Brownie Recipes
“Can we do that?”
“What? Bake brownies?” I asked.
“From scratch! Do you have brownie recipes? We always use ready-to-bake mix at our home.”
Somehow, I was not surprised at this revelation from a couple of intelligent twelve-year-old kids who had recently spent an evening with me while their parents were out on the town.
To pass the time constructively, I suggested that we baked brownies. When we finished baking and were enjoying the scrumptious treats, they both agreed that the brownies were delicious. It took just about the same amount of time and kitchen utensils as it did had we used store-bought brownie mix.
“Would you two like to have a brownie recipe?” I ventured a question.
One of them shrugged her shoulders and replied un-committingly.
“I guess.”
Had they shown a bit more interest, I would have shared my collection of brownie recipes with them along with the following tips.
- The key to baking moist and light brownies is thoroughly creaming butter with sugar. Make sure that ingredients are at room temperature, ideally between 65 – 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
If you happen to add cold eggs to the mixture and the butter starts to curdle, keep a warm towel wrapped around the bowl and continue mixing.
- For chewy and fudgy brownies, melt butter instead of creaming it and use extra chocolate. These brownies also benefit from longer baking time (55 – 60 minutes). They need a higher ratio of sugar to flour than those that are moist and light.
- Butterscotch brownies are supposed to be extremely sweet. This flavor is created by using brown sugar and a large amount of vanilla extract. Using the right size baking pan is espeially important for this type of brownies. If you use one that are larger than recommended, your brownies will likely dry out and become hard rather than chewy.
- Removing brownies and cleaning up are much easier if you line your baking pan with aluminum foil, and allow about an inch or so of foil hanging over the rim. Once the brownies are cooled, use it to lift the entire baked goods out of the pan.
Lining with aluminum foil also increases the chance of your brownies coming out of the pan with preferable square corners and neat straight edges.
A problem I used to have when baking brownies was telling when they were done. The following steps have been very helpful in keeping my brownies from being overbaked.
- Making sure that my oven is fully heated.
- Turning on the kitchen timer as soon as I put the pan of brownies into the hot oven.
- Checking the brownies the minute I can smell the ever-wonderful aroma of chocolate, even if my timer hasn’t gone off yet.
- Gently touching the center of the brownies with my fingertips. It should be set on top but give easily.
- Inserting a cake tester into the center. My brownies are done if it comes out with only a few moist crumbs.
Brownie Recipes
When you are in a mood for baking from scratch, check out the following brownie recipes.
- Applesauce Brownies
- Banana Brownies
- Butterscotch Brownies1
- Cheesecake Brownies
- Chocolate Chip Zucchini Brownies
- Chewy, Fudgy Brownies1
- Cream Cheese Brownies
- GF Butterscotch Brownies
- Ginger Brownies
- Meringue Brownies
- Moist, Light Brownies1
- No Bake Brownies
- Peanut Butter Brownies
- Rocky Road Brownies
All purpose flour | 1 cup |
Baking powder | ½ tsp |
Salt | ½ tsp |
Unsalted butter, softened | 4 oz or 1 stick |
Dark brown sugar, packed | 1 cup |
Eggs | 2 large |
Vanilla extract | 1 Tbsp |
Molasses | 1 Tbsp |
Pecans, coarsely chopped | ¼ cup |
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line an 8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil.
- Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt onto a sheet of wax paper or into a bowl, then set aside.
- On high speed, beat softened butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and molasses for about 1 minute or until creamy and smooth. You can also do this step with a wooden spoon, but of course it will take longer.
- Gently fold in the flour mixture using a spatula. When it is halfway incorporated, stir in chopped pecans and continue gently folding until all ingredients are just combined.
- Transfer batter to prepared baking pan, and bake for 30 – 35 minutes. You may want to turn front to back halfway through. Brownies are done when center top is slightly firm to touch and sides start to pull away from the pan.
- Cool completely in pan. Using aluminum foil overhangs as handles, lift brownies out of baking pan onto a cutting board. Cut into squares and serve.
- This brownie recipe makes about sixteen 2-inch squares.
Eggs | 3 large |
Vanilla extract | 2 tsp |
Unsweetened chocolate | 4 oz |
Unsalted butter | 1¼ sticks or 6 oz |
Granulated sugar | 1¼ cups |
Salt | ½ tsp |
All purpose flour | 1¼ cups |
Walnuts pieces, optional | 1 cup |
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line an 8-inch baking pan with either aluminum foil or parchment paper.
- Whisk eggs and vanilla extract together and set aside.
- Melt chocolate and butter in a small saucepan over very low heat. Then pour the melted chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and whisk them together well.
- Add the remaining ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon.
- Scrape batter into prepared baking pan and press into place. Batter will be very thick and greasy-looking.
- Bake for about 50 minutes or until a cake tester comes out with only a few moist crumbs when inserted into center. If you prefer chewier brownies, bake 5 or 10 minutes longer.
- Cool completely in pan before removing, cutting, and serving. This brownie recipe makes about sixteen 2-inch squares.
Unsweetened chocolate | 2 oz |
Unsalted butter, room T. | 1 stick or 4 oz |
Granulated sugar | 1 cup |
Eggs | 3 large |
Vanilla extract | 1 tsp |
Salt | ¼ tsp |
All purpose flour | ½ cup |
Walnuts, coarsely chopped | 1 cup |
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line an 8-inch baking pan with either aluminum foil or parchment paper.
- Melt chocolate in a microwave or in a small saucepan over very low heat.
- Cream butter and sugar together on high speed for about 3 minutes.
- Add eggs, one at a time. Beat well after each addition.
- Add the hot, melted chocolate and continue beating on high speed until the mixture looks smooth and dull.
- Add vanilla extract, salt, flour, and walnuts. Gently fold them together using a wooden spoon.
- Pour batter into prepared baking pan. Bake for 30 – 35 minutes or until a cake tester comes out with only a few moist crumbs when inserted into center.
- Cool in pan completely before removing, cutting, and serving. This brownie recipe makes about sixteen 2-inch squares.
Other Easy Brownie Recipes | Other Easy Cookie Recipes |
1 These brownie recipes are in The Dessert Bible by Christopher Kimball. First Edition. Little, Brown and Co. Publishing. 2000