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Best Brownies From Scratch

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Hands down the best brownies from scratch recipe you will find! Cocoa powder and pantry staples make warm perfect brownies from scratch in just 30 minutes!

brownies from scratch

There are a lot of brownie recipes out there. Thousands and thousands to be exact. But this is the only one that I ever use to make brownies from scratch and it is relentless in its beautiful results and utter simplicity. Because of these brownies? These are brownies from scratch with cocoa powder!

That’s right these homemade brownies are made with cocoa powder. There are people who will argue with me and say that you need chocolate bars to make really awesome homemade brownies but let me tell you straight up….you don’t.

I challenge you to try these and prove me wrong!

homemade brownies

And the fact that it doesn’t use chocolate bars means that I almost always have the ingredients on hand to make these brownies from scratch (I’ve yet to find my hubby or myself digging into the cocoa powder for a late night binge). The other night when hubby and I had sent the kids away to grandma’s for date night we stared at each other in our exhausted state and tried to think of something to eat.

He ran to the store for some ingredients for dinner and I whipped these up even though our pantry is basically empty right now because we are too worn out to shop and cook hardly at all.

We stood over the counter bleary eyed with mugs of milk and ate spoonfuls of technically too warm to eat brownies together in that cherished kid free silence.

You can stuff this homemade brownie recipe full of all kinds of things. Chocolate chips, walnuts, m & m’s, chopped up kids halloween candy. It’s the perfect base recipe for all your creations!

brownies from scratch with cocoa powder

We commented on the fact that it’s been forever since I’ve made these because I’ve been trying for years to make healthier desserts or just limit our consumption of sweets entirely. What I’ve learned in this time?

Brownies aren’t supposed to be healthy. These are full of sugar and white flour and they are fantastic. They are just the perfect level of chewy, and fudgy, and just a smidge cakey on the crispy edges. Because of their perfectness I’ve learned that I just have to realize it’s okay to give away the extras or freeze them.

We each ate one that night and I nibbled on another the next day while I photographed them on top of boxes in my piled up studio, before gifting the rest away to my new studio neighbors.

After lending hands and tools to me over the past month while I’ve been getting setup with my continual promises of tasty things, I figured this was a good tide over until we are up and running full speed there.

brownies recipe

Make homemade brownies with someone you love soon. Dip them in milk while they are still warm. Love them. And stash this recipe somewhere safe for those chocolate breakdown moments whenever they hit.

When you make these (and love them!) the biggest “thanks” you can give us is to take 30 seconds to leave us a 5 star review on the recipe and your comments! They help future readers know and trust our recipes and help more readers find us! And if you are a photo lover…tag us on social @adventurebite! We love seeing your creations! 

Happy baking!

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Best Brownies From Scratch Recipe

The best way to make brownies from scratch with cocoa powder. Simple pantry staples make perfect brownies every time. 
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings 9 servings
Print Pin Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup cocoa powder I used Hershey’s
  • 3/4 cup butter
  • 2 Tablespoons strong coffee or water
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
  • Optional chocolate chips or chunks—I never add them, these are already quite sweet for our tastes but you do what you need to do ?

Instructions

  • 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×9-inch baking pan.2. Microwave butter until melted, stirring as needed to prevent splattering. Add cocoa and coffee or water and stir until smooth.3. In a medium-sized bowl whisk together the eggs and the sugar for 2 minutes. Add the vanilla extract. Add the chocolate mixture into the sugar mixture slowly while stirring to combine.4. Add the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the chopped walnuts, reserve some for the top if desired.5. Pour the batter in the pan, top with nuts if desired. Bake for 21-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out mostly clean. If gooey lava cake style is desired they can be underbaked a few minutes.6. Remove from the oven and allow to fully cool before cutting into bars (or dig in with a spoon!) Enjoy!

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 506kcal | Carbohydrates: 63g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 83mg | Sodium: 230mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 43g
Course : Desserts
Cuisine : American
chocolate chips, nuts, low sugar dessert recipe, dessert, easy dessert, chocolate, dessert recipe, best brownies recipe, from scratch recipe, baking recipes

These brownies from scratch are adapted very slightly from Tollhouse brownie recipe.

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About Dani Meyer

Hi, I’m Dani! I’m most importantly mama to 3 wild little dudes. I spend my days cooking, photographing and exploring the Pacific Northwest. I'm a full time food blogger and online business coach.

I’m the author of Stress Free Camping, a 120+ page guide on making epic food in the woods. I’m also the founder of Food Blogger Entrepreneurs, the leading online academy and private community for food bloggers. → More About Dani

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5 thoughts on “Best Brownies From Scratch”

  1. A little tip….(Thanks to Smitten Kitchens blog) Bake these in mini muffin pans and freeze them. Then you can pop out one or two for a treat after dinner or afternoon pick-me-up!!

    Reply

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