Dorothy Kern
Today I’m sharing how you can make the BEST brownie recipe from scratch. Brown butter brownies are just as easy as regular ones with just one added step (making brown butter) and it makes a huge difference!
Learn how to make brown butter and take your brownies to the next level the next time your chocolate craving is intense! NEVER buy a box mix again.
Have you ever had brown butter? I’m in love with the stuff and this brown butter brownie recipe is my favorite way to use it. Oh, who am I kidding? I love brown butter in so many dishes!
Why We LOVE These Brownies
I love my basic homemade brownie recipe, but adding brown butter just takes it to a whole other level. It adds a subtle nuttiness and depth of flavor you just don’t get with regular butter. It pairs perfectly with the chocolate so you get rich, fudgy homemade brownies that will leave everyone wondering what the secret ingredient is.
Table of Contents
Ingredients for the best brownie recipe
Make this easy brownie recipe with brown butter with just a few ingredients:
- Unsalted butter: using butter makes them rich and fudgy
- Unsweetened Baking Chocolate: adds so much chocolate flavor
- Sugar: YES a full 2 ½ cups
- Eggs: 4 eggs gives these that fudgy center texture
- Vanilla extract and Salt: for flavor
- Unsweetened cocoa powder: for MORE chocolate!
- All-purpose flour: be sure to measure it correctly
- Chocolate Chips
It is very important that you use unsalted butter in this recipe. Browning the butter in this way concentrates the flavor and if you use salted butter, the flavor will be very salty.
There is three kinds of chocolate in this recipe: unsweetened baking chocolate, cocoa, and chocolate chips. You can make some substitutions for each if you want:
- Unsweetened chocolate: you can also use semi-sweet but this will make the brownies sweeter so reduce the sugar by ¼ cup.
- Cocoa Powder: you can use regular unsweetened, Hershey’s Special Dark OR Dutch Process.
- Chocolate Chips: use your favorite!
How to Make Brown Butter
Maybe you’re wondering what brown butter is? Brown butter happens when you cook butter over low heat until it melts, then it boils and as it cooks it turns a light golden-brown color, hence the name.
Browning butter is SUPER easy, I promise. I have a brown butter tutorial post, but basically you do the following:
- Melt: Add your butter to a saucepan and heat it over medium low heat for several minutes.
- Stir: Stir it occasionally and watch it closely. As it cooks, the butter will foam and then subside until it starts to turn golden.
- Watch it: If you’ve never made it before you just have to be careful to watch it as it starts to change color because it goes from butter color to burned pretty fast. You want a rich amber color.
So, it’s not hard and it doesn’t take long – you mostly have to stay close and as soon as it’s that beautiful amber color, turn off the heat.
How to Make this Brownie Recipe from scratch
1. One Pot Brownies: I call these “one pot brownies” because you can make the batter in the same pot you browned the butter: no need to drag out other bowls. You can transfer the brown butter to a bowl if you prefer, but no need. Just make sure to remove it from the heat.
2. Melt Chocolate: While your butter is still warm, add the unsweetened chocolate and stir until it’s melted into the butter.
3. Mix: Mix in the sugar, eggs, vanilla, cocoa powder and salt until well combined. Stir in the flour and that’s it!
4. Bake: Pour the batter into a prepared 9×13” baking pan. Bake them for 20 to 24 minutes at 350°F. The brownies are done when a toothpick inserted along the side comes out with just a few crumbs.
5. Cool: Cool the brownies completely before slicing and serving.
Additions in Brownies
I love them just as they are but sometimes it’s nice to give them a twist with some different add-ins. You can add one cup of the following add-in options before you bake them:
- Chopped nuts
- Chocolate chips
- Other chopped candy of your choice
These brownies are so rich, so fudgy, so AMAZING. But, don’t take my word for it – make a batch of these this weekend and I guarantee you will be a brown butter believer after! This really is the best brownie recipe.
FAQ for making the BEST Brownie Recipe
Melted butter and an extra egg is the key to my fudgy brownies – the center stays nice and gooey.
Be sure to measure your flour correctly, not use and baking powder or baking soda, follow the recipe, and don’t over bake them!
This recipe makes a hefty 9×13-inch pan of thick brownies, so if you double the recipe be sure to use two pans. It can be doubled by just doubling everything in the ingredients.
You can easily cut this recipe in half and bake them in an 8×8-inch pan.
Store these in an airtight container for up to 3 days on the counter.
Yes, you can! I freeze them all the time – just place them in a gallon size resealable bag or airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months.
Use this recipe: with 3 kinds of chocolate and lots of brown butter this is the best brownie recipe in the world. They’re simple brownies with tons of flavor.
Other favorite brownie recipes:
Have you made this recipe?
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Brown Butter Brownies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 4 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate coarsely chopped
- 2 1/2 cups sugar
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 4 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9×13″ pan with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, about 6 minutes, until it becomes brown in color. It will foam, reduce, then foam again. Once it’s done cooking the foam is a light brown and it will dissipate after you remove it from the heat. Once it starts to brown, keep stirring so it doesn’t burn. Once it gets to an amber color, turn off the flame.
- Add baking chocolate to the butter and stir until the chocolate is melted. Stir in sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt, and cocoa and stir until combined. Stir in flour then stir in chocolate chips
- Pour brownie batter into prepared baking pan. Bake for 25-35 minutes until a toothpick along the edge comes out with just a few crumbs. This results in very fudgy gooey brownies. Cool before slicing into bars.
Recipe Video
Nutrition Information
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
Brown Butter Brownies are an easy one bowl brownie recipe that are super fudgy and delicious thanks to the brown butter and the chocolate chips. This is my GO TO brownie recipe!
All text and images © DOROTHY KERN for Crazy for Crust. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe. Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be accurate.
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Published on: January 25, 2021
These were easy and so very good. Saving to make again! Thank you
Browning butter is a great idea and I’m going to try this with my brownie recipe. It’s much quicker to brown butter in the microwave than on the stovetop.
Dear Dorothy, I’ve a few questions. There is another way to measure the amount of baking chocolate? I’m from Chile and we don’t are used to measuring in ounces.
And the unsalted butter, the cup is melted or before melting?
Already grateful.
It’s 4 ounces baking chocolate and 21g of cocoa powder. The butter is two American sticks (1 cup) so that is measured before melting and browning, 227g.
Thank you so much!!!
I made these brownies today and OMG they turned out oh so gooey and great..definitely gonna make them again and again😁.
There’s nothing I like to eat to top off a good bbq then some great brownies!
I’ll give this recipe a try for sure.
yes! brown butter brownies are my faaaave!
Brown butter is the nectar of the gods. That simple. I haven’t looked the same way at regular butter since I first inhaled brown butter. And in brownies? YESYESYES.