the mixing for me? I’m curious as to why you’re hand-mixing and if there’s magic in doing so.
You probably could. I didn’t have a Kitchen-Aid when I made this one, and I just hate to lug it out. Most of my baked goods don’t require vigorous mixing—you actually don’t want to overdo the mixing on those, because you could end up with tough baked goods.
Absolutely delicious! I ended up trying this recipe twice. The first time I tried it, it did not turn out at all. It was a very chunky, thick batter. The second time I tried the recipe, I used a 9×9 pan and increased the recipe by 1.5 times. I also did not fully brown the butter and slightly decreased the amount of cocoa powder. I increased the baking time to about 45 minutes and they turned out beautifully! This is a fantastic recipe when done properly. Thank you so much for this recipe, I will definitely be using it in the future.
I’m glad it worked out for you the second time!
I know these got mixed reviews, but I took a chance and made them for my husband’s bday. They were a bit crumbly as other’s noted, but nothing terrible and mainly around the nut pieces I added. That my be because I followed Kate’s suggestions for method, If she said 50 strokes and she said a wooden spoon that is exactly what I did. I used WW flour and substituted half of the sugar for Swerve and we enjoyed them guiltlessly. The crumbs made a great topping on our Breyer’s carb smart vanilla ice cream. Thanks Kate!
Hi Kate (and Cookie!), I made this brownie recipe and it turned out beautifully! Chocolatey, chewy, and the perfect crispy top – just as promised. I followed the directions carefully, no substitutions, and really got an upper body workout in while I stirred. Rave reviews from my taste test crew too! Love your blog.
These brownies turned out terribly for me – I’d used some brown sugar instead of all cane sugar because I ran out. But other than that, I did exactly what the recipe said. They were icky crumbly, and the taste was too dark, bitter. They also didn’t rise at all (maybe my baking powder is old?). Idk what happened, but I’m definitely not making these again!
I had exactly the same thing happen, twice. The hot butter cannot possibly hold the amount of sugar in the recipe, and sooks it into candy, causing the butter to fall apart. Then you /immediately/ add chocolate, as per instruction, and it burns. It’s just a bad recipe, as far as I can tell. The only way I can understand all of the “worked great for me” is if these folks are using watery/thin butter, or not following the instructions and letter the butter cool after browning and before sugar.