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Home » Baking & Desserts » Biscuits & Bars » Easy Chocolate Brownies (That Taste Amazing!)

17 February 2018

Easy Chocolate Brownies (That Taste Amazing!)

My recipe for easy homemade chocolate brownies that taste absolutely amazing. Includes step-by-step pictures.

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Homemade chocolate brownies cut into squares and arranged in rows. You can see the crisp, shiny top and gooey centre.

I’ve recently been looking back through my recipe index and I realised that there are quite a few basic baking recipes missing that really should be there. To rectify this I’ve decided to go on a bit of a mission to fill the gaps.

Today’s recipe is a classic chocolate brownie recipe which is easy to make. It gives you delicious brownies that are crisp on top and gooey on the inside. They’re a family favourite and Daniel (my 7 year old) told me if they sold these in coffee shops then it would be all he’d ever order 🙂

Looking down on a batch of easy homemade chocolate brownies cut into squares and arranged randomly on a white background.

What’s the secret to perfect chocolate brownies

I think the most important step in creating perfect chocolate brownies is making sure the egg and sugar mixture are whisked enough that they thicken before you fold in the chocolate (step 3 in the recipe). This is what gives the brownies their distinctive crispy top. It’s almost like a thin layer of chocolatey meringue above the gooey brownie centre.

Another important tip is to ensure that you don’t over-bake the brownies. You want to take them out of the oven when the edges are just starting to pull in from the sides of the tin. If you insert a skewer it should have a few crumbs sticking to it (unlike cake where you want it to come out clean). Don’t worry if you do accidentally overcook them, you’ll have delicious chocolate cake slices instead!

My final tip for brownie success is to let them cool in the tin. The brownies are very soft when they first come out of the oven and if you try and remove them too soon you may well find that they crumble. Leaving them for an hour or so to cool before removing them will allow them to firm up.

A batch of homemade chocolate brownies. Some on the table top, some cooling on a rack and some still in the tin in the background.

Introducing step-by-step images for my recipes

I recently did a poll on my Instagram stories asking whether people like to see step-by-step pictures on recipes and the overwhelming response was “Yes”. I listened and I’ve added some extra images to the recipe to show what everything should look like at each stage.

I’d love to know what you think… helpful? not helpful? are there other images you think it would be useful to see?

Let me know in the comments.

If they’re something you’re all finding useful then I’ll look to add them to more of my recipes in future.

Homemade chocolate brownies cut into squares and arranged in rows. You can see the crisp, shiny top and gooey centre.

Easy Chocolate Brownies

My recipe for easy homemade chocolate brownies that taste absolutely amazing.
5 from 8 votes
Print Rate
Active Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Servings: 12 brownies (or 48 brownie bites)

INGREDIENTS

Metric - US Cups/Ounces
  • 3 medium eggs
  • 200 g unsalted butter
  • 200 g milk chocolate
  • 30 g cocoa powder
  • 100 g self-raising flour
  • 250 g soft light brown sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Pre-heat your oven to 170ºC/150ºC fan. Line a 20x30cm baking tray with greaseproof paper.
  • Melt your butter (200g) and milk chocolate (200g). I prefer to melt mine in a saucepan over a very low heat, stirring constantly to ensure that it doesn’t burn and the butter and chocolate combine. Alternatively you can also melt them in the microwave (about 1½-2 minutes) or using a bain marie. Once your butter and chocolate have melted pour them into a different bowl to cool. They must be fully cooled before they are added to the other ingredients.
    Chocolate brownies steps 1 and 2 of the recipe. Lined baking tray and melted chocolate.
  • Whisk your eggs (3 medium eggs) until they are pale in colour. Add the soft light brown sugar (250g) and whisk until the eggs and sugar are fully combined and have thickened (you’ll know they’re ready when you lift out the whisk and the drips leave a trail that takes a few moments to disappear).
  • Add the chocolate and butter mixture (it must be cooled!) and fold it into the egg mixture taking care not to knock out the air.
    Chocolate brownies recipe steps 3 & 4. Eggs whisked with brown sugar. Melted chocolate folded into the egg mixture.
  • Sift your self-raising flour (100g) and cocoa powder (30g) into the mixture and fold everything together. Stop folding as soon as they are combined to avoid overmixing.
  • Pour the mixture into your prepared tin and smooth with a palette knife or the back of a spoon.
    Chocolate brownies recipe steps 5 & 6. Flour and cocoa folded into the other ingredients. Mixture spread into the baking tray.
  • Cook for 30-35 minutes until the edges of the brownies are just starting to come away from the sides of the tin.
  • Remove your brownies from the oven and leave to cool in the tin. Once cool remove them from the tin and cut them into 12 pieces (or 48 pieces if you’re making mini brownies). You can trim the edges if you want them a bit neater.
    Chocolate brownies recipes steps 7 & 8. Brownies fresh from the oven with a shiny top and cracks.

NOTES

In addition to the total time shown at the top of the recipe you'll also need to leave an additional hour or so for the brownies to cool in the tin before removing them.
These brownies taste delicious on the day they're made and even better the next day! They'll keep for a few days in an airtight container.
Have you tried this recipe? Please leave a comment and rating at the bottom of the page to let others know what you thought.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

Calories: 334kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 76mg | Sodium: 26mg | Potassium: 141mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 475IU | Calcium: 36mg | Iron: 1.2mg

Any nutritional information provided is the estimated nutritional information per serving. Please refer to my guide to Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen nutritional information if you would like to learn more about how this is calculated.


Cuisine: American

Free From/Suitable For…

The ingredients I used to make this recipe are all free from the following allergens. However, please check any labels carefully for allergens you need to avoid as brands can vary and product recipes can change over time.

  • Suitable for Vegetarians
  • Tree Nut-Free
  • Peanut-Free
  • Sesame-Free
  • Sulphur Dioxide & Sulphite-Free
  • Fish-Free
  • Crustacean-Free
  • Mollusc-Free
  • Celery-Free
  • Mustard-Free
  • Lupin-Free

My recipe for easy homemade chocolate brownies that taste absolutely amazing. Includes step-by-step pictures.

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Filed Under: Biscuits & Bars Tagged With: Celery-Free, Crustacean-Free, Fish-Free, Lupin-Free, Mollusc-Free, Mustard-Free, Nut-Free, Peanut-Free, Sesame-Free, Sulphite-Free, Vegetarian

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. S Young says

    5 August 2019 at 1:03 pm

    5 stars
    The best Brownie recipe that I’ve ever tried. The inside is light and moistt plus the top has a great combinatoln of crust & chewiness. I tend to make 2 batches as the family eat it as soon as it’s out of the oven. I find though that it takes 10 to 16 minutes longer to cook than the instructions state as otherwise it’s still runny inside.

    Reply
  2. AnneK says

    1 May 2019 at 10:18 am

    Can I use gluten free flour?

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      2 May 2019 at 10:25 am

      I haven’t tried it, but it should work just fine.

  3. Helen Reed says

    14 April 2019 at 7:47 pm

    Seems a very good recipe. Not sure about cooking time as top was lovely and crusty but centre looks a bit dense but will see how they turn out on cooling. Not sure if I will get 12 squares as the centre sinks a bit and there is a crust all around the outside (which either me or my children will polish off).

    Reply
  4. Michelle Brown says

    2 April 2019 at 12:52 pm

    5 stars
    This is it! Finally found the perfect Brownies recipe! Thanks so much for sharing this. Winner on many counts!

    Reply
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Hi, I'm Charlotte Oates. Welcome to my lively kitchen where I share delicious, simple baking recipes, baking tools and calculators, and lots of tips and tricks.

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