Seriously Fudgy Homemade Brownies

These seriously fudgy homemade brownies are quite possibly the richest, most decadent brownies you’ll ever try. They’re thick, dense, and supremely chocolatey, thanks to a triple dose of chocolate: cocoa powder, melted chocolate, and chocolate chips. They’re basically one step away from pure fudge!

I originally published this recipe in 2016 and have since made a few important changes based on reader feedback. We reduced the sugar to make them less sweet, and now bake them in a 9-inch square pan instead of a 9×13, which yields thicker, richer brownies.

If you Google “homemade brownies,” prepare to receive thousands of search results. (I don’t recommend doing this while hungry.) I threw my homemade frosted brownies recipe into the ring back in 2014—and I still love that one. Those brownies are chewy, dense, easy, and topped with chocolate frosting to boot.

But maybe today you’re not in the mood for chewy brownies or sweet buttercream. Maybe what you want is something even richer. Deep, pure chocolate flavor that melts in your mouth… almost like eating fudge, but with a little more texture.

That’s where today’s brownie recipe comes in.

Because that’s the best part about baking: you can continually experiment like a mad, butter-loving scientist. And if you think about it, we can never have too many recipes that combine butter, sugar, and chocolate. I even have a different recipe for thick & fudgy brownies in my New York Times–best-selling cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101.

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Ingredients You Need

1. Butter: You can make brownies with butter, oil, or a combination of both, but in testing, we liked these brownies best with all butter. Unparalleled for flavor!
2. Baking Chocolate: You need 4 ounces (1 standard bar) of either semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate. Chop it up, and divide it in half. You’ll melt half with the butter, and then fold in the rest of the chopped chocolate along with the chocolate chips.
3. Sugar: Sugar does much more than sweeten brownies. It liquifies as they bake, creating a softer center, and migrates to the top, creating that shiny, crackly surface characteristic of a good brownie.
4. Eggs: Eggs are one of the main ingredients in brownies. Just as they do in flourless chocolate cake, eggs bind, add richness, and provide structure.
5. Vanilla: Even the most chocolatey desserts benefit from pure vanilla!
6. Cocoa Powder: Though natural cocoa powder can be used, I suggest a Dutch-process cocoa powder (I really like this brand) for a richer, smoother chocolate flavor. This brownie recipe does not rely on chemical leaveners; if a recipe does, that’s when it’s important to remember the difference between Dutch-process vs. natural cocoa powder.
7. Flour: The cocoa powder takes the place of some flour, so you’ll only need 1 cup in these homemade brownies. The more flour in brownie batter, the cakier the brownies will taste. We want a dense and fudgy batch today, so use as little flour as possible.
8. Salt: To balance all the flavors.
9. Chocolate Chips: You may think these brownies have enough chocolate already that you could leave out the chocolate chips, but see below for why they’re key to brownie success!

Why is there no baking powder or baking soda in these brownies? Adding baking powder or baking soda lifts brownies up and creates a cakier result. But today, we all want a brownie so dense and fudgy that it’s basically 1 step up from eating pure chocolate.

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How to Make the Fudgiest Brownies: Key Steps

Start by melting together the butter and half of the chopped chocolate, stirring until smooth. Next, beat together the sugar and eggs. This is a new step in this recipe, and it’s key to developing that shiny, crackly, tissue-thin surface on the brownies.

Whip until your sugar and egg mixture reaches what’s known as the “ribbon stage”—the color will lighten to a very pale yellow, and the consistency will thicken and increase in volume. (This takes around 3 minutes.) It should look like a creamy, slightly foamy custard. That foam is going to provide necessary structure for the brownies:

Now combine your two mixtures, and then add in the remaining ingredients.

Spread the batter in a lined 9-inch square baking pan. Use a metal baking pan, not glass or ceramic, to ensure the brownies bake evenly.

For a larger batch, see this 9×13-inch pan of homemade brownies. The recipe is carefully scaled up from today’s version. It’s not simply doubled; the ingredient ratios, baking time, and method were carefully adjusted to maintain the same rich, chewy, fudgy texture in a larger pan. If you’re baking for a crowd, that’s the recipe to use!

How to Get Shiny Crackly Tops in Brownies

The secret is in the sugar! If properly dissolved, the sugar will migrate to the top as the brownie batter bakes, creating that signature shiny and crackly surface we all know and love.

Whipping the sugar with the eggs gives it a head start on dissolving, thanks to the water content in the egg whites. Combining that with warm melted butter and chocolate will help to dissolve it even further. If your sugar isn’t properly dissolved, your brownies will look—and taste—grainy. Very unappetizing!

The other trick is to always include chocolate chips. I learned this years ago from the smart folks at King Arthur Baking, and Tessa at Handle the Heat also has a great article explaining the keys to brownie crust success.

How to Tell When Brownies Are Done Baking

Now comes the hardest part: waiting for the brownies to cool completely before cutting them. I wish I had a tip for you here on how to speed up this torturous process, but I do not. BEST OF LUCK.

Here’s the real question: are you a center person or an edge person? Save me the corners please.

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