Homemade Brownie Recipe from Scratch

Learn how to make fudgy homemade brownies from scratch. This recipe is quick and easy to make and you need just 9 ingredients. Crispy top, fudgy center, and melting chocolate chunks. Better than box mix brownies and crowd approved. It's literally the best chocolate brownie recipe.

Have you ever asked yourself how to make brownies? You just need to whisk melted butter, eggs, sugar, and vanilla to combine. Then sift in cocoa, flour, and salt and whisk until combined. Add your favorite add-ins, like chocolate chips or nuts, transfer to a brownie pan, and bake.

Sounds very easy, right? It really is!

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Equipment
• Photo instructions
• Toothpick test
• Top tips
• Substitutions and Variations
• Cooling and cutting
• Storage
• FAQs
• Related Recipes
• Recipe and Video

Ingredients

To make homemade brownies from scratch you need just a couple of basic ingredients, like cocoa, flour, butter, eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla, and chocolate.

Cocoa

You can either use natural or Dutch-processed unsweetened cocoa powder. I tried this recipe with both and it works with both types of cocoa.

Flour

Use just plain all-purpose flour. Do not use cake or bread flour because these types of flour are not 100% flour but additional ingredients mixed in and could make your brownies cakey rather than fudgy.

Butter

You need unsalted butter for this recipe. I don't recommend salted butter. It's better to use unsalted butter and a controled amount of salt when baking as you have full control of the outcome.

Eggs

This recipe is developed to use large eggs. Make sure to use the correct size. Otherwise, the ratio of dry to wet ingredients is out of balance and the texture is not as supposed.

Sugar

To get the best results with this recipe, I recommend using half white and brown sugar. Brown sugar is naturally moist and keeps the brownies moister compared to dry white sugar. So, keep in mind that the texture and outcome will change if you alter the sugars.

Salt

You can use your preferred regular salt. However, don't use flaky salt.

Vanilla

You can either use pure vanilla extract or vanilla pods. For each teaspoon vanilla extract substitute the seeds of one vanilla pod.

Chocolate

I prefer adding chopped chocolate bars to the batter. You can use either white, milk, or dark chocolate bars. You can also use chocolate chips.

Equipment

For this recipe you need a large mixing bowl, mesh strainer, whisk, rubber spatula, and a pan.

Pan size

You get the most even baking results when you use an 8x12" (20x30cm) or 9x13" (23x33cm) baking pan, but you can also use a 9x9" (23x23cm) brownie pan.

However, the baking results in a 9x9" (23x23cm) baking pan will be the most uneven, and the edges will turn out a little cakey.

Below you see a side-by-side comparison of the thickness. The brownies on the left are baked in a 9x9" baking pan and the ones on the right in a 9x13" baking pan. The ones on the left are about 1-inch thick.

Photo instructions

Combine melted butter, both sugars, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl and whisk until combined about 1-2 minutes.

Place a mesh strainer on top of the bowl and sift in the flour, cocoa, and salt. Whisk just until combined.

Add about 1 cup of the chocolate to the batter and whisk just to combine.

Transfer the batter to a parchment paper-lined pan and spread until even. Top with the remaining chocolate.

Bake until a toothpick in the center comes out lightly dirty with a few moist crumbs attached for lightly underbaked brownies with a fudgy texture. The center should no longer jiggle and the they are just set to the touch.

They will continue baking in the hot pan, so be sure that you don't overbake them.

Toothpick test

The best method to tell when fudge brownies are done is with a toothpick test. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out slightly dirty with a few crumbs attached to it.  See the picture below to see how my toothpick looks like when I remove the pan from the oven.

Maybe you don't get perfect results for the very first time. Don't worry too much and learn for the next time. When you write down how long you baked them exactly, you can adjust the baking time in both directions for the next time.

I baked mine for exactly 27 minutes in a 9x13" and 33 minutes in a 9x9" baking pan. But it's very important to find out the baking time for your oven.

Every oven works differently. Older ones maybe don't have the full power anymore. There are so many different reasons why baking time is never the same in different ovens.

Substitutions and Variations

Butter

You could substitute butter for oil 1:1 if you prefer. To me, fudgy brownies made with butter have a better taste and I prefer the texture of them as well. Every vegetable oil works. You could try to use olive oil, coconut oil, or canola.

Gluten-free

To make them gluten-free, just substitute all-purpose flour for gluten-free flour 1:1. I recommend Bob's Red Mill gluten-free flour.

Espresso powder

Espresso powder deepens the chocolate flavor and is often used in chocolate cakes to make them richer. The chocolate flavor is very strong in this recipe but you can add 1 tsp (2g) espresso powder to the batter, when adding the dry ingredients, if you like.

Add-ins

I added about 1 cup of chopped chocolate bars to the batter. You could replace the chocolate for 1 cup of one of the following add-ins or add a combination of:

• peanut butter chips
• chopped nuts (peanuts, walnuts, pecans, etc.)
• chopped soft caramel candy
• toffee bits
• mini marshmallows
• raisins

Cooling and cutting

After removing the fudge brownies from the oven, let them cool in the pan for about 15-20 minutes until you can lift them with the parchment paper out of the pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

When the brownies are too soft to lift them out of the pan, then you might have baked them too short, and they are underbaked. In this case, just let them in the pan until they can be lifted out of the pan easily.

When they are too underbaked, the middle pieces will be very, very soft. Still delicious, of course, but you might need a fork to eat them.

Before you cut the brownies, let them cool completely. This makes sure that you get the most accurate cutting results. Use a sharp long knife for cutting.

Storage

Store them in a container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the fridge for up to 5 days.

If you freeze them, let them cool completely and then cut. Put the single pieces in freezer bags and freeze for up to 3 months. For thawing, remove them from the bag and let sit at room temperature for about 1-2 hours or reheat in the microwave.

FAQs

Why are my brownies cakey?

There are multiple reasons why they can turn out cakey rather than fudgy. If you follow this recipe, you will be rewarded with gooey fudge brownies. My experience showed me, that there 5 points to follow for fudgy chocolate brownies:

1. using a whisk rather than an electric mixer
2. no usage of baking soda or baking powder
3. using a high amount of butter
4. adding brown sugar
5. slightly underbake

Whisking instead of mixing with an electric mixer makes sure that there is no air in the batter and therefore the texture is dense. When not using baking soda or baking powder, the brownies don't get lifted and stay compact.

1 cup of butter (226g) brings in lots of moisture and great taste. Brown sugar is naturally moist and keeps the brownies moister compared to using just white sugar.

Brownies are not supposed to be baked as long as a chocolate cake. The longer they bake, the cakier (=dryer) they get.

Related Recipes

If you don't get enough brownie desserts, we have you covered. Maybe you would love to try our brownie cookies, cupcakes, or ice cream cake. Also in my cookbook is a whole chapter dedicated to them.

Recipe and Video