Do you have any recipes that are a little too easy, if you know what I mean? Like, for example, this super yummy chewy brownie recipe, homemade from scratch, in only one bowl requiring all of 5 minutes to throw together? I’m telling you – they’re too simple.
I like to intentionally force them out of my brain, lest I make them every other day. Because not only are they pathetically easy to whip up, they are also my favourite brownies.
They are mega-chewy, moist, fudgy, quite thin, and darkly chocolate-y. If you’re looking for a gooey brownie recipe, these ones qualify. With only a piddly half-cup of flour in the batch, they are really mostly cocoa powder. They have that dark, bordering-on-bitter cocoa flavour of the cookie part of an Oreo. *drool*
And because they are made only with cocoa powder, they lack the distinct heavy feeling that often comes with many of their melted chocolate-based counterparts. You could totally eat two, with ice cream sandwiched between them, and not feel icky.
I haven’t decided whether or not that’s a good thing…
The brownies owe their chewiness in part to the melted butter, and in part to the eggs being the only leavener; without any baking powder or soda, they don’t get much lift in the oven. Just make sure not to over-bake them!
The hardest part is spreading the batter out in the pan. It’s really thick, you need to really work it into the corners with the back of your wooden spoon.
They freeze really well… and taste dangerously good while still mostly frozen.
Are you more of the brownies with icing type? Here’s my Fluffy Chocolate Frosting recipe.
I tried to go for a long walk today to offset the… er… brownie situation.
It ended in a frazzled Jenn with a screaming 10-week old strapped to her chest, single-handedly wrangling a stroller, a giant diaper bag and a crazy Irish Setter into a rickety boat (little ferries that seat about 8) in desperation to get home after 40 minutes of nonstop crying (the baby, not me – but I was close).
I am frankly impressed we made it.
Oliver (dog) tried a couple of times to dive. Theo (baby) screamed himself purple. Co-boating tourists shot me dirty looks.
And I feel I earned my brownie sandwich… although what I’d really like is a large bourbon on the rocks.
More Indulgent Dessert Recipes
Best-Ever Easy Chocolate Cheesecake
Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats with Salted Caramel and Chocolate
Toffee Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Easy Chewy Homemade Brownies Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter melted
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa
- 1 ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup all purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line an 8x8-inch square baking dish with parchment paper, leaving a 1-inch overhang, or grease well and coat with flour. Set aside.
- Melt butter in a large microwave-safe bowl or measuring cup. (Alternatively, melt butter in a large saucepan on the stove, then turn off heat and proceed.) Add cocoa powder and stir with a wooden spoon until smooth. Stir in sugar, salt, eggs and vanilla extract. Add flour and stir until well combined.
- Spread batter evenly into the prepared pan - you'll need to work at it, spreading it out with the back of a wooden spoon - the batter is very stiff. Bake for about 30 minutes, until edges are set and centre is firm but still just slightly underdone. A toothpick should come out with a few moist crumbs attached. Let cool 10 minutes at least before lifting out by parchment overhang to slice into 16 brownies.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Anyone who has ten minutes of free time needs to make this brownie! Such a simple recipe, with easy clean up and maximum deliciousness!! The brownie was so fudgy and chocolatey even three days later!
Hi Nalini, thank you so much for the lovely comment. Yay!
OH NO. Ridiculously easy. Very delicious. Made it with a ganache that got hard. Now more of us need to put this out of our minds ? #lockdown2020 ?Di-Vine!!!! Instagramming my pic now!
Hello. Is cocoa powder just natural/baking cocoa powder or dutch processed cocoa powder?
can this recipe be made without the vanilla extract or will it affect the overall taste too much? if so, are there any substitutes we can use for the vanilla extract?
WOW! These were so fast and easy to make and for once I only used one bowl! They also taste really good. Thank you so much for this recipe! 🙂
Is 30 minutes baking time correct? It seems long, especially when the “cook time” says 9 min. Thanks in advance for clarifying. 🙂 Can’t wait to make these!
Oh! Figured it out after 9 minutes. ? I ended up baking them for 24 minutes because I was really nervous about over baking them and I also used a pan 14” x 8”… so they were a bit thinner. They are really tasty! And even better the next day. I love how they are rich but not overly sweet.
Just curious, have you experimented much with different cocoas?
Thanks again!
The baking time is correct at approximately 30 minutes 🙂
Would it be possible to swap the all-purpose flour for gluten free all-purpose flour or would it not yield the same results ?
After the 30 minutes it looked like almost water on top I put it in for another 10 we will see what happens..
Amaaaazing brownies and so easy.
Thank you so much, Karen!
Good recipe, my only suggestion would be to swap the wooden spoon for a spatula. Much easier to handle the batter and level/press in pan. Very quick to make!
Thanks for the tip about the spatula. ?