Super fudgy and dense cocoa brownies are gooey on the inside, have a crinkly top, and are made with just 6 ingredients in under 30 minutes! This easy recipe makes the BEST brownies and is the only brownie recipe you will ever need.
I’ve got a super-easy yet DELICIOUS fudgy brownie recipe for you today. Brownies can’t get any fudgier or easier to make than this folks!
These brownies are fudgy, dense, rich, and super chocolate and with just a few basic ingredients and 30 minutes of your time, you’ve got yourself a batch of brownies that is out of this world!
They’re so chocolaty and delicious my only worry is eating the whole batch right out of the oven…
The super fudgy interior along with the crispy crinkle top is a combo made in heaven and will become your new favorite brownies!
A few years back I was hooked on boxed brownie mix and to be honest I thought they were “alright”. I mainly used the mix because it’s very easy to use because the thought of making brownies from scratch terrified me. Turns out, it’s not hard at all!
It may take any extra step making it from scratch but I swear it tastes 1 billion times better and once you try it you will NEVER EVER go back to brownie mix again!
Like I said, these brownies are simple and easy to make. The entire brownie mixture will be made in the pot or bowl you decide to melt your butter.
To save yourself time and effort, melt the butter in the same bowl that you will be mixing the brownie mix in. I like to use a glass microwave-safe mixing bowl so I can go right in to add the rest of the ingredients after melting the butter.
After melting the butter add the sugar and cocoa and stir until fully combined. Then add the eggs, vanilla, flour, and salt; mix and you’re done!
If you like you can now add 1/2 cup of chocolate chips, nuts, m&m’s, marshmallows, Reese’s or whatever your heart desires!
TIP FOR MAKING THE BEST FUDGE BROWNIES
Don’t overmix the batter. Overmixing the batter will allow air to get trapped in the batter and will result in cakey brownies.
Don’t overbake the brownies. If you are looking for fudgy brownies then remove them from the oven when the sides have begun to shrink away from the sides of the pan but the center is still gooey.
Cool before cutting. As hard as it may be, resist the urge to cut the brownies right out of the oven. Instead, cool them to room temperature or place them in the fridge to cool for at least an hour before cutting into them. This extra step will result in perfect professional cuts.
If you’re like me and you love CHOCOLATE, then do yourself a favor and chop up 4 oz of baking chocolate and stir them into the batter. This will take the brownies (which are already AMAZING) to the next level and make them EVEN BETTER.
Easy One Bowl Fudgy Cocoa Brownies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter, or oil
- 1 cup sugar, see note
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa, preferably, dutch processed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/4 tsp salt, leave out if using salted butter
- 1/2 cup favorite adds-ins , (chopped dark chocolate, chocolate chips or walnut)
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350F. Grease an 8x8 square pan or a 9x5 loaf pan or line with parchment or foil; set aside.
- In a large microwave-safe mixing bowl, add the butter and microwave for 1 minute or until completely melted. Add the sugar and cocoa powder and whisk vigorously for at least a minute, until the sugar has dissolved.
- Add eggs one at a time then vanilla and whisk for at least 1 minute, until well combined and batter is shiny.
- Stir in flour and salt until the flour is fully combined. Be careful not to overmix mix.
- (optional) fold in 1/2 cup of nuts, raisins, chocolate chips or anything you desire.
- Spread in pan and bake for approximately 20 minutes or until the center is slightly set. Be careful not to over-bake!
- Cool completely then cut into 9 large squares or 16 small squares ( I cut mine into 16)
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Share the love – Click on collage to Pin it!
Can you substitute almond flour if I don’t have regular flour?
I’m not sure how it would work with this recipe but we do have a brownie recipe that uses almond flour here: https://gimmedelicious.com/healthier-brownies
Should I add a teaspoon of baking soda/powder? I am worried these won’t rise properly.
This recipe is pure trash. I am an experienced baker and this was a total waste of my ingredients and time. I cooked them for under 2t minutes and it was pure dry rubber.
*15 minutes
that’s … your fault lol. you clearly did something wrong.
Hush haters lol…I don’t know how anybody is getting these wrong! These are SOOOO good! Seriously, the real deal. I think everyone coming out with cakey or dry brownies must be over measuring their flour or ignoring the basics of brownies and neglecting to check on them. There is no such thing as a prescribed time to cook because (& yo, we all know this by now) everyone’s oven has a personality or altitude is a bit different. Mine cooks fast, so I just cut the time down a bit & check them. If you measure correctly and check on these babies , they turn out AMAZING! Easy & delicious. Discovered these in my last pregnancy during a serious chocolate craving & it’s still my go-to years later.
We accidentally cooked it with a full cup of flour, and it was delicious! a little more cakey, but still brownie dense and moist.
I made a second batch exactly as instructed by the recipe in case the first “mistake” batch turned out to be a total fail, and it is yummy too. Just a little more tender.
Honestly, we liked it with the full cup of flour better. 20 minutes at 350, with a cup of white chocolate chips. Yum!
no baking powder? Just putting these in the oven, batter is VERY VERY STICKY, ie: NOT ENOUGH flour…and they were hard to pour into the pan..how can they even rise???????? Have a feeling these will be an epic failure unless u like gooey no rise whatever
just tasted and topped with chopped walnuts. Forgive me, they did rise and look ok, texture is fudgy with the slightly crisp top. Mine baked in about 18 minutes. My taste verdict? Found them a wee bit TOO sweet if u can believe that..and I am a certifiable chocoholic. I used the 1/2 c. cocoa powder, 2/3 c. granulated sugar, 2 tsp vanilla and threw in a big handful of mini Hershey’s choc chips…not sure if the vanilla was a bit overkill or the one cup of sugar? Next time I will try them with less sugar. Anyway they were fine, just a tad too rich. A very easy to make treat and kids can help with this, they love to mix batter and top cakes!
I have now baked and tasted…..they did rise OK and had the nice, crisp top, quite fudgy. I added chopped walnuts on top. My one criticism is they were TOO sweet if u can believe that…maybe too much vanilla or too much sugar????? I added in a big handful of Hershey’s mini choc chips and lined the pan with parchment for easy cutting and cleaning. I will try them again with less sugar…here’s an idea – serve for company with fresh raspberries around them and some freshly whipped cream, not too sweet to temper the richness of the brownies. Easy to make, a good recipe for kids to help with.
I misread the recipe and put 1/2 of sugar instead of a cup and they were really good. I can’t imagine how great they will be next time I actually follow the recipe
Best brownies ever! They were super easy to make as well & my kids loved them!
These brownies are amazing! My husband, children and I love to make these! But when you are baking, I add a couple more minutes to the time in the oven. Great brownies overall!
I’m sad to report that these didn’t turn out well. I followed your instructions to a T. I baked them for only 15 mins (so not sure how your time recommended 20-22,) unless you add other items like chocolate chips or Reese’s. Perhaps you should specify that. My oven temperature is also calibrated. Even at 15 mins, these were super dry…I wish I got the same delicious result as others who have commented. I’m a professional recipe developer, so I may try these again as I feel it needs more than one test.
I’ve made these twice and they were great both times. I used peanut butter chocolate chips…OMG, AMAZING. We added marshmallows the other time and those were good, but peanut butter chips was the clear winner.
I followed the directions and added several mini chocolate chips. I then added a few teaspoons of peanut butter on the top and swirled thru the mixture. I cooked them in a 9×13 glass pan and they’d were probably the BEST homemade brownies I’ve ever made!
Just made these today. If you follow the recipe exactly as said you will have the best every brownies. They are so delicious, crunchy on top, and gooey in the middle. I hardly every rate recipes but I had to on this one. I added 1/2 cup of mini semi chocolate chips, and 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips. I just happen to have them and WOW they are awesome.
They were great! The were soft on the inside, but had a crunchy top. Wonderful flavor, my family loves them.
This is Dad! All I have to say is, after making these yummy brownies, I’m the favorite one! 😆
I’ve made these three times now and they keep coming out perfectly moist and yummy!
These turned out amazing! They weren’t quite as crisp on top as I expected, but were still gooey and beyond delicious! They’re also surprisingly filling, too. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Quick, easy and delicious. This recipe is a close second to the ease of box mix, but they cook much faster. Will be saving this recipe for the future!
I’m not sure what went wrong. How long did you bake the brownies?
I baked them for 20 minutes
I am from Cape Town SA
Made the Brownies for the first time!!
They were Awesome and my grand children loved them as well as Mom and Dad.
Thank you for an amazingly easy recipe.
That’s my kind of recipe😊
So happy to see we have readers all the way from South Africa! thanks for taking the time to leave a review, Collete. I’m glad your family enjoyed the brownies <3
These weren’t great by ANY means. Maybe with some chocolate chips there would be more moisture…
Zero crisp outside. Zero gooey fudgey inside.
They were dense, thats for sure. Kind of like cake. And dry.
I did not overmix. I did not overbake. Infact I under baked at 18min.
I highly suggest looking elsewhere for a “dense, fudgy brownie”.
It’s really important with brownies not to put everything in the bowl at once. Mix the butter and the sugar first, then add the eggs and vanilla. After that at the cocoa powder and mix that completely, then finally add the flour at the end. also the crinkly top comes from oil, not from butter so if you want the crinkly top it’s important that you use an oil based brownie recipe. You can add oil to this one for some crinkly top and extra fudginess if you desire.
I made these about ten days ago and loved them! DH asked for them again! Making again tonight! And will keep this recipe handy (.of course at this rate I may be able to memorize the recipe!) Many thanks for sharing.
I made them rhet turned out dry and cakey hated it
You must have over-whipped them or over baked them. Try under-baking them next time!
Slightly crispy outside, moist and chewy inside. We both liked them very much! Will definitely make again! Thanks for sharing!
SO happy you enjoyed them! <3
This works great! try it, i divided everything by 4 but it still makes A LOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So delicious!!!! Very simplE process and ingredients. Just what i was looking for, thanks a Ton!!!
It may be because I used an 8×8 Pyrex dish, mixed in semisweet chips and didn’t wait long enough…but I ended up with the world’s BEST lava cake! Next time I have COMPANy, I can’t wait to serve it up hot, dusted with powdered sugar. Thank you for sharing this, my dad and I loved it. 🙂
Lava brownies are the best!!
Happy you enjoyed them, Tiffany <3
THESE ARE SIMPLY AMAZING.
my caps lock is not on but thats okay… i decided to treat the brownies as a molten lava cake straight out of the oven paired with icecream, so amazing. the next day these brownies were even better
thank you for the recipe
Yum, molten lava cake brownies sound amazing!!
I messed around with the recipe a little—less sugar, added espresso powder, baked almost 30 minutes instead of 22. I did add a handful of chocolate chips as suggested. They turned out great, and not too cakey even though I baked them extra—kind of fluffy? Weird to say for a brownie but they were delicious. Thanks for the recipe!!
SO good but i did cook them 5 minutes longer than stated!
Idont usually like chewy/fudgey browines but yhese are to die for
I did everything perfectly and even baked for 20 min idk how they still became smooth and spongey 🙁
Hello i tried to baked this and the results was so good.
My family like it and ofcourse me to
Thanks for the good recipe.
You are welcome, Kei! 🙂
wE LOVE THIS RECIPE AND i MAKE IT REGULARLY FOR MY HUSBAND AND KIDS. i USUALLY DOUBLE IT AND ADD PEANUT BUTTER CHIPS. Only one thing. Whether I double the recipe or not, it takes about 40 minutes to fully cook, not the 20 mentioned in the recipe.
(sorry for the all caps – my caps lock is NOt on, but that doesn’t seem to be helping on this site!)
I’m not sure what went wrong, Janice but these r fudgy brownies and are not expected to rise. Please consider re-making them before leaving a 1-star review. Thanks for stopping by!
These brownies are awesome
These brownies are awesome
Hi, just came across your recipe online. I would like to know if parchment paper would work instead of foil to line the pan? Please reply soon. I really want to try this recipe.
Thank you, Debbie
Sorry I just saw this post. Yes, parchment paper works great too! 🙂
Made these with my toddler yesterday. I specifically looked for a simple and easy recipe for the OCCASIOn and one that used ingredients i already had on hand. They turned out so much better than i could have expected! Super delicious and so rich and fudgy. My husband even said they were the best HE’S ever had (and he’s picky). I plan on making them again tomorrow to bring to a work event! My only suggestion is that when I make them again, I’m going to put in a little less sugar, maybe a cup instead of a cup and a quarter.
I’m flattered your family enjoyed the brownies! <3
I sometimes play around with this recipe. I’ve tried it with egg substitute (1tbsp ground flax; 3tbsp water), with coconut oil instead of butter. Sometimes I play with flour ratios (usually I do 1/4cup corn flour;1/4 All purpose flour). I even sometimes reduce sugar by half. Honestly they all turn out well.
This time, I played with the egg white, beating them to stiff peaks before folding them in. I’m hoping to make them more chewy that way.
It’s a quick sugar fix recipe but also so easy that you can pretty much do any substitute and it turns out well.
Thanks for the detailed feedback, Jim!
SO Good omg. these brownies were super easy to make and are the perfect amount of fudgey-ness! Definitely will be making these again 🙂
My husband and I love this recipe! This makes yummy brownies everytime.
These brownies are awesome! I’ve made them several times and they Are always a hit. I use dark CHOCOLATe and milk chocolate coco and I add a drizzle of molasses. Trust me it make the brownies go from great to divine.
these brownies are delicious! I loved how there weren’t too many ingredients but the brownies were divine! they’re the perfect amount of chewy and soft and they’re now my go-to brownie recipe. I’ve tried a lot of recipes before and these are by far the best! I did end up cooking them for about 5-10 extra minutes and they turned out great. I would highly recommend trying these out!
These brownies were too amazing! ! Bless the creator! I also added a quarter of baking powder to add on to the softness. My family prefers them fluffy as well.
These brownies are amazing. I was looking for a quick easy snack for my late night sweet tooth and this delivered. I doubled the recipe to make enough for a 9×13 pan. This recipe is way better than store mix.
Delicious!! Everyone loved it. Thank you 😊
You are welcome!! <3
Sounds just what i want, can i make in advance! Ie how long cou,d they keepif yoy can resust 😂 ir do they need to be eaten steaight away
Is it okay if I leave out the vanilla or can I substitute with honey ? Just don’t have any vanilla handy 😢
You can skip it!