The Best Homemade Brownie Recipes for All Your Chocolate Cravings (2024)

FAQs

What can I add to brownies to make them better? ›

For an easy boost to your boxed brownie mix, sprinkle in about a half cup of add-ins to give brownie batter a personal touch. Although nuts, chocolate and peanut butter chips, and mini marshmallows are easy wins here, this method invites creativity, and the options are truly limitless.

Salt enhances the sweetness in your brownies. You might think that adding salt would make brownies, or any chocolate, salter, but it actually brings out the sweet quality in these types of desserts.

Vanilla extract – Pure vanilla extract adds rich flavor to brownies. Eggs – Most brownie mixes call for one whole egg. Adding one large egg plus an extra egg yolk gives brownies an ultra fudgy texture. Chocolate Chips – Even if your brownie mix contains chocolate, plan to add chocolate chips.

Brownie recipes traditionally call for water as it serves as a neutral liquid that hydrates the dry ingredients. However, using milk instead of water can impart a creamier texture and richer flavor to your brownies. The milk's fat content adds a smoothness that water cannot provide, resulting in a more indulgent treat.

Milk is richer than water, so the brownies will be richer, and they'll be denser, like fudge. For the fudgiest brownie possible, swap all of the recommended water for milk — the extra fat will thicken the batter.

Alice Medrich, author of Seriously Bitter Sweet: The Ultimate Dessert Maker's Guide to Chocolate, writes that “refrigerating the brownie batter in the pan for several hours, or as long as two days before baking, wreaks enormous transformations: it improves the top gloss and crustiness, and it also blends the flavors so ...

Cookbook author and food stylist Jerrelle Guy might have given away the secret: In an article for The Kitchn, Guy suggests the secret to a "glossy" and lifted brownie — like the ones you see in bakeries and restaurants — is to beat the eggs and the sugar together for 10 minutes before adding additional ingredients.

In addition to keeping your brownie mix fresh, refrigerating brownie batter can also help boost the overall texture and flavor of the treat. Refrigerating helps improve the gloss and crustiness of brownies while simultaneously blending the flavors—the result? — brownie that tastes much richer and chewier.

They give brownies a lighter, drier, and more cake-like texture. If you prefer this over the chewy variety, then go ahead and crack in that additional egg. On the other hand, too many eggs will yield brownies that are hard, heavy, and tough.

Homemade brownies are always better than boxed, even those Ghirardelli brownies - they are better, I promise. Since this recipe mimics a box mix, it uses cocoa in the batter instead of melted chocolate. There's no oil and no water, just pure buttery cocoa goodness.

Which sugar is better for brownies? ›

And according to Kitchn, that is the exact reason you'll want to use dark brown sugar for your brownies to ensure your next batch turns out ultra gooey. If you don't have any dark brown sugar on hand there is no need to panic or resign yourself to dry brownies.

Mix in chopped walnuts, chopped pecans or sliced almonds for a crunchy texture and nutty flavor. Add chocolate or chopped candy bars. Think chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, peanut butter chips, chopped peanut butter cups. Bring on the mint.

1. Use melted butter instead of oil. Most boxed mixes call for vegetable oil, which gives brownies a lighter texture and more neutral flavor. To make them taste homemade, try substituting equal amounts of melted butter for the oil.

Add coffee or instant espresso powder to your brownies for an even deeper, more complex chocolate flavor. Swirl them with peanut butter, cream cheese, or even pumpkin filling to mix things up. Mix in nuts, add a marshmallow topping, or spread on your favorite frostings for fun, simple, or seasonal twists.

You can absolutely substitute butter for the vegetable oil. Use the same quantity specified in the directions (for example, if it calls for 1/3 cup of oil, use 5 1/3 tablespoons of butter). Melt it down, then let it cool a bit. You might not ever go back to oil!

In brownies, the latter leads to cakier results because you're beating more air and lift into the batter. In doing this, you're also diffusing the chocolate flavor. Brownies made with melted butter tend to be fudgier and have a stronger cocoa flavor.

If this idea gives you pause, take a moment to consider the properties of sour cream before dismissing it. It's thick, creamy, and slightly tangy. Adding it to brownies introduces extra liquid and fat, which logically results in extra moist and rich brownies.

Sprinkled chocolate chips or chopped candy look great as a brownie topping. Use a candy like M&M's to give your brownies a pop of color. Alternatively, add licorice or candy corn for a fun decorative look.