Upgrade your classic brownies with brown butter! These beauties are super dense, fudgy, and decadent with that famous crackly top that we know and love.
If you're looking for a super basic, simple, delicious brownie recipe, then I HIGHLY recommend trying my oldie but goodie fudgy brownie recipe (which only uses cocoa powder in the batter)!
THIS brownie recipe is kind of the bells and whistles version. This recipe uses a mix of cocoa powder and melted chocolate and doesn't feature any baking soda to make for an extra dense, fudgy brownie!
Annnd of course, brown butter adds a beaaautiful flavor to an already iconic dessert!
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how do these brownies taste?
These brownies have the same deliciously dense texture and chocolaty taste as any classic brownie recipe, but the addition of brown butter makes for a subtle toasty flavor that's just heavenly.
brown butter brownie ingredients
• butter
• chocolate
• sugar: a mix of brown and granulated sugars make the perfect balance of crisp yet moist and fudgy brownies!
• eggs
• vanilla
• cocoa powder: I always use unsweetened cocoa powder but you can also use Dutch process cocoa for this recipe
• flour
• salt
how to make brown butter brownies
1. Brown butter.
2. Whisk chocolate into the warm butter to melt and combine. Set aside to cool slightly.
3. Whisk together sugars and eggs until the sugar is dissolved. To test if they're mixed well enough, rub some of the mixture between your fingers - it shouldn't feel grainy.
4. Whisk in butter mixture, vanilla, and cocoa powder.
5. Mix in flour, salt, and chocolate chips until just combined. Don't overmix!
6. Pour the brownie batter into a greased and parchment lined baking pan.
7. Bake until crackly on top and a skewer inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs.
8. Cool completely in the pan before pulling out and slicing. If desired, sprinkle some flaky sea salt on the bars!
how to tell when brownies are baked through
A skewer test is the best way to check doneness of brownies. But unlike cakes and muffins, the skewer should NOT come out clean - that would mean your brownies are overbaked and will harden significantly when cooled.
They'd still be edible.. just super firm and a little dry. Not a whole lot of fun to eat though.
A skewer inserted into a perfectly baked brownie should come out with moist crumbs. A skewer inserted into underbaked brownies will come out wet, with little to no crumbs.
Recipe for Perfection has a really nice post that goes into more detail and shows you what each skewer test looks like! Check out their post here.
Just do keep in mind that if you added chocolate chips or chocolate chunks to your brownie batter, the skewer may come out with melted chocolate on the tip. In that case, it's best to test the batter in 3 different locations to be sure.
Mimi's tips
Use good quality chocolate. It makes all the difference in flavor and meltiness when you melt it with the browned butter.
Watch your mixing. The key to achieving a perfectly crackly top is whisking your sugars and eggs together until the sugar is dissolved. This will take 5 to 7 minutes by hand or 3 to 5 minutes with an electric mixer. So avoid undermixing at this stage.
Once the flour is added to your batter, that's when you need to watch for overmixing as this can cause your brownies to end up dense (like, hockey puck dense) and dry.
Avoid over or underbaking. The number one way to ruin an otherwise amazing brownie experience!
Cool completely before slicing the brownies. They're super soft when they come out of the oven and it'll basically be impossible to cut clean slices while they're still warm!
storage
Keep brownies stored in an airtight container or plastic bag with the air pushed out and sealed well. These will keep for up to 4 days at room temperature or 1 week in the fridge.
If you store brownies in the fridge, they will be quite firm if you serve them cold. If you like a softer brownie, let it come to room temperature before enjoying!
Check out these other recipes!
• Nutella Lava Cookies
• Red Velvet Brownies
• Turtles Brownies
• Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Brown Butter Zucchini Muffins
Brown Butter Brownies Recipe
Ingredients
- 10 tablespoons (150g) unsalted butter, cut into 10 slices
- 6 ounces (170g) chopped semi-sweet chocolate, good quality *see notes
- ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (100g) packed brown sugar, light or dark
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup (40g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ cup (60g) all-purpose flour, spoon and leveled
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (170g) semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks (optional)
- flaky sea salt (optional - for topping)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease and line an 8x8 inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving a bit of paper hanging over the sides to make it easier to pull the baked brownies out. Set aside.
- In a medium saucepot, add butter slices and place onto a stove burner set to medium heat. Heat, stirring frequently, until the butter melts and turns a light golden brown color. It will foam quite a bit, but it should settle down once the butter is ready to take off the heat. This will take about 5 to 8 minutes from start to finish.10 tablespoons (150g) unsalted butter,
- Working relatively quickly so the butter doesn't continue browning from the residual heat in the pan, whisk in chopped chocolate until melted and smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.6 ounces (170g) chopped semi-sweet chocolate,
- In a large bowl, combine both sugars and eggs. Using an electric mixer fitted with the whip attachment or a whisk by hand (it is a workout though!) whisk together sugars and eggs until the sugar is dissolved. This will take around 5 to 7 minutes. To test if it's ready, rub some of the mixture between your fingers. It shouldn't feel grainy.¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar, ½ cup (100g) packed brown sugar,, 3 large eggs,
- Add your vanilla, cocoa, and slightly cooled brown butter mixture to the egg mix. Whisk to combine.1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, ½ cup (40g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- Add flour, salt, and chocolate chips to the wet ingredients. Mix together until just combined. Take care not to overmix!½ cup (60g) all-purpose flour,, ¼ teaspoon salt, 1 cup (170g) semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks
- Pour your batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake in the center of your preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the top is no longer shiny and a skewer inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs.
- Cool completely in the pan. Once cool, use the overhanging parchment paper to pull the brownies out and cut into 16 slices. (Optional) Sprinkle some flaky sea salt on top before serving!flaky sea salt
Notes
Enjoy!
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