Thick, chewy, and utterly delicious—these Homemade Brownies outshine any store-bought mix. Dive into a batch and you’ll never look back!
These homemade brownies, well, they’re are a game changer. After lots of taste testing I finally perfected the recipe bringing decadent homemade brownies to your kitchen. First of all they’re so easy to make. And they’re relatively quick too! I don’t like making a huge mess in the kitchen and I hate that brownies take so long to bake! This recipe requires melting the butter and the sugar together in the microwave and needs only 25 minutes to bake!
Chock-full of chocolatey goodness, these brownies have just the right amount of chew and softness. Your taste buds will thank you, trust me! For more chocolate heaven, try Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, Double Chocolate Muffins, and Double Chocolate Silk Pie
Table of Contents
Reasons to Love These Brownies
- Homemade Brownies are baked fresh, offering a warm, comforting taste that can’t be matched by store-bought varieties.
- This easy brownie recipe is customizable. You can add nuts, caramel, or extra chocolate to suit your taste preferences.
- Baking brownies fill the house with an inviting, delicious scent.
Recipe Ingredients
- Butter: I prefer using unsalted butter for baking, but if you like the flavor of a little extra salt, you’re welcome to use salted butter.
- Cocoa Powder: The best type of cocoa powder for a rich brownie is Hershey’s Special Dark Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder. Dutch process powder provides a rich and smooth flavor. If you are not too worried about it, you can use a typical unsweetened natural cocoa powder.
- Chopped Chocolate: I love using a Ghirardelli baking bar for the semi-sweet chopped chocolate. It enhances the chocolatey experience with a gooey texture and robust flavor.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations
- Add-Ins: For a nutty crunch, mix in chopped walnuts or pecans into your brownie batter before baking. Another fun variation is to add Oreo chunks or edible cookie dough pieces into the mix. For those who enjoy a bit of color and extra sweetness, mixing in M&Ms or Reese’s Pieces adds a playful touch. Lastly, topping the batter with coconut flakes before baking gives the brownies a tropical flair and a slight chewiness.
- Sugar Variation: For a delightful twist on traditional brownies, consider using molasses or brown sugar instead of regular white sugar. Molasses will impart a rich, slightly smoky sweetness. Brown sugar, on the other hand, contributes a moist texture and a hint of caramel.
How to Make Homemade Brownies
Step 1: Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (163 degrees Celsius). Line an 8×8″ pan with parchment or foil, and set aside.
Step 2: In a microwave-safe bowl, add the butter and sugar. Heat in the microwave on HIGH for about 1 minute and 15 seconds. Remove, stir, and cool on the counter for 5 minutes, then stir in the vanilla extract and cocoa powder.
Step 3: In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the warm (but not hot) butter/sugar mixture. With the mixing speed on low, add one egg at a time, mixing just until incorporated.
Step 4: In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt. With mixing speed on low, gradually add the dry ingredients. Mix until no flour pockets remain. Remove the bowl from the stand and fold in the chocolate chips and chunks.
Step 5: Spread the brownie batter evenly into the prepared pan. Place in the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes or until the brownies are set. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 30-45 minutes before cutting and serving.
Expert Tips
- Melting Butter: Melting the butter not only imparts a fudgy texture but also contributes to the shiny, crackly top characteristic of the best brownies.
- Mixing Technique: Avoid overmixing the batter after adding flour. Overmixing introduces too much air, which can make the brownies cakey instead of fudgy.
- Baking Time: Do not overbake the brownies. They should remain a bit soft in the center to ensure moist, fudgy brownies.
Frequently Asked Questions
To test for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center of the brownies; it should come out with lots of gooey crumbs. This indicates the brownies have achieved perfect fudginess.
Pre-cutting parchment paper to fit the pan exactly prevents the brownie batter from sticking and facilitates easier removal from the pan, ensuring your brownies are beautifully square and intact.
Cutting brownies can be tricky as they tend to get messy. The trick is to run a butter knife under hot water and dry it off before each cut. Clean the knife on a paper towel before making another cut. This method ensures clean slices without tearing the brownies.
Storage Info
STORE brownies in an airtight container at room temperature to keep them moist and chewy; they will stay fresh for up to 4 days. To FREEZE, wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and then in foil. You can freeze it in your freezer for up to 3 months.
To REHEAT, unwrap the brownies and microwave them on high for about 10-20 seconds, or until warm.
More Tasty Brownie Recipes to Try
Homemade Brownies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour*
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/4 cup sugar
- 11 tbsp unsalted butter - (1 stick +3 tbsp)
- 2 eggs - cold
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp cornstarch**
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips - milk or semisweet
- 1/4 cup semi-sweet baking bar* - chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (163 degrees Celsius). Line an 8×8" pan with parchment or foil, and set aside.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, add the butter and sugar. Heat in the microwave on HIGH for about 1 minute and 15 seconds. Remove, stir, and cool on the counter for 5 minutes, then stir in the vanilla extract and cocoa powder.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the warm (but not hot) butter/sugar mixture. With the mixing speed on low, add one egg at a time, mixing just until incorporated.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt. With mixing speed on low, gradually add the dry ingredients. Mix until no flour pockets remain. Remove the bowl from the stand and fold in the chocolate chips and chunks.
- Spread the brownie batter evenly into the prepared pan. Place in the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes or until the brownies are set. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 30-45 minutes before cutting and serving.
First of all, THANK YOU!!!!! These are seriously the most amazing brownies! Before I even told my husband what they were supposed to taste like, he said, “Wait! Are these the Ghirardelli box mix brownies???”
We’ve been gluten free baking for over a year because of my daughter’s celiac, so it’s been a long time since we’ve enjoyed those. I was on the hunt for a great brownie recipe, and I have found it!
Could I post my gluten free version of the recipe over at my blog with all credit and a link back to you? I would greatly appreciate it!
Of course! I love that you made them gluten-free, I can’t wait to see your version!
Thanks!!! I will be posting later this week, but they were so delicious. I made them twice and my daughter was in heaven!
I looked n you web page was not able to find the gluten free version of these great brownies. I am having a dinner for my friends tomorrow and I need to make these brownies but gluten free version. Can I have it ASAP please?
Ann, I haven’t posted the recipe yet! So sorry, I hope you were able to make something yummy in time. I will be posting the recipe this week. The only substitutions I made were in place of all-purpose flour, use 1/4 cup brown or white rice flour, 2 tablespoons potato starch, and 2 tablespoons coconut flour. Add a little over 1/2 teaspoon of xanthan gum and bake for 40-45 minutes. My brownies weren’t set after only 25 minutes. You could try using a gluten free flour blend, but I am a fan of using my own combos of flour. Better results!
The recipe is up! They taste amazing! Can’t even tell you’re getting a gluten free version of these bad boys. Yum!
I’ve been eyeballing this recipe for a while now and decided to go for it. Have them in the oven and I’m super pumped for them! I’ve never made brownies from scratch before so this will be interesting.
These are NOT better than the box; these are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than box that they don’t even compare. I’ve tried so many brownie recipes, trying to find THE one and I’m so happy to finally say that I just did! I first tried this recipe about a month ago and have been making it weekly ever since. The chocoholics in my family drift is sweet bliss whenever they take a bite out of it. I wish you could see them close their eyes with every bite; you’d be proud. Thank you so much for your effort and for sharing. I wanted to get your permission to make this for my blog, giving you full credit ofcourse with a link back to your post. It’s just that I only share recipes that I fall in love with and this happens to be one of them. Btw your entire blog ROCKS!
Thank you! I love hearing that 🙂 Oh, and go for it! P.S. I’m excited to try out your salted caramel stuffed cookie bars… I’m a sucker for anything salted caramel and those look divine!
Oh my…the salted caramel cookie bars are irresistible; I can’t recommend them enough! Thank you for giving me the chance to share your out-of-this-world brownies with my readers. The post is now up on the blog. I hope you like it:)
These are fabulous! I admit that I like boxed brownies…..but these blow then away. So good, huge hit!
Thanks Deb!
I used one stick of butter only and instead of 1/2 c of chocolate chips I tried 1/2 cup of chocolate whey protein powder to try it out as protein brownies and didn’t use any bar chocolate and still turned out amazing. Great recipe.