Moist and Chewy Brownies

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This easy brownie recipe makes moist and chewy brownies that are pretty hard to resist. It’s actually the first brownie recipe that I ever made from scratch! Even after all these years, I still come back to this simple recipe.

Looking for more brownie recipes? Try my just-like-box-mix brownies recipe, or these fudgy homemade brownies!

Moist and Chewy Brownies

Homemade Brownies

I think the awesomeness of brownies tends to be overlooked – even by me. There are so many recipes dressing them up recently (and I’m totally into those!) that I think a plain old brownie is getting forgotten. And the truth is, a good brownie is hard to resist. Like many delicious treats, I could sit down with a pan of them and not stop until they’re gone.

This brownie is actually the first one I’ve made from scratch. Imagine that! And it’s quite tasty. Before they are totally cooled (like in the pictures), they are gooey and all melty. But as they cool, they firm up a bit and get a little more cake-like and crumbly. They are still very moist though and a nice in-between of cakey and fudgy. And totally addicting.

Moist and Chewy Brownies

I hear the sign of a good brownie is the nice little crust on top of them and these brownies definitely have that. To give you that great crust, there’s one step you need to pay attention to – the mixing of the butter and sugar. There’s a little bit of heating involved in order to dissolve the sugar. The sugar won’t completely dissolve, but the mixture should take on a shiny appearance when it’s done. I used the microwave instead of pan to speed up the process. 🙂

Moist and Chewy Brownies

The other thing to note when making these is the chocolate chips that are included. You have a few options. I prefer to them to be a little more melted so that they spread out in the brownies a little bit, but aren’t completely incorporated. To achieve that, I microwave them until they are nice and soft, but not totally melted. You don’t have to melt them at all if you like your brownies chunky. You could also totally melt the chips if you want them fully incorporated. The choice is yours!

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Brownies stacked on white plate
Recipe

Moist and Chewy Brownies

  • Author: Lindsay
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour
  • Yield: About 18 Brownies
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American

Description

This easy brownie recipe makes moist and chewy brownies that are pretty hard to resist. It’s actually the first brownie recipe that I ever made from scratch! Even after all these years, I still come back to this simple recipe.


Ingredients

  • 4 eggs
  • 1 1/4 cups cocoa
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp espresso powder
  • 1 tbsp vanilla
  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 2 1/4 cups sugar
  • 2 cups chocolate chips
  • 1 1/2 cups flour

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13 pan.
2. Beat together eggs, cocoa, baking powder, espresso powder and vanilla until smooth.
3. Melt the butter in the microwave in a small microwave-safe bowl.
4. Add the sugar to the melted butter and combine. Microwave mixture in about 10-15 second increments, mixing each time, until the mixture is hot (about 110-120 degrees), but not bubbly. It should take on a shiny look when it’s ready. Heating this mixture will dissolve more of the sugar and give a shiny crust on top of the brownies. You could also do this step in a saucepan over low heat.
5. Add the butter mixture to the eggs mixture and mix until smooth
6. Microwave the chocolate chips in about 20 second increments until fairly soft, but not totally melted.
NOTE: If you want them to be completely incorporated, melt them completely. If you want them to be chunks in the brownies, do not microwave them.
7. Add flour and chocolate chips to batter and mix until smooth.
8. Pour batter into pan and bake for about 30 minutes, or until toothpick comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
9. When done, remove from oven and allow to cool.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 Brownie
  • Calories: 381
  • Sugar: 39.4 g
  • Sodium: 19.1 mg
  • Fat: 19.3 g
  • Carbohydrates: 52.8 g
  • Protein: 5.4 g
  • Cholesterol: 68.4 mg

Filed Under:

Recipe slightly modified from King Arthur Flour.

Enjoy!

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76 Comments
      1. Lindsay

        Espresso powder can amplify the flavor of the chocolate, but you can certainly leave it out.

  1. Evie

    Super yummy! We replaced the melted chocolate chips with a cup of Nutella and with the espresso it’s just to die for! Chewy, moist with a little bit of crisp on the top.






  2. Vicky

    Hi Lindsay!

    I noticed in your cakey brownie recipe, you used Extra Dark Cocoa Powder. Can i sub the espresso and cocoa with the Extra Dark Cocoa?

    if yes, how many cups should I use?

    Thank you so much!!!






    1. Circle31

      Hi Lindsay, I want to ask if I can substitute bread flour for all purpose flour to make the brownies? I already tried your recipe twice, and the taste was good! 🙂 At first, I followed exactly all the measurements except from adding chocolate chips. However, it turned out cakey. So for my second try, 1 melted 1 cup of choco chips and mixed them with the batter and used only 1/2 cup of cocoa powder, instead. It was super fudgy and it feels sandy. Maybe due to the sugar? I was afraid to overbeat the eggs since I have to mixed the butter/sugar mixture together with the egg mixture… Also, the brownies turned very light and gave me too much “melt in your mouth feeling”. I want something in between fudgy and cakey, dense but not hard, elastic, sticky brownies. Would the bread flour be able to address the issue? Sorry for the question and if my description is a bit vague. I just want to know in advance if this is possible before buying bread flour. Thank you so much.

  3. Surferbel

    Just an update on the brownies. They came out amazingly and this is now my go to brownie recipe! I’ve tried hundreds of recipes and never been happy as they have been either too cakey or fudgy but not chewy or they have lacked taste and just been okay. However these are the perfect balance of fudginess and chewiness with the lovely crackly top and indulgent chocolate taste and are absolute heaven. My husband said they’re the best brownies he’s ever tasted and better than both boxed or store/cafe bought literally have never taste brownies this good before and I’ve taste ALOT. Thank you so much for the recipe Lindsay! I can’t wait to make these for my little one when he’s older.  I’m going to have to buy your book for more wonderful recipes!! ????????????

  4. Surferbel

    Hi, thanks for the recipe. I’ve just made these and added a layer of caramel in the middle. I chopped a chocolate bar up into chunks and part melted half and stirred in then added the other half of chunks as is. I can’t wait to see how they turn out!! The mixture looked and tastes divine ???????????? They’ll be a nice surprise for my husband when he returns from London tonight!

  5. Shar

    Hiya! I have have been in love with your recipes for a while now. Though I have a question about adding in other ingredients such as caramel. Do you think that it would better to include that in between (layer of brownie batter, caramel, and then another layer of brownie batter) or would that be best served as a topping? 

    1. Lindsay

      Hi Shar! So glad you enjoy the recipes!

      Hmmm, not entirely sure. It might depend a little on the caramel and how it does with being baked. I’d probably put it in the middle to try it, but just adding it on top would certainly be safer and not need testing.

  6. Denise

    These look delicious, I have one question. Do you use natural unsweetened cocoa powder or Hershey’s special dark cocoa powder in this recipe?

      1. Jeilani

        I reduced the cocoa powder by 3/4 cup and used 1/2 cup melted chocolate, instead and follow all the measurements for the remaining ingredients. My brownies tasted good however it’s a bit “sandy”. May I know the culprit? If it’s about the sugar, may I know how long would it take to properly mixed it with the butter without overbeating the egg mixture? Since I need to beat the egg first together with the cocoa powder, baking powder, etc. before adding the butter and sugar mixture. Hope to receive a reply. Thanks.

  7. Terry

    This brownie had a really great chewy/fudgy texture but we found this to be too sweet and one note. I believe the recipe should include some salt for balance. My 7 yr old, who loves any brownie, usually, would not eat any beyond her first taste. Still looking for the perfect from scratch brownie recipe.

  8. Neha

    Hi, can you please suggest alternative for eggs? I love your recipes, have an egg allergy. Unfortunately couldn’t try.Thanks in advance:-)

    1. Lindsay

      I haven’t done any baking without eggs, so it’s hard for me to advise. I’ve heard tofu can be a good replacement, but you’d have to look up how to actually do the replacement.

  9. Alicia

    Made these tonight…I had no espresso powder and used 1/2 regular cocoa powder and 1/2 dutch process….sooo yummy..a chocolate lovers dream ????

  10. Cory

    Easy receipt! Thanks so much for sharing everyone enjoys them. I substituted nutella for the semi sweet chips and cut the sugar down by half. Phenomenal! I just love your blogs! God bless.

  11. Marianne

    I was wondering what I can replace the espresso powder with. I dislike coffee greatly and even THAT is an understatement!

    1. lifeloveandsugar@gmail.com

      You can just leave it out. Most people don’t even taste it, but it tends to accentuate the chocolate flavor.

  12. violet masonniere

    what a disaster of a recipe! mine aren’t moist, gooey, or shiny. they look like oily dirt and taste, like it too. i followed the recipe to a T, even checking the temperature of the butter/sugar recipe with a thermometer. i triple-checked the ingredient amounts to try and figure out where i went wrong. in reading over the comments, i noticed questions about the “cocoa.” so—did you mean 1 and 1/4 cups of unsweetened cocoa powder, or hot cocoa made with milk, chocolate and sugar, or a sweetened cocoa powder mix? it would have been nice to know for sure. i made these for a party tonight, and now don’t have time to make a replacement dessert. it seems i have to relearn this lesson every few years—never trust an internet recipe unless it’s from martha stewart or paula deen.

    1. lisa

      Violet, Cocoa in a recipe always means unsweetened cocoa powder….pre packaged cocoa mix is a mix…not just plain cocoa powder and prepared cocoa like drink would have said “prepared” or something to indicate a recipe within a recipe. I can’t think of any basic brownie recipe that would call for liquid so if you are making brownies and feel confused about something like that, you can rule out it being a liquid

  13. Willita

    Have made these before, it was late at night and I wanted chocolate and gooey. I didn’t have the espresso powder or chocolate chips. My husband doesn’t like real dark chocolate brownies, so I cute down on the coca powder, added about a cup of crunchy peanut butter, ( for my husband) . They turned out yummy and we both got what we liked. Thanks

  14. Mala

    So funny story. I had a real craving for brownies today and saw how wonderful these looked so I decided to give them a crack. The mix was happily baking away while I went back to read some of the comments and I came across one talking about flour. Which led me to realise that I had completely forgotten to add the flour! It wasn’t too hard in the end, just scraped the still liquid mix into a bowl and added the flour in but I am so bewildered as to how I forgot sch an essential ingredient! No worries though, they turned out great!!

  15. Edawgatl

    These are my new go-to for tennis matches, parties, or anytime I have to bring a dessert or snack. Amazing! They always get gobbled up and everyone wants to know who made them. No more boxed brownies here! I use the special dark chocolate powder and I’ve used espresso powdered ordered off amazon or decaf Starbucks via instant coffee. A winner!

  16. John

    I have just recently started baking not too long ago, been about 3 months, and I have to say these are amazing! They’re really easy to make and are fantastically delicious! I’ve been using your website a lot and just wanted to say thank you for all these wonderful recipes!

    1. lifeloveandsugar@gmail.com

      Thank you so much John! I’m so glad you like the brownies and are finding my blog to be a great resource! 🙂

  17. Julia

    Where can you find espresso powder?? I have looked at several grocery stores in my area. Thanks for your help! These look delicious

    1. lifeloveandsugar@gmail.com

      Hi Julia! If you can’t find the powder, you can use espresso granules. Just try and crush it up a bit with a muddler or something so it’s finer.

  18. Brooke

    I really want to try these, but don’t have the espresso powder (we don’t drink coffee around here). Do you think it would turn out ok if I just leave that out?

  19. Erin

    Made these today for our home tennis match. They were a hit. I love making things from scratch-not that much extra work to have ingredients you can pronounce. I used coconut oil in place of butter and milk chocolate chips. The chip substitution was great as they got melty on their own. I also used a packet of Starbucks decaf via in place of the espresso powder, simply because I’ve had a hard time finding it. A nice perk too was having it decaf, since the kids were eating them! Definitely going to make these again!

  20. Avery

    I am so happy I found this! I’d been trying brownie recipes for years now trying to satisfy everyone’s tastes in my family and this one did the trick. I’d been wary during the process though; it s tarted off very dry but the butter mixture gooped it up in seconds, but then I had to add a cup of flour?? But pouring it into the pan I knew they would taste great. In addition to making great brownies; the batter was divine too! 🙂

  21. Jess @ On Sugar Mountain

    You know Lindsay, you are totally 100% right: no one ever makes plain old brownies anymore. It’s such a shame too because classic brownies are one of my favorite treats of all time. THESE look just like the boxed mix ones that I love 😀 What an awesome recipe!

  22. lulu

    I made brownies yesterday and proceeded to eat about half of them. I’m going to save yours for another day! I like the idea of adding espresso powder.

  23. dweinberg415

    I’m also a huge fan of brownies. I’ve been through lots of mediocre recipes trying to find the ultimate gooey, fudgey brownie. I can’t wait to try your recipe. Thanks!

Lindsay
About Lindsay

I'm a wife and a mom to twin boys and a baby girl! And I've got a serious sweets addiction! Bring on the treats!

Scripture I’m Loving

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:28-29