My homemade brownies from scratch are fudgy, decadent, so chocolatey and the batter can be made in just minutes! This has been a fan-favorite for over 8 years and will have you ditching the box-mixes for good. Recipe includes a how-to video and lots of tips for shiny, crackly brownie tops!
Brownies From Scratch
I first shared this homemade brownie recipe years ago and it’s remained one of my personal favorites ever since, a classic right up there with my chocolate chip cookies and easy apple pie. It’s served as the base of many of my other brownie recipes on my site (perhaps most deliciously, my cheesecake brownies) and is perfect for beginners and advanced bakers alike.
At its core, this is really a no-frills, easy brownie recipe that really needs little introduction, but if you’re like me and love nerding out about nitty gritty recipe details, please read on (otherwise, hit that big “Jump to Recipe” button overhead)!
Why You Should Try THIS Brownie Recipe:
- Intense chocolate flavor. Melted chocolate, cocoa powder, and added chocolate chips put these brownies over the top. Add a pinch of instant coffee or espresso powder to the batter for an even more decadent chocolate experience.
- Shiny, crackly tops. While it may seem like just aesthetics, shiny and crackly tops are something that I personally love about brownies and that I wanted my own version to have. I spent years cracking the code on this and am very happy to share what I’ve found with you (it’s all about mixing the eggs and sugar… more on this below!).
- Easy, for when you need a chocolate fix in a hurry! My homemade brownies come together in just 10 minutes. Minimal mess & no mixer needed.
- Perfected recipe (true brownie texture!). This recipe was carefully (and repeatedly) tested to yield brownies that are dense, fudgy, and super chocolatey with the aforementioned shiny, crackly tops. I must’ve baked 100 different batches before landing on this version.
Ingredients for Homemade Brownies
We won’t go over every ingredient in detail (who has the time when there are brownies to be made!), but I think you should know what it is that truly makes these the best brownie recipe. The ingredients are common enough, but there are a few extras mixed in, along with a bit of technique… (more on that later).
Let’s dig in.
- Sugar. A blend of granulated and brown sugar is the way to go in almost every recipe, honestly, but especially here. The subtle molasses-ness of the brown sugar rounds out the flavor of the chocolate and adds extra chew to our brownies!
- Eggs… plus an extra yolk! The egg whites play a critical role in giving you brownies with a shiny, crackly top. When coupled with the sugar and whipped, you’ll be able to achieve exactly that boxed-brownie look. An extra yolk enriches the batter and makes the brownies even more tender and fudgy.
- Chocolate. For intensely chocolatey homemade brownies we build the batter on a base of melted chocolate and butter and then toss in some cocoa powder while the mixture is still warm (to help bloom it, as we do in my chocolate cake). Chocolate chips work in a pinch, but baking bars are best. Use semisweet baking bars, or, if you like a darker chocolate, use 60% cacao instead! Then, at the end, I do recommend mixing in some chocolate chips for an extra punch of chocolate.
- Instant coffee. If you’re someone who prefers dark chocolate, you’ll want to add this. It adds depth and enhances the chocolate flavor, particularly the more bitter flavors that you’ll find in dark chocolate. You can make things even more intense by swapping this with espresso powder, or if you’re not a fan feel free to omit it.
Sam’s Tip: These brownies were specifically and carefully designed to be dense and fudgy, and not cakey. However, if you like a lighter brownie you can stir in a quarter teaspoon of baking powder with the flour.
How to Make Brownies from Scratch
Whisk the eggs and sugar
I’ll usually melt my chocolate and butter together first (do this in intervals, stirring in between, just like when melting chocolate in the microwave). Then set this aside and combine your eggs and sugar and stir vigorously. Whisking together the eggs and sugar almost as if you were making meringue is critical to creating those shiny, crackly tops that you’ll see at the end!
The vigorous whisking can be an arm workout, but can absolutely be done by hand (usually takes me 60 seconds or so). You could alternatively use an electric mixer for this step!
Once the eggs are well-mixed, stir in your vanilla extract and salt.
Add the melted chocolate
Stir the melted chocolate into the batter. Everything should be thoroughly combined, but you don’t have to worry about whisking aggressively or vigorously, like you did with the eggs and sugar.
Finish the brownie batter & bake
Add the flour, followed by the chocolate chips. Once again, the batter just needs to be uniformly combined, no need to go crazy with mixing here! Once everything is combined, scrape your brownie batter into a 9×9″ baking pan, smooth it into an even layer (add a few more chocolate chips on top if you’d like, for good measure!) and bake!
SAM’S TIP: I recommend baking your brownies in a metal pan, as glass pans can take longer.
Frequently Asked Questions
An extra egg yolk, a bit of brown sugar, real melted chocolate, a bit less flour than you might expect, and no baking powder or baking soda all contribute to the rich fudginess of these brownies. If your brownies turn out cakey after following my recipe, it may be that your flour was accidentally over-measured.
After years of making homemade brownies from scratch, I can tell you with confidence the secret is following a good recipe. Use one that recommends vigorously whisking the eggs and sugar, enriches the batter with melted chocolate, and for good measure adds a pinch of instant coffee or espresso. Obviously I’m biased, but my recipe really does crack the code for perfect brownies, and I’m excited for you to try it.
Unfortunately, a straight substitution of the chocolate called for with white chocolate yields results that are too sweet and a bit oily. However, I do have a white chocolate brownie recipe that I recommend you try instead, or for a chocolate-less version try my blondies!
More Chocolate Desserts
This is truly the easiest, ultimate, best homemade brownie recipe. And I really think you are going to love it.
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Fudgy Homemade Brownies from Scratch
Ingredients
- 12 Tablespoons (170 g) unsalted butter cut into Tablespoon-sized pieces
- 4 oz (113 g) semisweet chocolate bar chopped into small pieces
- ½ cup (50 g) natural cocoa powder (unsweetened)
- ½ teaspoon instant coffee grounds optional
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (150 g) light brown sugar firmly packed
- 2 large eggs + 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup (127 g) semisweet chocolate chips
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line a 9×9 baking pan¹ with parchment paper²
- Combine butter and chopped chocolate in a large, microwave-safe bowl.12 Tablespoons (170 g) unsalted butter, 4 oz (113 g) semisweet chocolate bar
- Microwave in 25-second intervals, stirring well in between, until completely melted and smooth.
- Immediately add cocoa powder and instant coffee (if using), stir well.½ cup (50 g) natural cocoa powder (unsweetened), ½ teaspoon instant coffee grounds
- In a separate, medium-sized mixing bowl, combine sugars and eggs. Whisk vigorously, until well combined and lightened in color (at least 60 seconds of vigorous whisking, this ensures shiny, crackly tops! Feel free to use an electric mixer!).¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar, ¾ cup (150 g) light brown sugar, 2 large eggs + 1 large egg yolk
- Stir in vanilla extract and salt.1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon salt
- Drizzle chocolate mixture into egg mixture and stir until completely combined.
- Add flour, stir until completely combined.1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
- Stir in chocolate chips.¾ cup (127 g) semisweet chocolate chips
- Spread into prepared 9×9 pan.
- Bake in center rack of 350F (175C) oven for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out slightly fudgy, but not wet with batter.
- Allow to cool before cutting and serving (they'll be messy and seem underdone otherwise).
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
I originally shared this brownie recipe on 02/01/2017. I’ve made small changes to the recipe to make the tops crackly (changed the step for beating the eggs well instead of mixing the batter well as a whole), and I’ve updated some of the photos and added a video and tried to make the post itself more informative.
Cindy
I don’t have instant coffee, but I really want to make these with your exact recipe. Will I really notice the difference if I leave out the instant coffee? Or is there an alternative I could use?
Sam
You can leave it out with no other modifications and they’ll still be delicious! Enjoy!
Cindy
I ended up waiting to make them so I could get the instant coffee. By far the best brownie recipe ever!! Thank you, yet again, for another amazing recipe!! You have no idea how happy I am that I found you on Pinterest!!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much! 🙂
gabbie
can I just use brown sugar ?
Sam
Sure thing! 🙂
Aimee
Hi, I’m wondering if I can do 1/2 cup of each sugar instead of 3/4. I tried this recipe with 3/4 cup last time and it was delicious! But, the person I’m making them for today prefers less sweet brownies. Will using 1/2 cup change the texture drastically?
Sam
Hi Aimee! You should be fine to just use the 1/2 cup of sugar. 🙂
Nel
Hi. I tried the recipe and it came out really good and delicious!
Can I use a 8×8 pan size? Does this mean it will take slightly longer to bake in the oven?
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Nel! Yes you can use an 8 x 8. You are correct it will take a little bit longer to bake because they will be a little bit thicker. 🙂
Camelkelly
I have made these over and over again. SO good!!!!
Sam
Yay! So glad you enjoyed, thank you so much for commenting!
Dee
Heyy! Can i freeze the brownie batter? And if yes for how long?
Sam
Hi Dee! It should be fine to keep frozen for a few months. 🙂
Dee
Great🤩 does the taste and texture change? And should i bake them immediately when i take them out of the freezer?
Sam
I honestly haven’t frozen the batter so I am not sure how it would change the texture. I wouldn’t think it would. I would assume you could bake it straight from the freezer but again without having tried it I can’t really give a good suggestion. Let me know how it goes. 🙂
Eliana
Hi, I was wondering if you can use this recipe without egg whites? I am allergic to them, but I love brownies.
Sam
Hi Eliana! Honestly I would give it a shot without the egg whites. It may be a little more dense, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing in a brownie. I would love to know how it turns out if you try it. 🙂
Nora
How sweet are these brownies?
Pam
I don’t like brownies! BUT my family and friends LOVE these brownies! I added chopped pecans and a they were gone in a day. I made a package for a friend as a Feel Better gift. She loved it! So thank you for your great recipe. P S my picky daughter just told me she loved the brownies; high praise indeed! PPS I used Kerrygold Butter in this recipe.
Sam
That is so awesome, Pam! I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them so much!:)
Bharti
hi
I am trying your brownie recipe. the batter is too thick. what can i do?
thanks
bharti
Sam
I don’t know that you can do much at this point, but it should be a very thick batter. I hope it turns out. 🙂
Camelkelly
Thick may throw a new to this recipe person … but don’t be alarmed!
They turn out perfectly.
My suggestion is to get out the electric beater
I do after i mix it by hand as much as i can.
Carmen
Really easy, very little mess, super-delicious, chewy, fudge brownies! We Melted the chocolate/butter in the bowl on a pot of hot water, mixed really well, chilled for 15 min or so and greased a 9×13 pan and baked for 20 minutes. Otherwise followed recipe exactly. We just tried them and They’re perfection! I think I prefer them a bit thinner in the larger pan as they are certainly rich! Thank you for this recipe!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Carmen! 🙂
Monica
Can I add M&Ms or Reese’s pieces? What quantity would you suggest-3/4 cup like the nuts?
Loved these I tried your Oreo brownie recipe !!
Sam
Hi Monica! Those additions would be fine and use the 3/4 cup measurement, or less. 🙂
Tramelle
I made these with semi sweet baking chocolate instead of chocolate chips. Also replaced the second set of chocolate chips with 70% dark chocolate shaved into small pieces. (Someone ate the chocolate chips, so had to substitute. )
These were some of the best brownies from scratch. These were fudgy, but not too fudgy as other recipes have been. I really enjoyed these. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Tramelle! 🙂
Brittany
Okay…so if I’m being honest these weren’t bad but they weren’t great. I’ve not made a ton of brownies so I still need to do some recipe exploration before I can render the final verdict. My comments/experience:
– these are very Chocolatey. It would behoove you to have ice cream or milk nearby while consuming (but let’s be honest, you should ALWAYS have brownies with ice cream ESPECIALLY when fresh out the oven)
– I’m not sure if it’s worth the extra effort/ingredients to melt the chicken chips and butter beforehand. I’ll have to compare with recipes that don’t call for that.
– I cooked for 30 minutes in a square glass baking dish and it seemed that it took forever for the inside to cook while the edges were well done at 30 minutes. Inserting the toothpick always produced liquidy chocolate and crumbs when removed. I maybe put it back in the over for “five more minutes” three or four times (perhaps more)….before just giving up and hoping for the best.
Bernard
Will be giving it a try. Just curious though, will ribboning the egg and sugar work for this too?
Sam
He Bernard! I honestly have never tried it here, but I think it could work. 🙂