Homemade Brownies have rich chocolate flavor, fudgy, moist and shiny cracked top. This brownie recipe uses simple pantry ingredients and makes the perfect brownies consistently. Brownies from scratch are so much better than the box mix- this will be your new favorite recipe!
Made with only 6-ingredients, this will be your new favorite brownie recipe. Warm, gooey brownies from scratch in about one hour!
We love folding in crushed Heath bar pieces or walnuts into the brownie batter. But you can also leave it out. This is one of the easiest brownie recipes to make! And so darn delicious!
We love chewy fudge brownies, but wanted to create a brownies recipe that used chocolate chips. This brownies recipe is perfection, glossy on top, fudgy and filled with so much chocolate flavor!
If you’ve been looking for the perfect brownie recipe, don’t look any further! We promise you’ll love these homemade brownies! (If you love chocolate chips, be sure and try our chocolate chip cookies!)
Two cups of melted chocolate chips gives these brownies so much gooey chocolate flavor and helps create the shiny cracked top. This is the best fudgy brownies recipe! And if you love homemade brownies as much as we do, you are certain to enjoy these!
Why this recipe works
- Simple to make – Follow the instructions below to make the most delicious fudgy brownies. They’ll give you that beautiful, glossy cracked top.
- Basic pantry ingredients – Brownies are made with simple ingredients, including chocolate chips that can easily be located at most grocery stores in the baking aisle.
- Quick and easy dessert – Homemade brownies are the perfect quick and easy dessert.
What you’ll need
- Chocolate chips – Use your favorite brand. We buy high-quality chocolate chips at BJ’s or Sam’s Club. It’s a bigger bag for a much better value!
- Butter – Use a high quality unsalted butter to achieve the best results. Unsalted butter lets you control the amount of salt added to recipes.
- Granulated sugar – Sweetens the chocolate.
- Eggs – With any of our baking recipes, we always recommend using large eggs. Make sure your eggs are fresh, at room temperature and always crack them into a separate container. (Even the freshest eggs can occasionally have a bad egg!)
- All-purpose flour – Be sure and sift your flour. Use a flour sifter or a mesh strainer to sift flour. This will ensure you have no lumps in your brownie batter.
- Salt – Salt accents the sweetness and brings out the chocolate flavor.
- Vanilla extract – It’s super important with any baking recipes to use pure vanilla extract! It makes a huge difference in the flavor of this brownies recipe!
How do you make brownies shiny on top?
Do you want to achieve that beautiful shiny, flaky top on brownies?
The key to making shiny top on brownies is several things. Using chocolate chips, beating the eggs before incorporating with sugar, then mixing those two together well. And mixing the melted chocolate chips with the melted butter.
Following these key steps in making homemade brownies will help you achieve that shiny, cracked top each and every time.
What makes a brownie more fudgy?
Fudgy brownies have a higher fat to flour ratio than cakey ones.
What is the secret to gooey brownies?
The most important thing is do not overbake them! Rotate the baking pan about half way through the baking process to ensure they bake evenly. And be take them out of the oven before the toothpick when inserted comes out clean.
How to make Brownies from Scratch
Follow these important steps to create the best homemade brownies! In order to achieve the shiny, cracked top on brownies, it’s super important to work in these steps.
- Preheat oven – Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease an 9-inch square metal baking pan. It’s also helpful to line the baking pan with parchment paper.
- Whisk eggs – Use a fork to whisk eggs in a large glass measuring cup.
- Combine melted chocolate & butter – Melt chocolate chips and butter in separate glass measuring cups, then combine in a glass mixing bowl. Stir with rubber spatula to combine.
- Combine sugar, vanilla and eggs – Use an electric hand mixer or whisk to thoroughly combine these ingredients.
- Whisk in flour – It’s important to sift the flour to ensure no lumps in your brownie batter! Whisk into the chocolate mixture with an electric hand mixer or heavy-duty whisk.
- Pour into baking pan – Pour brownie batter into baking pan, spread evenly with a rubber spatula. The batter will be thick!
- Bake – Bake in preheated 350 degree F oven for about 55 minutes.
- Let cool – Once cool, lift the brownies out of the baking pan by holding the parchment paper. Cut them on a cutting board, rather than in the baking pan. This prevents scratching or damaging the baking pan.
Brownies from scratch are one of our favorite quick and easy desserts! And who doesn’t love warm, gooey fudgy brownies?!
For the perfect brownie batter consistency, we recommend using an electric hand mixer or beater attachment on a stand mixer.
We are absolutely obsessed with Heath bar pieces folded into these fudgy brownies. Since they are sometimes hard to find in the baking aisle, simply take a Heath bar and use a rolling pin to crush it (while still in the wrapper.)
Don’t love Heath bar? You can also fold in any type of chopped nuts into the brownie batter!
Recipe FAQs
The secret to a perfectly cracked brownie top is beating the eggs and sugar first. Using white sugar versus brown sugar will help create perfect homemade brownies
One of the most common mistakes while making homemade brownies is overbaking them. In order to achieve the perfect fudginess to brownies, bake them for the time recommended in the recipe. Test with a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan, it should still have some chocolate on the toothpick.
Metal baking pans provide a more even heat distribution, leading to more evenly baked brownies. We recommend carefully rotating the baking pan about half way through baking (180 degrees), bake them on the top of middle rack of the oven and monitor the oven temperature.
Glass baking pans may need to be baked slightly longer because they do not retain the heat as well.
Best Brownie recipe tips
- Use high-quality chocolate chips – Using quality chocolate chips will help homemade brownies be moist and super chocolatey.
- Use high-quality butter – Not all brands of butter are the same. After testing butter, we find that higher quality butter helps make brownies from scratch moist, chocolatey and helps achieve the glossy cracked top.
- Beat the eggs well – This gives brownies a shiny cracked top and is the leavening agent that helps them rise.
- Don’t overbake them – It’s super important not to overbake them. Monitor the baking time and use a toothpick to check the center of the brownies. It should be not completely covered in brownie batter, but just a little.
- Let them cool before slicing – This helps brownies set and as you slice them, they won’t completely fall apart.
Homemade brownies make a great addition to a holiday cookie platter or Christmas cookie tins! (We often find cute cookie trays or cookie tins at mom & pop grocery stores in the seasonal section!)
More Holiday dessert recipes
- Cream Puffs
- Homemade Cheesecake
- Raspberry Bars
- Molasses Cookies
- Christmas Sugar Cookies
- Spritz Cookies
- Banana Bread
- Pumpkin Bread
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Best Brownies Recipe
Ingredients
Homemade Brownies
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
- 2 cups Dark chocolate or semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour sifted
- 3 (1.4-ounce) Heath Bar optional
Instructions
Homemade Brownies
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line a metal 9×9-inch baking pan with parchment paper and spray with cooking or baking spray. Set aside.
- Crack eggs into a glass measuring cup and beat well with a fork.
- Microwave chocolate in glass measuring cup on 30 second intervals. Stir with a spoon until melted and smooth.
- Melt butter in a glass measuring cup in the microwave. (about 30 seconds to 1 minute)
- In a large mixing bowl add sugar, whisked eggs, vanilla extract and combine with an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer.
- Combine the melted butter and melted chocolate, stir with a whisk or rubber spatula to combine until smooth.
- Scrape the chocolate and butter mixture into the sugar and eggs mixture. Use a rubber spatula to scrape all of the chocolate mixture into the bowl. Beat with an electric hand mixer or use a stand mixer to combine.
- Sift flour into a small bowl. Add salt. Whisk flour into the chocolate sugar mixture using a whisk or an electric hand mixer to combine everything until smooth.
- Fold in crushed Heath bar pieces with a rubber spatula.
- Pour the brownie batter into a prepared 9×9 inch baking pan. (Metal pan preferred lined with parchment paper and sprayed with cooking or baking spray.)
- Use a rubber spatula to spread the brownie batter evenly into the baking pan.
- Bake in a preheated 350-degree F oven for about 55-60 minutes, or when a toothpick when inserted comes out with only a few crumbs. Rotate the baking pan 180 degrees about half way through baking process.
- Let cool for about 1 hour before removing from the baking pan. Let cool completely before slicing.
Recipe Notes
Homemade Brownies
You can also use ¾ cup chopped walnuts instead of crushed Heath bar. Or swirl in 1-2 heaping tablespoons of Nutella into the brownie batter just prior to baking. Use a butter knife to swirl it back and forth into the batter. Rotate the baking pan 180 degrees about half way through baking process. This will help them bake more evenly. Each oven is different, we recommend using an oven thermometer. Set your timer to 50-55 minutes. Check the brownies with a toothpick. It should not come out clean, but still have some chocolate crumbs on it. (but not be super coated in chocolate) Allow brownies to cool completely before cutting into squares. This will allow them to fully set and they will cut into squares easily.Nutrition
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Sandy Miller says
The crackle top on these brownies is incredible, love this easy fast recipe Jessica, thank you.
Jessica Robinson says
Sandy,
I’m SO happy that you enjoyed it and it was easy to follow!!! Thank you for letting me know!