Does the world really need another brownie recipe? Yes, because these are the richest, most decadent homemade brownies you’ll ever try. The best part is that you don’t need a mixer and they’re made in only 1 bowl!
We’re doing it. A big 9×13-inch pan of homemade brownies is on the table tonight.
If you google “homemade brownies” there are 1000s of search results. (I don’t recommend doing this if you’re hungry.) I threw my homemade frosted brownies recipe into the running back in 2014. They’re chewy, dense, and easy. But lately I’ve been craving something new; a different brownie option to toss into the mix. Because that’s the best part about baking: you can constantly experiment like a mad butter-loving scientist. And, if you think about it, we can never have enough recipes combining butter, sugar, and chocolate.
Let’s Bake 1 Bowl Homemade Brownies
These brownies are lot like my 9-inch square pan of chewy fudgy frosted brownies, but there’s a couple minor changes to yield a larger batch. We’re using all the same ingredients:
- Chocolate: Use real chocolate and cocoa powder. You can make brownies with either or both, and I prefer both. What’s interesting is that cocoa powder has more pure chocolate flavor because it is not diluted with milk and sugar—so the resulting brownies are always fabulously rich. Though natural cocoa powder can be used, I suggest a dutch process cocoa powder for a deeper, smoother chocolate flavor. This brownie recipe does not* rely on chemical leaveners so either works. If a recipe does, that’s when it’s important to remember the difference between Dutch-process vs. natural cocoa powder.
- Butter: For flavor, of course!
- Sugar: There are 2 cups of sugar in this pan of brownies. It sounds like a lot, but recipes calling for mostly unsweetened cocoa powder do not contain the extra sugar from recipes calling for semi-sweet or milk chocolate. Also, sugar does much more than sweeten brownies. It liquifies as they bake, creating a softer center.
- Eggs: Eggs are one of the main ingredients in brownies. Just as they do in my beloved flourless chocolate cake recipe, eggs bind, add richness, tenderize, and provide structure here. This brownie recipe uses 3 eggs, which give the brownies a tight crumb and fudgy texture.
- Flour: The cocoa powder takes the place of some flour, so you’ll only need 1 cup in this brownie recipe. The more flour in brownies, the cakier they will taste. We want dense and fudgy brownies, so use as little flour as possible.
Why is there no baking powder or baking soda in these brownies? Adding baking powder or baking soda lifts brownies up and creates a cakier result. But today, we all want a brownie so dense and fudgy that it’s basically 1 step up from eating pure chocolate.
You’ll get a taste of how dense these brownies are when you’re mixing up the batter. It’s so thick and so fudgy. Seriously fudgy.
How to Tell When Brownies are Done Baking
This can be tricky, so here’s how to determine when these brownies are done. Turn the timer to 30 minutes as soon as the brownies go into the oven. Once you begin to smell that captivating scent of chocolate permeate through the kitchen, check the brownies. Even if this is at the 25 minute mark. Use a toothpick, stick it into the center, and pull it out. The brownies need more time if there is wet batter on the toothpick. If there are a few moist crumbs on the toothpick, the brownies are done. You don’t want a clean toothpick! (That’s an odd sentence, but you get me!)
How to Get Shiny Crackly Tops in Brownies
The secret is in the sugar! Melt the butter and 2 ounces of chocolate first, then quickly whisk in the sugar while it’s all still warm. Whisking the sugar into warm butter helps the sugar migrate to the top of the batter as the brownies bake thus creating that signature shiny and crackly top we all love!
Here’s the real question: are you a center person or an edge person? Save me the corners please. ♥
More Homemade Recipes
- Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Cupcakes & Chocolate Cake
- Vanilla Cupcakes
- Rice Krispie Treats
- Chocolate Lava Cakes
- Soft-Baked M&M Cookie Bars
Seriously Fudgy Homemade Brownies
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 18 large brownies
- Category: Brownies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These are the richest, most decadent homemade brownies you’ll ever try. You only need a few basic ingredients, 1 bowl, and they’re done baking in 30 minutes!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter
- 4-ounce (113g) semi-sweet chocolate bar, coarsely chopped and divided*
- 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar*
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (82g) unsweetened natural or dutch-process cocoa powder*
- 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- optional: 1 and 1/4 cups (225g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and grease a 9×13-inch pan or line with aluminum foil or parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the sides to lift the finished brownies out (makes cutting easier!). Set aside.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the butter and half (2 ounces/57g) of the chopped chocolate. Melt in 30-second increments, whisking after each, until completely smooth. Whisk in the sugar until completely combined, then whisk in the eggs and vanilla. The batter will be light brown and look a bit dull.
- Add the cocoa powder, flour, salt, remaining 2 ounces/57g chopped chocolate, and the chocolate chips. Fold it all together with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon. Batter will be very thick. Spread evenly into prepared pan.
- Bake for 30 minutes, then test the brownies with a toothpick. Insert it into the center of the pan. If it comes out with wet batter, the brownies are not done. If there are only a few moist crumbs, the brownies are done. Keep checking every 2 minutes until you have moist crumbs. Brownies typically take 31–32 minutes in my oven.
- Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely in the pan before cutting into squares.
- Cover and store leftover brownies at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: Brownies freeze well up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator then bring to room temperature before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9×13-inch Baking Pan (Metal or Glass) | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Silicone Spatula or Wooden Spoon | Cooling Rack
- Chocolate Bars: Chocolate bars are typically sold in 4 ounce bars. 2 ounces will be melted down and 2 ounces will be chopped up and folded into the batter with the chocolate chips. I suggest Ghirardelli, Baker’s brand, or Lindt.
- Sugar: Try the recipe with 1/2 cup (100g) light brown sugar and 1 and 1/2 cups (300g) of granulated sugar. Absolutely delicious! I wrote the recipe with 2 cups of granulated sugar to make it easier for most.
- Cocoa Powder: You can use either natural or dutch-process cocoa powder. I prefer dutch-process for a smoother flavor.
These are very good but one thing I will say is that they are very sweet. I think you could almost half the amount of sugar – maybe I am just sensitive to that as I seem to be the only one commenting on it. The consistency s great and they came out perfectly. Next time I will significantly reduce sugar per personal preference.
These turned out sooo good! I will definitely make these again! Thanks Sally for another great recipe, I have been enjoying baking recipes from your site ( and everything I have tried has been delicious). Thank you!
Another great recipe! Does anyone know would it be possible to sub out the flour for gluten free flour? I would love to make these a GF friend but I’m not sure if I need to alter any of the other ingredients or if the GF flour would change the taste/texture significantly?
Hi Alex, I haven’t tested these with gluten free flour but let me know if you try!
I used buckwheat flour because that’s all I could find the last few times I went to the store, and its rich flavor pairs beautifully with chocolate. I also made this recipe subbing coconut oil and flax eggs and it remains delicious!
I made this with brown rice flour and the texture is a little sandier than it is when using regular flour. That being said, both batches come out absolutely delectable, with crunchy tops and rich, moist interiors.
Hi! I recommend you the Bob’s red mill 1 to 1 baking flour. It is gluten free.
Hi sally. Getting my ingredients ready to make these brownies. Wondering if I could add caramel bits to this recipe? And if so what amount would you suggest. Thank you, Lyza
Yes! You can add the with the optional chocoalte chips, either in place of them or use some of each. I recommend sticking to a total of 1 and 1/4 cups (225g) of your add-ins.
Big hit! I just didnt use the chocolate chips.
Hi, I recently made this brownie recipe and was extremely unsatisfied. I followed the directions to a tee. When I took them out of the oven for a taste test they were completely hard. I almost broke my tooth, no joke. I wanted to bring to my local police department as a treat but I was afraid that I would get arrested because the brownies were so hard. Sally, can you please provide an explanation as to why this happened. It disappointed me very much. P.s when I was spreading the batter into the pan I broke my great grandmother’s spatula that had been handed down to many generations.
Hi Gianna, I know you said you followed the recipe exactly, but were there any small changes? This is a very thick batter. If you let it sit for awhile before spreading into the pan, the butter and melted chocolate in the batter will begin to solidify. Make sure you spread it in the pan right away. With such a stiff batter, that’s likely why the brownies were so hard. They also could have been over-baked. Make sure you’re using pure chocolate for the 2 ounces of melted chocolate, too. I love Bakers or Ghirardelli brands baking chocolate.
I’m with Gianna, I’m very disappointed in this recipe. Batter will be thick is an extreme understatement. I didn’t let the butter and chocolate sit for any amount of time but I was forced to add milk until I was able to get all the dry ingredients incorporated. I also broke a spatula trying to get the batter out of the bowl. Maybe they’ll taste good but considering how hard it was to work with, not going to be worth it.
Made this two days ago…yes it’s so goeylicious that it didn’t last long! I made it with 70% dark chocolate and ground almonds for a gluten free version. It’s simply irresistibly and yummy!
Can I half of this recipe and bake them in a 8×8 inch pan?
Sure can!
I made these tonight, they were the best brownies I’ve ever made, even my boyfriend agreed. I used a Pampered Chef brownie pan and only cooked them for 20 mins. Brownie perfection!
Hi Sally, thank you so much for sharing this great recipe! I have tried many brownie recipes but I always seem to end up with a dissapointing result. But not with your recipe, my brownies turned out great! Even my husband, who is not a chocolatelover like myself, said these brownies were delicious!
I substituted the butter with greek yoghurt and it turned out great! Not only did it save a lot of calories but my husband could not even tell the difference :).
Thank you for the recipe! I love experimenting with different brownie recipes.
This is the first brownie recipe I have found that made the type of fudgey brownies that I love! I am from the UK conversions worked and made perfect 12. Had so many compliments, will be my go to brownie recipe:)
Hands down, best brownie recipe I’ve ever tried! Every time I follow brownie recipes, they taste more like cake than brownie. Theses ones are so fudgy and chewy. It’s a shame they collapsed a bit because I opened the oven at 25 minutes to double check on them.
Hey! This is my go-to brownie recipe every single time! I have a quick question – can I use cake flour instead of all-purpose flour? I have lots of cake flour and they are expiring soon :X Thanks in advance!
My brownies came out dry and crumbly. 30 minutes is too long for the oven times. Check at 20 minutes instead. I did a quick check at 25 minutes but because I’ve never made brownies before I followed the toothpick instructions which probably made it even drier. Check the center of the brownie and don’t worry about the edges.
Hi Sally!
Quick question. What if I do not have the chocolate bars now? We are currently in a lockdown so all I have are all other ingredients except the chocolate bar.
Is that okay? What should I do?
The taste and texture will be slightly different, but you can leave it out and use cocoa powder as the only chocolate flavor.
Like all of Sally’s recipes, it’s very easy to follow the directions and this made exactly one messy bowl! 10/10 even with a lack of full ingredients in the house!
My edits because of lack of baking items in the house:
-Lack of ingredients: I only had white chocolate chips in the house and a couple dark dove chocolates, so I used the weight of those combined and crunchy 100% peanut butter to make up the missing grams. Would like to definitely try when we have chocolate bars in the house, but my brownie craving sufficed with this mixture. Would NOT have used crunchy peanut butter because of the weird texture but, what can ya do!
-The brown sugar addition from her notes – well-worth it!
-Mix of 25% Black Cocoa & Dutch Processed Cocoa for the Cocoa Powder – I like milk chocolate but don’t love dark chocolate, and this amount was great for me.
-Added 1/4 c shredded unsweetened coconut – probably wouldn’t do that again, didn’t add much flavor and made the fudgy texture a little weird.
Amazing recipe! I used the recipe before but didnt take them out of the oven fast enough The important thing is the baking time, so make sure to pay attention my brownies took 27 minutes and came out super fudgy!
The best (and easiest) homemade brownies I’ve ever made! My boyfriend has now requested them for the third weekend in a row. They’re also pretty versatile.. we realized a little too late that he was out of butter so we substituted coconut oil. They still turned out fudgy and delicious! Will be baking again!
Baked these for a principals’ day gift and they were a big hit. SO easy and just as delicious as my long time, time consuming brownie recipe. We love nuts at our house, so I’m wondering, if adding nuts, should I reduce the amount of chocolate chips?
You can either replace the chocolate chips or add additional nuts. (About 1 cup.)
The best brownies ever. We baked them today and they are simply fabulous.
Made these brownies this afternoon and they are AMAZING! Thanks for the recipe!
I’m so excited to make these! I have absolutely loved all of your recipes thus far so I’m sure these brownies will be delish. Could you substitute milk chocolate instead of semisweet? It is all I have on hand. Thanks!
I used milk chocolate instead of semisweet and they turned out great!
Can I double batch this to make a thick brownies?
I fear doubling in the same size pan would be too much for them to bake properly. You can try 1.5 times but these would be very think and I’m unsure of the bake time needed.
This was so easy and hands down one of the best Brownies I’ve ever had the pleasure to make. I added almonds and used coconut oil for my pan just as an adjustment to my taste buds…. but certainly wasn’t needed!
Hello, thank you for the recipe!
I followed it and the brownies taste delicious. However, they turned out quite crumbly. At the 22-minute mark of baking them in the oven, the kitchen started smelling great so I did the toothpick check and it came out almost clean, so I took the brownies out already. Let it cook for an hour before cutting. Glossy, crackly tops and fudgy inside but very crumbly.
Is there something I could have done differently so they wouldn’t turn out so crumbly?
Hi Ida, Did you let them cool completely before cutting them? If they are still hot/warm they will fall apart more easily.
Made this today. It’s super easy to make, it’s fudgey and chewy and its so yummy! Best recipe.
First time baking brownies and they turned out amazing…like rich chocolatey chewy melt in your mouth amazing. There were two different comments.. one posted about sweetness the other about saltiness. I did half a teaspoon of salt and one and half cups of sugar. The result was perfection. Thank you for this recipe. I’ve tried a few of your recipes so far and they are a huge hit in my household.
Sally, it’s been a while since I made this recipe, but it’s lived in my bookmarks for a couple years now. Absolutely amazing. I also love the glossy top on brownies, and this was the recipe that proved to me that anyone can bake (so long as they follow the recipe of course!) I love that you break down the science and what ingredients do what, which helps a lot in understanding the recipe. Cheers.
This brownie recipe was delicious! The only thing is that the batter did not fill a 13×9 pan. It was more like a slab of chocolate in there. I’ll use a 9×9 pan next time. The main thing is that they were wonderful and I will definitely be making these again
Hi Carol! You really have to stretch it out for a 9×13 inch pan. Feel free to bake in a smaller pan for longer to yield much thicker brownies.