World’s Greatest Fudge Brownies
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It’s a big world out there. Stop the search- you’ve found The Bingeworthy Brownie.This is the brownie you’ve been waiting for.
It’s fudgy, chewy, rich, dense, and sweet (but not cloyingly so, despite an admittedly profane amount of sugar).
Although the epitome if what a fudgy brownie should be (ooey and gooey without sticking to the teeth), it’s still somehow appealing to the “I prefer a cakier brownie” type. (More Sweets Please rule of thumb- if you like a totally cakey brownie, you don’t like brownies. You like chocolate cake. Which is okay, but you must know that a fluffy brownie is a blasphemous brownie.)
This brownie is the tall, dark and handsome of the brownie world. And if you thought you were sold at rich, gooey and handsome, then prepare to be swept off your feet: the World’s Best Fudge Brownie is impossibly easy to make. Chop chop, chocolate lover…4 ounces chopped unsweetened chocolate
(the better the chocolate, the better the brownie)
3/4 cup unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons real vanilla (use the real stuff)
3 lightly beaten eggs
1 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Optional: 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
Optional: 1 cup lightly toasted nuts &/or chocolate chips
- Preheat oven to 350° and grease a 9 x 9 foil-lined pan.
- Melt chocolate & butter in microwave for 2:15 minutes and stir.
- Stir in sugar, then vanilla, then eggs, then salt, espresso powder (optional) & flour.
- Stir in nuts &/or chocolate chips if you so desire.
- Pour into prepared pan and bake for 33 – 36 minutes (until center is just set).
- Cool & cut into squares.
- Indulge.
Tips & Brownie Blather:
- Can I make it in a 9 x 13 pan instead? Good idea… bigger pan = more brownies (albeit skinnier ones). Just decrease the bake time to 28 minutes and you will be good to go. Be careful not to over bake these brownies; you’re looking for moist crumbs in the middle of the pan on a cake tester.
- What kind of chocolate should I use? The best you’re willing to fork over cash for. I like Callebaut chocolate, but also experiment with different brands I have found online (like the disks that are super-easy to melt that King Arthur Flour sells (by Guittard), or funky brands chocosphere.com. (Back down to earth? Using the grocery store brand of unsweetened chocolate in this recipe is also guaranteed to please a crowd, so worry not if you don’t plan to hunt down the crazy-good stuff.)
- What’s the deal with using “good” vanilla? The natural stuff vs. the imitation extract… don’t compromise on your brownie binge!
- What are the best nuts to use? Totally up to you, really. Walnuts or pecans are the staples of the brownie world, but go nuts (!) and try slivered almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts.
- Tip #1: I always double this recipe when I make it. Why make one batch of 25 when 50 is twice as good? Leftovers freeze beautifully, if you happen to have any left.
- Tip #2: Toast your nuts first for WAY more flavor… just spread them on a baking sheet while your oven is preheating and leave in for 8 – 10 minutes or so (just until you can start to smell them).
- Tip #3: If you are using a block of chocolate that you did not buy from the grocery store, you will need a little kitchen scale to measure out your 4 ounces… and you’ll need to chop the chocolate into really small bits before adding to the microwave. (An extra step, but worth it.) I use a serrated knife to cut/shave a block of Callebaut, and then portion the chocolate pieces into 8 ounce bags (again, because I double the recipe) so they are ready to use when the urge to bake these strikes- often. You can put medium-size chunks of chocolate into a food processor to help with the chopping, but I’m usually too lazy to take it out and put it away.
- Tip #4: After your pans cool on a rack, put them in the fridge for at least an hour before cutting. You’ll get nice clean-cut looking rows if they are chilled first. (Which is the opposite of what you’ll get when you cheat and cut into the pan when the brownies are still warm from the oven… you’ll see. A crumby but still-heavenly mess.)
- TIP #5: Want to get creative? This is a very welcoming batter, so add a cup of so of whatever you’d like: your favorite chopped-up chocolate bar, coconut, dried cherries, pretzels, chocolate covered almonds, etc.
Send me comments on how your recipe turned out… and how fast your 50 brownies disappeared.
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11 Responses and Counting...
I daresay these are the World’s best fudge brownies! Everything about it is perfect. I prefer to add nuts to this recipe. Yum!
Wow- I’m so happy you like. I prefer nuts in the recipe, too- and it’s always a hard call between pecans and walnuts. It’s always a debate… which one to use? Such hard decisions in life.
[…] I came across Jodi’s “World’s Greatest Fudge Brownie Recipe“. This is a bold claim but here was no doubt in my mind that they had to be good. Jodi is […]
Chocolate-covered pretzels baked into the batter is brilliant… I have used pretzels on their own, but why not amplify the chocolate, right?!? Chocolate-covered anything is a good thing.
[…] World’s Greatest Fudge Brownies. Retrieved on August 26, 2013, from http://www.moresweetsplease.com/worlds-best-fudge-brownies […]
So glad you liked the brownies… and making them in a 8″ pan must have created wonderfully thick and fudgy treats. Love it!
I loved the texture and chew. Not sure if my chocolate was good because the brownies were not quite sweet enough (husbands comment). They also tasted a little salty and I really likes
salt. I am a good baker so not sure what I did wrong.
Hi Karen,
glad you liked the texture of the fudge brownies, but YIKES- they should have been sweet enough?? You mentioned that your chocolate might not have been good… usually a quality unsweetened chocolate keeps if wrapped well for many months. Hmm. Did you use the full 2 cups of sugar? Maybe your chocolate was not unsweetened to begin with and the taste distracted from the other flavors (including the sugar). I love salt too, but if you used salted butter you might want to avoid adding the extra salt. Hope that helps- and let me know how Round 2 goes, okay? Thanks!
Jodi, I’m a bit embarrassed to say that it’s taken me so long to try your beloved recipe! Oh my GOSH these brownies are perfect!! I used to always bomb homemade brownies, but these were super simple, super chocolatey and super decadent. I was kicking myself for not having chocolate chips in the house, but honestly I think it would have been chocolate overload! And that is saying a lot for me… I used toasted chopped almonds instead. :)
Thank you for the recipe! It’s a keeper!
Hi there Mary Beth- you have no idea how happy it makes me to hear this! I am thrilled that you are a new fan of the World’s Greatest Fudge Brownie, especially because you’re a veteran baker AND you live on the other side of the world, making my claim sort of more realistic. Cheers to the bingeworthy brownie!
[…] first official post was for my World’s Greatest Fudge Brownie (it’s seriously bingeworthy). I was excited and nervous to post it… and I backdated […]