For years I’ve searched for the perfect brownie recipe. They are either too sweet or use a ton of butter. Often I would find one I liked online but never be able to find it again. Sometimes, you just need a pan of brownies and you don’t want to hunt down a recipe. Enter Extra Chocolate Brownies!
Box mix but better!
These brownies are not too sweet but are really chocolatey and rich. The recipe uses melted chocolate chips which means you need to add less sugar and butter. An unusual ingredient for brownies is oil. This gives them the crackly top like box-mix brownies have. They are dense and chewy with the option to stir in more chocolate chips or nuts if you like.
I have another go-to brownie recipe when I’m wanting something more dense and rich. Here is my recipe for Rich Chocolatey Brownies.
Extra Chocolate Brownies Recipe
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil, I use extra-light olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips, I use dark chocolate chips
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or 1/4 teaspoon table salt
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips, optional
- 1/2 cup chopped nuts, optional
Melting the chocolate mixture
In a small saucepan over medium low heat, stir together the granulated sugar, butter, water, oil, and 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips. Stir often as the butter and chocolate chips melt so the mixture doesn’t boil. You are going for melted, not boiling. Remove from heat before the last few chocolate chips melt and stir until they are melted and the mixture is smooth. Set aside while you work on the eggs.
Of course you could do this step in the microwave. I’m like a pioneer woman and don’t own a microwave but I can tell you how to do it this way. Combine the ingredients listed above in a glass bowl and microwave for a minute. Give it a stir and microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring after every 30 seconds. How long this takes depends on your microwave so continue until the butter and chocolate chips are melted. Again, try not to boil this mixture, just melt it.
Mixing the chocolate and the eggs
In a good size mixing bowl beat the eggs until they are frothy and there are no traces of egg whites. As a child I hated coming across a bit of egg white in baked goods so I beat eggs really well. Once they are whisked thoroughly, it’s time to slowly add the melted chocolate mixture.
If you dump hot anything straight into beaten eggs you will end up with a weird scrambled eggs mess. The trick is to add a few tablespoons of the hot mixture and quickly whisk to blend. Next add a couple more tablespoons and whisk again. Now you can add more of the hot mixture, then whisk. At this point you can safely add the rest of the hot mixture because you have tempered the eggs. All this means is that you heated the eggs up slowly so they can handle the change in temperature.
Finish the Extra Chocolate Brownies!
The only thing left is to add in the vanilla and dry ingredients. Whisk in the vanilla until it’s blended. Measure in the all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt. I like to stir those together a bit before I mix them into the chocolate and eggs. You can also sift them together but I don’t want to sift anything unless absolutely necessary. Stir the flour in, make sure there are no big pockets of flour but don’t worry about getting the batter perfectly smooth.
Stir in the optional chocolate chips and nuts if you’re using those. Pour the batter into a greased 8 inch pan and smooth into an even layer. Sometimes I sprinkle more chocolate chips on top. Bake the brownies are 325 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. They are done if they are starting to pull away from the edges and the center is soft but not jiggly. Cool on a wire rack as long as you can stand it.
My expert brownies tips
For the best texture refrigerate the brownies before serving them. Something about chilling them makes the texture even more dense and fudgy. Often we can’t wait to chill them and need to cut into the brownies while they are warm if not hot. Because of this it’s only the leftovers that end up in the refrigerator. Inevitably when I eat one the next day I’m reminded that cold brownies are really amazing!
You might notice that the photos of the brownies I made are in a 9 by 13 inch pan. With all the people I feed over here, and 8 inch square pan of anything isn’t going to be enough. I double the recipe and bake in a 9 by 13 inch pan and it’s perfect. You may have to bake them a few minutes longer but in my oven 25 minutes is plenty.
Another tip about baking brownies is to bake them in a metal pan instead of glass. The glass takes longer to heat up and then holds heat longer so your brownies will over bake. It’s not the end of the world and if you only have a glass pan that’s fine. You will just need to keep a close eye on them and take them out of the oven a few minutes early.
Extra Chocolate Brownies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp butter unsalted
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 1/2 cup chocolate chips I use dark chocolate
- 2 medium eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt or 1/4 tsp table salt
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup nuts chopped
Instructions
- Combine the granulated sugar, butter, water, oil, and 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir often until butter and chocolate chips are melted. Don't let it come to a boil, just heat until it's melted. Remove the saucepan from the heat.
- Beat the eggs in a large mixing bowl until frothy. Whisk in the melted butter and chocolate mixture a few tablespoons at a time to temper the eggs. After about half of the chocolate mixture is incorporated, whisk in the remaining amount.
- Stir in the vanilla followed by the all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt. The batter doesn't need to be perfectly smooth but make sure there are no pockets of flour left in the batter.
- Stir in the extra chocolate chips and chopped nuts, if using. Pour batter into a buttered 8 inch square pan and smooth into an even layer.
- Bake at 325 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until the brownies are starting to pull away from the sides of the pan. Cool on a wire rack before cutting into squares and serving.
