Seriously rich and delicious, these chewy homemade chocolate brownies are dangerously easy to make. Plus with their chewy texture, it will be hard to resist eating just one!
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Recipe updated November 2020 (to make them even more chewy!)
Craving something indulgent but uncomplicated? Don’t worry, I’ve got your back with these deliciously chewy homemade brownies!
I’ve been working hard on this recipe to try to develop the best, ultimate brownies for you all. They have that perfectly chewy texture (no cakey brownies here!) and rich chocolate flavour.
Plus they are genuinely so easy to make with just a few bowls, a whisk and spatula. No mixer required and limited washing up. That’s a winner for me!
Best chewy brownies
After publishing my Banoffee Brownie recipe, I realised I wanted to go back and create a classic brownie recipe that my readers could rely upon as their go-to brownie recipe.
As I mention in my About Me page, my whole baking journey (unexpectedly as you’ll read there!) began with brownies. So it only seems right that I should finally create my very own recipe!
Recipe for chewy chocolate brownies
I went through several test batches to get these just how I like them. They progressively got less cakey and much more chewy!
I also worked on trying to get that shiny, crackled top. As you can see they started off quite dull on top but eventually developed that lovely shine!
How to make chewy homemade brownies
It all comes down to certain ingredients such as flour, eggs and raising agent. My first batch contained baking powder and four eggs. I added the baking powder thinking they would need some sort of ‘lift’ to avoid an overly dense brownie. I was wrong! It was far too cakey and dry for my liking.
I removed the baking powder from the second batch but they still came out cakey which I then realised was down to the number of eggs. Long story short, my final recipe has no raising agent, fewer eggs, more chocolate and butter, less flour and some light brown sugar for extra moisture. The winning combination for rich and mega chewy brownies!
How to get shiny brownie tops
White sugar, and quite a lot of it! My first few batches contained a higher ratio of light brown to white sugar, in an attempt to add moisture. However, when I tried it with mostly caster sugar the brownie tops became super shiny with the perfect crackle! I believe adding the warm melted chocolate-butter mixture to the sugar helps with this too.
Quick, easy and simple brownie recipe
These brownies are really easy to whip together, so put that box mix away!
You’ll need one bowl for the dry ingredients. One for the sugar. One for the melted chocolate-butter mixture. Combine all three into the one large bowl (in the order outlined below), throw in some chocolate chips and voila! As I mentioned earlier, they are dangerously easy to make so don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Then you just need a standard traybake baking pan, measuring around 12″ by 9″. I simply line mine with baking paper or if using foil, I also spray it lightly with non-stick cake pan spray!
If you try this recipe I’d love to see! You can show me by tagging me @bakerjoblog or using #bakerjoblog!
Other traybakes to try:
- Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- White Chocolate Blondies
- Lemon Bars
- Chewy Creme Egg Brownies
- Nutella Brownies
- Peanut Butter Brownies
- Banoffee Brownies
- No-Bake Healthy Chewy Snack Bars
Other chocolate recipes to try:
- Chocolate Orange Bundt Cake
- Chocolate Chip Muffins
- No-Churn Oreo Ice Cream
- White Chocolate Coconut Truffles
- White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
- No-Bake Strawberry White Chocolate Cheesecake
- Cocoa Dusted Chocolate Truffles
- Strawberry White Chocolate Cookies
- Chocolate Coconut Cake
- Chewy Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Raspberry White Chocolate Muffins
- Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chewy Homemade Brownies
Ingredients
- 100 g plain flour
- 60 g cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 250 g caster sugar
- 50 g light brown sugar
- 200 g butter cubed
- 180 g good quality dark chocolate chopped
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3 medium eggs room temperature
- 160 g chocolate chips milk, dark or white choc chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 170°C/150°C fan. Grease a 12″ x 9″ traybake tin with butter or non-stick spray, line with foil/baking/parchment paper. If using foil, spray it again with non-stick spray once lined.
- To a medium bowl add the flour, cocoa powder and salt. Whisk to combine and set aside.
- To a large bowl add the caster and light brown sugar. Set aside.
- In a medium microwave-safe bowl, add the chopped dark chocolate and cubed butter. Heat in microwave in 20-second increments, stirring in between until melted and no lumps of chocolate remain.
- Pour this melted chocolate-butter mixture into the large bowl containing both sugars. whisk together until combined, about 30 seconds.
- Add the vanilla extract and whisk to combine.
- Now add the eggs, one by one, whisking thoroughly between each addition to ensure they’re fully incorporated. With each addition of egg, you’ll notice the batter feels thicker and more difficult to whisk, so you may need to scrape from the bottom and fold together in between whisking.
- Put your whisk aside and use a spatula/wooden spoon from this point. Add half the dry ingredients to this large bowl and fold gently until just incorporated. Repeat with the remaining half of dry ingredients. This will also feel a bit tricky to mix together at first but stick with it! Make sure no pockets of flour remain and try not to over-mix.
- Add the chocolate chips and fold together until spread evenly through your brownie batter.
- Pour the brownie batter into your prepared traybake tin. It will be thick so you will need to spread it evenly into all corners of your traybake tin. I do this my first spreading it with my spatula, then gently tilting the tin so the mixture spreads evenly into each corner.
- Place the traybake tin onto the middle shelf of your preheated oven for between 20-25 mins. Test from 20 minutes by inserting a cake skewer or cocktail stick into several areas of the brownie – there should be some moist crumbs on the skewer/stick. If it comes out clean, the brownies are over-baked. If it contains wet mixture, it is under-baked so place back in the oven for 2 more minutes before testing again.
- Once baked, place on a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Try to resist the urge to remove them or cut into them before they’re cool as they need time to set.
- Brownies will keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for around 5 days.
Can I add coconut to these, I was just going to sprinkle on or would it be best mixed in?
Just didn’t want to take away any chewiness xD
Hi, I’ve just baked these and what a success!! I’m normally a bit scared of baking brownies in case they end up cakey but these were gooey heaven! We had them as small finger bites with chocolate covered strawberries and we’re all a bit choccy’d out now. Great to find a recipe that works. Do they freeze ok?
Author
So happy these turned out perfectly for you, Sara! Yup they freeze really well 😊
Absolutely delicious, fudgey and not too sweet. I did cut down the caster sugar by 20g (always do) but otherwise made as recipe. My dish was slightly bigger than stated so they aren’t very deep but super tasty! Can’t wait to serve to friends tomorrow 😀 thank you! New favourite brownie recipe
Author
Hi Michelle,
I’m so excited that this is your new favourite brownie recipe! Thanks for your great feedback 😊
I made these the other day. At first I took a nibble of a piece around the edge. I wasn’t impressed, then later I ate a whole piece proper. OMG fantastic. Shared them with friends and co-workers all of whom loved them. I did cut down the amount of sugar slightly and added a generous helping of Disaronno.
Only downside really was that I didn’t get the nice glaze on the top. I also found that they weren’t that tall. A bit less than 2.5cm / 1″ high.
Took about 24mins in my oven. Baked at over 2000m altitude.
Author
Thanks for the comment! I’m glad your friends enjoyed them 😊 if you’d like more shiny tops next time, I’d suggest keeping the amount of sugar the same as it’s the amount of sugar that helps create the shine 🙂
Best brownies on the planet, hands down.
Author
Thank you! 😁
Great for me! I halved the ingredients as I didn’t want to make that much and they came out really nice I lowered the temp as it was less.
I will be making again with the full quantity 🙂
Author
Hi Rayniece,
Thank you so much for your feedback – I’m so glad they came out well for you and that you want to make them again! 😊
I made these halved the quantity of everything as I just wanted a little late night snack for a few days 😅 and I lowered the temperature.
They came out so nice I will be making them again with the full quantity measures! So moreish!
Unfortunately I made these and they came out Cakey I was really looking forward to them but I am not sure if I’m at fault or not
Author
Hi Emily,
I’m so sorry they didn’t turn out right for you. As you can see from my blog post recipe development photos I worked really hard on these to ensure they were chewy and not cakey, as I’m not a fan of cakey brownies either! One reason for them turning out cakey includes overbaking them. Even a few minutes too long can dry out the middle and make it cakey. Do you use an oven thermometer? I ask because if you think you baked them for the right amount of time, it might be that the oven was too hot so they baked too quickly. Also, adding a little too much flour can result in cakey brownies. Swapping out light brown sugar for caster sugar, and using the wrong size eggs can also result in cakey brownies!
I hope these suggestions help – any other questions let me know!
Jo x
Thanks for the recipe. I halved the recipe and used an 8×8 tin, I followed all of your steps to the letter.The taste of the brownies was nice but unfortunately mine were alittle cakey with a dull crackle top. I prefer more of a fudgy chewy brownie, maybe I overbaked them I’m not sure. I cooked them 160c (according to my oven temp) for 25 mins checking until loose crumbs as stated.
Author
Hi Louise, I’m sorry they didn’t come out fudgy for you as they should have done. I’m not a fan of cakey brownies either so I worked hard developing this recipe do get super chewy brownies! Do you have an oven thermometer? I ask because my oven overheats, so if I set my oven dial to 160 it would heat to 180! So I bought a cheap oven thermometer to account for this and alter my oven dial as necessary.
As you followed my recipe exactly as you said, it couldn’t be too much flour. It helps to mix the sugar into the melted chocolate and butter while it’s still quite warm, this is what helps achieve shiny tops!
My final thought is that because you used a smaller pan, they most likely baked quicker so you may have overbaked them using the timing of a bigger pan. Sorry I didn’t suggest this to you when you asked about amending the pan size.
Sorry they didn’t work out as they should have, I hope my suggestions help a little 🙂 and thanks for your feedback xx
Wouldn’t the batter need 40 min and not less if the pan is small? Because the layer of batter will be thicker in it
Author
Hi Noor,
No, if the ingredients are halved as suggested when using a smaller pan, the batter layer won’t be thicker so they’ll need a little less time due to the smaller pan size 🙂
Hi,. I’m looking for a chewy brownie recipe and these look fantastic! How much would I reduce the recipe by for am 8×8 inch pan? Thanks.
Author
Hi Louise,
I’d say halving all the ingredients should work out well in an 8×8 pan! Let me know how it goes 🙂