Best Homemade Chocolate Brownies

Who doesn’t love a good Chocolate brownie? But have you ever noticed how difficult it is to find a recipe that has everything you want in a brownie?

So, for many years I’ve tried to find the best recipe without any luck. Until now! 🙂 This is the best homemade brownie I have tried.

It is fudgy and gooey, but also dark, intense and super chocolaty. This recipe is super easy, with truly spectacular results and you are definitely going to love it!

Ingredients for Chocolate Brownies :

226 g salted butter, plus more for pan
340 g good quality dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/4 cups brown sugar (I used half coconut and half brown sugar)
1 cup pecan halves, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons good quality cocoa powder
3.4 g instant espresso powder (optional)
half a teaspoon vanilla powder
50 g dark or milk chocolate chunks, to sprinkle on top (I used the same dark chocolate as for the batter)

How to make Chocolate Brownies:

Firstly, prepare a suitable baking pan by buttering and lining with parchment paper. Then set it aside.
Next, preheat your oven to 150 degrees C fan.
Cut the butter in smaller pieces and place it together with chopped chocolate in a heat-proof bowl. Set the bowl over a pan of simmering water and slowly heat the water (don’t boil it). Let the chocolate and butter melt. Stir regularly using a spatula, so that the chocolate melts smoothly. Remove from heat, add in vanilla and the espresso powder and stir, afterwards let it cool.
Next, sift flour, cocoa and baking powder together into a medium bowl and set aside.
Place the eggs into a medium bowl. Using an electric hand mixer, beat the eggs until thick and creamy for few minutes. Gradually add in the sugar. Continue beating few minutes more or until the egg and sugar mixture is thick.
Gradually, fold in the cool melted chocolate mixture, alternating with the flour mixture. Mix just until everything is just incorporated. Fold in pecan nuts.
Then pour batter into prepared pan and level the surface with the spatula. Top with chocolate chunks.
Bake in the middle of the oven for aprox. 40 minutes (or until the top of the brownie is cracked and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out with few crumbs). Remove from oven, and let it cool.
Finally, cut them into squares and enjoy!

How to keep your Chocolate Brownies fresh:

Store the Chocolate Brownies in an airtight container at room temperature and preferably consume within first 2 days.
If you prefer to store them longer, then you can wrap them in cling film (if they are cut, wrap each piece) then place in an airtight container and freeze for max. 3 months.
When you are ready to eat, allow the brownies to come to room temperature before unwrapping them. So, they will not dry out.

Notes:

The baking tray I used for this recipe has the following sizes: 18x 30 x 3 cm. Usually, for brownies, the baking trays should be a bit deeper than 3 cm, so I recommend you to use a 4-5 cm deep if you have one available.
The instant espresso powder is totally optional. Rather than make your brownies taste like coffee, it actually enhances the cocoa and chocolate flavour even more, giving a richer and intense taste.
For this recipe, you can swap the salted butter with unsalted, they both work fine.
Also, you can change the pecans with hazelnuts or walnuts or even omit them entirely. It’s up to you!

This recipe is based on Martha Steward’s amazing brownie recipe with a personal touch.
See other desserts here!

A rainbow of tastes