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 yesterday at my Mom’s house (she’s 82). They were so quick and easy. The brownies turned out tall with a beautiful shiny top and smelled wonderful. It was rainy all day due to hurricane Ian. When we finally lost electricity, we had these perfect brownies to enjoy by candlelight as Ian raged outside. Thank you for a great recipe.
I’m so glad you and your mom enjoyed these brownies, Gail! I hope you were able to stay safe and well during the storm!!
Made these brownies. Amazing! I’ve been looking for a chewy brownie and have tried many recipes. This is the best. I use processed cocoa and it taste great and it was easy to make. I used my scale to measure flour and cooked an additional 4 minutes. My new go to brownie recipe. Love this recipe as it gave many ideas in the highlighted areas as well. Great source of information.
Hi Mary Ann! Thanks so much for your wonderful review! We are SO happy to hear that you enjoyed these brownies so much, and so glad that you found Tessa’s tips and information helpful, too!! Thanks again, and happy baking 🙂
Delicious and decadent dessert! My family loved these pop brownies
These brownies really do live up to their name! Best ever indeed. I will make this recipe again and again, they’re so easy to whip up in under an hour. I will never use box mix again!
Yay!! Love to hear that, Laura! 🙂
The best brownies!
I swapped the flour to almond flour and used 1 cup coconut sugar and 1/4 cup powdered sugar instead of regular. I also just put in the full 3 eggs.
Anyways. So many modifications but somehow it worked out.
Will be sticking with this recipe for sure!
These brownies were absolutely amazing and they were eaten so quick! My new go to brownie recipe!
I baked them in a metal pan, but I still had to add on 8 extra minutes for the knife to not come out with wet batter on it.
I made this recipe without the cornstarch. 8 of them to be exact. It was a hit at my job. They were gone within an hour. Thank you for sharing.
This took way more cooking time then what it calls for. I’m really not sure what is going on but after an hour it’s still not done.
Hi Jazmyn! Oh no, it definitely sounds like something went wrong if these brownies are taking that long to bake fully! Are you using a metal pan to bake your brownies, or are you using a glass pan? Glass can take much, much longer to bake compared to metal. Read more about why, and which pans bake best, in Tessa’s article here! Another thing could be your ingredients. How do you measure your ingredients? By volume (using cups), or by weight (using a digital kitchen scale)? When measuring by volume, it’s so easy to mis-measure flour/sugar/etc and throw off the entire chemistry of a recipe. Tessa talks about how to best measure ingredients to ensure accuracy every time, in this article here! Your oven also could be running too cold. Ovens are almost always lying to us about their real temperature! We recommend using an oven thermometer, to ensure accuracy, and make sure your baked goods are baking correctly! Tessa talks about the importance of oven temperature accuracy and using an oven thermometer, in this article here! I hope you give these brownies another try sometime; they really are so delicious!
Caved in, couldn’t get done in the middle. I tried 2 different batches, both terrible. Tried a different recipe and it was great. Sorry. I won’t use this one again.
Hi Bev! It definitely sounds like something was going wrong when trying to make these brownies! I’m glad you found a different recipe that worked for you, but just in case you wished to troubleshoot, here are a couple of thoughts. How do you measure your ingredients? By volume (using cups), or by weight (using a digital kitchen scale)? When measuring by volume, it’s so easy to mis-measure flour/sugar/etc and throw off the entire chemistry of a recipe. Tessa talks about how to best measure ingredients to ensure accuracy every time, in this article here! Also, I wonder if you’re baking in a glass pan? We never recommend using a glass pan for baking brownies (or most things, really), as glass pans don’t conduct heat well, so the middle is often left gummy and raw. We recommend using a light-colored metal pan – you can read more about that here! I hope something here helped 🙂 Happy baking!
These turned out so wonderfully for my boyfriend’s birthday!
I had to make a few tweaks based on what I had available in my pantry (I only had bread flour instead of A.P. and about 3/4c of granulated sugar so I subbed brown sugar for the remaining 1/2c.) and it turned out splendidly. It’s an excellent base recipe! I also added 1.5tsp of instant espresso powder in with the cocoa powder and topped the finished, cooling brownies with flaky salt and truly they are DIVINE.
Really quick and easy, EXCELLENT effort to payoff ratio.
Moist, chewy chocolate deliciousness. Better than box, just as easy to make.
Yassss. I’ve been searching for years for an actual chewy brownie, that is as good as box mix. This is better, and really easy!
And obviously perfectly chewy! Absolutely love it, thank you so much.
I needed to use a slightly wider pan, and they were perfect after 26 mins for me.
I’m in the UK and sometimes find US recipes don’t seem to work as well as described (even with conversions), but this recipe was brilliant for me!
One note – cornstarch is ‘cornflour’ in the UK.
Thanks!!!!
Tessa, I like these but I like Cake-like brownies better. Do you have a good recipe for Cake-like brownies ? How could I modify this recipe if you don’t. I make the Ultimate Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies all the time and I love them.
Thanks, Scott
Hi Scott! Unfortunately, we don’t have a cakey brownie recipe, basically because Tessa doesn’t prefer cakey brownies! In order to modify these chewy brownies into cakier brownies, it will definitely take some playing around and experimenting. You will want to start by eliminating the extra egg yolk and cornstarch from this recipe, as they are both there to encourage chewiness. I would then recommend experimenting with creaming together the butter and sugar, as you would do for a cake, rather than melting them together as the recipe states. You will also want to play with the amount of flour (more flour = cakier brownies). I would also recommend adding more baking soda, to give the brownies lift and more of a cakey texture. Again, this will take some experimenting for you to find the process and ratios of ingredients to meet your desired outcome! Good luck and happy baking 🙂