Tessa's Recipe Rundown
Taste: The brown butter + brown sugar give these brownies such an incredible depth of flavor!
Texture: Ultra-rich, fudgy, and slightly chewy.
Ease: Not the easiest recipe. This one involves browning the butter on the stove and an electric mixer. But it’s so worth the effort when you want something extra special!
Pros: Fabulous brownie recipe to add to your repertoire.
Cons: Dirties several dishes.
Would I make this again? I make these often!
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This Brown Butter Brownies Recipe literally came to me in a dream.
The image of exactly how I wanted them to look came to my mind, and I knew I immediately had to get to work on creating this recipe.
It took over 7 trials until I had these brownies *just* how I pictured them.
The most important part I wanted to nail was that shiny crust on top.
I knew I could achieve the most picture-perfect shiny crust, while simultaneously creating fudgy, moist, and incredibly flavorful brownies, elevated by that brown butter.
If you follow me at all, you know that browning butter is one of my secret tricks to improving the flavor of just about every classic baked good – and these brownies are no exception!
This brownie recipe is definitely a little more labor-intensive than my crazy-popular Chewy Brownie recipe, but they’re worth it if you have a little more time on your hands and want something deliciously special.
In the pink box below, I’ve included tons of tips and information, so you can nail these delicious brownies every time.
I truly hope you’ll give them a try!
Sprinkle of Science
How to Make Fudgy Brown Butter Brownies
Below are tips and insights into the HOW and WHY of brownie baking. I recommend reading through these tips before making the recipe! And if you want even more info on the science of brownies, check out my original Ultimate Brownie Guide here.
How to Brown Butter for Brownies
A skillet works better than a saucepan for browning butter because there’s more surface area for the brown bits to develop. Whatever you do, never use nonstick for browning butter. Check out my How to Brown Butter article here.
How to Make Brownies with Shiny Thin Crust
This is arguably the best part of any brownie, but also often the most elusive to achieve.
- If you follow the directions in this recipe exactly by using an electric mixer to whip the eggs and sugar, you will get that beautiful tissue-thin crust on top.
- The key here is to allow the sugar to completely dissolve into the eggs to create an ultra-light, pale, and fluffy foam.
- The amount of time this takes will completely vary depending on your kitchen environment and your mixer, so pay attention to the visual clues over the time listed in the recipe.
- More tips for achieving those perfectly tissue-thin, crinkly crusts in brownies in my How to Make Brownies with a Thin Shiny Crust article.
Tips for Chewy Fudgy Brownies
- Brown sugar and Dutch Process cocoa powder help contribute richness not just in flavor but in that moist fudgy texture.
- Don’t reduce the sugar, it adds moisture. Learn more about sugar’s many roles in baking brownies here.
- A very small amount of flour is used to also help achieve a fudgy brownie. Too much flour and brownies become cakey or dry. Make sure not to over-measure the flour or cocoa powder.
Do I Have to Use Dutch Process Cocoa Powder?
- Since there’s no leavener (baking soda or powder), you can use Dutch Process OR natural unsweetened cocoa powder.
- I find Dutch process creates a deeper chocolate flavor and richer, fudgier texture.
- If you only have natural cocoa powder, that will work just fine – but keep in mind that most grocery store cocoa powder products are low in fat and high in starch, yielding a drier texture. Learn more about the fat content of cocoa powder here.
The BEST Brownie Pan (so important!)
- I highly recommend using an 8 by 8-inch light-colored metal baking pan. I like this baking pan.
- Dark metal pans will dry out the edges, often before the center can cook through.
- Glass or ceramic baking pans will take LONGER to bake these brownies, and the texture may become more gummy.
- If you must use glass, reduce the temperature and add about 10 to 15 minutes to the baking times.
- Check out my Glass vs. Metal Baking Pans article for more tips.
When Are Brownies Done Baking?
- You never want to overbake brownies.
- I always err on the side of underbaking brownies. A toothpick inserted should have moist crumbs (try to avoid hitting a chocolate chip!).
- The residual heat of the oven will continue to cook them even after you place the pan on a cooling rack.
- I wouldn’t bake much longer than the recipe suggests unless you’re using a glass pan (see above), or your oven runs cold.
How to Store Brown Butter Brownies
Brown Butter 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! You can microwave them for a bit to serve them warm and gooey, if preferred.
FAQs
Yes! Simply wrap slices of brownies in plastic wrap and place in a freezer bag or airtight container for up to a month. Thaw overnight in the fridge, or for a couple hours at room temperature, before serving.
You can easily double this recipe by simply doubling all ingredients and baking in a 9 by 13-inch metal baking pan for about 30 minutes.
Try using a plastic knife (yes, like the kind you buy for a picnic!). Alternatively, use a large sharp chef’s knife and run the blade under hot water between slices, wiping it dry.
More Amazing Brownie Recipes:
- Best CHEWY Brownies (perfect if you love box mix texture!)
- Malted Brownies (made with brown butter!)
- Peanut Butter Stuffed Brownies (for serious PB lovers only!)
- Copycat Cosmic Brownies (better than Little Debbie!)
- Toffee Brownies (so much fun!)
- Brown Butter Triple Chocolate Blondies
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Ingredients
- 1 1/2 sticks (170 grams) unsalted butter
- 4 ounces (113 grams) semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) light brown sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (64 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (43 grams) cocoa powder*, preferably Dutch Process
- 1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder, optional
- 1/2 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 small saucepan set over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Swirling the pan occasionally, continue to cook the butter, increasing the heat to medium. It should become foamy with audible cracking and popping noises. Once the crackling stops, continue to swirl the pan until the butter develops a nutty aroma and brown bits start to form at the bottom. Once the bits are amber in color, about 2 to 3 minutes after the popping stops, remove from heat and pour into a mixing bowl, scraping the brown bits into the bowl.
- Immediately add in the chopped chocolate and stir until melted.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat mixture on high speed until completely thickened and fluffy in texture and lightened in color, about 8 minutes. On low speed, gradually pour in the warm brown butter chocolate mixture.
- Use a rubber spatula to stir in flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, and salt until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Pour into prepared pan and smooth out with a spatula. Bake in the preheated oven for 22 to 25 minutes, or until set but not overbaked. Let cool in pan completely before slicing and serving.
- Brownies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the fridge for 4 days.
Notes
This recipe was created in 2020 and has been updated with additional baking tips. Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
Hi. I tried your recipe today. I love the taste but it came out more like fluffy choc cake than brownies.
It does have the textured surface. The surface actually kinda like a soft crackling than separate easily from the fluffy n soft body.
What did i do wrong? I did exactly as the recipe. The only thing i changed was i decreased the granulated sugar by 10g and brown sugar by 10g
It was more liquid than your photo. More like an aerated liquid choc.
I’d loove to be able to make the fudgy brownies like your photo. Help pls
Not the easiest brownie recipe as we were warned above, buttttt totally worth it. Complex flavor without being overly rich or sweet. A surprising airiness from the whipped eggs makes it easy to devour a dangerous amount of the these. All of the detailed tips helped me achieve brownie bliss!
I absolutely loved making, offering to guests and eating these brownies.
Tessa’s tips on the baking tray were quite precious, as I often have used the wrong tray in the past and ended up with way too flat brownies! I sprinkled these with salt flakes and made a quick chocolate sauce to drizzle over, because I used 70% dark chocolate – they were JUST AMAZING.
Hi Tessa, please check your email from me
I made this and they were so good and flavorful! A keeper! This was my first time using brown butter!
This recipe is hands down the best I’ve ever made. I hmmm made it in 8inch square pan and baked for about 35 mins and they came out perfect.
Great recipe!! The brown butter is a game changer!! I made mine with espresso chips:)
Great recipe!! The brown butter is a game changer!! I made mine with espresso chips:)
BEST BROWNIES IVE EVER EATEN. This is my first time browning butter, and it turned out amazing, it makes the final product exponentially better. They are the perfect texture for brownies: dense and fudgy, but also soft and light. I dont even know how it’s possible. Highly recommend.
Does it change anything if i omit the 170g of chocolate chips at the end? Should i add kore melted chocolate? Thank you!
Thank you for this amazing recipe… I made these for my family during the lockdown and they absolutely loved it. Also, they are even better than the ones I buy from my favourite bakery.. 🙂
Does it really take 8 min to beat the egg mixture? As I saw your other post on video you mention it take only 3 to 4min to get to the stage.. as I try out 8min and I didn’t get any shiny top after the briwnies is out from oven
Hi, I tried this recipe I didn’t manage to get shing top instead I got normal dry top may I know what’s went wrong. I did beat the egg and sugar for a good 7 to 8 min till light and fluffy follow by all the step abv.