fudgy cocoa brownies
What if I told you that you DON’T need to melt chocolate or chocolate chips with butter together to make brownies, AND you don’t need two separate bowls. Just one bowl and 5 minutes bringing it all together to make the BEST brownies you’ve ever eaten in this lifetime. The best part is they’re only 144 calories EACH! Better than the usual 356 calorie brownies, am I right? After testing what feels like a lifetime of brownies, these FINALLY came out a perfect texture, and have been made weekly ever since. The one ingredient I add to these brownies that is different from most recipes is a small amount of oil. The oil is JUST enough to keep the centres extremely fudgy, without compromising the crispy, crackly crust you can see in these photos.
with all of the brownie making going on here, i do have a few tips for these cocoa brownies to stay fudgy-licious:
Hot melted butter creates those crackly tops!
Whisk your butter and sugar really well.
Beat in your eggs for a good minute. This step is crucial for that crackly top
Do NOT over beat your batter once the flour and cocoa powder are added. THAT creates air in the batter which will give you cake-like textured brownies. Cakey is okay, but not today friends.
Try NOT over bake them! I like mine at exactly 21:30 minutes. You can go a little bit over if you like them set a bit more, but I don’t recommend it if you’re looking for the fudgiest brownies in this lifetime.
I bake my brownies on the top shelf in the oven. I find the middle shelf cooks them a lot faster and dries them out.
OPTIONAL ADD INS
Crushed walnuts, peanuts, almonds, pecans, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, chocolate chunks, dried fruit (cranberries, raisins, etc)
NOTES
*Regular white, granulated, sugar can be used if you can't find caster sugar. For even fudgier brownies, use half white and half light brown sugar!
TIPS AND TRICKS
Whisk your butter and sugar really well.
Beat in your eggs for a good minute. This step is crucial for that crackly top
Do NOT over beat your batter once the flour and cocoa powder are added. THAT creates air pockets in the batter which will give you cake-like textured brownies.
Try NOT over bake them. Check them at around the 15 minute mark and keep your eye on them. As some ovens run hotter than others, timing is a guide only. Our oven bakes them at exactly 21:30 minutes. Another oven we tested them in baked them at 18:40 minutes. You can go a little bit over if you like them set a bit more, but I don't recommend it if you're looking for the fudgiest brownies in this lifetime.
I bake my brownies on the top shelf in the oven. I find the middle shelf cooks them a lot faster and dries them out. If your oven runs hotter at the top half, move them to the middle shelf.
ingredients
0.25 cup unsalted butter, melted and HOT
0.5 tablespoon cooking oil, (olive oil or coconut oil are fine)
0.56 cup superfine sugar, (caster sugar or white granulated sugar)*
1 large egg
1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
0.25 cup all purpose (or plain) flour
0.25 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
0.13 teaspoon salt
steps
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking oil spray. Line with parchment paper (or baking paper); set aside.
Combine hot melted butter, oil and sugar together in a medium-sized bowl. Whisk well for about a minute. Add the eggs and vanilla; beat until lighter in colour (another minute).
Sift in flour, cocoa powder and salt. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until JUST combined (do NOT over beat as doing so well affect the texture of your brownies).
Pour batter into prepared pan, smoothing the top out evenly. (OPTIONAL: Top with chocolate chunks or chocolate chips.)
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the centre of the brownies in the pan no longer jiggles and is just set to the touch (the brownies will keep baking in the hot pan out of the oven). If testing with a toothpick, the toothpick should come out dirty for fudge-textured brownies.
Remove and allow to cool to room temperature before slicing into 16 brownies.
