Fudgy Cocoa Brownies
Cocoa-based brownies with a paper-thin crackly top and a dense, fudgy middle. No chocolate to melt, no mixer needed, and they are better than most bakery versions.
Photograph credit: chocolate-dessert-brownies-cake by pixellaphoto · CC0 1.0 · Flickr
Build the Meal Around Fudgy Cocoa Brownies
- A glass of cold milk or a strong espresso
- Serve warm with vanilla ice cream and salted caramel
- Follow a light meal
Photograph credit: brownies by D - 15 photography · CC0 1.0 · Flickr
How to Make Fudgy Cocoa Brownies
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Line a 23 cm square tin with baking paper, leaving an overhang on two sides.
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Melt the butter in a saucepan until hot and just beginning to bubble, then take off the heat.
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Whisk in both sugars and the cocoa powder immediately, while the butter is still hot. The mixture will look grainy — that is correct at this stage.
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Let it cool for 5 minutes, then add the eggs and yolk one at a time, beating hard for 30 seconds after each.
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Now beat vigorously for a full 2 minutes with a wooden spoon. The batter will transform from grainy to thick, glossy and ribbon-like. This is what creates the crackly top.
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Stir in the vanilla, then fold in the flour and fine salt until just combined.
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Fold through two-thirds of the chopped chocolate and scrape into the tin. Scatter the rest over the top.
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Bake at 175°C / 345°F for 28 to 32 minutes, until the top is set and shiny and a skewer 5 cm from the edge comes out with moist crumbs. The centre should still be soft.
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Sprinkle with flaky salt and cool completely in the tin — at least 3 hours — before lifting out and cutting with a hot, dry knife.
Related guides: Prep, cook and total time · Pan and tin size.
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Notes From the Method
Do not skip the two minutes of beating. It is the entire mechanism behind the shiny top.
Under-bake rather than over-bake. Brownies firm up considerably as they cool.
Chill them for an hour before cutting for perfectly clean edges.
Keeping What's Left
Keeps 5 days in an airtight tin and freezes 3 months. The texture actually improves after a night.
Fudgy Cocoa Brownies: Your Questions Answered
How long does Fudgy Cocoa Brownies take to make?
15 minutes of preparation and 25 minutes of cooking, plus 3 hours of cooling, so allow 3 hours 40 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 16.
Nutrition per Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .