Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: The perfect balance of chocolate sweetness.
Texture: CHEWY, of course 🙂
Ease: Super easy. One bowl, no electric mixer needed.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe: This Brownie Recipe is WAY better than a box mix and almost as easy. It’s my go-to recipe!
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These Chewy Brownies are my go-to recipe when I need a quick, easy, crowd-pleasing dessert. I’m not exaggerating when I say I’ve made it over 200 times. It’s truly the best!
There’s even a secret ingredient that helps to mimic that box-mix texture (but with way better flavor!).
The Kitchn tested this recipe, raving about how quick and easy it is! Even Bon Appétit used the recipe as part of their research in their quest to create a perfect chocolate brownie.
What Makes Cookies Chewy, Crisp, or Cakey?
My free guide reveals the ingredients and tweaks that matter.
As a trained chef, it surprises people to learn brownies are among my favorite things to bake at home. I don’t need something fancy, I need something satisfying and that chewy texture is where it’s at.
I have shared over 50 Brownie Recipes over the years. My Ultimate Brownies are rich, dense, and fudgy. My Brown Butter Brownies have the most stunning crackly crust. And my Toffee Brownies are have a unique crunch.
But these brownies are my everyday go-to reicpe. Check out just one of the 1,000+ 5-star reviews for these best homemade brownies:
Reader Love
I have been using this recipe for about a year now! It is the easiest recipe I have ever used, I get so many compliments on these brownies!! Thank you thank you thank you!!! ❤️
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Tessa’s Tip
Struggling with gummy, collapsed, underbaked, or dry-edged brownies? Ditch the glass pan and use a light-colored metal baking pan instead. Learn more about the differences between Glass vs. Metal Baking Pans here.
Sprinkle of Science
How to Make Chewy Brownies
The Cocoa Powder
I recommend using Dutch-processed cocoa powder for a deeper flavor and fudgier texture. Natural (aka unsweetened) cocoa will offer a milder chocolate flavor and a slightly drier but chewier texture. My favorite Dutch cocoa powder for brownies is Penzey’s or Guittard. Learn more about how Natural and Dutch-process cocoas affect your baking here.
The Chocolate Chips
I prefer semisweet chocolate chips, but you can use any kind you like–just keep in mind it will affect the sweetness of the brownies. You can also add 3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans in addition to the chocolate chips. Just don’t skip the chocolate chips entirely, as they’re key to achieving that shiny, crinkly crust on top of brownies. Learn my top FOUR methods for achieving a shiny thin brownie crust here.
The Fat
- Melted butter plus vegetable oil provides the best taste and texture.
- You can use avocado oil or any other neutral-flavored oil instead of vegetable oil.
- Make sure your oil is fresh to avoid any off flavors.
- Check out my side-by-side baking experiments with Butter vs Oil here.
The Sugar
Don’t reduce the sugar in this Brownie Recipe, as this will cause dry, crumbly brownies that will stale faster. Learn more about sugar’s functions in brownies here.
The Eggs
These Chewy Brownies use two whole eggs plus an additional egg yolk for EXTRA chewiness and richness. Using cold eggs prevents doming and increases moisture.
The Flour
A small amount of all-purpose flour is essential for creating Chewy Brownies – but avoid adding too much, as this can cause dry, cakey brownies. Use a digital kitchen scale to prevent accidental overmeasuring. If you don’t have a digital scale, use the spoon-and-level method described here.
Secret Ingredient: Cornstarch!
Cornstarch mimics the texture of box mix brownies, creating thicker, chewier brownies with a nice shiny crust. Don’t skip it if possible!
Avoid Leavening for Fudgy & Chewy Brownies
I prefer no baking soda or baking powder for rich, dense brownies that are not even remotely cakey. If you’re team cakey, don’t even bother with this recipe. It’ll be far too chewy and fudgy for you!
Can I Double this Chewy Brownies Recipe?
Yes! Double all ingredients and bake in a 9 by 13-inch light-colored metal baking pan (don’t use a glass pan!) and add a few minutes to the baking time.
Storing & Freezing Brownies
Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature or up to 5 days in the fridge. They are even more fudgy when they’re chilled!
To freeze, wrap the cooled whole slab or individual slices of brownies in plastic wrap inside an airtight container. Freeze for up to three months. Thaw overnight in the fridge, or for a couple hours at room temperature, before serving.
Brownie Substitutions
This Chewy Brownie recipe is written to yield a perfect chewy brownie. Altering any ingredients will change the outcome. If you can’t use one of the ingredients listed, check out my extensive brownie recipe index for tons of other brownie options (including coconut oil brownies).
More Brownies Recipes You’ll Love:
- Malted Brownies – made with brown butter!
- Toffee Brownies
- Copycat Cosmic Brownies – ultimate nostalgia!
- Peanut Butter Stuffed Brownies
Best Ever Chewy Brownies
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Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons (71 grams) unsalted butter
- 1 1/4 cups (249 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk, cold
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup (74 grams) neutral oil (like vegetable or avocado)
- 3/4 cup (75 grams) cocoa powder*
- 1/2 cup (63 grams) all-purpose flour, measured correctly
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3/4 cup (128 grams) semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line an 8 by 8-inch light-colored metal pan** with foil or parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, add the butter and sugar. Microwave for about 1 minute, or until the butter is melted. Whisk in the eggs and egg yolk, whisking vigorously for 1 minute. Whisk in the vanilla, then stir in the oil and cocoa powder.
- With a rubber spatula, stir in the flour, cornstarch, and salt until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Spread the brownie batter evenly into the prepared pan. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until the brownies are set and a cake tester inserted into the center has moist crumbs attached. Do not overcook. Let cool completely to solidify before cutting and serving.
- Brownies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Brownies will be gooey when served warm, chewy when served at room temperature, and fudgy when served chilled.
Recipe Notes
The Ultimate Cookie Handbook
Learn the sweet SCIENCE of cookie baking in a fun, visual way to customize your own recipes frustration-free. Plus, my best 50+ homemade cookies!
This recipe was originally published in 2017 and has been updated with additional baking tips and new photos. Recipe photos by Joanie Simon and Baking Science photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
I made these Brownies last week and they were fantastic. Shared them with the neighbors and they rave about them .. Thank You
I loved all the hints
As a suggestion, melting the butter and allowing it to cool would be a reasonable update to the recipe. Also, adding an explanation of the correct way of measuring flour would also be convenient as well. All in all fantastic job.
Perfect chewy brownie with the crackle on the top. Super easy to make as well.
I grew up making brownies, but I decided to try other recipes. So glad I did! This is the winner! I’m living in Portugal now, and all my friends ask for them. I thought, if they get excited over imported frozen brownies, they need to try fresh American brownies!
Love hearing that, Tina! Happy they were such a hit, thanks for sharing! 🙂
Hello! I’ve been baking these brownies ever since I found the recipe on Pinterest, we all love them!!
I just would like to know what difference is there between adding baking soda or not to the recipe. I wrote down the recipe a long time ago and it had 1/8 tsp baking soda in it, but today I find that it no longer has is as an ingredient. Does it affect the flavor or chewiness?? Thanks!!
Hi Narelle! We’re so glad you love this recipe! The original recipe used unsweetened (natural) cocoa powder and a small amount of baking soda. We updated it with an option to use Dutch-process cocoa powder, which gives the brownies a richer flavor, darker color, and chewier, fudgier texture. Because Dutch-process cocoa is treated with an alkaline solution, it doesn’t need the baking soda to react and rise. So, to make the recipe more accessible for everyone, we removed the baking soda entirely so that you can use whatever you have on hand. You can definitely go back to the original version and add the 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda with natural cocoa powder. It’s such a small amount of leavener that the difference will be minimal, the brownies may be just slightly taller. I hope that helps!
Hello, thank you so much for clarifying that! Now I understand a bit more about baking, I’ll try it both ways in the future 🙂 Here are some pics of the brownies I’ve baked using the recipe <3
They look amazing!! What did you use as a topping for the bottom brownie? The texture looks so good.
Thank you so much! I wanted some cheesecake brownies but almost every recipe I found had fudgy -or even cakey, brownies.
I tried doing just 3/4 of your recipe & 1/4 of a cheesecake recipe ChatGPT gave me -I’m not a baker so it’s the only “resource” I can get access to when it comes to baking. If I’m not mistaken, the ingredients were: 160g cream cheese, 40 g granulated sugar, 3/4 of a large egg, 1/2 tsp vanilla, and 3/4 tsp flour; swirling it with a few tbsp of the brownie batter. I really liked how they turned out, but they weren’t precisely what I expected. Now I bake half of each to have some kind of balance.
Your recipes are truly delicious <3 thank you for sharing them with us, and also thanks for the tips, they've been a game changer.
Yum, a cheesecake layer sounds absolutely delicious. Glad it turned out well for you! Thank you so much for your kind comment, Narelle 🙂 We’re happy to help!
Thanks so much for sharing so many tips! I’m about to bake them but I have a friend who likes m&ms as a topping! Would that affect the end result at all?
No, that should be fine! You could even swap out some of the chocolate chips in the recipe for m&ms too 🙂
Strangely enough, I don’t like chocolate chips in brownies unless they are Blondie Bars. Do es leaving chips out make that much of a difference, and if so, what kind? I also prefer a dryer chewy brownie instead of a more fudgy kind. Do I need to adjust your recipe to get that result? I’m looking forward to trying these as they seem easy and look delicious…thank you!
Hi Gigi! Great questions. The chocolate chips actually help create a thicker brownie as well as a shiny, crinkly crust on top—but if you’re not a fan, feel free to leave them out! Tessa tested this exact tweak in her experiments—check out Method #4 in this post to see the results. If you prefer a drier chewy brownie, try baking them a few minutes longer than the recipe calls for, just until a cake tester comes out clean. If that still feels too fudgy, you could experiment with adding an additional extra tablespoon or two of flour, but don’t go overboard or they might turn out crumbly. Let us know how it goes!
I have made these several times and the flavor is great. But I find them to be more fudgy than chewy. Is there anything I can change to make them more chewy?
Absolutely obsessed with these. I’ve made these multiple times now. They’re super easy to make and my whole family loves them. I don’t usually do reviews but it is my favorite treat to make!
Hi!I haven’t made the recipe yet but I was wondering if it would produce the same results if I bloom the cocoa in the butter and oil first, and whisk the sugars and eggs in a separately and then add them together, instead of adding the sugar to butter then add the eggs and cocoa later on?
We haven’t tried that, but feel free to experiment! A side-by-side comparison sounds fun… and delicious!
the best brownies I’ve ever eaten no lie. disgustingly obsessed to the point that I think I owe u a review .. and I’m picky about my little treats, I rarely like recipes enough to comment 😭 the only thing I do differently is use avocado oil in place of canola. sometimes I make them in a mini muffin tin instead of a pan
Yay, what a compliment! We’re so happy you love them—and what a fun idea to bake them in a mini muffin tin! Though bite-sized brownies sound a bit more dangerous haha 😉
I made this recipe but i had to modify some things simply because i didn’t have enough of certain ingredients. I used no extra egg yolk and less cocoa (i also mixed two types of coco powder because i ran out if my good ghiradeli powder so i mixed it with hersey cocoa powder) 35 minutes in oven, turned out genuinely amazing all my bum ahh frens want me to make them all the time now