I realized my brownie preferences are pretty particular and most recipes tend to miss the mark, in my opinion. So to satisfy my cravings, I needed to figure out what recipe would give me the specific brownie texture and flavor I wanted. As a result, my house was tasked with the burden of eating brownies multiple times a week until I found the perfect recipe. And, I am excited to say I have finally found the best homemade fudgy brownies.
Brownies can range from cakey to chewy, but I am a fudgy and chewy brownie type! These brownies are super fudgy with a chew factor that keeps you coming back for more.
Making Homemade Fudgy Brownies
The basic ingredients of brownies are relatively straightforward: sugar, flour, fat, eggs, and chocolate. The difference comes down to the ratio and how you incorporate the ingredients.
To make these fudgy homemade brownies, each ingredient plays a role:
Chocolate:
- In this recipe, using a combination of chocolate and cocoa powder helps create a fudgy and chewy texture. The higher amount of cocoa butter from using melted chocolate typically results in a more fudgy brownie. Alternatively, to get a deeper overall chocolate flavor we use cocoa powder. Most of the cocoa butter is removed from cocoa powder, which creates a more "pure" chocolate flavor.
Fat:
- Many fudgy brownie recipes will call for oil because it has less water content than butter, which creates a more dense brownie. Whereas, butter has a higher water content that introduces more air in the batter, creating a more cake-like brownie. By melting the butter on low heat and omitting a chemical leavener in the batter, such as baking soda or baking powder, we don’t have to be as concerned with the aeration that butter may create, while still getting a delicious buttery flavor in each bite.
Coffee:
- Have you ever had a piece of chocolate while sipping on some coffee? Doesn’t it seem that the coffee seems to make the flavor of the chocolate that much more delicious? That is because coffee helps enhance the flavor of chocolate. By using a couple of teaspoons of espresso powder, it deepens the chocolate flavor.
Sugar:
- Sugar is the sweetener of your recipe, but it can also affect the texture. To get optimal chew factor in the final result, a combination of granulated and brown sugar are used. Additionally, the sugars and eggs will be thoroughly incorporated by whipping them together in order to get a delicious crinkle top for an added crunch.
Eggs:
- As mentioned above, we are not using a chemical leavener, which makes the eggs the only leavener in our recipe. Whole eggs are used to help create a slightly chewy texture.
Flour:
- Less flour equals a more fudgy and dense brownie. More flour equals a cakey brownie. This recipe uses cocoa powder, so minimal flour is needed to keep the dry ingredient ratio low and the finished product fudgy.
Salt:
- Salt is your dessert's best friend and helps enhance the sweetness in a dessert.
How to get a Crinkle Top on Fudgy Brownies
A crinkle top gives that perfect crunch that makes biting into a deliciously fudgy brownie that much more enticing.
So what gives brownies that crinkle top?
- Sugar and eggs
- Incorporating air into the sugar and eggs
By incorporating air into the sugar and eggs, you are essentially creating a meringue-like texture that helps create the crinkle crust when you bake your brownies. To do this, use the whisk attachment of a stand or hand mixer to properly aerate the egg and sugar mixture. If you don’t have a stand or hand mixer, have no fear, you can also do this by hand with a whisk, it just may take a little longer. 🙂
For this recipe, the whisking time is not very long, making the crinkle top less prominent. I wanted these brownies to have a nice thin crust for texture, but not become aerated to where the top separates from the base of the brownie.
If you would like a more prominent crinkle top, then you can extend the whisking time until the sugar and egg mixture is light and fluffy.
Tips for Knowing When Brownies Are Done
Are my brownies undercooked or overcooked? That is the question, especially when making gooey fudgy brownies.
I recommend to start checking whether your brownies are done 5 minutes before the recommended bake time, because every oven is different. Insert a toothpick into the center of the pan, and there should be a few moist but dull-looking crumbs on the end. It shouldn't be liquidy.
If it is liquidy, keep baking for another 5-10 minutes, depending on how liquidy the batter comes out on the toothpick.
If the crumbs on the end still look shiny then keep baking and check every 1-2 minutes until a few dull-looking crumbs come out on the end of the toothpick.
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If you end up making and enjoy these delicious homemade fudgy brownies, please consider tagging me @nightowlsbakingco on Instagram and commenting below.
Happy Baking!
PrintThe Best Homemade Fudgy Brownies
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 12 Brownies 1x
Description
Rich, chewy, and fudgy brownies with a perfect crinkle top
Ingredients
- ¾ c Butter (stick and a half)
- ⅔ c Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips
- ¼ c Natural Cocoa Powder
- 2 tsp Instant Espresso Coffee Powder
- ¾ c Granulated Sugar
- ¾ c Light Brown Sugar
- 3 eggs (room temperature)
- ½ c All-Purpose Flour
- ½ tsp Salt
Instructions
Prep:
- Bring eggs to room temperature
- Prepare 8x8 square pan (grease and line with parchment paper)
Brownies:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and line your 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a small saucepan, melt butter on low heat. Do not let butter boil.
- Once the butter is melted, remove from heat. Stir in chocolate chips until melted and combined. Stir in cocoa powder until combined. Lastly, stir in Instant Espresso Coffee Powder until combined. Set the pan aside.
- In a bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, or medium-size bowl if you are using a hand mixer, add in both sugars.
- At medium-low speed, add in one egg at a time and mix until just combined. Once you add the last egg, keep mixing for about 1 minute. The sugar and egg mixture should be pale in color.
- Pour chocolate mixture into sugar and eggs mixture and mix until combined. Scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure the chocolate is fully incorporated.
- Fold flour and salt into wet ingredients until just combined.
- Pour batter into your prepared pan
- Place on the middle rack of your preheated oven and bake for 45-50 minutes*. Check for doneness 5 minutes before the recommended bake time**
- Once done, allow to completely cool. It is tempting to want to cut right into them, but allowing them to fully cool will give you that delish fudginess and chew factor you are looking for.
Notes
*Each oven is different so checking 5 minutes before the recommended bake time will help you gauge how much more time you’ll need. Additionally:
- If using a metal 8x8 pan, recommend checking around 40 minutes as metal pans conduct heat faster, speeding up the bake time.
- If using a pan larger than 8x8, recommend checking around 35-38 minutes, as the brownies will not be as thick, speeding up the baking time.
**Checking for doneness: insert a toothpick into the middle of the brownies. When you pull out the toothpick it should have a few moist chocolate crumbs on the end. It shouldn't be liquidy. If it is liquidy, keep baking and check every 2-3 minutes until done.
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: crinkle top brownies, fudgy and chewy brownies, homemade fudgy brownies
Thank you to my Significant Other, roommates, and co-workers for being the taste testers…your sacrifice does not go unnoticed.
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