Fudge Brownies vs. Cake Brownies
There are two main camps when it comes to brownies: fudge brownies and cake brownies. Fudge brownies are dense, chewy, and rich. Cakey brownies are lighter and fluffier, and just more cake-like in texture. I’m definitely all about those fudge brownies, so that’s what we have here. But not just any fudge brownies, SUPER fudgy brownies.
Brownie Flavor Variations
If you want to take your homemade brownies in a new direction, here are a few extra ingredients you can add to make the recipe your own:
Nuts: walnuts, pecans, or peanuts are all great in brownies
Instant coffee or espresso: A little instant coffee in the brownie batter will give the brownies a cafe mocha flavor. You’ll only need a couple of tablespoons mixed in.
Marshmallows: Stir some mini marshmallows into the brownie batter with peanuts for a rocky road brownie.
Peanut butter: Replace ½ cup of the butter with peanut butter and/or replace the chocolate chips with peanut butter chips for a chocolate-peanut butter brownie.
Crushed Oreos: Stir some crushed Oreos into the brownie batter for a cookies and cream variation.
Dried cherries: Stir dried cherries into the brownie batter for a chocolate cherry-flavored brownie.
Caramel sauce: Drizzle caramel sauce over the brownie batter before baking for a chocolate caramel finish.
Blondies: Or if you really want to switch things up, make these rich & chewy Blondies! They’re similar to brownies, but instead of cocoa powder they’re made with brown sugar, vanilla extract, and brown butter. So good!
Cinnamon Sugar: A classic flavor combo (see: snickerdoodles!), sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on top of the batter before baking for a sweet and spicy twist.
How to Make Brownies Fudgy
The secret to making rich, moist, fudgy brownies is all in the type of fat you use and how you use it. Butter offers the best flavor for brownies, but because it’s solid at room temperature, adding a little cooking oil to the butter helps keep the brownies extra soft and moist as they cool.
Using melted butter instead of cold butter also helps keep the brownies extra rich and fudgy. When solid butter is creamed together with sugar, it aerates the batter creating a light cake-like texture in the brownie. Melted butter can’t trap air in the same way, resulting in a dense, rich brownie.
What Type of Chocolate to Use for Homemade Brownies
This recipe calls for chocolate in two forms: unsweetened cocoa powder and chocolate chips. I used a generic cocoa powder because I wanted to make sure these brownies would still be excellent even on a budget (they are), but if you have room in your budget for a higher quality cocoa powder, your brownies will only get better.
As for the chocolate chips, you can choose just about anything. Semi-sweet, dark, mint, peanut butter, large, small, whatever. Anything goes when it comes to the chips! This is a great way to use up leftover chips that you might have in your pantry. ;)
How to Store Homemade Brownies
After baking the brownies, allow them to cool completely to room temperature. Once cooled, they can be individually wrapped in plastic or placed in an air-tight container and stored at room temperature for up to three days, or refrigerated for about five days. For longer storage, the brownies can be frozen in a freezer bag for about three months. Frozen brownies can be easily thawed at room temperature in about 30 minutes. I love cutting them into bite-sized pieces and freezing so I can have a little nibble of brownie whenever the craving hits!
Ingredients
12 Tbsp butter (salted) ($1.32)
2 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.08)
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder ($0.42)
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar ($0.20)
2 large eggs ($0.42)
2 tsp vanilla extract ($0.56)
1/4 tsp salt ($0.01)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour ($0.05)
1/2 cup chocolate chips ($0.83)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Melt the butter in a large bowl in the microwave (or in a saucepot and then transfer to a bowl).
Add the cooking oil and cocoa powder to the melted butter and whisk until smooth.
Whisk the sugar into the chocolate mixture until evenly incorporated, then whisk in the eggs, vanilla extract, and salt.
Stir in the flour until it forms a thick batter. Finally, fold in the chocolate chips.
Prepare an 8×8-inch baking dish by coating it with butter or non-stick spray, then laying in a piece of parchment paper (the paper does not need to cover all sides of the dish). Add the brownie batter to the prepared dish, then spread it out evenly.
Bake the brownies in the preheated oven for 40 minutes. The brownies will be quite soft and moist, even when fully baked.
Remove the brownies from the oven and let them cool for 10 minutes before lifting them out of the baking dish. Slice into nine pieces and serve.
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