Easy Homemade Brownies From Scratch
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This Easy Homemade Brownies Recipe makes cakey brownies that taste like box mix brownies! With perfect crisp crackly tops and chewy centers, these made from scratch brownies hit all the right notes.
Just Like Box-Mix Homemade Brownies
For some time I’ve been searching for a way to make brownies from scratch without losing that brownie mix feel. It took a lot of brownie making and a whole lot of brownie testing (someone had to do it!), but I think I finally found it: a simple brownie recipe that tastes like “box mix” brownies but is actually made totally from scratch. These homemade brownies have just the right combo of cakey and chewy texture, plus they have that classic “crack” on the top.
Basic brownies may seem kind of unexciting, but don’t be fooled. These are anything but! Everyone needs a good, solid brownie recipe in their arsenal and this is the one!
I mentioned on Tuesday that my parents were in town for the weekend. It’s such a good thing, because I made a couple rounds of brownies and someone had to help me eat them all! I totally get my sweet tooth from my dad. I still remember him eating cookies for breakfast when I was a kid. He’s gotten some better eating habits since then, but we both still have the massive sweet tooth.
Brownie Ingredients
This brownie recipe has simple ingredients. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Vegetable Oil – Just like a box mix brownie, we are going to use oil instead of butter.
- Sugar
- Vanilla Extract – Vanilla enhances the chocolate flavor.
- Eggs
- Flour
- Dark Chocolate Cocoa Powder – I recommend using dark chocolate cocoa powder. I use dark chocolate cocoa in most of my baking. In baking it makes a much more chocolatey final product. I’m sure they’d taste great with regular cocoa. But if you’re willing, give the dark a try.
- Baking Powder
- Salt – Adding a bit of salt to desserts brings out their sweetness.
How to Make Brownies from Scratch
These brownies are no fuss! There’s no heating things on a stove, microwaving and mixing until butter and sugar reaches a certain temperature, no guess work – just easy and delicious! Here’s how:
-
- Prep your tools: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×9 square baking pan, or line it with parchment paper.
- Mix wet ingredients: Mix together the oil, sugar and vanilla extract. Add eggs and mix until well combined.
- Mix dry ingredients: Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.
- Add dry ingredients: Slowly add to the egg mixture until well combined.
- Bake: Pour the batter into the pan and spread evenly. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs.
That’s it! Making these brownies from scratch is just as easy as using a box mix. 🙂
Tips for the Best Homemade Brownies
- Use dark chocolate cocoa powder. As I mentioned above, I think dark chocolate cocoa really takes the chocolate in brownies to the next level.
- Don’t over bake. It’s better to pull your brownies out too early than bake them for too long. Bake them until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs attached. If you’re unsure, just go ahead and take them out of the oven. They will still cook a bit as they cool.
- Let them cool. These brownies are seriously good, but give them a chance to cool so that you can get that cakey, chewy texture. Plus, they will be easier to slice if you let them cool.
Read transcript
Quick and Easy Brownies
This easy homemade brownies recipe makes cakey brownies that taste like box mix brownies! With perfect crisp crackly tops and chewy centers, these brownies hit all the right notes.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 12-16 Brownies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 eggs
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1/3 cup + 2 1/2 tbsp cocoa
- 1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
Notes
Recipe modified from AllRecipes.com
Keywords: brownies recipe, homemade, easy, from scratch, brownie mix, home made, dark chocolate
Recipe modified from AllRecipes.com
Enjoy!
OMG these are fab! I LOVE the dark cocoa in brownies. And that top – gorgeous. Now I want brownies!
Thank you Dorothy! I already want to make these again – I shouldn’t have given them all away. 🙂
I tried it in a muffin pan. Cook time was about the same. I thought it would be less but had to keep sticking them back in for more time. Very good!
Every piece is an edge piece!
★★★★★
We are in Nz, the brownies were just like the ones you get in countdown, sweet and moist, even better and when the kids drive you mad you go in the room and scoff the whole lot down and feel ready to take on the world, and the kids!❤️Love them & thanks tons
I want to use a 9X13 pan.how do i convert the ingredients ?
I’d probably double it.
I tried doubling them in a 9×13 and they did not come out as well as when I made them in a 9×9 (in which they were perfect)… I might try 1.5 the recipe next time for a 9×13. Just want to pass along, as so many of the comment were so helpful and I really enjoyed the recipe.
This recipe was amazing! I would totally suggest it. I needed to use some milk however but I would 100% recommend it
★★★★
You had me at “like box mix”! Everyone needs a good box-mix-esque brownie recipe in their tool-kit. I can’t wait to try these out!
What do you mean about dark cocoa? I know the difference between Dutch-processed and American but I’m not sure I know how to identify a dark variety. Help! I want dark, chocolatey brownies too!
I totally agree!
The dark cocoa I use is by Hershey’s – it’s their Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate. I can get it in grocery stores around here usually. I’ve seen in at WalMart too.
I had no idea that Hershey’s made two types! I’ll have to keep an eye out for the special dark and do a taste test! Bring on the dark chocolate!
For all the amazing brownie picture on FG I almost never click on them…but with yours I couldn’t resist! Will be making these tonight…they look so amazing!! 🙂
What a compliment! Thank you Bonnie! 🙂 I hope you enjoyed them!
I love brownies and I can’t wait to try these as well as the “moist and chewy brownies”! I found your blog via Living Well Spending Less Link Party! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Thanks Nichole! I hope you like them!
I definitely agree that sometimes it’s nice to just have a no-nonsense brownie recipe without all the crazy add ins. I love that you used dark chocolate cocoa powder–I bet it makes the chocolatey flavor even more intense! I’ll have to see if I can find some.
Thanks Rebecca!
These look amazing. The crust on top is perfect and they look so dark and moist and fudgy! Mmmmm
Thanks Heather!
I love how perfectly cracked these brownies are, that means they are especially fudgy-just how I like them!
Thanks Tanya! I love the tops too 🙂
I used to make homemade brownies but haven’t done so in a long time. Yours look amazing!
Thanks Tonia! 🙂
Is it caster sugar and plain flour?
★★★★★
I use granulated sugar and all purpose flour
We must come from the same family because I have a crazy sweet tooth and brownies are one of my very favorite desserts! When I want something sweet, I crave a brownie. These look absolutely perfect. Easy recipe and amazing brownies. I am totally making these. I’ll have to try the dark cocoa too. Thanks for sharing on Saturday Night Fever. I can’t wait to try these! Pinned, of course! See you again this Saturday!
Thanks so much Jen! 🙂
I just made these and will keep making them they were amazing!!!!!!!!!!😍
Wonderful! Glad to hear it!
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Hi! I tried the quick and easy brownies. Though they are delicious, they definitely turned out to be more cakey than fudgy. I was hoping to get my brownies fudgier than they are cakey. I followed the recipe here. However, my oven can only reach up to 250 degrees. Is the temp a factor that I need to consider if I want to get my brownies fudgy? Please help. Do you have any suggestions? I am really craving for awesome brownies right now! Haha >.< thanks as always! 🙂
They are more of a cakey brownie. If you want a truly fudgy brownie, this recipe is perfect! Just leave off the butterfinger topping, if you don’t want it.
Thanks so much for the advise! And I will definitely try this with the butterfinger crust! Your recipes are just pure genius! Hoping to learn more and more from you. Thanks as always and God bless! 🙂
Thank you so much Jaemie! 🙂 Enjoy them!
Made these today but didn’t have a 9×9 square pan so used a 9″ circle pan and figured I’d just bake it longer.
Top turned out very hard and bottom was undercooked, but I blame my choice of pan. Still edible though 🙂
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What kind of dark cocoa powder do you use?
I’ve tried using ruddy reds darker 32% cocoa but it never seemed to work for me. Any suggestions?
I pretty much always use Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa. I don’t normally prefer dark chocolate, but in baking it seems to give better chocolate flavor.
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Oh my gosh! These brownies are so easy and so incredibly good! My family is raving about them! Thank you for this post. This will be my go-to brownie recipe forever! 🙂
Yay!! I’m do glad you love them! We did too 🙂
I am in love with this so good!!!! The only thing was I didn’t add Bonilla extract but it was still a heavenly tasting brownie
I’m so glad you enjoyed them JJ!
Made these with my friend last week, we doubled the recipe and spread it between what pans I had (Cant remember exact sizes) but they turned out FABULOUS. I was really surprised because as they were a bit cake-ier than I normally like, I still was satisfied with the fudge-i-ness of them. So much to the point that these are now adopted as my go to brownie recipe. I like brownies in many varieties so one pan I added a 1/2 cup of chopped up pecans! It was delicious! (To be fair I find chopping pecans to send them flying in all directions so I put them in a ziplock and smacked ’em with a meat tenderizer mallet a couple times lol, quick and effective!!) THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING THIS RECIPE hands down best brownie recipe every IMHO!!
Awesome! So glad to hear that!
I only have a 13x9x2 pan at my house how do I change the recipe for this? Please Help!! 🙂
You’ll just need to double the recipe. It should work great!
I will bake this tomorrow!!! So happy found ur web lindsay. I cant fond hershey dark choco in malaysia 🙁 is it if i replace oil with butter? Tq
I haven’t tried replacing the oil with butter and am not sure how it’d turn out. Something I’d like to test as well.
Can i use butter instead of oil?? Awesome recipe btw♡♥♡♥
I don’t know, I haven’t tried it. I’ve been wanting to though. I thick it would change it a bit, I’m just not sure how much. Thanks!
These brownies are so yummy… i just made them and the are gooey and chewy and awesome….and cheap because they dont need all that 70%chocolate…this is my new go to brownie recipie now … thank you so much for this awesome recipie… you are great..
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe…I’m so glad I decided to give it a whirl…they were absolutely delicious….I will never buy box mix again!
Awesome! I’m so glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
Hiiiii! These brownies looks so delicious and even better than what a box mix makes.
Those crispy shiny tops😍😍.
Can you please tell me the time for these brownies if i want to bake them in a microwave?
I haven’t baked them in a microwave, so I’m not sure.
Thank you! The brownies were amazing! Your ideas are certainly the best. Thanks again!
Wow, these brownies look absolutely PERFECT! I love the beautiful tops and how dark they are! They look super chocolatey and just amazing. Need to try this recipe ASAP!
Made these brownies tonight and they were fantastic! I added coconut oil instead of vegetable oil and they turned out divine, even if i did add a TBSP +1/2 of vanilla on accident! The crispy top and the soft gooey center was to die for, snuck quite a few “tastes” before serving.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them Tasha! Good to know that the coconut oil works well too – thanks for letting me know! 🙂
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Looking forward to making these!
Also, can the sugar amount be reduced? or can apple sauce be used for some of the sugar substitute?
Thanks!
I would think that should be ok, but I haven’t tried it.
These were fabulous!!!!!! I used walnut oil since that was all I had. Yummy and perfect.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them Kimberley!
Hi! Can I substitute 3/4 Cup butter instead of vegetable oil? If yes, it should be melted or not necessary? Thanks!
I haven’t tried it so I’m not sure. Sometimes substitutions like that work and sometimes they don’t.
I tried it will melted butter, room temperature! It turned out great! Is there a way for reduced sugar? 😀
Excellent and easy recipe, although mine needed almost 20 more minutes baking time. Delicious!
I love Hershey special dark anything, and i love brownies. Trying these tonight! Can’t wait!
Great! I hope you enjoyed them!
Thanks for a great, yummy and easy recipe.
I made them last night and added two teaspoons of white yoghurt – absolutely scrumptious 🙂
Awesome! So glad you liked them!
I just made these and they’re delicous! I used a 13×9 baking pan and used slightly less sugar because I didn’t have enough. Came out delicious
Just made these. Didn’t have vegetable oil so I subbed with coconut oil. Had to just about double my cooking time for the toothpick to come out dry but they smell amazing. Just waiting for them to cool and we will have them after dinner tonight. 🙂
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What can i replace egg with since i’m a vegetarian
I haven’t tried it, but have read that you can replace an egg with 1/4 cup applesauce. It’d be worth a try.
Made these last night, but used coconut oil instead of veg. YUM!!
First time I have made brownies not from a mix in a very long time, so easy and so good!! Thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! I’ll have to try the coconut oil! 🙂
Hi. This is going to sound weird, but I save every little bit of cocoa powder that I have! (I am making little chocolate cakes for boxing day dessert.) Do you think I could use something else to substitute it? Grated chocolate maybe? Thanks, Liv ♥
You might be able to use melted chocolate chips, but I wouldn’t know how to advise you.
After trying and loving your vanilla cupcake recipe, I had to come back for more. I already had high exoactations and these brownies far surpassed them. I will never resort to a box mix again. Thank you so much for sharing!
That’s great! I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed them! 🙂
Hello from Jakarta – Indonesia!
I just wanna say thank you soo much for this super easy, super yummy, and super quick brownie recipe of yours! I have tested some recipes for brownies (coz my 3 princesses are brownies lovers), and yours is the best! Love it love it! Thank youuuu….. PS: I just slightly changed a bit of this recipe, I mixed the white sugar + palm sugar with the same amount. 😀 :-*
Hi Maya! I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
I am assuming this recipe calls for plain flour and not self-rising? Thanks – they sound delicious!
Yes, regular all-purpose flour.
Omgoodness, I made these instead of box (its tradition to have brownies instead of cake for my fiance’s birthday :)) and they were SO GREAT!!! Very happy that I found this site and recipe. I can’t believe I had all the ingredients bit so happy I did!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!!
I tried my hand at brownies for the first time using your recipe and the outcome was delicious.
Your measurements were spot on and I allowed the batter to bake for 25 minutes.
This really is quick and easy brownies.
Thanks.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! Thanks Lonique!
Can you omit the baking powder?
I haven’t tried it, but wouldn’t recommend it.
I just pulled these from the oven and I can’t wait to see what my family thinks! They smell lovely and I just added a couple chocolate chips ( Dark chocolate of course) on top. Thanks for the lovely recipe!
Is it plain/all purpose flour that is used rather than self raising flour? Thanks
It is regular all purpose flour.
made these today.
here are the changes i made.
I used only 1 cup sugar, and a half cup oil
Because the oil was reduced, the mixture was stiff.
I added 1/4 cup water and the mixture poured out perfect!
It did result in a cake type brownie but we like them like that.
I also added about 1/4 cup of dark brown chocolate chips.
I saved and sent this recipe to my sisters.
thank you
Amy
Great! I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Mine turned out so cakey, but other comments say theirs are gooey. I followed the recipe exactly . What did I do wrong?
I don’t know if you necessarily did anything wrong or not. It’s possible. But I also think that people actually describe the texture of the same thing quite differently based on their preferences.
This recipe came out great. I have a shameful preference for boxed brownies over homemade but I do not like all the chemicals that come with it, so this recipe is an excellent find! Thanks!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them Nichole!
Thanks for the yummy recipe! Just popped a batch in the oven (added some cacao chips) and can’t wait to try! (:
Awesome! I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
If i were to use only 1 cup of sugar will it change the texture or something? I want to reduce the sweetness because i plan to put a layer of caramel in the middle of the brownie.
I haven’t tried it, but I think it’d be fine.
!! They look perfectly gooey!! How do you cut them to look so neat and square? Thanks!
omg I found these and im making them right now! i’m going to add in some chocolate chips to make them extra chocolaty. Thanks for this great recipe Lindsay!!
I’ve never been able to master chocolate brownies, but not only was I able to make a perfect brownie, but also they are the best brownies I have ever had!!
Highly recommend!!
Although, I did use only 2 eggs, still worked fabulously.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
I made these for Valentine’s Day last night and they were SUPER dry and not very sweet. I followed the recipe precisely.
Lindsay, I found this brownie recipe on Pinterest. I usually just use a mix for brownies. I don’t know why since I bake from scratch. Well I didn’t have any more brownie mix so I made yours. Amazing! My hubby loves them. Thank you so much. Now that I have an easy recipe, I will never buy mix again. That officislly ends pre packaged baking mixes in my house! Awesome recipe.They came out perfect.
I’m so glad you loved them! 🙂 Thanks Lisa!
Loved these 🙂 Done them in a muffin pan! Turned out very yummy. Was looking for something quick and easy. Hopefully my coworkers enjoy them also. Topped them off with sprinkles on some and coconut on others
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
What could I use instead of vegetable oil, that’s healthier?
I’m not totally sure, since I haven’t tested anything myself. There are some healthier oils out there you could try though, like coconut oil, sunflower oil or even olive oil.
I made these recently for a friend’s birthday party. I made about 1.5x the recipe and added 3/4 cup of dark chocolate chips. (I really love dark chocolate.) Everyone raved about them and I had multiple people ask me for the recipe. I directed them here. I love your recipes! Keep up the awesome cooking!
Thanks so much Callie! I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them. 🙂
Just made these with my friend, slaved away trying to make them for a late night snack, and what do we find? That the oil and sugar mixture looks like a SLUSHIE and the whole taste of the final product is, to put it politely, revolting. The top layer of the brownie is borderline edible, and don’t even get me STARTED on the main brownie. I’m extremely sorry to say this, and maybe something went completely wrong or the vegetable oil in the UK is different, but yeah, not good. The taste of the final brownie was just pure oil- afraid to say, it did make me gag. Again, i do apologise, but thought it would be good to give you feedback. All the best, Janice.
I just made these brownies last night and they are amazing! Sorry to say but, I think you may have done something wrong. Maybe o we baked them . Mine only needed 20 minutes to bake to perfection.
Are you using sweetened or un-sweeted coca powder?
It is unsweetened.
I tried this just last night and was really surprised at how delicious they turned out! I was so skeptical at first with the amount of oil, but I was proved wrong! I really want to try the other brownies you’ve mentioned now, as they sound delicious as well! This will be a family favourite for late night snacks from now on 😉
Thanks for the great recipe!
Just popped a double batch of these babies in the oven! Taking them up to a middle school bake sale later. Can’t wait to see the chocolate smears all over the kids’ faces. 😉
I hope they were a hit! 🙂
Hello, I just made these last night. I used special dark cocoa and boy we’re they yummy!! However my hubby was disappointed… because the top was cake like (moist and fluffy, not crispy and cracked like your beautiful brownies). I baked the brownies at 350 for about 40 mins(until the toothpick came out clean). Any advice?! Thank you!
You know it’s hard to say. It could be something about the mixing, or perhaps even the way they cooled. I’m glad you enjoyed them!
Came home from church yesterday and my son decided we should have brownies for dessert. With NO Box mix in the pantry and not wanting to shop on Sunday, I went in search of an easy recipe to make them from scratch. I’m so happy I came across your recipe. These ar truly so yummy. The texture is nearly identical to what I experience when I make box mix brownies but I think the taste is better!
Only problem I had was baking them at 350 for 25-30 minutes. The brownies looked perfect around the outer edges and across the top, but they were still gooey (like batter) even after an hour of baking. (?) so I cranked it up to 450 for 15 minutes. They were fully cooked after that. Has anyone else experienced this??
Still yummy. Love the crispy edges and chewy center.
Thank you!!
Hmm, I haven’t had that happen. I’m glad you were able to get them cooked though and enjoyed them! Thanks Jen!
This recipe has become a favorite among my family and friends! I absolutely love it because it’s so flawlessly simple and easy to make. I refused to tell my friends the recipe. I always bake from scratch so I this recipe was perfect. All other brownie recipes have too much ingredients or they are tedious to make. This recipe was balanced.
These were the best brownies I’ve ever had! My BFF at half the pan in less than a day 🙂
Excellent brownie recipe (and now my go to). I’ve made this recipe 3 times now, and each time is perfection. I once reduced the amount of oil by substituting half with applesauce and still had excellent results.
Hi Lindsay! This recipe is indeed foolproof. Wow! It was our first time to bake…and this recipe was easy to follow and the result was amazing! Brownies were moist and delicious! Thank you again for sharing!
Thanks Tina! I’m glad you enjoyed them!
I made these…just followed your recipe…very easy…my dad just loved them. Thanks for the recipe.
I’m in the group where this didn’t turn out well at all.
I live at about 5,500ft in altitude, but I’ve never had a baking problem before.
The middle never rose like the outsides and I baked for 40 minutes and it was still very wet in the middle.
These are terrible.
Total waste of time. 🙁
Here’s a site that shows the adjustments necessary for high altitude baking and cooking. I live over 5,000′ and, in making caramels, had to reduce the finished temperature from 244° to 234° so have found sometimes you just have to adjust things for altitude. Some things are fine without adjustments but since you had bad results, I’d try the recipe with the suggested adjustments before giving up on the recipe. Right now I’m going for banana chocolate chip cookies but I’m saving this recipe and, due to your comments, I’ll definitely adjust for the altitude and let all you high altitude bakers know the results.
https://www.bettycrocker.com/how-to/tipslibrary/baking-tips/baking-cooking-high-altitudes
I had a late night craving and found this recipe. It makes the perfect brownie and is so easy. I used dark cocoa powder and they were rich, one brownie was plenty. Mine baked for closer to 35 minutes. Thanks so much! I’m adding this to my collection ☺️
These were exactly the type of brownies I was craving. Quick and fool proof! Added walnuts and chocolate chips with no issues! Perfection in a square.
Thank you so much – awesome recipe! My store had run out of brownie mix, and I am so glad,otherwise I’d never have looked for a box mix-style recipe and found this! I made a few changes – used 1/4 cup melted butter and 1/2 cup oil, added a shot of espresso and choc chips to the batter. For a extra chocolatey hit, when they came out of the oven, I broke up a bar of chocolate and scattered the pieces over the brownies, waited for them to melt and then spread it over the top like icing.
I have been following your blog for about a year now and I have to say I have absolutely LOVED everything I have made from your site! I am the “cook” of the family, my sister is the “baker”. Thanks to your recipes I am quickly becoming the queen of both out of all 4 of us (I have 3 sisters), These were amazing. My husband loves brownies and I always make them from scratch but this recipe is hands down the best one we have eaten yet! Thank you for another great recipe!!!
Ha! How fun! 🙂 I’m so glad you’ve been enjoying the blog and following along! Thank you! I’m glad you’ve enjoyed the recipes!
I just made these because the reviews were amazing. I haven’t tasted them yet as they are cooling, but so far I had to bake them for 35 minutes. The toothpick still did not come out clean, but I removed it from the oven anyway as I could smell the edges getting over done. I did add chocolate chips to the batter as my family love them some chocolate. That may have effected the baking process. I will update later after we have tasted them.
I have just discovered you and based on what I see (recipes), I will be hanging around for awhile. I plan to make the brownie recipe first because I have been on a long time quest to find the perfect brownie recipe. Although I’m not an expert, I have been baking for many years so would like to comment on a couple of issues mentioned in previous posts. First, the person who reported her brownies tasted terrible might have inadvertently used rancid oil. Or, something else was omitted. Sugar and oil would have a slushy texture before the addition of other ingredients especially flour. In response to all the questions about a substitution for the oil, I have almost always used butter as a substitution merely because I prefer the taste. I have never had a negative result so I consider oil and butter interchangeable. Finally, I should say I never make any other substitutions or changes to a new recipe until after, if at all, I have made the original one. Thanks for the opportunity to comment. I will be back to report on my brownie baking experience.
I love this brownie recipe, but I added a bit more cocoa to it. I also made them with coconut today. Thank you for this recipe.
I’ve made these twice so far, and both times they’ve turned out bland and dry. I did everything as the recipe said… But they just tasted terrible.
I had to throw them away the second time! Sad.
These are just as lovely as advertised. We are living in Thailand, so boxed brownie mixes are pricey. It’s awesome to have an easy homade option. I did accidentally use maple syrup extract instead of vanilla as they are in similar bottles next to each other in my pantry. The rich maple syrup flavor went really well with the dark cocoa, so it turned out to be a winning error.
Worst brownies I’ve ever made, can’t believe how they turned out. Raw and burnt at the same time? What’s up with that?
This is EXACTLY what I was looking for when I had the urge to make brownies. They turned out exactly like the boxed kind! I think I may have left mine in for 35 minutes accidentally, but I don’t fully remember. Otherwise I followed the recipe exactly!
I never write reviews, but these brownies turned out amazing. I wanted to make brownies but didn’t have a box mix. However I had all ingredients for this on hand. The taste was delicious and they were super moist. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
my brownies did not look like the picture they were a light brown colour with little and medium sized HOLES in the top and all of the sugar sunk to the bottom of the brownie if anyone knows what i have done wrong could you please help me
I’m a personal chef but admittedly a terrible baker. I have a 96 year old client that I cook for once a month and I always make a batch of brownies to take to her. And, don’t shoot me, but I usually make them from a mix… BUT, today I got home and was ready to make them and realized that I didn’t have a mix on hand. Thankfully, I had all the necessary ingredients and, after some Googling, settled on your recipe because it seemed to be fairly fool proof. The only change I made was to add some semi-sweet chocolate chips to the batter. OMG, Best. Brownies. Ever! I will never go back to Duncan Hines again. Thanks for showing me the light!
Awesome! 🙂 I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
They turned out pretty well but I’d use less oil. There was an over powering taste of oil when it was on batter form. I haven’t tried the actual brownies yet, they’re in the oven. They seem like they’ll be good though!
Wonderful share.. i love this recipe!! great work…
Love love love this recipe – thank you! This is now my go-to brownie recipe. I used a mix of melted butter and oil (about 1/4 cup butter) and I also added a shot of espresso to up the choc flavorur. When they came out of the oven, I broke up a small block of each dark and milk chocolate, which melted from the heat of the brownies and then got spread to form a ‘death by chocolate’ topping.
Would it change if I tried using normal cocoa powder?
No, that should work fine.
What does this mean?
1/3 cup + 2 1/2 tbsp Cocoa
1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp Baking Powder
Am I supposed to add to the recipe beyond what is there?
It means to use 1/3 cup of cocoa, plus an additional 2 1/2 tablespoons. And 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder, plus an additional 1/8 tsp. A full half of a teaspoon is too much. 1/4 isn’t enough. Does that help?
my brownies did not look like the picture they were a light brown colour with little and medium sized HOLES in the top and all of the sugar sunk to the bottom of the brownie if anyone knows what i have done wrong could you please help me
please can u answer me
These were amazing!!
I want to do “Pumpkin Chocolate Brownie Cheesecake”, if I use this recipe I have to double it?
No, you shouldn’t need to double it. Once recipe would be fine.
OMG!! These were the BEST oil brownies I’ve ever tried (and trust me I’ve tried a few!)!!! Super, super, SUPER FUDGY!!!! Absolutely amazing (and yes, this is me gushing!!)
I have made these a few times now and they always come out amazing. I made them for a friend that is gluten free/dairy free by making one small tweak. I ground up some oats in the blender until fine and subbed that 1:1 for the flour. Same great turn out.
I’m glad you enjoy them! The oat flour is a great idea!
Okay, have made these twice, using Hershey’s Special Dark as well, and with a few alterations. I cut back the sugar to 1 cup, 1/2 white and 1/2 light brown (pack it down good), olive oil (light or regular, extra virgin may be a bit too strong), a pinch more salt. We only have jumbo eggs, so used two of those and worked fine. Baked in an old scratched up 8 x 8 pan. Checked them at 20 minutes, took out at about 24. TO DIE FOR! Great heated up in the microwave for a few seconds.
P.S. Good luck on the batter even making it to the pan to bake–I found it hard to stay out of it!
These sound totally delicious! I need to make these the next time I need a quick dessert!
I followed the directions to a T and they took an hour to bake in a 9×9, also didn’t taste very good.
I just made these with butter instead of oil and they are fabulous! So moist and chocolaty. Exactly the flavor and simplicity I was after in a recipe. Thank you!
If I don’t want to use dark cocoa powder what other one can i use
Regular natural unsweetened cocoa powder would work as well.
I found this recipe last year and absolutely love it! It is so quick, easy, and delicious! It is my go to for when I want something simple and chocolatey!
These are the brownies of my dreams! They have my two key criteria–cocoa powder and oil, and come out amazing. As this is my first time on your blog I also want to say a big thanks for having a recipe card-style printing option. This makes things so easy!!
I am a pastry chef and and I love trying different recipes. I had a taste for some brownies but I didn’t have all of the ingredients for my recipe. However that turned out to be the best thing to happen to me last night because I found your recipe and I had everything needed for it . It was late when I was baking so my husband was sleep but when it came out the oven here popped up and said ” umm what did you bake?” Lol had a piece and went right back to bed. Thanks for the recipe they were amazing!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Damn Americans and their baking powder. Why not just have self-raising flour in a small amount as well? I tried 2/3 flour 1/3 self-raising flour and ended up with boring cake. Kinda disappointed, but maybe I shouldn’t learn how to make easy (very mediocre) brownies.
Screw sugar, screw this recipe and screw this comment!
Frankly I dont know how Lindsay ever accepted your comment in the first place. Clearly you dont know a thing about baking, if you did you would know, as anyone does, that you CANNOT mix regular flour and self raising. Furthermore, you British, make everything comlicated by using self raising flour. If you cannot respect the authors recipes, kindly keep you foolish and boorish comments to yourself. Apparently you have plenty of time to make an utter fool of yourself.
Where does the +1/8 baking powder and +2 1/2Tbsp cocoa come in?
Those are part of the measurements for the ingredients. For example with the baking powder, you need 1/4 tsp plus 1/8 tsp. It’s less than 1/2 tsp, but more than 1/4 which is why there’s the addition 1/8 tsp.
I have never actually made brownies from scratch before, we were having company for dinner and decided we needed dessert–I googled “Fool Proof Brownie Recipe” and your’s looked easy enough I decided to try it–I only had regular cocoa, but they turned out great! My husband normally doesn’t even like brownies and ate a bunch of them–that was 2 weeks ago… I’m on my 3rd batch (second 2 times with dark chocolate). Bonus–I’m lactose intolerant and since they don’t have milk or butter, as long as you use the right chocolate, these are lactose free brownies!
Thank you for saving the day!
I used baking cocoa (dutch dark cocoa) and the batter was thick. It’s in the oven right now, so will see how this will turn out.
Omg love sooo good with raisins pecans and coconut in them with frosting on top
So glad you enjoyed them!
Ok, so I made your brownie recipe, HOPING it would be a good one and not one of those brownie recipes that ends up having that bitter after taste of baking powder. Let me just say…DELICIOUS!!! So delicious that I got on the internet and searched for you here because I HAD to tell you how yummy they are…and a big THANK YOU, too, for the recipe itself! BEST BROWNIE RECIPE I’VE EVER USED…HANDS DOWN! For those of you who haven’t tried it…seriously…it really IS like a good, boxed brownie mix. I’m pigging out on them right now!
So glad you enjoyed it!
This is the BEST brownie recipe EVER!! You might not even see this but, I just want to let you know. I’ve tried a lot of different brownie recipes in the past and they never really turned out the way I like brownies. The first time I tried this recipe I was so satisfied. I’ve now been making these brownies for my friends & family for years, and everyone who has ever tasted them absolutely falls in love!! So thank you for this incredible recipe!
Wonderful to hear! So glad you’ve enjoyed them!
I love this recipe but the ads and pop up videos on this site are absurd!
Mine are in the oven now. My one word of advice so far, MIX BY HAND! I made a mess with the first little bit of flour mixture that I added. Hahaha! But, after I started mixing by hand, it went smoothly. I expected the batter to be thicker. I guess we will see!
These were awesome! I followed your recipe exactly – I baked mine for 30 minutes and they were quite gooey in the middle (didn’t stop anyone from downing them though!), so for my oven, I think when I make them again today, I will give them an extra 5 minutes. Ovens are so variable! Thanks for sharing and rescuing me from the dreaded box-of-tasty-chemicals which i normally resort too…. 🙂
★★★★★
Oven times can definitely vary. I’m so glad you enjoyed the brownies! 🙂
My go to brownie recipe ????
★★★★★
Wonderful to hear that!
Our batter was so super thick. I ended up mixing it with my hands to get all the flour incorporated. I saw others said theirs were more wet. Not sure the difference- I guess we will have to keep trying them to see the difference ????
Hi Lindsay,
I tried this recipe, and Trust me, never in my life have i tasted such a delicious brownie. Everyone in my family loved it, and i had to actually make 4 batches for my brother’s office potluck.
However, i just have one concern, the brownies were gooey and soft inside with crackling top.
But the sides become very tough and rubbery. i don’t know what to do, hence, i had to cut sides by half inch from all the four sides. Please help.
★★★★★
I’m not sure I know what you mean by rubbery and tough. The edges will obviously cook more and be firmer, but I’m not sure how they’d be rubbery.
I’ve been looking for a good brownie recipe for a while and every time it’s fallen short. This recipe is not only simple but the brownies are DELICIOUS! I added a bit of chocolate chips and walnuts the first time but they’re amazing with it without them. They’re thick and fluffy all at once. ❤️ Definitely my go-to brownie recipe now!
★★★★★
Wonderful! So glad you enjoy them!
I made this today and it turned out perfect !! My son enjoyed eating them. I used regular cocoa but still I felt it was more chochlatey. We felt it was more sweeter may be next time I can reduce the sugar little. Otherwise it was perfect ! Thanks for the easy recipe.
★★★★★
Didn’t have chocolate chips and was heavily craving that pillsbury box mix brownie – this is an absolutely fantastic recipe without all the preservatives if you’re looking for the same cakey/chewy/fudgy texture! Thanks so much! 🙂 p.s. i’m an edge person and these edges were INCREDIBLE.
★★★★★
Wonderful! I’m so glad you enjoyed the brownies and found this recipe!
Can I substitute vanilla extract?
Thanks
I haven’t tried, but you could maybe use maple syrup or vanilla bean.
I loved these so much! They are always gone so quickly every time but they always take about 40 minutes to bake but still, they taste so fudgy and amazing; I’m so glad I found this recipe!
★★★★★
I’m so glad to hear they are a hit!
Love these brownies! I’ve made them a few times now. Instead of vanilla, I used two teaspoons of cinnamon for a Mexican chocolate taste. …Turned out great!
hi! i want to make these but i only have a 8in×8in pan, what time do i bake them for?
I haven’t tried that size for this recipe, but it should be similar baking times.
These brownies are absolutely delicious and so easy to make! It took me less than 10 minutes to whip them up! It did take mine around 45 minutes to bake, but hey I’m all good with waiting for these delicious treats! Thank you so much for this recipe!
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed them!
Hi
I don’t know why but it refuses to cook i have been doing it for about an hour now :/
Thanks
Aaron
Bravo! What a great idea! Love this. I’m sure this is incredibly delicious!
★★★★★
Lindsay! How easy! Your directions make this seem like such an easy approach, too. I would love to make this soon!
★★★★★
I made this recipe using 100% unsweetened cocoa since that’s all I had. Added more vanilla (and should have added more sugar to even the bitterness) and the batter still was a little bitter. Hoping it won’t be too noticeable served with ice cream. :/
Lindsay, this sounds yummy! I would definitely make it again! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
★★★★★
I’ve made these at least 10 times this year!! My go-to!! Thank you 💙💙
★★★★★
Awesome! So glad you enjoy them!
Thank you!!! This is the best brownie recipe!!!
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed them!
Taste was great, but they took much longer to bake than the recipe stated. At 350°, they took almost 40 minutes to bake without being soup in the middle. My oven thermometer was reading 348 so it was right on the mark.
★★★★
Hello Lindsay,
The pictures are amazing and your reviews are outstanding. I want to make the brownies but someone i know has allergies to Vanilla extract, if i omit this ingredient will it still turn out the same (more or less). Thank you.
Yes, it’ll still be fine.
These brownies are good, but extremely cake. i wanted a brownie that wasn’t really fudge and this said it was a little cake, so i made them. they are good and have minimal sweetness but they are a lot closer to cake then brownie, rather than in the middle.
★★★
Thank you Lindsay, I made the fudge brownies last night and they were gone within the hour. So simple to make and delicious!!!
Thank you for sharing!!
These came out really good, although I needed 45 mins in my oven to cook them. I would also try to add half of the sugar next time, other than that, great!
★★★★
I just made this recipe and haven’t tried them yet they are still baking as I type this but tasted the mix and it was so good I almost licked the bowl clean lol and it smells amazing in here, cant wait to try them!
★★★★★
These were the worst brownies that i have ever eaten. They are absolutely disgusting. It is obvious that you dont have taste buds if you think that these are good. Making them was such a waste of ingredients and my time.
Wow, you’re hurling insults at quite a few people, LOL. These are very well loved brownies, as the comments show. I’m sorry to hear you didn’t care for them.
Everyone has the right of freedom of speech and giving opinions but this is distasteful. I can’t even look for a good recipe on the internet without coming across something rude. “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” Social media disgusts me. Pray for the future of our children. It will be filled with a world of bullies and a**holes.
★★★★★
I’ve been trying to make vegan brownies for years and they never come out right. Always too oily, too dry, too crumbly or burn too easily. I used this recipe with an egg replacer and they’re the best brownies I’ve ever made from scratch. Thank you!
★★★★★
Omg so good! I added a bit more chocolate and a bit less sugar plus walnuts at the end and it was perfect!
★★★★★
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Hands down…. this is the BEST brownie recipe ever!!
★★★★★
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Absolutely delicious recipe! Brought these brownies to Kyle’s soccer party and everyone enjoyed them! I am really grateful to have found your amazing recipe and will continue to use it for future occasions!
★★★★★
So glad to hear that!
My family said these were the best brownies they’ve ever had! They were gone in about 20 min, I now have to double the batch!
★★★★★
So glad to hear that!
I replaced the oil with melted butter and used an 8 x 8 glass pan. Mine turned out a little more like cake, so i maybe overbaked them (23-24 minutes). Next time I will try the recipe exactly as instructed because mine definitely don’t look like the pictures and are not chewy at all.
★★★★
Holy oil, batman! We made these yesterday, per the recipe and they were great; also gone before bed. Decided to make them again today and replaced that vegetable oil with coconut oil, and used a touch less. They taste amazing, and nothing lost as far as the texture. My kids love them.
★★★★
This was just as quick and easy as the recipe said, and tasted great. Only a few more steps than using a box mix, and great for when you want brownies you can make from what’s already in your pantry!
**used grapeseed oil instead of regular vegetable oil since that’s what we always use in our house
★★★★★
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Lindsay, do you recommend using an electric mixer on this recipe? I’m worried I over beat it. Box brownies always say to stir and this says mix.
They tasted great even though I used regular cocoa because that is what I had. I’m sure I would like them better with the dark cocoa.
★★★★★
You could use either, but you don’t need to do a ton of mixing or stirring either way. The batter comes together pretty easily. I typically just use a bowl and whisk.
Hello •♡• This recipe looks amazing, I can’t wait to try them. But first I wanted to ask what you would suggest. I love my brownie more like a cake.As in thick like a cake.I’m not fond of brownies that are so thin.I love brownies and I’m sure this recipe is amazing and I can’t wait to try them Hopefully you can guide me what to do to use this recipe but how to go about it so they are nice and thick?¿? (•:: THANK YOU!!!
★★★★★
I’ve never tried to make them like that so it’s a little hard to say. You could try using a smaller pan or doubling the recipe. Obviously you’d need to adjust the baking time and I’m not sure exactly how they would turn out, but you could certainly try it.
I tried it and it was AWESOME. Thanks for the recipe! We LOVE it all the way here in Fiji.
So glad you enjoyed it!
My brownies r not getting firm! They r staying runny. Wut dd I do wrong? They hav been in th oven longer than 30 minutes! An just don’t get done!
I’m sorry you were having trouble. It would’ve been hard for me to say why they were taking so long. I hope they turned out OK!
I love this recipe! I had never made brownies before. It’s so simple which is my favourite kind of recipe. I actually bake them for 40 minutes because I enjoy getting chewy crispy edges on my brownies. Would highly recommend.
★★★★★
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
These are seriously the best brownies we’ve had. Will never go back to box mix! We added walnuts and chocolate chips. So amazingly good!
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed them!
Yum yum yum. Thanks so much for this recipe ❤️
★★★★★
This is the yummiest brownie I have made!!! I’m just wondering every time I make brownies they sink in the middle. Could you please offer a solution as to why this happens!!!
I also noticed in a previous comments that someone used coconut oil, was it liquid or solid? I mostly use solid coconut oil, if I was to melt it would it be to hot to use for this recipe?
★★★★★
Thank you so much for this recipe! The edges are chewy and the inside was gooey, like a brownie oughta be. I added 1 tablespoon of instant coffee and a few dashes of cinnamon and wow! What a chocolate punch! Definitely keeping this recipe in my Favorites!!
★★★★★
I’m so glad you enjoyed the brownies!
I really love your recipe and I made it last year after I found your recipe on here! But I have a question…..how can I make it a little less sweet?? I’m just wondering!!
I’m glad you enjoy them! As for the sweetness, you could try reducing the sugar. But keep in mind that sugar also adds moisture to baked goods, so while it could lessen the sweetness, it could also alter the texture.
Hi Lindsay, I was looking for a non-butter and milk brownie because I was low on those. Found this site. I was low on oil too and used Crisco, melted, and I used regular, not dark cocoa. Then I goofed and added the dry ingredients one at a time to the wet bowl! And I used a 9” round pan. They STILL came out fine and tasted great, thanks! But next time I’ll do it right!
I forgot to rate it.
★★★★★
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
How long can they survive in air tight container?
They should be fine for about 3 to 4 days.
This recipe is delicious! I will never buy the box mix again. I am full of self-doubt when I bake and I love how this recipe went over every detail, making sure the ingredients were combined properly and all. I don’t have a 9×9 but was able to pull this off beautifully in an 8×11. I was truly amazed how good they are.. and I can’t keep myself or my boyfriend away from the pan! You are truly talented. Thanks so much for sharing!
★★★★★
So glad to hear it!
I really loved these! Easy to make and perfect for a quick chocolate fix. Even without the darker chocolate powder, they were still awesome!
So glad you enjoyed them!
These were spongey and absolutely horrible
Can I use a 8×8?
Yes, you’d just need to increase the baking time a bit.
I have been looking for a homemade “box brownie knockoff” recipe for forever!! I’ve tried a few and nothing has been good enough to make again. So thank you for posting this years ago and keeping it posted! I have been so disappointed to go to make recipes from Pinterest, only to find that the blog owner has deleted or moved them, and a search doesn’t bring it up! I’m so glad I finally found your recipe 😍 absolutely perfect!
★★★★★
I just made these. they take about 15 minutes longer in an 8”x8” pan. They puffed up and got crispy around the edges. The insides sank and got fudgy.
Fabulous!!!! I ve made it 6 times double of every ingredient using 8×12 cake pan. twice with chopped walnuts, and twice with cheesecake swirl. All six time, perfect. And it is sooooo easy. This recipe is great. Id give a 10 star if they had it. Thank you for sharing the recipe with us;
SM
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed them!
I followed the recipe and it turned into a cake not a brownie
This was so easy to make and so delicious! I added some dark chocolate chips and some heavy whipping cream! My family loved them!!!
★★★★★
Easy instructions – easy to bake and taste great !! I can’t eat dairy and these are Cakey and Chocolatey and crispy texture on top just like they say 😃 yummy warm and definitely gone back for seconds yum yum
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed them!
After using this recipe for a year – it is tried and tested. I made it for a friend’s daughter who can’t have lactose but is fine with eggs. It is now everyone’s favourite for any baking occasion, perfect every time. My only change is that as I only have 1 set of cup measures- I mix all the dry ingredients in one bowl then all the wet in a separate jug then mix together. Today I added some broken up Easter eggs that were still hanging about instead of chocolate chip/chunks and cherries. Thank you so much. Jan from Wokingham, UK
I’ve made this recipe twice and I’ll be using it as my go-to brownie recipe from now on. When I made it the first time I followed the recipe exactly (except my cocoa wasn’t dark chocolate) and added pecans. Delicious.
When I made it the second time I used more cocoa than the recipe called for (my preference…again, the recipe is great as written), subbed some of the white sugar with brown sugar, and added pecans. Double delicious!
★★★★★
Glad you enjoyed them!
Hello, Ihave a question. Would it be alright to use half a cup butter an fourthcup oil?
It would change the texture of the brownies, but it’d probably bake ok.
This recipe changed two lives. My wife and I are in our early 60’s. For decades we fell into the traditional roles of me tuning up and repairing our old Volkswagen beetles while Ella did the cooking. I thought boiling an egg was an accomplishment. …Anyway, in 2015 Ella was going through chemotherapy for lymphoma. She rarely had an appetite, had low energy and had lost a lot of weight. One evening she said she had a hankering for brownies. We had no mix and it was snowing. I found your recipe, it was easy to make, turned out perfectly and Ella loved it. …And I found out that I like to cook! Ella recovered, and said she wanted to do new things herself, such as learn how to fix her car. Now I’m the main cook, Ella is our mechanic and we’re both happier for it.
★★★★★
What an amazing story! So glad to hear you guys have enjoyed the recipe!
Where has this been all my life?! I never write reviews, this is my FIRST REVIEW EVER because this recipe delivered. I was craving box mix but limiting grocery runs and this filled my craving. I do bake other brownie recipes but theres something about box mix that bring sleepover nostalgia during these times. Thank you! Never going back to the box! Highly recommended!!
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed them!
This recipe is fantastic. I made a few adjustments (I know, I know…), that I thought I’d put in here for anyone else who stops by. I cut the sugar down to a scant 1 cup, swapped 1/4 cup of flour for additional cocoa (so it was 1/2 cup flour and 3/4 cup cocoa), and used only 2 eggs for a slightly different texture. I’ve been looking for a recipe exactly like this one, and I’m so glad to have a go-to that’s not from a box, and that I can make with gluten-free flour. Thank you!!!
★★★★★