The Baked Brownie
The Baked Brownie! Totally famous and for good reason – they are rich, dense, fudge-like brownies; you’ll never need another brownie recipe!
The famed Baked brownie. Oprah says it’s one of her favorite things. America’s Test Kitchen claims it’s their favorite brownie.
I don’t put much stock in Oprah, but America’s Test Kitchen is pretty much like the bible to me when it comes to all things kitchen. I check their reviews before any other recipes, and before I buy any kitchen equipment or new ingredients. So, if it’s their favorite brownie, I need to take a serious look.
If you haven’t treated yourself to the beauty that is the Baked cookbook, run, don’t walk, to Amazon and order it immediately. The Baked series is one of my most coveted groups of cookbooks – they have incredibly wonderful recipes, many that have a cozy, homey feel as well as some that have unique tweaks. I could go on about all of the amazing recipes in this book, but for now, let’s focus on these brownies. Because they deserve it. They are one of my favorite things. And I usually need to hide them from myself.
There is a great explanation in the book about how the Baked brownie recipe came to be, which is a great read. The key is that they don’t want it to be cakey, so they use no leavening agents (no baking powder or baking soda). With 11 ounces of chocolate, additional cocoa powder, lots of butter and sugar, and 5 eggs, you don’t need me to tell you that these babies are R-I-C-H.
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This is quite possibly the most perfect brownie. Now, if you like cakey brownies you won’t think so. But, if you like honest-to-goodness, rich and dense brownies, you will have found your Eden when you bite into these.
They have a good bit of height given that they don’t have any leavening agents, so they aren’t thin, gooey and smooshed like some brownies (this is a good thing). They have substance and heft when you bite into them, and they boast the ever-elusive and much sought after thin, crackly brownie crust that seems to be the calling card of amazing brownies.
Now, get thee into the kitchen and make these! Then pour yourself a tall glass of cold milk and enjoy bite after decadent bite.
Three years ago: Toasted Almond Fudge Ripple Ice Cream
Four years ago: Coconut Cream Pie
The Baked Brownie
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups (156.25 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, natural or Dutch-process will work
- 11 ounces (311.85 g) dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder, optional
- 1½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (110 g) packed light brown sugar
- 5 eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the sides and bottom of a 9x13-inch glass or light-colored baking pan. Line the pan with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and cocoa powder together.
- Put the chocolate, butter and instant espresso powder in a large heat-proof bowl and set it over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and smooth. Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the water and add the sugars. Whisk until completely combined, then remove the bowl from the pan. The mixture should be room temperature.
- Add 3 eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Add the remaining eggs and whisk until combined. Add the vanilla and stir until combined. Do not overbeat the batter at this stage or your brownies will be cakey.
- Sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate mixture. Using a rubber spatula (not a whisk), fold the flour mixture into the chocolate until just a bit of the flour mixture is visible.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake, rotating the pan halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs sticking to it, about 30 minutes. Let the brownies cool completely in the pan, then lift them out of the pan using the parchment paper. Cut into squares and serve. Store at room temperature in an airtight container or wrap with plastic wrap for up to 3 days.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
This recipe was originally published on October 8, 2010.
Hell, I was wondering if I can use semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of dark chocolate or bitterrsweet chocolate.
Hi Kassandra, You can use semisweet, the resulting brownie will just be a bit more on the sweet side.
Hi! I can’t buy 60% chocolate… Can I buy 40%? Does it change the recipe?
Hi Amelia, Sure, your brownies may taste just a little bit sweeter than the original recipe intended.
I was so disappointed in these brownies :-( I followed the instructions to the absolute T and them came out…..stiff. Like cake that tried to somehow become a spongy biscotti. No dense, fudgy texture at all. I keep thinking maybe the 30 mins was just way too long but it still doesn’t account for the strange texture. I used high quality all purpose flour, the correct sugars, the correct time, good butter, good chocolate….at a loss. It’s not often I wil say brownies are inedible. :-(
I’ve made so many of your recipes over the years and I cannot figure out why I am JUST discovering these brownies. They really are the best brownie I have ever eaten — ever! Thank you for this fabulous recipe which will be the only brownie recipe I will use from now on.
Do you think it would hurt the brownies too much if I put in 3 eggs instead of 5?
Hi Shannon, Yes, it would definitely affect the recipe, I would not recommend doing this.
Mine turned out like cake; think I beat it too long after adding the eggs, cause I was worried they weren’t fully incorporated (there was liquid surrounding the batter). So be careful of that, but the taste is fantastic! :D
Is there a way to use fewer eggs? How specifically and what will it do to the taste? Made these a lot and love it, but my son is requesting it.
Thank you!!!!
Hi Kim, I have not experimented with using fewer eggs, so I couldn’t say for sure how the texture will be affected.
My go to brownie, every single time. I add cinnamon to the dry ingredients sometimes for a Mexican kick. Or sprinkle choc chips over the top before baking. Sometimes peanut butter chips. Occasionally, it’s walnuts. I’m not going to lie. Easiest, tastiest, richest brownie recipe I have ever made! Best part, I don’t have to use my big mixer. Love it!
Hi is it possible to get this recipe in grams ? thanks so much
This is my go-to brownie recipe. It’s super fudgy and gooey. I divide the batter between 2 8-inch square pan and bake for 20 minutes.
I can honestly say these are the best brownies in the world. I have people rave to me when i make them. they’re such a hit and it’s my go-to brownie recipe. Thanks!
Best brownie ever!! Wayyy better than any store made nonsense :P I live in Qatar and I was looking for a really good brownie recipe and I’ve hit the jackpot. Thank you so much! I have taken a photo but I have no way to share it here :/
Loved these brownies…would like to add nuts, maybe 1/2 to 1 cup of chopped pecans. Would that change the cooking time?
Hi Brenda, No, that should not change the baking the time. Glad you enjoyed the brownies! :)
These brownies look delicious – and super moist at that!
Happy Baking! :)
Sydney
I made these brownies & they were divine!!!! My only question is how long should u wait before adding the eggs to the chocolate mixture? I was so paranoid about cooking the eggs that I iced down the bowl with the hot choc mixture.
Hi Krisie, I just wait it out, the length of time will depend on how warm (or cool) your kitchen is. I literally just stick my finger into the mixture to see if it’s down to room temperature or not.
I’m thinking of making these gluten free. Can I just swap for an AP GF flour or would I need something else?
Hi Crystal, I’ve never used any type of gluten-free flour, so unfortunately I can’t offer any advice on how to alter these.
You know this has to be a great recipe when 4 years later, people are still commenting. Can’t wait to make these?
Could someone clarify the amount of flour for me? 1 1/4 cup of flour would be about 150g or 5.6 oz, is that correct? I am new to baking so I try to be as accurate as I can. Whenever I measure flour by volume I tend to run in trouble. A “cup” of flour can weigh anywhere between 4 and 5 1/2 ounces.
Hi Maya, I use the King Arthur Flour weight chart for all of my conversions, so according to that, 1 cup all-purpose flour = 4.25 ounces. Therefore, 1.25 cups of all-purpose flour equates to 5.3 ounces. I hope that helps!
1 cup, 2 sticks of butter, sounds like too much to use with only 1 1/4 cup of flour. They look good in the photo, though.
Great texture, definitely not cakey. I’m bringing these to a 4th of July party:)
Picked up a couple of the key ingredients on the way home and made these brownies last night. The directions were very easy to follow and the results were amazing. Used a 9.7 oz. bar of 70% Bittersweet Chocolate from Scharffen Berger plus Medaglia d’Oro Espresso powder. Absolutely delicious!
What do you think the baking time would be if I halved the recipe?
Hi Sara, I am not sure, as I have never halved the recipe. You could try decreasing it a bit and go from there.
I made your baked brownies today & I must say they came out AMAZING. so moist and fudge-y with the most perfect crackle crust…. I did make a few changes however:
Used milk chocolate instead of dark & decreased the amount of sugar -(1 cup white & 1/2 cup coconut sugar)
Baked them at 150C for 30min. They are PERFECT. my husband & kids all agree.
Can’t wait to try the salted caramel ones!!!
I’m making these for the first time and I just added the sugar and the mixture is very grainy with the sugar in it. Is that normal before I add eggs and the dry mixture? Thanks!
Hi Kayla, Yes, it will all come together!
i made these for to take to a bbq and everyone was raving, they are delicious. how would they do baked in a mini muffin tin? i wanted to make brownie bites.
Hi Tanya, I’ve never tried it, so unfortunately I couldn’t say :(
Hi,
I spontaneously decided to bake these brownies today because the description (which was, by the way, also stilistically pretty cool!) sounded exactly like what I’ve been looking for for so long. I’m german, and all brownies you ever get served here have that spongy, cakey texture I abhor. They came out magnificent and the three other people I used as guinea pigs loved them! (Or at least they pretended to do so which might have been due to the fact that I held a kitchen knife in my hand.) Thanks for the great recipe.
The only problem I encountered was that the brownies were VERY hard to get out of the baking pan (probably because I just buttered it since I was out of baking parchment and also didn’t let it cool off completely out of- let’s face it- sheer greed.)
Also, I added a bit less salt, which proved to be the right decision for me personally, and the next time I will use a little less sugar and a little more chocolate in order to make the brownies even more chocolatey :)
Oh, and by the way: it can be quite inconvenient for someone in Germany or probably Europe in general to cook/bake after american recipes, because we don’t use the same quantity and temperature units and a lot of the stuff that’s often required just isn’t available here. For other non-american readers:
– There are websites and web calculators that help you convert the american units into yours. Just, for example, google “ounces to gram” and you will probably find what you need. Also, you can apparently buy plastic “cup” beakers on Ebay or elsewhere pretty cheaply.
For german readers: two of the sites I used to convert the units: http://amerikanisch-kochen.de/maseinheiten and http://www.usa-kulinarisch.de/informationen/masseinheiten-umrechnen/.
DON’T FORGET TO CONVERT FAHRENHEIT TO CELSIUS! I almost fell victim to that, and believe me, baking brownies at 350° Celsius for half an hour is a very, very bad idea.
– Packed sugar isn’t available here. In fact, I had to google and find out what packed sugar even is! All sugar, both white and brown, is sold granulated or powdered around here. To achieve the additional moistness that is provided by the packed sugar I used our regular granulated brown sugar, and added a tablespoon of sugar beet molasses. It worked out very well, although you might want to consider using a little less sugar in general as a compensation.
Thanks again!
“Packed” brown sugar isn’t a type of sugar but how you measure it! Rather than spooning the sugar into the cup and leaving it with quite a bit of air, you need to pack the sugar down into the cup and squish out the air so that you can’t fit anymore in. Brown sugar is really the only one that you “pack” due to its consistency. You might also see some recipes that call for “loosely” or “lightly” packed, or “firmly” packed. What I think you’re referring to as “brown” sugar in Germany is actually what we’d call raw sugar, or demerara sugar, which doesn’t “pack”. Brown sugar is a completely different thing and quite soft and moist. If you’re looking for it online ignore the “packed” and just look for “light brown sugar” (it also comes in a variety (soft, muscovado) of dark brown sugars, which could probably be substituted, you’ll just get a richer (still!) brownie).
They look sooooo good! But I have a doubt, does the sugar dissolve un the butter/chocolate mixture?
It will look grainy when mixed at first, but yes, it dissolves when baked.
This looks amaaaazing! :)
http://cafecraftea.blogspot.com
Hello, BEB, tried this recipe after drooling over it for a couple of weeks. Went smoothly till the melted chocolate part, but when I added the sugars, it went all strange. Still waiting for it to cool to see if i can salvage any of it – not too hopeful – but at the moment it looks like the sugars and the chocolate have ganged up, leaving the liquid butter swirling around it. I am going to forge ahead, after all, it’s chocolate. Can’t dump it without breaking my heart. Will see what the end result is like. Sigh!
Wow their Mouth Watering and they Look Yummy