The Ultimate Fudgy, Chewy Brownies

These Ultimate Fudgy, Chewy Brownies are dense, moist, and intensely chocolatey with a crackly top and puddles of molten chocolate. Somewhere between a rich truffle torte and a piece of fudge, their chewy texture is absolute perfection.

this recipe!

My family’s favorite chewy brownies

I’ve got a lot of brownie recipes up my sleeve, but these Fudgy, Chewy Brownies are always my family’s favorite. They’re fudgy without being overly gooey. They’re intensely chocolatey without being cloyingly sweet or rich.

Fudgy brownies vs. cakey brownies and what makes a brownie fudgy?

Fudgy brownies have a higher fat-to-flour ratio than cakey ones.

Brownie recipes follow a pretty simple ratio. The more fat (butter and chocolate) to flour, the fudgier the brownies. The less fat to flour, the cakier. For 1 cup of flour, a fudgy brownie can have as much as 3 sticks of melted butter and 32 ounces of melted chocolate (an 8.8 to 1 fat to flour ratio based on weight). That’s a pretty extreme brownie. Most fudgy brownies are in the 2-4 to 1 range. A cakey brownie can have as little as 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 ounces of chocolate per cup of flour (a .6 to 1 ratio). These Fudgy, Chewy Brownies have about a 2 to 1 fat to flour ratio, giving them the perfect balance between fudgy and chewy.

What makes a brownie chewy?

A chewy brownie is moist, but not quite as gooey as a fudgy one. 

The chewiness comes from a little more all-purpose flour (that 2 to 1 fat to ratio flour), whose proteins provide “bite” and whole eggs, whose whites give structure and “set.” A pinch of baking powder gives them an ever-so-slight rise. They’re chewy, but not at all cakey. Just a little something that you can sink your teeth into.

How to make homemade fudgy, chewy brownies from scratch

These Fudgy, Chewy Brownies couldn’t be easier to make. While you could make them in one bowl, I like to make them in two. Overmixing the batter causes the gluten to develop, creating a tougher brownie. To make sure they are evenly combined without having to over mix them, whisk the dry ingredients together in a bowl before adding them to the wet ingredients.

Sugar, eggs, and vanilla are whisked together in a bowl. The melted and cooled chocolate and butter are then whisked in until combined. The dry ingredients are folded in with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until there are no dry streaks.

If adding extra chocolate in and on top of the brownies, stir some in. Pour the batter into a prepared pan and sprinkle with chopped chocolate, if using.

How long to bake

It’s difficult to give an exact number of minutes. All ovens are different, with hot and cold spots. Some ovens run hotter, and some run cooler. No oven temperature is ever stable, it has to drop several degrees below the stated temperature before the heating element kicks in and blasts the temperature several degrees above the stated temperature. This happens over and over again. Ovens also go out of whack over time and need adjusting.

Brownies “carry-over bake” quite a bit (meaning that they’ll continue to cook after you take them out of the oven), and those with an extremely high quantity of chocolate will “set up” as they cool. Take the brownies out even a few minutes before you feel that they are fully done. And whatever you do, don’t overbake them.

When baking, think of timings as suggestions. I set my timer about 20 percent earlier than what the recipe states. If a recipe calls for 30 minutes, I check it after about 24 minutes. It’s better to see what’s going on early rather than too late.

To tell if the brownies are done, have a look at them. They will start to pull away from the sides somewhat.  When the top is dry and set, give the pan a little jiggle. If it’s too wiggly, it’s still too raw underneath the surface.

I also like to start checking the brownies early with a toothpick. That way I can see the changes as they happen. The first toothpick shows that the batter is still raw. This was at about 20 minutes in my oven. The second toothpick has a little less batter on it, showing that they are setting up. The third toothpick shows even less batter and some crumb on it. That’s when I take it out of the oven. If the toothpick is clean, the brownies are overbaked.

Let the brownies cool for about an hour for neat slices. This allows the chocolate to set and chewiness to develop. The longer they cool, the neater the slices will be.

Recipe

Ultimate Fudgy, Chewy Brownies

Kelly

These Ultimate Fudgy, Chewy Brownies are dense, moist, and intensely chocolatey with a crackly top and puddles of molten chocolate. Somewhere between a rich truffle torte and a piece of fudge, their chewy texture is absolute perfection.

5 from 14 votes

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 16 brownies

Calories 280 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ¾ cup butter melted and cooled (6oz, 170g)
• 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate melted and cooled (85g)
• 3 large eggs
• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar (10.5oz, 298g)
• 1 cup minus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (4.7oz, 133g)
• 1 ½ tablespoons unsweetened alkalized cocoa powder
• ⅛ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 6 - 8 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chunks to taste (170-227g)

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Prepare an 8 inch by 8 inch baking pan, see note, and spray the inside with cooking spray.
• In a medium mixing bowl, whisk eggs and sugar until blended.
• Add cooled melted butter and melted chocolate and whisk to combine.
• Combine dry ingredients in bowl and sift over chocolate mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula just until combined. Do not over mix.
• Add semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chunks and stir gently to combine.
• Pour into baking pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle the rest of the chocolate chunks on top.
• Bake in 350 degree F oven until set, about 28 minutes. Be careful not to overbake or the brownies will not be fudgy. They should be slightly underdone. See above for more details. A toothpick inserted into the center will come out streaked with some batter and maybe a crumb or two. If it comes out clean, they’re overbaked.
• Let the brownies cool for about an hour for neat slices. This allows the chocolate to set and chewiness to develop. The longer they cool, the neater the slices will be.

Notes

• I use a baking pan with a removable bottom which comes in handy for easily and cleanly removing brownies and bars from the pan. I line only the bottom with a square of baking parchment.
• If you don't have a removable bottom pan, you can line the baking pan with baking parchment aluminum foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides, so that the brownie lifts out neatly.

Nutrition

Calories: 280kcalCarbohydrates: 32gProtein: 4gFat: 17gSaturated Fat: 10gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0.4gCholesterol: 58mgSodium: 124mgPotassium: 136mgFiber: 2gSugar: 23gVitamin A: 322IUCalcium: 24mgIron: 2mg

Keyword chewy brownies, fudgy brownies

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