Easy Brownie Recipe
This easy brownie recipe calls for only 6 simple ingredients and is made in one bowl! They are cocoa powder brownies that are fudgy and chewy and can be in the oven in just about 5 minutes!
Overview
- Skill Level: Beginner
- Techniques Used: One Bowl Method
This is my favorite easy brownie recipe! It calls for very few ingredients and comes together in a snap. This is my go-to recipe when I want brownies in a pinch!
Here’s the rundown!
- Made in one bowl!
- Takes less than 10 minutes to mix.
- No mixer required!
- Cocoa powder is where all the chocolate flavor comes from.
- Only 6 simple ingredients that you likely already have on hand!
How to Make Brownies from Scratch
The process of making these homemade brownies is incredibly easy. You only need one bowl and a whisk!
Step 1: Combine Dry Ingredients
In a large mixing bowl whisk together all of the dry ingredients until they are well combined.
Step 2: Mix in Wet Ingredients
Add the eggs and the oil or melted butter into the dry ingredients and whisk it all together until smooth. The batter will be quite thick.
Step 3: Bake the Brownies
Pour the batter into a greased square baking dish and use a rubber spatula to spread it out evenly. Bake the brownies until they are just slightly underdone.
Ingredient Functions in Brownies
- Flour: Flour is the structure for the brownies. These brownies have a low ratio of flour to keep them more moist and chewy.
- Cocoa Powder: Cocoa powder is also part of the structure of the brownie but is the chocolate flavor of the brownie. You can use natural cocoa powder or dutch processed cocoa powder in this recipe.
- Sugar: You can use granulated sugar, brown sugar, or a combination of the two for these brownies. Brown sugar is going to give the brownies more depth of flavor and more chewiness. Sugar also keeps the brownies moist.
- Melted Butter: Fat adds richness and moisture to the brownies. Using melted butter that is still warm will “bloom” the cocoa powder, making the brownies taste more chocolatey!
- Eggs: The eggs bind the brownies together and add moisture and tenderness.
How do you make Brownies More Moist?
To make super moist brownies you want to be sure you do not over-bake them and slightly underbaking them will keep them even moister.
Take the brownies out of the oven when there are moist crumbs clinging to a tester. If the tester comes out clean then they won’t be as moist.
Storage Options
Brownies keep well at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 4 days. If you would like to freeze the brownies, slice them and wrap them well in plastic wrap. Frozen brownies will keep up to 3 months in the refrigerator.
Brownie Variations
I love using this recipe as a base to make all kinds of variations! You can stir in chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, or nuts! You can also drizzle caramel sauce on top, or even add a chocolate glaze!
Here are some of my favorite brownie variations:
- Turtle Brownies: Mix in 1 cup of toasted and chopped pecans into the batter. Drizzle caramel sauce over the top after the brownies cool for about 10 minutes!
- Brown Butter Brownies: Brown the butter in the recipe before adding it to the batter. I also like to add a sprinkle of flaky salt over the top of these!
- Ultimate Chocolate Brownies: Add about 1 cup of chopped bittersweet or dark chocolate to the batter. You can also use chocolate chips. Drizzle with chocolate glaze when they come out of the oven! A sprinkle of salt over these is a must as well becuase they are so rich!
MORE RECIPES FROM BAKER BETTIE!
If you loved this delicious recipe, you might like to try these other chocolate brownie recipes!
Easy Fudgy Brownies
This is an easy brownie recipe that only calls for 6 simple ingredients!
Ingredients
- 120 grams (1 cup) all-purpose flour
- 400 grams (2 cups) sugar (granulated, brown, or a combo of the two)
- 70 grams (⅔ cup) cocoa powder (natural or dutch processed)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 226 grams (1 cup, 2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and still warm
- 4 large eggs
Instructions
Prep
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF/175ºC and position an oven rack to the center position.
- Measure out all the ingredients.
To make the brownies
- Prepare a 9-inch (23 cm) square baking pan with parchment paper or non-stick spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour (120 grams, 1 cup), sugar (400 grams, 2 cups), cocoa powder (70 grams, ⅔ cup), and salt (½ teaspoon) until well combined.
- Add the warm melted butter (226 grams, 1 cup) and eggs (4 large) into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Whisk the ingredients together until well combined. The batter will be quite thick. You can also fold in chocolate chips at this point if you want to make them extra chocolatey.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and use a rubber spatula to smooth out. Bake for 30-45 minutes until a tester comes out with moist crumbs. Slightly under baking them will keep them extra moist and chewy.
- Let cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing, they will be gooey straight out of the oven. You can eat them like this if you like, but they need to cool to completely solidify.
Notes
**Butter can be substituted with non-dairy butter if needed.
Variation Ideas
Turtle Brownies: Mix in 1 cup of toasted and chopped pecans into the batter. Drizzle caramel sauce over the top after the brownies cool for about 10 minutes!
Brown Butter Brownies: Brown the butter in the recipe before adding it to the batter. I also like to add a sprinkle of flaky salt over the top of these!
Ultimate Chocolate Brownies: Add about 1 cup of chopped bittersweet or dark chocolate to the batter. You can also use chocolate chips. Drizzle with chocolate glaze when they come out of the oven! A sprinkle of salt over these is a must as well because they are so rich!
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265 Comments on “Easy Brownie Recipe”
Ahhhhhh such fudgy yumminess. I really really adore this series of yours girly!
And you super duper need to visit me in NYC soon after you’re all settled there 😉
These look so incredible! I adore the vegan option you included!
I really want to try your recipe! Loving this series!
They look so dense, dark, rich, fudgy and exactly the way I love my brownies! Funny we posted brownies on the same day (or almost!)
Pinned! 🙂
Craving one of these right now! Yum!
Do these not need baking powder or baking soda?
This series is about stripping down recipes to the absolute necessary ingredients. An egg will do enough leavening in a brownie recipe and so baking soda or baking powder is not absolutely needed. If you want the brownies to be a little bit fluffier you can add 1/2 tsp of baking soda if you are using natural cocoa powder or 1 tsp baking powder if you are using dutch-processed cocoa powder.
Thank you very much!
I tried the vegan version of these tonight, although they tasted good, they were floury/gritty (but not from the sugar). They also did not rise ( I see that maybe I should have added a little baking soda) but it seemed like there was not “enough” batter. I will double the recipe next time to see if I can get a bit thicker brownie. My pan was a 8×8 as the recipe suggested but the batter made a thin layer across the bottom of the pan rising about 2 cm and the finished brownie was exactly the same height. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, I am trying to perfect a fudgy vegan brownie for a friend’s birthday.
I’m so sorry it didn’t work out for you Leigh. Can you tell me exactly what you used for your vegan version? What did you use in place of the egg and the butter? If you used Ener-G it already has a leavener in it so it should help it rise, but you could add a little baking soda or powder depending on what kind of cocoa powder you used. But if you used chia or flax egg you should definitely add a leavener.
Also, what area do you live in. I’m wondering if elevation or climate has something to do with the grittiness? Also, when measuring the flour and especially the cocoa powder, make sure to fluff it up then very lightly spoon it into the measuring cups before leveling off. It is easy to accidentally pack these two ingredients down too much into the measuring cups.
Did you use chia as your egg substitute? I used chia seeds to make this recipe, and it turned out well… but the texture was gritty because of the seeds. Grinding the chia seeds before creating the egg would fix this problem.
How much nuts could I add to the brownie fudge?
Or is that…How many nuts?? About a cup.
haha why thank you Miss Certified TEFL teacher! 😉 X
Ta!
These brownie are great for someone not eating dairy…nuke undercooked brownies in the microwave with some almond ice cream on the side…delicious! Thank you for this great recipe.
i tried these vegan and gluten free. i used brown sugar, coconut oil, and cocoa powder. then 2 flax “eggs” for the vegan option. and a gluten free mix (including oat flour, potato starch, and xanthan gum). it was a boiling mess after 20 minutes in the oven. this happens frequently when i try gluten free brownie recipes or gluten free brownie mixes with an egg replacer. it seems when using gluten free mixes the egg becomes more important.
I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you Andrea. I have had that problem with coconut oil before. I will play around with the recipe and see if I can come up with some suggestions for vegan and gluten free versions. However, I do have several other vegan and gluten free brownie recipes you might try that I know do work well! Here: https://bakerbettie.com/chocolate-peanut-butter-oatmeal-brownie-bites-wheat-free-vegan/ and here: https://bakerbettie.com/flourless-bittersweet-chocolate-brownies/
I will try these soon.. dairy free and soy free means I am very limited with desserts, so I'll make my own!
I made these tonight with 2 chia “eggs” and 1 tsp baking soda, as suggested. The end result was a nice texture (soft and moist, though gritty because I didn’t grind the chia seeds up), but it tasted like slightly chocolaty baking soda. Haha.
I put some super-sweet frosting on top to mask the bitterness, but I’m curious if anyone else had this problem and might have suggestions for getting a good rise in the brownies without letting the leavening agent take over, flavor-wise?
Strange. Question, what kind of cocoa powder did you use? If you used dutch processed cocoa powder it probably wouldn’t have enough acidity in it to neutralize the baking soda. Natural cocoa powder would be acidic on the other hand. I hadn’t really thought about that until you brought this question up but I bet that is what happened. I suggest either switching to natural cocoa powder or using baking powder with your dutch processed cocoa powder.
Pretty good!
What happens when you make the mixture and then find out the oven is broken?
I love this recipe. I used apple sauce to replace eggs. I did find it took longer to bake but it was great. Plus I squashed broken Oreos into the top of the mixture before baking as a special treat for my vegan mums birthday. I’ve never made brownies before and I think it went well 🙂 cheers!
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I made these gluten free and vegan and they turned out excellent! I did change some things though. I used all purpose gluten free baking flour and added salt and cinnamon. I used about 2/3 tsp of baking soda and raw cacao powder. I used 1 1/2 cups coconut sugar and the flax egg (1 tbs flax + 3 tbs water & let sit for 15 min, there were 2 eggs so times 2). I used double the oil and used coconut oil. I also added almond butter the second batch that I simply made with ground almonds into meal + coconut oil . I swirled it into the batter. Turned out fabulous!!! Super moist & non vegans couldn’t believe it!
Wow! That is quite the variation. I love it! Thanks for sharing how you made this vegan and gluten free! Great to know!
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Not fudgy at all. Used brown sugar
I followed the same recipe added a bit of cinnamon, vanilla extract, and 2 tsp of baking powder. Also I used bread flour and overall I found this to be quite an awesome recipe. It was soft and cake like and enjoyable to eat. As far as sugar I used brown sugar.
I used coconut oil, buckwheat flour, chia eggs and xylitol-they turned out really yummy!! I will definitely make these again, but I’m going to throw in chocolate chips! Thanks a bunch 🙂
More chocolate never hurts! 😉
I made these gluten free and vegan and they turned out excellent! I did change some things though. I used all purpose gluten free baking flour and added salt and cinnamon. I used about 2/3 tsp of baking soda and raw cacao powder.
Oh I love the recipe of your easy but delicious fudgy brownies!
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Just wanted to say thank you for this brilliant recipe because it’s so simple yet delicious! It is also what made me much more comfortable in baking because it shows that not everything has to be super complicated to be tasty. I also really appreciate that you made a post on flour and eggs because I have finally figured out what mistakes I have made in my past baking disasters!
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Made these last night and they turned out perfect. (I used eggs… haven’t gotten into vegan baking yet.) I did add about 1/4 cup of hot water to make the recipe slightly more similar to the boxed kinds. No baking soda/powder was necessary.
My favorite brownie recipe of all times includes butter and brown sugar. But you have to wait for the butter to get soft, and where I live brown sugar is only sold in blocks so I have to grate it to use it in baking. It’s a pain in the butt. So your recipe was great for “emergencies”!
So glad you enjoyed Maca! Where do you live? I’ve actually never heard of brown sugar blocks! Learn something new every day! Have you ever tried warming the block to soften it? That is my tactic when my brown sugar gets hard. It might work with the blocks.
I just made these and they are delicious when in a pinch. I always have these ingredients no matter how broke we are because I bake cakes for family so these are good when your craving something sweet and rent is due lol Thank you for the recipe its now bookmarked. I will say that they remind me of a mug cake or browning with texture but the taste is so there and it even makes those delicious crispy edges.
I live on a sailing yacht, and the galley (and particularly the oven) is very small. Still, I make do, and have made some absolutely wonderful dishes – from appetizers to sides to main courses, but today I decided to make a dessert and use my little oven for what it was intended for – baking, not just making toast!
Seeing this recipe, and noting its minimalist approach to ingredients (always a plus), I decided to give it a go. I had all of the ingredients on hand, which made it convenient; however, it didn’t seem to make enough batter for the size of pan I have (9″x9″). I’ll have to increase the measurements next time.
Let me tell you – licking out the bowl was heaven, and this boat now smells divine! They didn’t rise up as much as I would have thought, so I’ll have to try using a different egg replacer next time (I used homemade applesauce and added a little baking soda, perhaps not enough?).
They’re still cooling, so I can’t have one now (whimper), but if they’re anything like how they smell? Oh, yeah! And now to brew up a spot of herbal tea.
Thank you!
Just sampled a little…oh yeah! These are wonderful! Next time? I’m just going to make more batter!
Amazing! I did this recipe yesterday, about to do it again now. It is amazing! I topped with hazelnuts, was delicious. I have been trying many chocolate cake recipes, gluten free, dairy free, vegan, non-vegan, … but this one is by far the best and the easiest. Even when doing it 100% organic it’s still not that expensive. Thank you so much!
That sounds so good Clem! Love the hazelnut addition!
Finally a Proper Brownie recipe. I have tried well over a dozen recipes with copious amounts of chocolate used and I must say that this is the first time I have actually produced a Brownie. I thought the ingredients were too simple to be any good but I was so wrong.
Absolutely the Best tasting Brownie I have eaten including ship bought. Much appreciated. Look forward to trying your other recipes. All the best.
Fabulous, Sharon! Thanks so much. Let me know which recipes you try next 😉
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I have never left a comment on a recipe before but after making these brownies, Wow! These are hands down the best brownies I have ever made. I used half brown half white suger, added a little cinnamon, and a splash of vanilla and like I stated earlier, Wow! Thank you so much for sharing this fantastic recipe.
I agree, they are outrageously good! So glad you love them too, Vinny 🙂
I make these all the time—usually with butter but occasionally with oil for a friend allergic to dairy. They are always a big hit! I really appreciate how you break it all down so that the brownies can be easily customized. What a great recipe, thank you!
That’s so nice to hear Kathleen! I’m so glad you are enjoying them!
The perfect easy, fudgy brownie. I make these often with my kids!
So fun! Thanks, Libby!
These are in the oven <3 I made them topped with vegan marshmallows aka Dandies. So far they are needing more time to bake cause I ended up adding a little bit of cashew milk!
Can't wait to give these bbs a try.
Love the addition of the Dandies! Let me know how they are!
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It is really amazing. So fast. Used fantastic cocoa though and egg subs and olive oil and normal flour and muscavado light sugar as the dark can give an overwelming molasses flavour in choc cakes, for my vegan teenagers.
They ate the whole pan! ( yes I oven cooked in a ceramic frying pan and no I could not find any salt which I know would have been great, with pureed mango on top.
THANKS
I’m so glad you and your teenagers loved them! That makes me so happy!
oh and I love the way you write. The science is cool and memorable from the mum who still wants to know why.
Aw, thank you you so much Bettey!
I made these with oats (ground into oat flour) black beans, coconut oil, and whey isolate vanilla protein powder (in addition to other suggested ingredients) to make a sort of protein+fiber brownie…. I’m constantly trying to get creative with feeding my toddler. It’s turned out wonderfully Thank you!
WOW! Sounds like an amazing variation! Thanks for sharing Kayla!
This is a perfect recipe when there’s not much time , but you fancy something lovely and sweet. It was an instant hit with my family and I’ve just made another batch for a friend. Very happy with the results, you just cannot go wrong. Yum! :))
So glad your family enjoyed it!
How much is a big pinch of salt? Please answere quick
Hi Ashly, a pinch of salt is exactly how it sounds! Use your thumb and first two fingers to pinch some salt in your hand and throw it in. It will be about 1/8 tsp.
11/10 best brownies ever. I don’t know if it’s my own amazing baking talent or this recipe, but it does not matter. Simply phenomenal. Thoroughly recommend.
Hi Maria! It makes me so happy to hear this! Thank you! So glad you enjoyed them!
I just made these, turned out pretty good for simple brownies. I used the recipe to a t other then I used half white sugar half dark brown sugar and just a splash of salt and vanilla. ( and i used 1/2 tsp of baking powder just because of habit lol) Baked at 350 for 25 min. I used a 9 hole cupcake pan about half full. They were more cakey since i used baking powder bit not overly, they were sweet chocolatey and crisp on the top, and hit the spot!!!!! Gonna have to try with out the baking soda to see what the texture is like haha thanks!!
Hi Rachael! Glad you enjoyed them! Yes, brownies will be much more dense and chewy without the baking powder!
I followed the recipe with EnerG and unfortunately this was my result. I used cupcake foils because the recipe was too small to fill a baking pan. Baked an extra 10 minutes hoping the middles would cook but they just kept boiling then collapsed.
Hi Summer! That is very strange! I have made these with enerG several times and have never had this issue. Can I ask if you were using dutch processed or natural cocoa powder? Trying to see what might have gone wrong.
Me and my step daughter just made this. Smells so good and taste absolutely delicious. .easy and quick way if you’re craving something sweet. Would taste good with a vanilla ice-cream!.
Hi Sylvia and Evie! I’m so glad you enjoyed these brownies! I love baking with the people I love too! <3
These are so good and so easy. I made one batch with melted butter and one with canola oil. Both are good but the melted butter makes them amazingly delicious!
Hi Kathy! I’m so glad to hear that! Thanks for sharing the tip about the butter! <3