The BEST brownie recipe! With crispy edges, fudgy middles, and rich chocolate flavor, these homemade brownies will disappear in no time.
For years, I couldn’t seem to find a recipe for brownies that met my standards. Anytime I made homemade brownies, I wanted them to be just like the ones I ate as a kid – super fudgy, moist, and chocolaty, with crispy edges and crackly tops. But the thing is, these brownies didn’t come from a recipe. We always made them from a box. Nowadays, I prefer to bake from scratch, but no brownie recipe I tried could live up to the chocolate brownies of my childhood.
So this fall, as I flipped through Michelle Lopez’s new book Weeknight Baking, her recipe for Boxed Mix Brownies, From Scratch caught my eye. Would I finally be able to make homemade brownies that would be just as delicious as the ones from a box?
The verdict: yes! I’ve had this brownie recipe on repeat since the first time I tried it. It calls for basic pantry ingredients, and it’s hardly more difficult than using a mix. As for the brownies, they’re true perfection – glossy, fudgy, and filled with rich chocolate flavor. Trust me, you’re going to want to make them ASAP!
Another thing you should do ASAP is check out Weeknight Baking! This book is packed with crave-worthy recipes that are meant for busy weeknights. Each one comes with fun variations (I have my eye on the matcha snickerdoodles) as well as tips for becoming a more efficient baker. After years of juggling a 9-to-5 job and running her blog, Hummingbird High, Michelle is full of wisdom on how to bake on a busy schedule. She writes, “We’re all doing the best we can with what we have. And I’m going to help you bake any night of the week that works for you.” If you love baking, you’ll love this book.
Homemade Brownie Recipe Ingredients
Back to Michelle’s recipe for brownies! In order for it to turn out like (aka better than) the boxed mix, Michelle uses granulated sugar, all-purpose flour, salt, and chocolate chips. Then, she adds these key ingredients:
- 2 eggs + water – Michelle uses a bit of water with the eggs to achieve the moist, gooey texture of boxed mix brownies without any commercial emulsifiers. And because this recipe doesn’t contain any baking powder, eggs are essential for helping the brownies puff up in the oven.
- Powdered sugar – The trick to making homemade brownies that are just like ones from a box! Powdered sugar contains cornstarch, which helps thicken the batter without the chemical additives you’d find in a mix.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder – Michelle recommends using Hershey’s Special Dark Dutch-processed cocoa powder (I used Whole Foods’ 365 Cocoa Powder). Make sure to sift it if it’s lumpy!
- Oil – While many recipes for brownies use unsalted butter, Michelle’s calls for canola oil, just like the boxed mix. I use olive oil because it’s what I keep on hand, and I love the rich flavor.
- Vanilla Extract – 1/2 teaspoon vanilla really amps up the chocolate flavor.
That’s it! These fantastic homemade brownies are so easy.
How to Make Brownies from Scratch
First, mix together the dry and wet ingredients in two separate bowls. Combine the sugar, flour, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, chocolate chips, and salt in a medium bowl. Then, whisk together the eggs, olive oil, and water in a large one.
Next, combine the wet and dry ingredients. Sprinkle the dry mixture over the wet one, and fold until just combined. The batter will be thick!
Then, pour the batter into an 8×8 inch baking pan lined with parchment paper. Use a rubber spatula to spread it to all four sides of the pan and to smooth the top. The mixture will be very thick – that’s ok.
Finally, bake! Transfer the pan to a 325-degree oven and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out with a few crumbs attached. Allow the brownies to cool completely before slicing and serving. Enjoy!
Store any leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. They also freeze well for up to a month. Last time I made these, I doubled the recipe and stored the second batch in the freezer. It was so fun to have them on hand for a quick and easy dessert or afternoon treat!
Best Brownie Recipe Tips
- Better chocolate chips = better brownies. In her book, Michelle writes that one of the biggest secrets to making great brownies is using large, good-quality chocolate chips. She recommends Ghiradelli’s 60% Cacao Bittersweet Baking Chips, while I love Enjoy Life’s Dark Chocolate Morsels. Either brand would fantastic in this recipe!
- It’s better to pull them out too early than to leave them in too long. No one likes dry brownies, so err on the side of caution when you’re making this recipe. Bake them until a toothpick inserted comes out with just a few crumbs attached. If you’re on the fence, go ahead and take them out of the oven. They’ll continue to firm up as they cool!
- Wait for them to cool. Try your best to resist eating these guys straight out of the oven. Letting them cool makes them gooier and fudgier, and they’ll be less likely to crumble when you slice them. Plus, they’ll have an even richer chocolate flavor. Trust me, it’s worth the wait!
More Favorite Desserts
If you love this brownie recipe, try one of these yummy treats next!
- Perfect Oatmeal Cookies
- Easy Sugar Cookies
- No-Bake Cookies
- Best Peanut Butter Cookies
- Orange Zest Shortbread Cookies
- Vegan Coconut Macaroons
Best Homemade Brownies
Equipment
- 8x8 Baking Dish (this is the one I use so they don't overcook)
- Cooking Spray (I love this avocado oil one from Chosen Foods)
- Parchment Paper (this makes it so much easier to remove the brownies from the pan)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar*
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup cocoa powder, sifted if lumpy
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted if lumpy
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
- 3/4 teaspoons sea salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup canola oil or extra-virgin olive oil**
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly spray an 8x8 baking dish (not a 9x9 dish or your brownies will overcook) with cooking spray and line it with parchment paper. Spray the parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, powdered sugar, chocolate chips, and salt.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, olive oil, water, and vanilla.
- Sprinkle the dry mix over the wet mix and stir until just combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan (it'll be thick - that's ok) and use a spatula to smooth the top. Bake for 40 to 48 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with only a few crumbs attached (note: it's better to pull the brownies out early than to leave them in too long). Cool completely before slicing.*** Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. These also freeze well!
Notes
This tastes amazing you can also make it into a cake but its quite strong so if you don’t like dark chocolate then you might want to surve them whith some cream or ice cream and it works grait as a birthday cake. I am 11 and I found it very easy too make with no adult supervision.
Hi Azora, I’m so glad you loved the brownies!
I bake ALOT and wanted to try this recipe. It looked promising and turned out so pretty. My 6 yr old wouldn’t even eat them ? I thought she was being dramatic but I tasted them and it was like eating oil with cocoa mixed in. I might try to use melted butter next time but not sure I even want to
Hi Emily, did you use olive oil? If you’re not a fan of the taste, I’d recommend using vegetable oil or melted butter next time.
Modified
Reduced sugar to 3/4
Used 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce in place of oil
Used semi sweet chocolate chips instead of dark
Reduced baking time to 30 min.
Brownies were great.
Hey, so glad you loved them! Thanks for sharing your twist.
The brownies are not my personal cup of tea. To me, the recipe and taste leads with sugar and follows with cocoa versus my preference of the other way around. I liked the ease of the recipe though and the consistency of the brownies. The suggestion of using parchment paper worked well for me.
Hi Valerie, thanks for your comment! If you prefer a less sweet brownie, I’d recommend reducing the granulated sugar to 1 cup in the future.
Tasted like olive oil to me? I used 1/2 cup as recipe called for. Not my favorite, do not think I would make again
I had a similar experience first time I made these. If you’re willing to give them another try here is what I have to say-
Next time use a different oil OR get a higher quality oil. I don’t know what you used, but when mine didn’t taste great (and mostly like oil) it was cause I used a cheaper quality EVOO. I got some “fancy” imported extra virgin and these are now my favorite recipe to make. Top 2 brownie recipes out there, number one for convenience and time.
The best. I make this anytime I’m bringing a dessert to an event or want to treat my family.
Hi Elizabeth, I’m so glad you love the brownies!
These have quickly become our weekend brownies for Sunday dinner 🙂 delish! Question – if one wanted to make enough for a 13×9 pan, would doubling the recipe be enough? And how about cook time?
Hi Autumn, other readers have successfully doubled this recipe and used a 9×13-inch pan! The bake time will be similar, potentially a few minutes longer.
It was amazing, so easy to follow and made brownies as good as store-bought ones! Would recommend. Tip: if u leave them out under a paper towel all edges will become crunchy while the inside is still soft.
Substituted the water with espresso and most of the flour with almond flour.
The batter almost didn’t make it to the oven, couldn’t stop “tasting it”. Not like licking-the-bowl-tasting, I actually grabbed a spoon and had like a whole brownie piece worth of it.
Uh-ma-zing
Yum, I’m so glad they were a hit!
Fudgey, rich with a little saltiness to balance out the sweetness, and crispy, shiny top! Brought them to a gathering and people were fighting over who could take them home.
These were my first attempt at making completely homemade brownies. I loved the simplicity of this recipe! The batter does come together very thick and mine was even a little oily looking. I had a hard time telling when they were done because my toothpick kept coming out a little wet. But I had cooked it for the recommended time and the edges were getting really crispy so I pulled it out. It completely firmed up and was very crackly on the outside and gooey in the middle! If anything, I would cook them a little less next time. I will definitely be making these again!
Hi Madeline, I’m so glad they were such a hit!
I followed the recipe best as I could, minus one thing. I used farm fresh eggs which were smaller so I used 3 instead of 2 large.
I don’t know if that made a difference but these never set, they were totally gooey and raw in the middle despite letting them set for 2 hours and then trying to cook them longer for another 20 minutes in the oven.
I have no idea what I did wrong but the taste of the cooked parts of the brownies weren’t that great, very overly sweet and the cocoa wasn’t that rich.
So good
This is the ONLY brownie recipe I’ve used since I discovered it! Completely customizable and PERFECT!
I’m so glad it’s been perfect!
I don’t know what some of the folks here are talking about… these were fantastic! I didn’t even follow the recipe very closely and I made them in little individual ramekins and they still came out great!
I’m so glad you loved them!
This recipe is AWESOME!!!!!!! Everybody liked it, including my sister who said she didn’t like it…..she loved it(you should be amazed by this! My sister is very picky!)!!!!!!
Same with mine! She said that they where better than store-bought ones
Ha ha, I’m glad they were a big hit!
Just terrible. Undersweetened, cakey, and dry. I live in a dry area so I expected to need extra moisture, but even an extra half cup of water was only barely enough to hydrate the dry ingredients, let alone form a batter.
This is the best brownie recipe I’ve found so bravo to the creator , I’ve seen other comments asking for grams, so I took the liberty to weigh out each measurement in the recipe.
Brownie:
– 115 grams AP flour (3/4 c)
– 300 grams sugar (11/2 c)
– 60 grams cocoa pwdr (2/3 c)
– 100 grams Powdered sugar (1/2 c)
– 5 grams Sea salt (3/4 tsp)
– 2 large eggs
– 100 grams Vegetable oil (1/2 c)
– 24 grams Water (2 tbls)
– 4 grams Vanilla (1/2 tsp)
– 90 grams Dark choc chips (1 bar)
THANK YOU for the grams!! So very much appreciated!
Yay GRAMS!!! Thanks Nick!!!
This is a question, not a comment. I’m making these for a party and I was wondering is I could double the recipe and how long to bake itl
Thank you, Lucille
Hi Lucille, others have doubled and used a 9×13 pan. You’ll have to check the bake time since the batter will be thicker in that pan. Or 2 8×8 pans would be ideal. Hope that helps!
I really like this recipe it’s fool proof. I used a 9×9 pan sprayed it with Pam, put in parchment paper sprayed that as well and it worked perfectly. Not too sweet, pair it with milk, classic! Im going to freeze some, see how it goes!
I’m so glad you loved them!
A fan favorite in our house! Who knew brownies could taste so good?! I live at altitude and the only change I make is adding a few minutes to the baking time. I love that these are all ingredients that I always have on hand!
Hi Mel, I’m so glad they’ve been a hit!
These are flipping perfect. I used melted unsalted butter as I had no oil. Amazing crumb, bakery sheen on the top as well. The best brownie recipe hands down,
How much butter did you use in comparison to the oil
probably half cup?