Easy Chocolate Brownies – best ever, super fudgy!

What makes a good brownie? Using both cocoa AND melted chocolate, and butter instead of oil. What makes the BEST chocolate brownies in the world? Adding in a generous amount of dark chocolate chunks. Fudgy, as gooey as you want, and very, very chocolatey, this homemade brownie recipe is incredibly easy, made in one bowl, and incredibly forgiving!

Choose how gooey you want them, just follow the bake times and my “toothpick smearing” test. Brownies can be frozen for up to 3 months, but nothing quite compares to when they’re freshly made, and still slightly warm….

Homemade Chocolate Brownies

These homemade brownies are every chocoholics dream come true.

• Need a chocolate fix urgently? These will be in the oven in 15 minutes flat (if not faster).

• Hate washing up? Just one bowl to deal with here.

• Like your brownies outrageously chocolatey, fudgy in the middle and the signature paper thin crackly top? This one delivers in spades.

• Not such a confident cook? This recipe is astonishingly forgiving. Even if you overcook them, they might look cakey, but they still have that rich, fudgy mouthfeel. There’s just not enough flour in these to make them dry and overcooked!

And look ↓↓↓ Super fudgy yet you can actually pick it up, rather than scooping up gloops of raw batter!

And that crinkly top we all know and love!

What makes a good brownie

The secret to a really great brownie is using both melted chocolate AND cocoa powder, plus butter instead of oil (because butter has way better flavour than oil). The combination of these plus minimal flour, just enough to make a barely-set batter, and brown sugar rather than white (for extra moisture and chewiness) is what will deliver that perfect rich, fudgy brownie you’ve been dreaming about.

And to make a killer brownie, stir through a generous amount of chocolate chunks. Not only will you get little pockets of gooey chocolate, it also makes the brownie extra fudgy because some of the chocolate melds in with the batter as it bakes!

Making homemade brownies

These dreamy brownies start by melting chocolate and butter together before whisking in eggs and vanilla. Then just mix in flour and coco powder, and lastly stir in the let’s-pretend-it’s-optional chocolate chunks. Scrape into lined pan and bake!

How to tell when brownies are done

Stick a toothpick in the centre of the brownie, hold it for 2 seconds, then take it out.

• super gooey – if there is a lot of smear on it (24 minutes bake time)

• moist and fudgy (my favourite) – if the toothpick gets a brown strain and has some smear on it (28 minutes)

• cakey (but still fudgy mouthfeel) – toothpick is clean with just a few crumbs (32 minutes). But still really moist (because this recipe only has 1/2 cup of flour in it, impossible not to be moist!).

Reduce cook time by 2 minutes if you opt not to use the extra chocolate stir ins.

Fudgy, gooey brownies

The brownies in the photos and video are what I call “fudgy moist”. As in – super fudgy but not just a gloop of uncooked batter. You can pick it up with your hands rather than eating it with a spoon.

I have more elaborate brownies in my repertoire – such as these Outrageous Nutella Brownies (which certainly live up to their name!) and these Salted Caramel Stuffed Brownies (the caramel filling is creamy and set, like a soft fudge).

But this classic Chocolate Brownies recipe is the one I make most of the time. It’s my go-to because it’s everything I want in a brownie made with minimal fuss. The essential ingredients to make it super chocolatey, lovely and moist, and no unnecessary extras.

The other thing is that my brownie is sweet, but not tooth-achingly sweet. There are some brownie recipes out there that use almost double the sugar I do and they are far too sweet for me. The sugar in this recipe is just the right amount of sweet for me. No one has ever complained about my brownies not being sweet enough, that’s for sure! – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

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Easy Chocolate Brownies

Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats

Prep: 10 minutes mins

Cook: 25 minutes mins

Total: 35 minutes mins

Sweets

South Western

4.96 from 167 votes

Servings9 - 16

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Recipe video above. These are my "go to" brownies, the one I have been making for years that's super easy and outrageously chocolatey. The best fudgey chocolatey brownies made without fuss, in one bowl in 10 minutes. These are not the cakey kind, they're soft fudgey kind. Super rich and moist!

Ingredients

• ▢ 200g / 14 tbsp unsalted butter (1 3/4 US sticks)
• ▢ 200 g / 1 1/4 cups dark chocolate chips (7 oz) (Note 1)
• ▢ 1 cup (175g) brown sugar , loosely packed
• ▢ 3 eggs , lightly beaten
• ▢ 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ▢ 1/2 cup (75g) plain flour
• ▢ 1/4 cup (30g) cocoa powder
• ▢ Pinch of salt
• ▢ 180g/6oz dark chocolate block/bar (optional) , chopped into chunks rather than shards, (bittersweet or semi-sweet, cooking chocolate) (Note 2)

Alternative stir in

• ▢ 1.5 cups roughly chopped walnuts (or other nuts)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan forced).
• Spray a 20cm/8" square tin with oil and line with baking/parchment paper with overhang (Note 2).
• Place butter and chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl, microwave in 30 second bursts (takes me 1m 30 sec) until melted. Stir until smooth.
• Add sugar and vanilla, mix, then add eggs and mix well until smooth and molten.
• Add flour, cocoa and salt and stir until smooth. Stir in chopped chocolate, pour into pan.
• Bake 24 minutes for really gooey in the centre, 28 minutes for fudgey but still very moist (my favourie, shown in video & photos), 32 minutes for moist fudge-cake-like. (See in post for toothpick testphotos).
• If you didn't use the extra chocolate for stirring in, reduce cook time by 2 minutes.
• Rest for 10 minutes before lifting out of the pan. Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before cutting. Store in an airtight container for 4 days (bet they don't last that long!) or freeze for 3 months.

Recipe Notes:

1. Chocolate - Use cooking chocolate chips from the baking section of the supermarket, not eating chocolate.

Also use cooking chocolate bars for the add in chunks (though eating chocolate will work here too, just that not all types/brands will melt so you get a smooth molten ooze like you see in the video)

2. Lining pan - Have overhang so you can lift the brownies out of the tin.

3. Baking measures - Cups, tbsp and tsp measures differ slightly in size between countries. For most recipes on my blog, the difference is not enough to make a difference, or the difference is relative and consistent across all ingredients in a recipe. Where the difference DOES matter, I specify the measurements for different countries, like I do for my Chewy Oatmeal Raisin cookies. For this recipe, it DOES NOT matter so you can use cups or weights per the recipe, no matter which country you are in. The only exception is Japan, please use the weight measures, not cups.

4. Storage - airtight container for 4 days, refrigerate only if it's very hot. Or freeze for up to 3 months.

5. Nutrition per brownie, assuming 16 pieces, without extra chocolate stir through.

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 48gCalories: 212cal (11%)Carbohydrates: 21g (7%)Protein: 2.6g (5%)Fat: 14.5g (22%)Saturated Fat: 8.9g (56%)Cholesterol: 58mg (19%)Sodium: 98mg (4%)Potassium: 64mg (2%)Fiber: 0.5g (2%)Sugar: 15.5g (17%)Vitamin A: 350IU (7%)Calcium: 20mg (2%)Iron: 0.9mg (5%)

Keywords: best brownies, brownies recipe, chocolate brownies, easy brownies

Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @recipe_tin.

Originally published August 2016. Updated with new photos and brand new video in 2020.

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