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Made with pantry basics, like cocoa powder, butter, sugar, eggs, and a (secret!) dash of espresso powder, these homemade brownies taste like they came from a specialty bakery.
Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: Rich, fudgy, and loaded with chocolatey goodness – plus melty chocolate chips in every bite!
- Skill Level: This recipe is great for beginners. Mix everything in a single bowl, pour into a pan, and bake. It’s that easy!
- Freezing: Freeze a tray or individual pieces for up to one month.
What’s in Homemade Brownies?
- Brownie Batter: Use real butter, oil, large eggs, plain white flour, and sugar, and a dash of vanilla extract as the brownie base.
- Cocoa: Use natural or Dutch cocoa powder for a rich chocolate flavor. Using Dutch cocoa powder will give these brownies a deeper color.
- Chocolate Chips: These are the key to chewy, fudgy goodness! Use any kind of chocolate chips or go half dark and half white chips for a fun look.
- Espresso Powder: Espresso powder or instant coffee makes brownies and chocolate cake extra rich.
Favorite Additions
- Brownies are built for mix-ins! Add nuts, coconut, dried fruit, mini M&Ms, or chopped peanut butter cups.
- Serve with a scoop of ice cream and a drizzle of strawberry sauce for a fancy dessert or a simple dollop of homemade whipped cream and fresh blueberries.
Keeping Homemade Brownies Fresh
Store homemade brownies in a covered container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
For a just-baked warmth, pop the brownies into the microwave briefly! They will be melt-in-your-mouth delicious and warm.
Chocolate Lover's Dream
Did you enjoy this Homemade Brownie recipe? Leave a comment and rating below.
Homemade Brownies
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter melted
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1⅓ cups granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder or instant coffee
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips plus more for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9×9 pan with foil and coat with cooking spray.
- Combine melted butter, oil, sugar, and cocoa powder in a large bowl. Stir until smooth.
- Mix in the eggs, vanilla, espresso powder, and salt.
- Slowly stir in the flour (batter should be thick) and gently fold in the chocolate chips.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan & top with more chocolate chips if desired.
- Bake for 21-25 minutes or until they become glossy around the edges and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted 1-inch from the edge.
- Let cool before cutting.
Video
Notes
- For quick and easy clean-up, line the baking dish with parchment paper or foil. This also allows for you to easily remove and cut brownies by lifting them out.
- Ensure eggs are room temperature, you can put them in a glass of warm water if you’ve forgotten to take them out early.
- Do not overcook, brownies should be cooked until a toothpick 1-inch from the edge of the pan comes out with just a few crumbs attached. They can and should be a little bit gooey in the middle.
- Make sure the brownies are completely cooled before cutting.
- Use a plastic knife if you have one, the brownies won’t stick to a plastic knife. A regular knife can be sprayed with oil or cooking spray before cutting the brownies.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Theses are the only brownies that I bake!
They are so moist and delicious ! Sometimes walnuts, mostly nut free.
The flavor in these is absolutely delicious! But only the outside edges got done, next time I will add only 1/4 cup of chocolate chips. Cut the edges off after 25 minutes, cooked for another 30 minutes and they’re still super gooey, like batter-y.
Is the espresso powder necessary? Would it affect the taste of the brownie if omitted?
Jo, you can omit the espresso powder. They will still be chewy and delightfully sweet!
Still super ooey-gooey and moist while maintaining a slight cakey texture. Exactly what I think about when craving a brownie. I only had an 8X8 so had to cook a bit longer but the edges maintained the perfect firmer gooey texture that edge lovers love. And used Hershey’s special dark coco powder because that’s what I had on hand, but there is no such thing as a brownie that’s “too chocolate”-y. If you don’t love chocolate make a blondie. Thank you for this incredibly easy recipe that produces, dare I say, the PERFECT brownie :-) I have never left a review before but these are so good I thought you deserved one. Happy holidays
They are ok but too chocolate for me. Maybe less cocoa next time.
We do like our brownies to have a very chocolatey flavor!