My Favourite Chocolate Fudge Brownie Recipe

My favourite fudgy chocolate brownies. Pure. Chocolate. Heaven. With a gooey and chocolatey centre, slightly crispy edges and a thin crackly crunch on top – these brownies are the perfect slices of chocolate heaven.

OH my gosh. These brownies are my absolute ‘go-to’ recipe for a quick and easy tea-time snack or dessert (or, both?). I wouldn’t characterise them as a ‘Classic’ brownie recipe nor are they chewy. These brownies are a chocolatey, fudgy and decadent treat, easy to throw together and ready in 30 mins! The dark chocolate and cocoa powder enhances the richness of that chocolate flavour.

The recipe can be enhanced with an addition of your favourite nuts or chocolate chips!

Baking it to Perfection:

• Do not over bake: as with most cakes and pastries, I know we’ve all been taught to bake our good till a toothpick inserted in the middle of it comes out clean. The trick to these brownies (and a lot of brownie recipes) is to watch that brownie like a hawk as it’s closer to completing the recommended baking time. You want to ensure that you still see a smear of brown colour on the toothpick with a few moist crumbs sticking to the toothpick – that’s when you know your brownies are done! Most ovens have different temperature settings so be sure to check on the brownies toward the minimum baking time.
• Allow the brownies to completely cool in the pan before removing and slicing – the HARDEST part of this whole recipe! To ensure that your brownie sets well and doesn’t make a beautiful mess when cut into, allow the brownies to cool in the pan on a cooling rack for at least 40-60 mins before slicing into them with a clean knife.

Some of the key players in this recipe:

• High quality dark chocolate – seeing as this recipe calls for a generous amount of dark chocolate, the flavour of the brownie relies heavily on the quality of the chocolate used. Growing up in New Zealand and now living in Australia, I always reach out for Nestle’s Dark Chocolate Melts. I opt for dark chocolate because milk chocolate would increase the sweetness of your brownie.
• Brown sugar – a lot of Classic brownie recipes call for either all white sugar or a combination of white and brown sugar. White sugar is more ‘dry’ and results in a chewier brownie, brown sugar has a high molasses content resulting in a more ‘wet’ texture. This recipe uses 100% brown sugar which creates the fudgy and moist texture that I love in this brownie.
• Instant espresso – a teaspoon of instant espresso powder is added to this recipe to enhance the complexity of the chocolate flavour without influencing a coffee taste to the brownie.

Baking it Different:

• Additions – As mentioned earlier, these brownies are absolutely divine on their own. You can however enhance the texture of the brownie to your preference by folding in either a cup of dark chocolate chips, walnuts, macadamias or pecans right before placing them in the baking tray to bake.
• Gluten free – these can easily be made gluten free by substituting an equal amount of gluten-free plain flour in place of the all-purpose flour in the recipe.
• Less fudgy – if you prefer a less fudgy brownie, you can allow the brownies to stay in the oven a couple of mins longer than the minimum baking time and till a tooth pick inserted in the brownie comes out clean.

My Favourite Chocolate Fudge Brownie Recipe

5 from 25 votes

Recipe by Shilpika Course: All Recipes, Bars, DessertsDifficulty: Easy

Servings

16

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

15

minutes

Total time

30

minutes

Ingredients

• 200 g butter, chopped (salted/unsalted)

• 200 g dark chocolate, chopped into pieces

• 3/4 cup brown sugar

• 3 eggs, lightly beaten

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 3/4 cup all purpose flour

• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder

• 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder/granules (optional)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 190C. Line and grease 18cm x 18cm/20cm x 20cm square pan with baking paper and cooking oil spray/butter.
• In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter, brown sugar and dark chocolate till just melted and smooth. Transfer chocolate mixture to a heatproof bowl and allow to cool slightly.
• Add vanilla and beaten egg mixture to the cooled chocolate mixture and stir well with a spatula (Note: if the chocolate mixture is too hot, the eggs will cook!).
• Sift flour and cocoa powder into chocolate mixture. Stir in espresso powder. (If adding chocolate chips, walnuts etc – fold in at this step).
• Pour brownie batter into prepared baking pan. Bake for 17-20 minutes – the time will vary depending on the heat settings on your oven and your preference for a more/less fudgy brownie. A toothpick inserted into the brownie batter should come out with a few moist crumbs still stuck to the toothpick.
• Allow the brownie to cool on a wire rack in the pan completely before removing and slicing. Store brownies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Notes

• Gluten-free option: This recipe can be made gluten-free by substituting an equal amount of gluten-free plain flour for all-purpose flour in the recipe.
• Note: if you use a larger square pan, it will result in a thinner brownie and lesser baking time. A smaller square pan will result in a thicker brownie with a slightly longer baking time.
• Clean cut: the trick to getting a clean cut when slicing the brownies is to allow them to cool completely and wipe off the knife after each cut, ensuring you start each slice with a clean knife.
• This recipe has been loosely adapted from Taste Australia – my go-to recipe for years!