Homemade Chocolate Brownies From Scratch (Fudgy & Delicious)
Have you ever wanted to make from scratch brownies? These fudgy, gooey brownies are so easy to make, you’ll never make brownies from a box again!
Now, before you tell me that the box brownies are so much faster and tastes amazing, you’re right. I don’t deny that. I love a good brownie mix.
But THIS homemade brownie recipe makes the most gooey, chocolate brownies that I’m fairly confident will become your favorite! They might just look like plain brownies in the pics, but they are SO GOOD!
Brownies from scratch are NOT that much more time-consuming to make either. You also only end up with a saucepan and one mixing bowl for dishes.
You know how everyone has that one chore they just loathe? Laundry? Vacuuming? It’s dishes for me, which is sort of bad considering my job, but I power through. ;)
TIPS FOR HOMEMADE BROWNIES
- When buying your cocoa powder, be sure to buy unsweetened cocoa powder. Sounds confusing, but trust the process, these brownies are sweet (but not too sweet)! You can often find dark cocoa powder as well, which I’m sure would be delicious too.
- I make this homemade brownies recipes in a 9 by 13 pan (lined with parchment paper). This makes it a lot easier to cut out your brownie squares. If you’ve ever bought the little pop-up parchment paper sheets from the grocery store, you know how life-changing they are! Look for them!
- Be sure to fully cool your brownies before cutting them into squares!
MAKE YOUR HOMEMADE BROWNIES EVEN MORE AMAZING
- Let’s talk about chocolate chips. I always like to enhance chocolate desserts with extra chocolate chips. Life is short. For these chocolate brownies, I use mini chocolate chips, but you can certainly use any kind you prefer!
- Add in candy bars between layers of the brownie batter for an even more decadent fudgy brownie recipe.
- Frost the top of your brownies with a chocolate frosting or glaze once they’ve cooled.
Try to resist eating all the brownie batter (it’s amazing, I know), or else you won’t get to enjoy these “better than box mix” homemade brownies. They’re so gooey and full of chocolate flavor!
I cut these homemade brownies into about 24 squares which I think was perfect. You could certainly make more servings by cutting smaller squares or go big with bakery-style larger brownies.
I highly encourage you make this brownie recipe from scratch now, you can control your ingredients more, and you’ll find they’re just as delicious as box mix brownies. This is a super easy baking recipe, and I hope you love it as much as my family!
For more delicious chocolate recipes, check out:
- Butterscotch Brownies
- Cream Cheese Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies
- Angus Barn Chocolate Chess Pie
- German Chocolate Cake
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie
How to Make Brownies from Scratch:
Homemade Brownies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter - (2 sticks)
- 2 1/4 cup sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Add sugar and stir until just combined.
- Remove from heat and pour into heat-proof mixing bowl. Stir in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and stir until combined.
- Stir in cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and flour until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
- Spread brownie batter into prepared, parchment-lined 9×13 pan. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Don’t over-bake.
Oh my gosh, these are AMAZING! Thanks for sharing the easy and delicious recipe! We served them warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
Thank you, Julie!
I’m a professional chef who started as a baker with aspiring pastry chef dreams. These brownies are a conversation piece. I make them before staff meetings to keep happy, and it WORKS!
On a scale of 1/5 for a beginner (5 being the most difficult and 1 being the least) what would you say the difficulty would be for a beginner?
BAHA sorry, didn’t mean to put for a beginner twice
It quickly disappeared in my house! Such an amazing brownie recipe! Thank you!
Thanks Toni!!
Just put these in the oven and feel like I messed something up. The batter was super thick like a half melted snickers bar. It didn’t spread out in the pan I had to push it around. Hope they turn out okay
Same thing for me. I added another egg to help it get smooth. Hope it turns out good.
I added an extra egg bc mine are medium size and the recipe called for large it helped quite a bit :)
These look delicious and like they wouldn’t last long in my house!
These are incredible! Homemade brownies are the best. GREAT recipe!
Made them without the chips! 🤞🤞
I’m gonna try this as well I hope they turn out good 😊
OMG these were amazing. I added pecans to mine. Thank you for the recipe. Mine were gone in one day.
Thanks for the tip about buying unsweetened cocoa powder! I always have an issue with my brownies being a tad too sweet and that fix made them just right. Thanks for the great recipe!
Brownies are hands down my favorite dessert and these look incredible!!!
I added chopped walnuts and used milk chocolate chips and these were the BEST homemade brownies!!!!! Looked just like the pics you posted, too! I needed to cook for 20 min, though, as I have a very shallow and long baking pan (14x 9?). Thank you so much for making me try scratch brownies, they are the best I’ve ever had and my husband and kids agree!
Hi Jessie! SO GLAD to hear this! The chopped walnuts and milk chocolate chips sounds like a delicious addition! Glad you enjoyed :)
These came out really well! :) I’ve only made brownies from scratch once before and this was a much simpler recipe to follow. I used a mix of flour that is gluten-free, and they still were awesome!
For a twist, I added a bit of Kahlua and Grand Marnier to the mix. Let’s just say a glass of milk goes perfectly. I’ll be making these many more times with different touches to kick them up a notch. Life is to short to not enjoy a really good brownie. Steven
You should try adding reeses peanut butter chips, or melting thise down with condensed milk and spreading it on top! It’s what I usually do bc we are peanut butter fans. Just wanted to give you an idea for next time! 😉
AMAZING! So thick and chewy!
Followed the recipe to a T & after over an hour of baking, still batter-y in the middle but the edges were rock hard. We were looking forward to enjoying brownies but were sadly quite disappointed.
I’m so sorry to hear that, Kaitlyn. I’ve tested these countless times and had many people make them without a similar issue. Have you had your oven calibrated? What type of brownie pan did you bake them in? Metal? Glass?
Did you use 8×8 because I did at first and hurried and switched it to 9×12 realizing it wouldn’t cook right and I read the recipe wrong for a second
Sounds like an oven problem, uneven heating is a sign of an expired oven.
I was excited to build these and followed the recipe to a T. I believe this recipe would be slightly tastier with less Cacao powder. Also, I would love to replicate that chewy texture that we get from premade boxes…any modifications that might aid that? Only thing that crossed my mind was maybe I should have sifted the cacao powder? Or maybe my sugar free cacao is too old. Thoughts?
I followed this recipe and the batter was super thiccc, they were great while still warm but once they cooled they got a bit hard.
I haven’t tried this recipe but just from baking in general you might try using softened butter reather than melted and sifting your dry ingredients never hurts(just powdered stuff like flower and baking soda or powder- not sugars)
Rather*, not reather. Sorry for the typo!
These were easy to make ànd delicious! At 30 min. they weren’t quite done, but at 35 min they were perfect!
Omg these are the best brownies I have ever had. My Uncle requests them all the time. They are chewy, decadent and hard to eat just one. They also freeze really well. Just take out night before. I also couldn’t resist adding extra chips.
My daughter made these and I assisted a little and only stirred until everything was incorporated (4xs) and used parchment with metal pan and baked for 35 minutes and they canecame out great, even with a crackling top that you see on brownie boxes. We only had 1/2 c of baking cocoa and rest was melted chocolate chips added in.. Thanks for sharing!
These brownies are amazing. I first tried this recipe for youth group.They loved them.
I just made a batch and put Carmel bits in. I oven as I post this. Yummy delicious thank you.
9×13 pan?
Wow! Equal amounts of cocoa and flour?
Is cocoa powder supposed to be 1 1/3 cups or 1/3 cup? I’ve never used that much in a recipe. Very good but too chocolaty!
Trying this recipe For the first time, me being a retired 67 year old male at home all day. I’m just trying to pull my wait, I have Shrimp Scampi for dinner.
They smell wonderful! Easy recipe and delicious.
I took these to a Memorial Day cookout. People ate the before and hey were even served and came back for more! A keeper recipe!
I made these brownies awhile ago after a lengthy internet search for the best gooey recipe for brownies. I have not turned back since. Not even to box brownies. These are SO delicious and are so easy to make. My daughter asked for them yesterday, so I’m getting ready to make them again today. I like to add reeses peanut butter chips into my batch every once in awhile. We LOVE brownies with peanut butter smeared on them and a scoop (or 2) of ice cream. I highly recommend trying it sometime. Also melting down the reeses chips and mixing with sweetened condensed milk to make a spreadable icing on top is a plus! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
I made the brownies like it says accept i didn’t have sugar so I used splenda. These came out tasting HORRIBLE! Like pure cocoa powder and were basically cake like. I wouldn’t recommend adding splenda as a substitute. I’ll go to the store tomorrow and get sugar and repost lmao
If you need to go sugar free, try doing swerve sugar replacement instead of Splenda. It’s measured cup for cup just like sugar. My grandma has diabetes so I do that a lot, can’t tell a difference!
I am about to try this recipe, but had a question. Why use unsalted butter when you end up using salt?
You can control the salt amount a lot more when you do it this way, but salted butter is just fine to use, I often do that.
Perfect.
The only thing I did different is that I added 2 tsp of instant espresso powder. I always add it to anything “chocolate” I make. It adds a depth to chocolate that is just wonderful.
Delicious! Easy to follow! Will make again.
I made this recipe. Took a lot longer to bake. Very easy to follow. Has a strong cocoa flavor. Next time I won’t use a much.
I do not have a 9×13 pan on hand ..weird right? Anyway I was wondering if I can make them thicker by using an 8×8 or 9×9. Have you tried it?
I used an 8×8 ceramic baking dish because I also didn’t have the right size or material pan. They took much longer—probably 55-60 mins (I stopped counting exactly after I had to reset the timer 5 times) but they did come out good! i’d make sure to cut your slices smaller than you normally would though—the thickness makes them all the more richer, and I ended up with a deceivingly large bite of brownie on my plate lol
I didn’t have a 9×13 pan but used a 10×10 instead. The batter was super thick but will see how it taste when it come out. The process was easy and ingredients simple and I had them on hand. The instructions were clear and easy to understand. So far, I would recommend the recipe, more updates on flavor and consistency when we finally get to eat it.
I’m not sure why but these brownies taste like dark chocolate to me. I prefer milk chocolate and these were far from it.
These brownies were so good! I’m definitely saving this recipe to use again and again.
I made with dark chocolate cocoa powder and it came out fantastic! Definitely one of the easiest from scratch brownie recipes I have ever made.
I’m not sure if it’s a type error but the amount of sugar says 2 1/4 cup sugar. It has me scratching my head. Please, let me know if this is right. I want to make these Thanksgiving.
I made these tonight and omg I have to strain not to eat the entire pan! Dark chocolate chips are so yummy inside of them. Will be making these again!
they were good but i’m definitely going to add less coco powder next time! a bit too sweet for us
Does it make a huge difference if I use Salted butter? That is all I have and I want to make these now! 🤣🤔
Salted is fine!
No, you can use salted butter if you dont have unsalted butter. Some ppl will cut the salt measurement in half if they use salted butter but its not nessasary.
Omg!!! The best brownie ever! And with a class of milk! Wow!!!
Hi Courtney, thank you for the recipe.
I am assuming I am not alone in the quest of “finding” a 9×13 pan in my kitchen and unfortunately I do not have it. Decided to try my trusted 9×9 for this recipe(with baking time being adjusted of course). Well, needless to say, first time did not go so well as it got over baked (added 10 minutes to your original time, then tested with a toothpick , it was still little moist when I pulled it out). Now, it tastes amazing. Perfect amount of sweetness. The recipe is great, however I believe more “traditional” or commonly used pan size if you will , would do this recipe good. Will try again soon, with less time in the oven.
I like that this recipe was written clearly and to the point as other recipes I was looking at weren’t complete. The Brownies however turned out a bit more cakey and bitter than I had hoped but overall not bad!
Couldn’t find my recipe and searched and found yours online. Just had one still hot and fresh. Very good. On the same level as my home made brownies. Almost the same amounts of ingredients. Still a difference in consistency and texture. I recomend this recipe for anyone who enjoys brownies.
These brownies were so good! And only 302,000 calories per brownie! Only had to fast for 2 years to fit it in! So worth it, thanks for the recipe.
Not a fan of this recipe at all. Brownies came out with a dry cake like texture with very little chocolate flavor despite the 2 cups of chips. Won’t be making these again.
My mom always made homemade brownies around the holiday season. This recipe brought back the sweet nostalgic sense of home. I added a dollop of peanut butter to the batter and I must say, the brownies were absolutely devine 😄
Yummy!
Best Brownies Ever!
I used a 9×13 pan, 2 cups of sugar, 1 cup milk cocoa, 1/3 cup of dark cocoa, 1/3 cup of chocolate chips. Bakes 35 minutes. Perfect from edges to middle. Next time I’m leaving out the chocolate chips. My personal preference. Added walnuts to recipe and top.
Really really good.
Not fast, but so good.
Using parchment paper is genius.
Melt you butter, um, don’t boil it as it was cook you egg whites as you stir them in. It wont ruin the perfection of the brownies.
I took mine out of the oven when doing the toothpick test, the top was dry but the bottom was only semi, and by time they cooled they were perfect if not too crusty on the crust.
Perfect and actually fast. I mixed them in 15 minutes and cooked them for 34 minutes. This is a new favorite!
You did something wrong – like others that gave 5 stars, we made these and they were great! Moist, chocolatey, and delicious! Try it again and don’t eff it up this time…and maybe don’t criticize others for your mistakes, numbnuts
This review is long, detailed, but TLDR version: these brownies are AMAZING and even better the next day!
Made these brownies last night-
Yes, the batter is THICCC. Like, stick to the bowl thick. I was concerned they weren’t fully baked at 35, 40, even 45 minutes…I was wrong. They just weren’t “perfect right out of the oven” done. Even after about 45 minutes, I had taken them out and they still seemed fairly doughy. The flavor was delicious, but they just fell apart.
The next day (today) when I tried them, it’s like they had transformed! They were perfect, stayed together, and had a wonderful chocolate flavor. Knowing this, I would take them out at 35 minutes for sure next time.
This will be my go to recipe, even over the boxed Ghiridelli brownies!
This is the BEST brownie recipe ever!!! I will never buy a box mix again!!! The brownies were most and delicious!!’
I recently tried the Homemade Chocolate Brownies from scratch recipe and I must say, they were absolutely fudgy and delicious! Highly recommend this recipe to any chocolate lover out there! Love it!
I have been making my favorite old stand-by brownie recipe for 50 years. The other day I was at my daughter’s house and she had made your recipe. Oh my gosh! I will never go back to my old recipe! These were FABULOUS!
I have made it in 10×15 pan and it came out great. I had added less cocoa powder – only 3/4 cup and also less chocolate chips 1 cup. Sugar was modified to 1 cup granulated sugar and 1 cup brown sugar. It came out delicious as well. Thank you
It’s so yummy and tasty. I will make some brownies for my buddies.
very yummy
add an egg to solve your problem
Amazing! Best brownies I’ve ever tasted and made! Are use the traditional 8 x 8 pan, so I just did the baking time and I also like mine more on the gooey side so they came out perfect!
Amazing! Best brownies I’ve ever tasted and made! I used the traditional 8 x 8 pan, so I just adjusted the baking time maybe 40 mins and temp to 325. I also like mine more on the gooey side so they came out perfect!
These are amazing. I made a few small changes (more flour less chocolate, more vanilla, soft butter instead of melted and white chocolate chips) but couldn’t have gotten the end result without this recipe! Brave, bravo! I’ve been rewarding my team at work when they meet their goals and it’s been a big motivator for them to get these brownies lol!
Made these exactly as the recipe is written…9×13” pan, 30 minutes. Perfect, thick, fudgey, delicious brownies! Brought to a party and served a la mode with vanilla ice cream. They were a hit. Soooo much better than boxed!
Thick batter, came out delicious!
I made them for my b-day and they were delicious and gone in two days.my hole family enjoyed them!
I made them for my b-day and they were delicious and gone in two days!
Made these today, and mine turned out very dry, help ?
Easy, straightforward, turned out really delicious!
So good! Do taste a little “like dark chocolate even though I didn’t use any but that’s not a bad thing! They’re so good! All my pans are packed away for moving so I only had two round cake pans and I used those so I only baked 25 minuets and it was perfect! I also adjusted for high elevation and added a bit less backing powder and turned the heat up to 375. Next time I may add one more egg as well for the elevation but who knows because how they turned out this time was great!
Omg!!! Made these several times for my co-workers & now pharmacy employees want some Too!!! The Best Ever Brownie I Have Ever Had!!! Everyone Loves & Says How Delicious They Are!!! I Use Organic Ingredients & They Always Come Out Awesome!!!Love!!! Love!!! Thank You For Sharing This Recipe 😊
This was truly the best brownie ever! Sure beats the boxed pre-made brownies.
The cake looks fantastic. I really love it.
I loved these! I used bittersweet and regular size chocolate chips because that’s what I had on hand. I also cut the recipe in half (regretting this now!) and made it in an 8×8. It took 40 mins for me. I have already recommended them to others. Definitely a keeper.
Thank you so much!!! This recipe is amazing! I LOVE these brownies. Amazing! I totally recommend!
great! Easy Thanks!
The cake looks fantastic!!!
These were absolutely incredible! They were also pretty easy to make. I will say, mine turned out a bit too sweet but that might just be my personal taste.
Can these be made in a cupcake tray with cupcake liners to make them easy for single-serve? How would the baking times need to be adjusted in this case? I have made this recipe many times and they’re always a huge hit, but I want to make them for a party and have it easy for everyone to just grab and go!
They would bake much faster! Just keep an eye on them and test with a toothpick.