Tessa's Recipe Rundown
Taste: Tons of chocolate flavor with the perfect sweetness level.
Texture: Tall, rich, fudgy, chewy (especially at the edges), with gooey chocolate chips throughout.
Ease: Super quick and easy! Who needs a box mix when you have these easy brownies?
Why You’ll Love This Recipe: Simple, delightful homemade brownies. Each bite is heaven.
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This Best Easy Brownie Recipe is proof that homemade brownies are WAY better than using a box mix. And with this recipe, they’re just as easy to make!
Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a complete and total chocoholic. So when I tell you that the chocolate flavor in these brownies is just unparalleled, you know you can believe me!
After I was inspired to create this ultra-easy Brownie Recipe, I took to the kitchen. Within a few days and after several test versions, I had the recipe nailed.
They’re especially good with ice cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce on top for an extra decadent treat.
This recipe is SO easy to make, but below, I go into detail about the simple Baking Science behind this recipe, so you can nail the perfect rich chocolate flavor, fudgy texture, and crinkly crust. Let’s dive in!
Sprinkle of Science
How to Make the BEST Easy Brownie Recipe
Easy Brownies Recipe Ingredients
- Butter – Use unsalted butter so you are in control of the salt level in your brownies.
- Semisweet chocolate – I use chopped chocolate baking bars to melt into the brownie batter, but you can use chocolate chips instead if needed.
- Granulated sugar – White sugar sweetens and moistens the brownies. Don’t reduce the sugar! Learn more about sugar’s many roles in baking brownies here.
- Eggs – 2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk provide the perfect chewy texture without making the brownies cakey.
- Vanilla extract – Rounds out the flavor perfectly.
- All-purpose flour – Measured accurately. It’s crucial to weigh your dry ingredients with a digital scale to make sure you don’t end up with crumbly or dry brownies.
- Cocoa powder – I used unsweetened natural cocoa powder for these brownies. Again, make sure to measure correctly! Find out the differences between Natural vs. Dutch Process Cocoa Powder here.
- Fine salt – Just 1/4 teaspoon of salt is enough to balance out the sweetness. I prefer to use fine sea salt in baking – learn more about different types of salt here.
- Semisweet chocolate chips – I use semi-sweet chocolate chips, but milk chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, or chocolate chunks also work. Learn more about Chocolate in Baking here.
Oil vs. Butter in Brownies: Which is Better?
This recipe calls for butter instead of oil for the best flavor and fudgy, melt-in-your-mouth texture. The melted butter also helps to provide that beautiful crinkly crust on top (more on how to achieve that below).
Check out more side-by-side baking experiments with Oil Vs. Butter in Baking here.
How to Make Brownies with Shiny, Thin, Crinkly Crust
You know that tissue-thin, shiny crust on top of brownies that we all love and want? It’s easier to achieve than you might think!
The key is to beat the eggs and sugar in the batter extremely well to create a sort of foam. After a ton of experimentation, I discovered a shortcut to that shiny crust: whisking the wet ingredients extremely well, until the batter itself is ultra smooth and shiny.
Secondly, don’t skip the chocolate chips! See the comparison pics below, and learn more about how to achieve crinkly crusts on brownies here.
What Is the Secret to Chewy + Fudgy Brownies?
Although my goal for this recipe was to make EASY homemade brownies, I still wanted them to be chewy. The first batches I made, the brownies were delicious and simple to make, but not chewy enough. So I added an extra egg yolk to the recipe, and it was the perfect simple way to achieve that extra chewy texture.
Why the yolk? The fat and protein in the egg yolk helps to create a rich and chewy texture.
If you don’t want that chewiness, or don’t want to deal with adding an extra yolk, feel free to skip it.
For fudgy brownies, it’s important that the batter is very moist and rich. That’s why we use a relatively small amount of flour and cocoa powder. Enough flour to provide structure and chew, but not so much that the brownies are dense or cakey. Enough cocoa to provide that rich chocolate flavor, but not so much that the brownies are dry.
Tessa’s Tip: Measure Your Ingredients Accurately!
To ensure you don’t accidentally add too much flour or cocoa (which is very easy to accidentally do), I recommend using a digital kitchen scale. If you don’t have one, be sure to lightly spoon your flour and cocoa into your measuring cup so you don’t unintentionally compact too much in. Read more about how to measure your ingredients accurately here.
The Best Brownie Baking Pan
I highly recommend using a metal baking pan for baking any brownie recipe. I love this light-colored metal pan, but you can use any quality metal baking pan that isn’t too dark in color. The darker the color, the more likely you are to have dry edges.
Glass pans and ceramic pans will take MUCH longer to bake, and the texture of your brownies may become gummy or dense. Learn more in my Glass vs. Metal Baking Pans article.
I like to line my pan with parchment or foil, leaving an overhang so I can easily lift out the entire pan of brownies to cut and serve.
Can I Double this Recipe?
You can easily double this recipe and bake in a 9 by 13-inch metal baking pan for about 35 to 40 minutes.
How Do You Cut Brownies Cleanly for Perfect Brownie Slices?
- Allow the brownies to cool completely.
- Run a large, very sharp knife under hot water for 5-10 seconds. Carefully dry the knife with a towel.
- Carefully press the knife through the brownies in one firm slice.
- Repeat with the remaining brownies, continuing to run the knife under water and drying in between each slice.
Check out my How to Cut Brownies Cleanly in 5 Steps article for even more tips.
How Long to Bake Easy Brownies
Do NOT overbake brownies! There should still be moist crumbs attached to a cake tester or toothpick by the end of the baking time. I find that 25-30 minutes results in perfectly baked brownies. Err on the side of under-baking here.
How to Store Easy Brownies
Easy Brownies taste best the day they are baked, but can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days at room temperature or up to 4 days in the fridge. They are even more fudgy when they’re chilled! If you prefer, you can microwave them to serve warm.
Baking Magic
If you’re still curious about how baking ingredients and techniques work, and how I create my recipes using the science of baking, come join me in my online baking class, The Magic of Baking. Everything in the class is already there, waiting for you to go through at your own pace and at your convenience. I go in-depth on how baking works, so you can have complete confidence every time you enter the kitchen.
More Homemade Brownie Recipes:
- Best Ever Chewy Brownies – my most popular brownies!
- Brown Butter Brownies
- Toffee Brownies
- Malted Brownies
- Peanut Butter Stuffed Brownies
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Ingredients
- 10 tablespoons (142 grams) unsalted butter
- 4 ounces (113 grams) semisweet chocolate, chopped*
- 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup (95 grams) all-purpose flour**
- 1/4 cup (25 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup (170 grams) semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a metal 8-inch square pan with parchment paper.
- In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine the chocolate and butter. Microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring between each burst, until the mixture is melted and smooth. Add the sugar to the hot butter mixture and whisk vigorously until combined. Allow to cool until just barely warm.
- Add in eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla extract, and whisk for about 1 minute, or until very well combined. This helps create that shiny crust on top.
- Use a rubber spatula to stir in flour, cocoa powder, and salt until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Pour into the prepared pan and smooth out. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs. Let cool in pan 30 minutes before slicing.
The brownies were delicious.
I just prefer a little more seea salt
Can I chop dark chocolate instead of semi-sweet?
Sure! The brownies will be a little less sweet, but will still taste delicious. I actually prefer using dark chocolate in my brownies!
I only have salted butter! Would I cut the salt down to an 1/8 of a teaspoon or just leave it out??
You can just omit!
Nice recipe, love ths recipe more thn best ever chewy brownies. And Im using 2 eggs for ths recipe as Tessa said feel free to use 2 eggs only. But my brownie feels greasy/oily maybe because i dont use extra yolk. How much butter should i reduce if using 2 eggs only? Texture is nice, chewy and fudgy but too greasy, thats all. Please info, thank you so much for the recipe ❤️
Hi Fauziah! We haven’t tried lowering the butter, and removing the egg yolk should just lower the end result’s chewiness and a little moistness, and not really impact the greasiness. I’d recommend trying baking a couple more minutes, or adding a tablespoon of additional flour, to combat the greasiness you’re experiencing. Alternatively, try simply chilling the baked, cooled brownies. That should help the greasiness disappear and increase the chewy/fudgy factor, too 😉 I hope that helps! Happy baking!
How big are each brownie, I know it makes nine brownies just wondering how big each one is??
Hi Destiny! Picture cutting an 8×8-inch pan into nine slices – they’ll be a little over 2 1/2-inches in size. You can also cut them into 16 slices for slightly smaller brownies. Hope that helps!
These are the best brownies I have ever made. I use Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips instead of baking chocolate, and Ghirardelli Dutch process cocoa powder. I omitted the extra chocolate chips at the end because that just seems like dark chocolate overload lol. I only bake them around 22 minutes. I have made these twice now and will never use another recipe!
Making for the second time today! I agree with other comments, delicious recipe and easy!
I decided to use Expresso chips today, let’s just leave it here that it was a good decision!
Wow I was not prepared to love these as much as I do. Maybe because I’ve tried so many different brownie recipes recently that were too dry too bland too sweet way too fudgy and ‘wet’ or too meh. I’m not fussy but I guess was just choosing the wrong recipes. This is really as easy as it sounds and really good! Fudgy but not like eating fudge. Just enough chewiness. I used Ghirardelli chocolate to melt and Ghirardelli cocoa powder. Absolutely delicious, baked in 33 minutes. My brownies quest is over, this is the recipe for me. Thank you so much. Would give 10 stars if I could because I can stop my exhausting search.
Thrilled to hear how much you loved this recipe, Patti!
These might just be the best brownies i’ve ever had, i’m definitely making these again. My friends and family agree. Thank you for this wonderful recipe.
How many brownies does this serve?
This recipe yields 9 large brownies, or more if you cut them smaller :). The yield for any recipe on our site can be found in the recipe card, just above the prep, cook, and total times.