This is my absolute favorite brownie recipe. They fudgy brownie recipe rich, fudgy in the middle, and made completely from scratch.
These brownies are so much better than the box, and I bet you have what you need to make them already sitting in your kitchen. I bet you have most of what you need to make these brownies already sitting in your kitchen. Butter adds so much more flavor than oil ever could. Sugar balances the bitterness of unsweetened cocoa powder and adds to the texture of the brownies. It makes the centers soft and the tops crinkly. Cocoa powder adds our chocolate element and makes these taste rich. I’ve used a variety of cocoa powders.
You can use natural cocoa powder, Dutch-processed cocoa powder, or raw cacao powder to make these. Eggs add richness and provide structure to the brownies. Salt and vanilla help to round out the flavor of the brownies. Salt in baking might seem odd, but just like in savory cooking, it awakens the flavors of the recipe. All-purpose flour is the last ingredient you need, but you don’t need much.
Remember, we’re on the hunt for extra fudgy brownies, and keeping the flour to a minimum helps with that. Cakey brownie recipes will call for more flour. This recipe is slightly adapted from Alice Medrich’s Cocoa Brownies found in many of her cookbooks. Medrich is a genius when it comes to chocolate. Search on Google and you’ll see that some brownie recipes call for chocolate that is melted into butter, then mixed with sugar, eggs, and flour.
This recipe is different — and smart. Instead of using chocolate, Medrich calls for cocoa powder. Since we are using cocoa powder, they aren’t overly sweet. If you are like us and find yourself reaching for dark chocolate over milk, these are most certainly for you. Here’s another recipe that is unapologetic about how much cocoa powder is added to the batter. If you want to add chopped chocolate or chocolate chips, you can.
These are your brownies, after all! We recommend stirring a handful of chocolate into the batter before pouring it into the baking pan or scattering chocolate on top of the batter in the pan. How to Make the Best Brownies These brownies are simple to make. You only need one mixing bowl, a small saucepan, and a spoon. There’s no mixer or fancy equipment required!
Step 1, Melt the butter with sugar, salt, and cocoa powder. Here is where the saucepan comes into play. Make something called a double boiler, a fancy term for a small saucepan filled with an inch or two of water set over low heat. I place a bowl with the butter, sugar, and cocoa powder over the saucepan and watch as they melt into a gritty-looking mixture. This process helps to create that crinkly top we all love.
