The BEST brownie recipe! With crispy edges, fudgy middles, and rich chocolate flavor, these homemade brownies will disappear in no time.
For years, I couldn’t seem to find a recipe for brownies that met my standards. Anytime I made homemade brownies, I wanted them to be just like the ones I ate as a kid – super fudgy, moist, and chocolaty, with crispy edges and crackly tops. But the thing is, these brownies didn’t come from a recipe. We always made them from a box. Nowadays, I prefer to bake from scratch, but no brownie recipe I tried could live up to the chocolate brownies of my childhood.
So this fall, as I flipped through Michelle Lopez’s new book Weeknight Baking, her recipe for Boxed Mix Brownies, From Scratch caught my eye. Would I finally be able to make homemade brownies that would be just as delicious as the ones from a box?
The verdict: yes! I’ve had this brownie recipe on repeat since the first time I tried it. It calls for basic pantry ingredients, and it’s hardly more difficult than using a mix. As for the brownies, they’re true perfection – glossy, fudgy, and filled with rich chocolate flavor. Trust me, you’re going to want to make them ASAP!
Another thing you should do ASAP is check out Weeknight Baking! This book is packed with crave-worthy recipes that are meant for busy weeknights. Each one comes with fun variations (I have my eye on the matcha snickerdoodles) as well as tips for becoming a more efficient baker. After years of juggling a 9-to-5 job and running her blog, Hummingbird High, Michelle is full of wisdom on how to bake on a busy schedule. She writes, “We’re all doing the best we can with what we have. And I’m going to help you bake any night of the week that works for you.” If you love baking, you’ll love this book.
Homemade Brownie Recipe Ingredients
Back to Michelle’s recipe for brownies! In order for it to turn out like (aka better than) the boxed mix, Michelle uses granulated sugar, all-purpose flour, salt, and chocolate chips. Then, she adds these key ingredients:
- 2 eggs + water – Michelle uses a bit of water with the eggs to achieve the moist, gooey texture of boxed mix brownies without any commercial emulsifiers. And because this recipe doesn’t contain any baking powder, eggs are essential for helping the brownies puff up in the oven.
- Powdered sugar – The trick to making homemade brownies that are just like ones from a box! Powdered sugar contains cornstarch, which helps thicken the batter without the chemical additives you’d find in a mix.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder – Michelle recommends using Hershey’s Special Dark Dutch-processed cocoa powder (I used Whole Foods’ 365 Cocoa Powder). Make sure to sift it if it’s lumpy!
- Oil – While many recipes for brownies use unsalted butter, Michelle’s calls for canola oil, just like the boxed mix. I use olive oil because it’s what I keep on hand, and I love the rich flavor.
- Vanilla Extract – 1/2 teaspoon vanilla really amps up the chocolate flavor.
That’s it! These fantastic homemade brownies are so easy.
How to Make Brownies from Scratch
First, mix together the dry and wet ingredients in two separate bowls. Combine the sugar, flour, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, chocolate chips, and salt in a medium bowl. Then, whisk together the eggs, olive oil, and water in a large one.
Next, combine the wet and dry ingredients. Sprinkle the dry mixture over the wet one, and fold until just combined. The batter will be thick!
Then, pour the batter into an 8×8 inch baking pan lined with parchment paper. Use a rubber spatula to spread it to all four sides of the pan and to smooth the top. The mixture will be very thick – that’s ok.
Finally, bake! Transfer the pan to a 325-degree oven and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out with a few crumbs attached. Allow the brownies to cool completely before slicing and serving. Enjoy!
Store any leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. They also freeze well for up to a month. Last time I made these, I doubled the recipe and stored the second batch in the freezer. It was so fun to have them on hand for a quick and easy dessert or afternoon treat!
Best Brownie Recipe Tips
- Better chocolate chips = better brownies. In her book, Michelle writes that one of the biggest secrets to making great brownies is using large, good-quality chocolate chips. She recommends Ghiradelli’s 60% Cacao Bittersweet Baking Chips, while I love Enjoy Life’s Dark Chocolate Morsels. Either brand would fantastic in this recipe!
- It’s better to pull them out too early than to leave them in too long. No one likes dry brownies, so err on the side of caution when you’re making this recipe. Bake them until a toothpick inserted comes out with just a few crumbs attached. If you’re on the fence, go ahead and take them out of the oven. They’ll continue to firm up as they cool!
- Wait for them to cool. Try your best to resist eating these guys straight out of the oven. Letting them cool makes them gooier and fudgier, and they’ll be less likely to crumble when you slice them. Plus, they’ll have an even richer chocolate flavor. Trust me, it’s worth the wait!
More Favorite Desserts
If you love this brownie recipe, try one of these yummy treats next!
- Perfect Oatmeal Cookies
- Easy Sugar Cookies
- No-Bake Cookies
- Best Peanut Butter Cookies
- Orange Zest Shortbread Cookies
- Vegan Coconut Macaroons
Best Homemade Brownies
Equipment
- 8x8 Baking Dish (this is the one I use so they don't overcook)
- Cooking Spray (I love this avocado oil one from Chosen Foods)
- Parchment Paper (this makes it so much easier to remove the brownies from the pan)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar*
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup cocoa powder, sifted if lumpy
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted if lumpy
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
- 3/4 teaspoons sea salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup canola oil or extra-virgin olive oil**
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly spray an 8x8 baking dish (not a 9x9 dish or your brownies will overcook) with cooking spray and line it with parchment paper. Spray the parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, powdered sugar, chocolate chips, and salt.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, olive oil, water, and vanilla.
- Sprinkle the dry mix over the wet mix and stir until just combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan (it'll be thick - that's ok) and use a spatula to smooth the top. Bake for 40 to 48 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with only a few crumbs attached (note: it's better to pull the brownies out early than to leave them in too long). Cool completely before slicing.*** Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. These also freeze well!
Notes
Made this exactly as directed but the inside wasn’t fully cooked. Cooked these for 47 minutes. The toothpick didn’t come out wet, but did have a few crumbs stuck as the instructions state, so I took them out. I let them cool for over 2 hours, and now we don’t have a decent dessert for dinner :-\
Not sure why all those ladies on the 23rd thought they should spam with bad comments but these are the best brownies and I’ve made them several times. If you think it’ll be too sweet just cut the sugar a bit. She even mentions in the recipe notes you can get by with 1 cup. These are great!! Thanks for the recipe.
Gross recipe
Horrible recipe, too sweet
Made these tonight. Added walnuts. Super simple. Super delicious.
Question though…during your recipe testing, what made you add the powdered sugar in addition to the granulated sugar? Don’t get me wrong…de-licious. Trying to see if I could omit the additional sugar. Was it a texture thing? A baking science thing? Thoughts? And thank you for this recipe.
I think the powdered sugar helps make the crinkly top!
Pretty sure the powdered sugar is what adds to the fudgey texture! Omit 1/2c of the granulated sugar if you want to cut down that way you still get the ooey gooey goodness.
Way too sweet
Not good too sweet
Bad
Ew ew ew ew ewwww
NEVER use this brownie recipe unless you want to waste perfectly good ingredients!
These brownies turned out absolutely disgusting! There is no flavor, just over the top sweetness that makes me want to puke! Do not use this recipe unless you want to get diabetes!
These brownies are horrible! Way too sweet, no baking soda/powder so they don’t rise! Please never use this recipe and find a different one!
Thank you for the recipe!
I used coconut oil instead, it turned out super fudgy.
My 3 year old and I made these today together. The instructions were easy to follow and we had a blast putting them together. Mine baked perfect at 43 minutes and they’re very fudgy in the center! My dad actually said it was the best fudge brownie he’s ever ate. Can’t wait to make this recipe again. Thanks for this delicious recipe
Idk why this recipe has so many positive reviews. These brownies were dense, dry and generally terrible.
It was off to a bad start when mixing the dry and wet ingredients. The recipe calls this “thick” but this was outrageously dry. There wasn’t enough moisture in the wet ingredients to stir in the dry without it becoming crumbly. I had to add water a tablespoon at a time just to get it to a consistency that would actually mix.
I added enough water to make the batter accurately describable as “thick” but even then I’ve baked enough to know the full 48 minute cook time on these would turn it into a brick. I set a timer for 40, checked it and took it out then. The edges were already too firm and dry to be much good, but i thought maybe the inside area would have retained enough moisture to be palatable. No. Not really. It’s an unpleasant combination of dense, dry cake and melted chocolate chips.
If you’re going to make a basic, classic recipe like brownies more fiddly, it better be worth it. This definitely isn’t.
If you’d made this mess and ended up with a chocolate brick i recommend drying it out further smashing it into crumbs and using it as a chocolate crumble crust for something better.
Truly disappointing. You should really rethink this one.
Just did these today, no where near the same experience with the batter. It was thick, but still moist for me. They looked amazing coming out the oven
Hi Ethan, I’m glad you enjoyed the brownies!
Hi, I’m so sorry this was your experience, it sounds like something might have gone wrong – did you change anything about the recipe?
I’ve made these many times and I like them. Today I made them using a chocolate olive oil and I didn’t have dark chocolate chips so I used some dark chocolate chunks and oh my goodness these are sooo good!
I’m so glad you’ve loved them!
The best brownies. Would love to purchase your cook book.
I’m glad you loved them!
So incredible, I just made these for a birthday and everyone loved them! the texture is so perfect and fudgy. they’re a little on the sweet side for me personal taste, so next time i may play around with the sugar and chocolate ratios. i used a mild tasting EVOO and you could’t taste it at all. i baked them for exactly 40 minutes and i was nervous they weren’t fully done because the toothpick was more moist and crumby than usual, but after letting them cool they were perfect.
i think these would be so good with walnuts added, i will definitly be using this recipe again to experiment with.
Hi Mary, I’m so glad they were a hit!
Not an experienced baker, but these turned out just as advertised. Only modification was adding two pods of cardamom for a little enhancement to the chocolate (thank you Alton Brown!) Thanks for the great recipe – first time I’ve ever baked brownies from scratch instead of a box mix.
Oh I love the cardamom idea – I’m so glad you loved the brownies!
The batter is extremely thick.
It is a thick batter.