These are my family’s favorite fudgy brownies.
And these brownies are so chocolately and fudgy that I used to not like them as a child because they were so rich. Like any good family recipe, it came from my aunt who got it from her friend who I’m sure got it from someone else and so on and so forth.
On a different note: I hope you appreciate the chaos that is this brownie recipe. While I respect the attempt to include the ingredients alongside the instructions, when the first line is actually step 2 and step 1 is five lines down, someone is going to make a mistake along the way. I do think my recipe below is an improvement.
PS: I hope you enjoy my mom’s commentary along the way…
A few notes:
- The cocoa powder: In my mothers words, this should be measured “heaping but not too much.” In my words, maybe add another tablespoon of cocoa powder, fudgy brownies could never be too chocolatey.
- The butter: My parents always have salted butter around but I tend to only buy unsalted butter. If you do use unsalted butter, increase your salt to 1 teaspoon.
- The eggs: Room temperature eggs mix better with other ingredients and rise better in the oven. In a recipe that has no leavening agent (i.e. baking powder or soda) this is particularly important since all of the air is incorporated through whipping up the eggs. Pro tip: If you forget to leave your eggs out, place them in a bowl of warm water to warm up faster.
- Be gentle when mixing: Again, all of your air is in your eggs so be careful when you fold in your chocolate and flour so that your batter doesn’t deflate too much.
- To grease or not to grease your pan: The recipe you see above very specifically says to not grease your pan… however, I do plan to test what happens if you were to use a greased pan and will report back. *Note: After testing this, I didn’t really notice a difference when the pan was greased. I feel like it can’t hurt so I’ve updated the recipe to a greased 13×9 pan.
The Best Fudgy Brownies
This is my family's favorite fudgy brownie recipe. So ooey and gooey, these are sure to curb any chocolate craving.
Equipment
- Hand or Stand Mixer
- 13×9 glass pan
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Butter salted
- ¾ Cup Unsweetened cocoa powder "heaping but not too much"
- 4 eggs room temperature
- ½ tsp Salt
- 2 Cups Sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 1 Cup Flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉.
- In a microwave safe bowl, melt your butter and then stir in the unsweetened cocoa powder. Set aside to cool.1 Cup Butter, ¾ Cup Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Into the bowl of a stand mixer, add your room temperature eggs and beat until light and creamy.4 eggs
- Add your salt and then gradually pour in your sugar, a few tablespoons at a time. This allows your sugar to fully incorporate and dissolve into the eggs, preventing the batter from being grainy.½ tsp Salt, 2 Cups Sugar
- Add vanilla and continue to beat your egg mixture until light and creamy, resembling marshmallow cream.1 tsp Vanilla
- Fold your chocolate mixture into your egg mixture gently so that you don't knock out all of the air you've whipped into your eggs.
- Add the flour and fold until streaky.1 Cup Flour
- Pour your brownie batter into a greased 13×9 glass baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until the middle is set but still has a slight jiggle when you tap it.
- Let cool and slice into 24 pieces to serve. Note: These are *very* fudgy and can be difficult to remove from the pan so be patient and don't be afraid to use a spoon or some sort of thin spatula if you have one.
Notes
- The cocoa powder: In my mothers words, this should be measured “heaping but not too much.” In my words, maybe add another tablespoon of cocoa powder, fudgy brownies could never be too chocolatey.
- The butter: My parents always have salted butter around but I tend to only buy unsalted butter. If you do use unsalted butter, increase your salt to 1 teaspoon.
- The eggs: Room temperature eggs mix better with other ingredients and rise better in the oven. In a recipe that has no leavening agent (i.e. baking powder or soda) this is particularly important since all of the air is incorporated through whipping up the eggs. Pro tip: If you forget to leave your eggs out, place them in a bowl of warm water to warm up faster.
- Be gentle when mixing: Again, all of your air is in your eggs so be careful when you fold in your chocolate and flour so that your batter doesn’t deflate too much.
- To grease or not to grease your pan: The recipe you see above very specifically says to not grease your pan… however, I do plan to test what happens if you were to use a greased pan and will report back. *Note: After testing this, I didn’t really notice a difference when the pan was greased. I feel like it can’t hurt so I’ve updated the recipe to a greased 13×9 pan.
