You know that ideal brownie? The one with the crispy crust on top and the impossibly rich interior? The one with a chewy bottom, but impeccably moist? Yeah. That’s these fudgy chocolate brownies. Yep. These ones right here! And the best part? You can have them from mixing bowl to your mouth in under an hour.
When I tell you these are irresistible, I mean it. I took two pans of these out of the oven yesterday and half of a pan was missing in under 30 minutes! These fudgy chocolate brownies will put all of your chocolate cravings to rest. They’re a perfect treat for a birthday party or just an afternoon pick-me up. Flavored with both cocoa powder AND baking chocolate, they hold the key to chocolate heaven.
Do I need a specific cocoa powder for fudgy chocolate brownies?
If you’ve read some of my other chocolate recipe posts, you know I am very particular about cocoa powder. For these brownies, I like to use dutch-process cocoa powder, but, here’s the best part, if you don’t want to use dutch-process, you don’t have to! Because these brownies don’t need any sort of leavening agent like baking powder or baking soda, it does not matter what type of cocoa powder you use! If you like natural cocoa powder, you can use it! And if you like dutch-process or black cocoa powder, you can use them too!
Why do I not need any leavener?
I have had a couple people comment on this recipe before wondering where the leavener is. Where is the baking soda? Do I need baking powder? In short, the answer is no. The reason why is because we want these brownies to be FUDGY. Leaveners work to give rise to baked goods, so if you were to put a rising agent in the brownie batter, you might just end up with a cakey brownie. Not that there’s anything wrong with a cakey brownie, but that’s not the vibe we are going for here. We want thick, chewy, indulgent, not light or airy. So, please do not fret seeing as there is no rising agent in this recipe, your brownies will be perfect without one!
The best part of these brownies is that ANYONE can make them. Yes, even the most timid of bakers. Even the bakers who are not bakers. Even that random guy Jeff who lives up the street. Literally anyone can make these. There is no leavener needed, and there is no machine equipment needed. As long as you have a whisk, a bowl, and a rubber spatula, you’re set!
Fudgy Chocolate Brownies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup Unsalted Butter
- 4 ounces Unsweetened Baking Chocolate
- 1½ cups Granulated Sugar
- 1½ cups Light Brown Sugar (packed)
- 4 Eggs
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- ½ cup Cocoa Powder (natural or dutch processed works!)
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1¼ cups All-Purpose Flour
- 6 ounces Chocolate Chips or Chocolate Shavings (OPTIONAL)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly spray one 9×13 inch OR two 8×8 inch pans with non-stick spray.
- In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, double boiler, or microwave, melt the butter and unsweetened chocolate together until just melted. Set aside to cool slightly.
- In a large bowl, add the melted butter and chocolate, and whisk until combined.
- Add the sugars and vanilla and whisk vigorously until all of the sugar is combined.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking to make sure the whole egg is evenly incorporated before adding the next.
- Sift the cocoa powder into the mixture using a sift or a fine mesh sieve. (You can skip sifting it, however it helps to relieve your brownies of cocoa clumps which are very unpleasant to bite into.
- In a separate, medium sized bowl, add the flour and the salt. Mix them thoroughly.
- Add the flour to the rest of the ingredients. The mixture will be very thick and you might have to switch from a whisk to a spatula to finish incorporating the flour.
- Fold in the chocolate chips or shavings if you are using those.
- Pour batter into prepared pan(s). If you are baking in a 9×13 inch pan, bake it for about 35-45 minutes, and if you are baking in two 8×8 inch pans, bake for 25-30 minutes.
- Allow to cool for 15 minutes before cutting and eating.
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