Easy Fudge Brownies
Easy fudgy homemade brownies with a crispy crackly top
Craving homemade brownies? Do you have 10 minutes? That’s how long it takes to make these moist and fudgy homemade brownies. So much better than a box and easily customized with different toppings for endless brownie flavors.
For a long time, I didn’t even think I liked brownies. Dry, crumbly and cakey brownies are not my jam. it wasn’t until I accidentally made a batch of brownies thinner than I normally do that I discovered the perfect brownie. Moist and fudgy but thin so it’s got a bit of chew and isn’t too overly sweet. It’s like a cross between a cookie and a brownie. SO freaking good and did I mention easy to make?
Fudgy homemade brownies ingredients
There are about a billion different brownie recipes out there. The reason is that even though there isn’t much to making brownies technically, changing just one of the ingredients can totally change the flavor and texture of the brownies.
Butter – Lots of butter keeps these brownies nice and fudgy and moist. You can also use oil instead of butter.
Chocolate – I like the rich flavor of dark chocolate in my brownies but you can use semi-sweet or milk chocolate. Dark chocolate has very little sugar in it while milk chocolate has more sugar in it. You may want to adjust the amount of sugar in your recipe depending on the chocolate you use.
Sugar – Sugar adds moisture and sweetness to your brownies. I like to use a little brown sugar as well which adds a nice flavor and a little bit of chew to my brownies.
Eggs – Eggs add moisture and structure to your brownies. The more you whisk eggs, the more air that is incorporated into your brownies. I whisk my eggs and sugar just until combined and then stop.
Cocoa Powder – I prefer to use dutched cocoa powder but you can use any kind of cocoa powder that you like such as Hershey’s. Since there isn’t any baking powder or baking soda in this recipe, it doesn’t matter what kind of cocoa powder you use.
Flour – This recipe uses regular all-purpose flour but you can also use cake flour for a more tender brownie.
Mix-ins – You can add in all kinds of extra ingredients to your brownies to make them your own. Candied pecans, chocolate chunks, caramel, cream cheese or candies. The list goes on and on. The best thing about making brownies is making them exactly the way you want them!
How do you make homemade brownies fudgy?
So how do you make a good fudgy homemade brownie? The secret is a lot of BUTTER! Haha. Is it really that surprising? Butter makes everything better. The more butter, the more better.
Ok but really, a good fudgy brownie needs a lot of butter. Melting the butter with the chocolate helps the cocoa powder absorb into the fat. You can melt the butter with the cocoa powder and the chocolate if you want an extra fudgy brownie but I usually just add the chocolate/butter to the cocoa powder/flour.
The second way to make your homemade brownies nice and fudgy is to make sure there isn’t any baking powder. I know it sounds counter-intuitive but baking powder makes things rise up and they end up more cakey than fudgy.
The flip side to this is if you like your brownies cakier, you can add in a teaspoon of baking powder to the flour to give them a little lift.
8 baking mistakes that are ruining your brownies
There are few things that tantalize taste buds quite like a warm, delicious brownie.
Although making them can be a simple process, some tend to miss a few key components to achieving bakery-style results.
Here are eight mistakes you could be making when baking brownies.
Not carefully reading your recipe before you start can lead to simple mistakes.
Before the baking process can begin, you need to find a recipe that suits your preferred difficulty level and desired brownie consistency.
There are basically two kinds of brownies: cake-like and fudgy. Both typically call for different amounts of chocolate and consequently generate different final results.
In addition, read the instructions thoroughly before you get started. Oftentimes, the ratio of chocolate-to-butter could be different than you'd expect. Or, the recipe may call for adding melted butter to sugar instead of creaming the butter and sugar together.
Not adjusting your cooking time and temperature to suit your bakeware can lead to overcooked brownies.
There's a reason why recipes call for certain types of pans. Even a couple of inches makes a difference, according to The Food Network.
For example, thinner brownies in a longer, flatter pan cook faster than thicker brownies in a smaller, taller pan, so be sure to monitor the cook time and adjust accordingly. Otherwise, you run the risk of having crispier, overcooked desserts.
You should be paying attention to the kind of chocolate you use since it could affect the taste of your treats.
Just like picking the perfect bottle of wine to pair with your meal, you need the best type of chocolate for brownies. After all, chocolate is the focus of the dessert.
According to bluprint, using baking chocolate gives you the most control over the sweetness of your brownies. But if your recipe calls for sweeter chocolate, like milk chocolate or semisweet morsels, you'll want to adjust your recipe's sugar levels accordingly.
Not correctly mixing your ingredients could lead to an uneven batter.
Once you add the five major ingredients (chocolate, butter, sugar, eggs, flour), you're several strokes and 45 minutes away from heaven.
Unfortunately, if you neglect a key step in the mixing, then that heaven quickly turns into a disaster.
Senior writer and baker at Epicurious Sam Worley suggests "ribboning" your brownie mix. That means whipping the eggs and sugar until it becomes a pale yellow hue. After that, follow the normal instructions like folding them into the chocolate mixture and adding the flour.
Diving into a warmly baked pan of brownies sounds great, but it's important to let them fully cool first.
Chocolate expert Alice Medrich knows a thing or two about baking with the confection — and she has a trick for quickly cooling brownies.
She suggests creating an ice bath with a shallow roasting pan. As soon as the brownie pan emerges from the oven, place it into the cold tin. This will "shock" the brownies, causing them to immediately stop cooking.
Doing this could shorten the time it takes to cool, so you can dive into and enjoy your creation quicker.
The temperature of your eggs makes a difference.
According to America's Test Kitchen, cold eggs don't mix as well as room temperature ones, and that can affect the final product. So plan on taking your eggs out of the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before you get started.
For great brownie texture, avoid overmixing your batter.
Overmixing your batter can cause you to incorporate too much air into the brownies, leading to a change in texture. According to Food52, you want to mix any batter until it forms a uniform dough, no more and no less.
You could burn the bottom of your brownies if you don't line your pan properly.
Staff writer over at Good Housekeeping Monaz Dumasia suggests that when you bake any cake-like dessert you should insert some grease-proof paper (parchment is your best bet) along the sides of the pan.
The heat will evenly disperse during bake times and you won't have to worry about the crusts being dry and overbaked. Plus your brownies won't stick to the pan.
How Long Do You Put Brownies In The Oven?
Bake brownies for about 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist clumps clinging to it. There will also be a little batter stuck to the toothpick but it shouldn’t be covered in thick uncooked batter. Take care not to overbake brownies.
| Cook Time: | PREP TIME | Total Time: |
| 30mins | 35 mins | 3 hours 5 minutes |
Ingredients (US Cups - Metric)
- 2/3 cup unsalted butter
- 5 once semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs / 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Main Brownie Ingredients
- Butter: is necessary for a rich, chewy brownie.
- Sugar: not only will sugar add sweetness, it will also melt during baking and help with the chewiness.
- Flour: the more flour you use, the cakier a brownie will be. Typically I use 1 cup of flour for super fudgy brownies but for this recipe, I added 1/4 cup more.
- Eggs: the main structure of brownies. I also added an extra egg yolk to get more chewiness.
How To Make Brownies?
STEP 01 - Melt the chocolate and butter
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8x8-inch pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil, leaving a 1-inch overhang on all sides. Spray lightly with nonstick spray and set aside.
- In a medium heatproof bowl set over a pot of barely simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter, stirring constantly until the mixture is smooth. You can also microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring between each one.
STEP 02 - Mix in the sugar
It’s important to add the sugar while the melted chocolate is hot. The sugar will melt ensuring the baked brownies aren’t grainy.
STEP 03 - Mix in the eggs and vanilla
Let the chocolate mixture cool before adding the eggs so they don’t scramble. Then whisk them in really well with the vanilla.
STEP 04 - Mix in the flour and cocoa powder
Add the flour and cocoa powder then use a silicone spatula to fold it in just
until it’s incorporated. Take care not to overmix.
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