Gemma’s Best-Ever Brownie Recipe

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Hi Bold Bakers!

WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS RECIPE: The Best-Ever Brownie Recipe brings together fudgy texture and rich chocolate flavor, creating a treat that outshines any boxed mix. With just one bowl and ready in under an hour, you’ll be indulging in these irresistible brownies in no time!

• Simple and quick: One bowl and under an hour for hassle-free baking.
• Decadent texture: Perfect combination of fudgy softness and a crisp top.
• Rich chocolate flavor: Every bite delivers intense, satisfying chocolate goodness.
• Loved by many: A favorite among millions of Bold Bakers for consistently delicious results.

My Best-Ever Brownies recipe has been chef-tested for over 18 years, and has been recreated and enjoyed by thousands of Bold Bakers just like you–just check out the photos submitted by the community further below.

Craving more brownie inspiration? Explore these top favorites that showcase our inventive twists and expert touch, elevating every bite to new heights of deliciousness:

• Chewy Brownies of Your Dreams: Delightfully chewy with a rich, chocolatey center.
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies: A decadent blend of creamy peanut butter and rich chocolate.
• Decadent Caramel Brownies: Gooey caramel combined with luxurious chocolate.
• Microwave Mug Brownie: Quick and easy single-serving brownie ready in minutes.
• Vegan Brownies: Fudgy and delicious without any animal products.

Bold Bakers Loved These!

“These brownies were extremely easy to make and tasted like I spent hours in the kitchen.” -Susiebakesalot

“Even better than the best bakery in our neighborhood. Thank you so much for this precise recipe.” -Neha P.

Read the thousands of reviews on this recipe.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This recipe has been improved and updated on 10/8/2024, to include NEW step-by-step photography, explanations and substitutes of key ingredients, make-ahead and storage instructions, and more Pro-Chef Tips. 

Table of Contents

• What are the Best-Ever Brownies?
• Tools You Need for Chocolate Brownie Recipe
• Key Ingredients and Substitutes of Best Ever Brownies
• How to Make the Best-Ever Brownies
• Gemma’s Pro Chef Tips
• Make Ahead and Storage Instructions
• Why Are my Brownies Oily?
• Can You Cut Back on the Sugar in Brownies?
• FAQs
• More Brownies Recipes

What are Brownies?

The best ever chocolate brownies are rich, fudgy, and packed with deep chocolate flavor. They offer:

• Fudgy texture: A gooey center with a crackly top for the perfect bite.
• High-quality chocolate: Using bittersweet chocolate chunks (70% or higher) for a rich, balanced flavor.
• Moist and chewy: Achieved by using a combination of brown sugar and flavorless oil.
• No leavening agents: To maintain that dense, fudgy consistency rather than a cakey texture.

These brownies stand out because they are simple to make yet deliver a bakery-level treat every time.

Tools You Need for Chocolate Brownie Recipe

• Measuring spoons
• Measuring cups
• Measuring jugs
• Mixing bowls
• Whisk
• Fine mesh sieve
• Spatula
• 9×13 inch (23 x 33 cm) baking pan
• Parchment paper

Ingredients and Substitutes for the Perfect Brownie Recipe

Eggs

• Bind the ingredients and add structure.
• Substitute: Flaxseed meal mixed with water, applesauce, or mashed banana.

Granulated sugar

• Sweetens and contributes to the texture.
• Substitute: Coconut sugar or a blend of stevia and erythritol for a sugar-free option.

Dark brown sugar

• Adds moisture and a deeper caramel flavor, making for a more fudgy final product due to its molasses content.
• Substitute: Check out my recipe for Brown Sugar and make it at home for the best result.

Butter (melted)

• Provides richness and moisture, creates a fudgy texture and tender crumb, also enhances flavor and promotes browning. We use salted butter for extra flavors but unsalted butter will also work.
• Substitute: Coconut oil, avocado oil, or vegan butter.

Vegetable oil

• Adds moisture and helps create a chewy texture.
• Substitute: Coconut oil or melted butter.

Vanilla extract

• Enhances the overall flavor.
• Substitute: Use Vanilla Bean Paste or vanilla beans.

Salt

• Function: Balances sweetness and enhances flavors.

All-purpose flour

• Provides structure.
• Substitute: Gluten-free Flour Blend or Easy Almond Flour Mix for a gluten-free option.

Unsweetened cocoa powder

• Gives the brownies their rich chocolate flavor.
• Substitute: Dutch-process cocoa powder or cacao powder.

Bittersweet chocolate (chopped)

• Adds richness and chunks of molten chocolate (ideally chocolate with 70% cocoa solids or more for a nice balance of bitter and sweet).
• Substitute: Semi-sweet chocolate, milk chocolate, or dark chocolate of your preference.

How to Make the Best-Ever Brownie Recipe

Prep

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Butter and line a 9×13 inch (23 x 33 cm) baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside.

Make the brownie batter

2. In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, brown and white sugar, melted butter, oil, vanilla and salt until smooth.
3. Sift in the flour and cocoa powder over the wet ingredients. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until JUST combined (do NOT over-mix). Fold in half of the chopped chocolate.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, then smooth the top. Top with the remaining chopped chocolate.

Bake the brownies

5. Bake for about 30 minutes, or JUST set to the touch.

Cooling and serving

6. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature before removing from the baking tray and slicing into 16 brownies. Enjoy warm with vanilla ice cream!

Gemma’s Pro Chef Tips for the Best Brownie Recipe Ever

• Use a good quality, unsweetened cocoa powder for the ultimate decadent brownie. Don’t use hot chocolate powder which contains sweeteners and other ingredients.
• Don’t forget to season your brownies. Salt and Vanilla are key ingredients, adding essential flavor and dimension. Please don’t leave them out!
• For extra neat slices, cover your cooled brownies well and chill (or freeze) until cold and firm, about 2 hours, before slicing. Once sliced, store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
• To add extra crunch and protein, you can add chopped toasted nuts such as walnuts, almond, or pecans.
• Using this recipe experiment with the viral “100-Hour Fudgy Brownies” technique (by Alvin Zhou), you’ll be amazed!
  • The batter is aged in the fridge for three days before baking, and the cooked brownies are chilled for one day. It may seem like a long wait, but this easy hack will really up your brownie game! And this brownie recipe takes only 20 minutes to prepare and just 40 minutes to bake. The extended fridge time is the magic that transforms these brownies into a next-level indulgence.
• Don’t forget to check out our Brownies Q&A, where we’ve poured our heart and soul into compiling the ultimate Brownies Questions & Answers. You’re sure to find more detailed tips and tricks you need to take your brownie game to the next level.

Make Ahead and Storage Instructions for the Best Brownie Recipe

• Make-Ahead: You can prepare the brownie batter and store it in the fridge for up to 24 hours before baking. Just cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap.
• Room Temperature Storage: Once baked and fully cooled, store brownies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
• Freezer Storage: Brownies can be frozen for longer storage. After cooling, freeze in a single layer on a parchment-lined tray. Once frozen until firm, transfer to an airtight container for up to 8 weeks. Thaw at room temperature for about 1 hour or microwave briefly before serving.

Why are my Brownies Oily?

Brownies can become oily for several reasons and here’s what to do:

• The batter needs to be properly emulsified with the fat evenly distributed throughout to avoid it separating from the flour and seeping out, which would lead to an oily result.
  • To achieve this, make certain that the butter has cooled to room temperature and that the eggs have no chill on them. Cold ingredients will cause the butter to seize and your batter to curdle.
  • When mixing the dry ingredients into the butter and sugar mixture, try alternating adding the dry ingredients with the eggs to keep the fat and water in the eggs stable.
  • Stop mixing just as soon as the ingredients are just combined to avoid overmixing which can also cause the batter to split.
• Wheat flour from various sources and countries can absorb liquid differently. Try adding a few more tablespoons of flour if you suspect that this is the case.
• Be sure to check out my article and spend time knowing your oven better. Yours may run lower or higher than mine so you may need more or less cooking time.
  • A properly cooked brownie will be firm around the edges and still soft (but not liquidy) in the center.
  • A knife inserted in the center should have some very soft crumbs still attached to it.
  • Pay more attention to whether your brownie has all the signs of being correctly baked rather than the stated bake time of the recipe.
• Allow the brownies to cool completely in the pan before attempting to cut them. The residual heat from the pan will gently set the center without over-cooking it. Uncooled brownies will be too tender to handle and may seem greasy or overly gooey.
• If your recipe uses melted chocolate, make sure the quality is high and you melt it gently. Cheap chocolate splits quickly and can cause excess fat to pool around the batter.

Can you cut back on the sugar in brownies?

You can reduce the sugar by ¼ of the required amount.

• Sugar adds both sweetness and moisture to brownies, as well as serving as a binding agent. Finally, it caramelizes during baking which gives brownies its characteristic crinkly tops.
• For these reasons, we suggest reducing the sugar by no more than 25% or your end results will be dry, less flavorful and crumbly.

FAQs

Can I use whole wheat flour and will it make any difference to this brownie recipe?

If you would like to use whole wheat flour in place of the all-purpose flour, we suggest replacing it by no more than 50%. It should taste fine. Beyond that, the whole wheat flour can result in an overly dense brownie with some potential bitterness.

Can you brown the butter before adding it to the batter?

Yes you can! Browning the butter adds a wonderful nuttiness and complexity to brownies.

• To brown butter, place it in a small saucepan and heat gently over low heat, watching frequently so it doesn’t burn, until the butter turns a deep brown. Immediately transfer this to a heatproof bowl to stop the cooking.
• Browning butter causes some water to evaporate, so before using it in a recipe, re-measure it and replace any loss of volume or weight with water or a splash of milk.
• If your recipe calls for un-melted butter, cool the brown butter until solid before using. You should still remeasure it and replace any loss of volume or weight with a bit of water, milk or additional butter.

How can I make brownies with a crackly top?

• A crackly top can be achieved by beating the eggs and sugar until they become pale and fluffy before adding other ingredients. Check out my recipe The Secret to Crinkle Top Brownies.
• During the beating process, the sugar dissolves into the eggs and coats the protein air bubbles. This stabilizes the egg proteins, creating a firmer and more stable structure when baking.
• As the brownies bake, the air trapped in the egg and sugar mixture creates small pockets within the batter. When the brownies rise and then cool, these air pockets collapse, resulting in the characteristic crackly or shiny top surface.

Do brownies need a leavening agent?

For the perfect fudgy brownie, you will not need baking powder or baking soda. Leavening agents make for more of a cakey texture and these are all fudge brownies!

What makes a homemade brownie recipe chewier?

Using oil is a key factor but isn’t the only factor to a chewy brownie. Using dark brown sugar helps create that texture also. That and baking them for just the right amount of time will give you the result you are looking for.

Try These Amazing Homemade Brownies:

• The Chewy Brownies of Your Dreams
• Gemma’s Better Than Boxed Brownies Mix
• Chewy Mochi Brownies
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies
• Decadent Caramel Brownies
• Skillet Brownies
• Cream Cheese Brownies
• Microwave Mug Brownie 
• Vegan Brownies
• Best-Ever Blondies

And don’t miss my  Bigger Bolder Baking Every Day Cookbook available now!

IMPORTANT NOTE: This recipe has been improved and updated on 10/8/2024, to include NEW step-by-step photography, explanations and substitutes of key ingredients, make-ahead and storage instructions, and more Pro-Chef Tips. 

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