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Our Homemade Brownies are thick, rich, fudgy, and they taste just like they came from a bakery! No more box mixes, because these are seriously the best brownies from scratch you’ll ever try.
In the past I’ve shared things like the fact that I’d never in my life eaten oatmeal (the horror!), I’ve blogged about how one time I drank salad dressing from a ziploc bag because…I don’t know why.
I have shared some deep and disturbing things with you and here I am with another…
I generally prefer brownies that are made from a box mix. The shame! The horror!
No worries, I’ve totally changed my ways!
I’m about to share with you the perfect homemade brownies recipe and I can almost guarantee you’ll never go back to the box mix again.
These. Are. Good.
These brownies are perfectly thick and fudgy. Basically a chocolate bomb going off in your mouth. If you like fudgy brownies, you’re going to love these.
Ingredient Notes:
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Brownie Mix – This homemade brownie mix contains most of the usual brownie batter ingredients like cocoa powder, flour, sugar, eggs, baking powder, and vanilla extract.
Espresso Powder – Optional but highly recommended! It really adds a lot of depth to the chocolate flavor. This will NOT make your homemade brownies taste like coffee. It’ll just add lots of extra fudgy flavor to this brownie recipe!
Chocolate Chips – I like to add lots of semi-sweet chocolate chips to the brownie batter! They will met perfectly to add even more chocolatey flavor to these fudgy brownies.
What Readers are Saying!
“Oh my gosh these brownies are so gooey, fudgy and rich! I’ve been trying to make fudgy brownies for a while but I always manage to cook them too long and they end up cake-like. But not with these bad boys! Thanks for the recipe!” – Kayla
How to Make Brownies From Scratch:
Melt the butter on the stove and then whisk in the sugar. We don’t want to caramelize the sugar – just melt it into the butter.
Add the hot butter mixture to a mixing bowl and let it cool for just a few minutes before adding the eggs.
Beat in the eggs and cocoa powder with a little vanilla. This mixture is going to look divine, so go ahead and take a little lick if you must. Just be careful – once you start, it’s hard to stop!
Next, add in your flour, baking powder, a little salt, and the secret weapon: espresso powder.
Helpful Tip!
Baking With Chocolate
If you don’t have espresso powder, you can skip it. However, I highly recommend keeping some on hand for baking with chocolate. It doesn’t make your treats taste like coffee, it just enhances the rich chocolate flavor. Highly recommend. This is the brand I use.
Mix that all together by hand and then stir in some chocolate chips. I like to use dark or semi-sweet, but my family prefers milk. Use whichever variety you like best. The brownie batter will be thick.
Spread the brownie batter into a greased or parchment-lined 9×13 baking dish and bake for about 30 minutes. You want the edges to be firmly set and the center to still be a bit soft. I like to use a tester 1 inch from the edge – when the edges are fully cooked through, your center should be nicely fudgy and delicious.
Let the homemade brownies cool for as long as you can stand it before cutting.
I use my dusting wand to lightly sprinkle on some powdered sugar. It’s not necessary but it makes the brownies oh so pretty!
FAQs:
You can store these homemade brownies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 to 5 days!
We normally use Hershey’s Special Dark, which is a mixture of Dutch and natural. It makes extra fudgy brownies! If you’re choosing just one, use Dutch processed.
We like to test these homemade brownies about 1-2 inches from the edge of the pan and pull them when the tester comes out clean. If you test them directly in the center of the pan, the edges will be overdone by the time the tester comes out clean. Testing near the edges ensures you end up with nice edge pieces and fudgy centers.
MORE BROWNIE RECIPES!
Nutella Brownies: If you like extra fudgy brownies, try these!
Marshmallow Brownies: Wait til you see the layers on these brownies!
Reese’s Brownies: Brownie bottom + peanut butter frosting + chocolate fudge frosting + Reese’s!
Mississippi Mud Brownies: I love the marshmallows on here!
M&M Brownies: These brownies are packed full of M&M candies!
Recipe for easy homemade brownies:
Homemade Brownies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- 2 1/4 cups sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 1/4 cups cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder optional
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9×13 baking dish.
- In small saucepan over low heat, melt butter completely. Stir in sugar and continue cooking for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Do not allow sugar mixture to boil.
- Pour butter mixture into a large bowl or stand mixer, and cool for 2 minutes. Beat in cocoa powder, eggs, salt, baking powder, espresso powder, and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined.
- Stir in the flour and chocolate chips until well combined.
- Spread into prepared pan (batter will be very thick and sticky) and bake for about 30 minutes, until a tester comes out mostly clean. The edges should be set and the center should still look slightly moist, but not uncooked. Cool on a wire rack.
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Information:
This post was originally published in October of 2009. It was updated with new tips in October of 2020. Original photo below:
diane says
Holy Heck! I kept re-checking the ingredience to make sure I had read them correctly…that is one heck of a lot of sugar, butter and yumminess. They are cooking now. I may die of a sugar induced coma, but what a way to go!
Rebecca says
i made these tonight with my best friend.
PEOPLE WHO SAY THESE ARE THE BEST BROWNIES THEY’VE EVER TASTED ARE NOT LYING!
these brownies trump all other brownies in the world. forget everything you’ve ever known about brownies. just embrace this recipe and be happy with the most glorious thing to ever emerge from an oven. i’m serious, make these. do it.
Cakes&Bakes says
ps… I also topped a few with blackraspberry jam and a few others (yes, that’s a few x 2 – I ate that many!) with some leftover cream cheese frosting from a cake I’d made recently and both toppings added just an extra pinch of decadence that took them to that just-right level of richness. I’ll have to experiment with those additions in future batches as well 🙂
Cakes&Bakes says
Oh my gosh – I am a HUGE brownie snob, but I just made these yesterday, and they are pretty much just as amazing as these pictures make them out to be. I added chopped up chocolate Riesen candies to mine (because I was a little short on chocolate chips and had half a bag left of those), which added an interesting twist. I want to try these again and use dark cocoa instead. These will definitely be added to my go-to-brownie file. Thanks!!
Paula says
They JUST came out of the oven and I’m freaking out over how they look! Haven’t even tried them yet!!
I’ve been searching for the best fudgey brownie recipe – the ones I’ve made all turn out to be great with ice cream (not such a bad thing!) but, these look like they are decadent all on their own! Just what I’ve been hunting for.
Most appreciated for this recipe!
Thank you Karly!
NYC Mama-to-be
Heidi says
Best Brownies…ever! They should be called Killer Brownies!
Helen says
9am Started diet.
3pm StumbledUpon these brownies.
6pm Ate tray of brownies.
10pm REGRET NOTHING!!!
Nicole says
These are good! So, so good! And easy. And did I mention good?
I didn’t have semisweet chocolate chips so I subbed white chocolate ones. For some reason they didn’t melt very well and my boyfriend thought they were nuts. Next time I will use the right chocolate chips or leave them out and replace them with walnuts. Yum!!!
Pascale says
They look amazing!!! An easy recipe to make with my boys. Thanks a lot.
Amanda says
This recipe is wonderful! I made these brownies and took them to a family get together and nobody believed that I actually made them. They thought I had bought them at some bakery. Plus, when I logged on to leave this comment, my boyfriend immediately asked me if I was going to be making these again. Might as well, since they are so hard to resist! Thanks for the fabulous recipe!
Kristin says
Made these last night. They are SO awesome. Unfortunately, I’m getting used to a new oven which cooks really hot, so they are cooked through. I prefer to leave the centers a little softer. But with that said, I still think they’re great. Easy to make.
I too was a boxed-brownie-only kind of person, but I love making everything I can from scratch. This recipe is a keeper! Next time I’m thinking of dotting the top with a little caramel or peanut butter (or both!)
Also, since I’m baking for just me and my boyfriend, I wrapped half the batch in plastic wrap+foil, then placed them into a baggie for freezing. Who wants to cut such a great recipe in half?
Tat says
what kind of chocolate chips do you use?
Ragdoll says
I just made these brownies tonight, and I must say.. you have broken me out of the box as well! These are the most delicious things to have ever come out of my oven!
Angie says
Hmm, well it’s 12:30 HERE. 🙂
Angie says
It’s 12:30am and I couldn’t sleep so I started browsing random recipes… Stumbled Upon this one and I’m so happy I did! Going to go make these right now. I don’t have any espresso powder on hand, but ah well… Maybe I’ll add that next time. =D