Easy Homemade Brownies

Name: Easy Fudge Brownies
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 9
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 1/2 sticks (12 Tablespoons, 3/4 cup) unsalted butter; 1 cup brown sugar; 3/4 cup white sugar; 3 eggs; 1 egg yolk; 2 teaspoons vanilla; 1 cup sifted cocoa powder; 1/3 cup all purpose flour; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/2 cup chocolate chips; Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling (optional)

ByCourtney June 18, 2014February 14, 2023

120 Comments

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Easy Homemade Brownies that are rich, fudgy, and so much better than the box. These stovetop brownies are made in a single pot and can be in your oven in less than 20 minutes!

easy homemade brownies with mugs of milk

Table of Contents

A Homemade Brownie Recipe That’s as Easy as Box Mix

When we returned from vacation a few weeks ago, I didn’t have enough ingredients to prepare a halfway decent dinner for us, but somehow I had everything I needed to make Easy Homemade Brownies.

That’s how it goes in our house. Priorities, people.

I spotted this easy brownie recipe in Rachael Ray magazine a few months ago, and they were moved straight to the Must Make Immediately List.

It’s not that I don’t already have a homemade brownie recipe I love. I do. That brownie recipe is rich and fudgy and chewy and all the things I’ve ever wanted in a brownie.

The only problem is, it’s not very quick. As much as I loved it, I found that more often than not I was still turning back to the good ol’ trusty box mix when a brownie craving hit.

slice of homemade brownie recipe with mugs of milk

Then I found these, and everything changed. I’ve made these at least five times since I found the recipe, and each time I’ve tweaked them a bit more to our liking.

Now, I think we’ve finally nailed a homemade brownie recipe that is:

Quick (We’re talking in your oven in 20 minutes or less!)
Easy
Prepared in a single pot (yay, no extra dishes!)
Super duper fudgy AND
So much better than the box

easy homemade brownies surrounded by chocolate chips

Tips for Making the Best Fudgy Easy Homemade Brownies

Typically, brownie recipes made with cocoa powder instead of melted chocolate yield a drier, cakier brownie. This is because they lack the cocoa butter found in melted chocolate.

BUT, never fear, friends, with a little bit of science, we’ve found a way to make an easy cocoa brownie recipe that dense, fudgy, and has that irresistible, paper-thin, crackly top.

Here are our tips:

Use melted butter. If we wanted a fluffy, cake-like brownie, we might cream room temperature butter together with sugar. But we’re actually looking for the exact opposite texture, so we’ll be using melted butter (and plenty of it!)
Add an extra egg yolk. This is my favorite trick for adding moisture and chewiness to baked goods. It’s also the secret in my Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Use a higher proportion of brown sugar to white sugar. Again, we’re going for a deep, rich flavor and chewy brownies! Brown sugar fits the bill.
Go easy on the flour and nix the baking powder. These brownies require just enough flour to pull them together. After testing these with and without baking powder, I’ve decided I prefer the texture without any leavening at all.
Finally, under bake your brownies! This may not be everyone’s preference, but we love the extra gooey texture of an under baked brownie. If you test with a toothpick, you actually don’t want it to be dry!

Homemade Brownie Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make the BEST fudgy brownies!

1 1/2 sticks (12 Tablespoons, 3/4 cup) butter
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup all purpose flour
Hefty pinch of salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips- This is optional, but there is nothing better than getting a pocket of melted chocolate in the midst of a bite of fudgy brownie.

How to Make Homemade Brownies from Scratch

step by step photos of stovetop brownies being made

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 or 9 inch square baking pan with butter. If you want to be able to remove and serve your brownies outside of the pan, create a parchment paper sling or use a pan with a removable bottom (<<<here’s ours).
In a medium sized pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Remove from heat, then whisk in the brown and white sugar until smooth and creamy, about 1-2 minutes.
Add the eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla and salt.
Add the cocoa powder and flour and stir until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour the mixture into the prepared pans and bake for 35-40 minutes (under-done) or 40-45 minutes (baked through). It can be tough to tell when these are done since they’re so dark in color, but if the center no longer jiggles, take them out. Trust me on this one.
Allow to cool or eat directly out of the pan because you have no self control (at least, that’s what I do).

super up close shot of crackly topped homemade brownies

How to Store and Serve Homemade Brownies

Store homemade brownies at room temperature tightly wrapped with plastic wrap or in an airtight container. They will stay soft and chewy for several days after they’re made, if they manage to last that long.

My FAVORITE way to serve these is warm with a scoop of strawberry ice cream on top. GAH. I’m drooling just thinking about it.

If I’m enjoying these plain, I love to add a sprinkling of sea salt on top. Give me ALL the sweet and salty desserts.

You can also top them with peanut butter frosting and make Buckeye Brownies or add them to a Brownie Ice Cream Sundae Cake!

Can you freeze homemade brownies?

Brownies can be frozen! Remove them from the pan and freeze as a single block wrapped tightly in plastic wrap OR wrap individual slices and freeze that way. Check out my guide to Freezing Cookies and Bars for detailed instructions and tips.

More Recipes for the Brownie Lover

If you’re a fan of deep, dark chocolatey desserts, you’ll absolutely love these Almond Joy Cookies and these Brownie Cookies.

Need a decadent, dark chocolate cake? Look no further than the BEST Chocolate Bundt Cake.

And if you’d like a blonde version of the brownie, be sure to check out my Brown Butter Blondies.

Easy Fudge Brownies

Yield: 9-12

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

Easy Homemade Brownies are rich, fudgy, and studded with melted chocolate chips. This stovetop brownie recipe made with cocoa powder can be in your oven in just 20 minutes.

Ingredients

1 1/2 sticks (12 Tablespoons, 3/4 cup) unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup sifted cocoa powder
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 x 8 inch baking dish with butter. Set aside.
In a medium sized pot, melt the butter on the stove top over medium heat. Remove from heat, then whisk in brown and white sugar until smooth and creamy, about 1-2 minutes.
Add the eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla.
Add the cocoa powder, flour, and salt and stir until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes (under done) or 35-40 minutes (baked through), or until the center is just set. A toothpick inserted in the center should come back with a few moist crumbs attached. Sprinkle with sea salt, if desired.
Allow to cool or eat directly out of the pan because you have no self control (at least, that's what I do.)

Notes

Many of you have asked why this recipe has no baking powder! These brownies are intentionally dark, dense, and extra fudgy! If you would like them to have just a little more lift and cakiness, you can add a 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder.