Thick, Fudgy, Chewy, Ultimate Brownies

Thick, Fudgy, Chewy, Ultimate Brownies are the most decadent, fantastic brownies ever!  Intense chocolate flavor, tissue-thin crinkly crust, and ultra rich, your search for the ultimate brownie recipe ends here.

I have already posted several brownie recipes here on House of Nash Eats, including my Mississippi Mud Brownies and Easy Caramel Pecan Brownies.  But I haven’t yet posted a recipe for my favorite classic, deeply chocolatey, thick and fudgy, chewy and dense, ultimate brownies.  The ones I make in place of box mix brownies, which, let’s face it, is the gold standard for many people when it comes to brownies.  The recipe I go to when I want to bring out the big guns and do an intensely chocolate brownie.  But the time has come and that time is now.

I stumbled onto this recipe for Ultimate Brownies from Tessa at Handle the Heat and fell in love.  When I saw her recipe I knew I had to try it because it is quite similar to the trusted classic brownie recipe I had been making for years, with just a couple of tweaks that result in even better thick, fudgy, chewy, ultimate brownies.

One of those tweaks is actually beating the sugar and the eggs together for a few minutes until a thick, ribbon-like texture forms.  This is the step that is going to give you that perfect, tissue-thin crinkly crust on top of your brownies.  But it also helps the brownies rise just enough, without using baking powder or baking soda, which would make for more cakey brownies (aka, not what I am going for when making the ultimate fudgy, chewy brownie).  And the extra egg yolk added to the batter really adds a richness and keeps the texture of the brownies nice and moist and chewy.

Honestly, one of the best parts for me about making brownies from scratch is the way they smell.  The process of melting chocolate and butter to add to the sugar and eggs fills your kitchen with the most incredible aroma that you just never get by mixing up a batch of boxed mix brownies.  Using both unsweetened chocolate and semisweet chocolate chips in these brownies provides some serious chocolate flavor without making a dry or crumbly brownie the way cocoa powder sometimes does.

Be sure to cool the brownies completely (yeah right) before cutting.  Really though, the chocolate flavor actually develops and improves as the brownies cool, so if you can hold out, giving the brownies a chance to really cool down makes them even more delicious!  You can always reheat for a few seconds in the microwave before serving if you want a warm brownie.

These thick, fudgy, chewy, ultimate brownies are the perfect base for a hot fudge brownie sundae, especially if you load them with chopped walnuts (necessary, in my opinion, although Paul typically prefers his brownies without nuts).

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Thick, Fudgy, Chewy, Ultimate Brownies

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

35 mins

Total Time

50 mins

 

Servings: 9 brownies

Ingredients

• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 12 tablespoons butter, cut into chunks
• 4 ounces high quality unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
• 1 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a square 8x8" baking dish with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.
2. Combine the chocolate chips, butter, and chopped unsweetened chocolate in a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high in 30 second bursts, stirring well with a spoon or spatula between bursts, until completely melted and smooth. Allow to cool for a few minutes before continuing.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, egg yolk, and sugar and beat with an electric mixer for 3 minutes on medium-high speed until light and thick. This step is important because it is what is going to give that papery thin, crackly crust and perfect brownie texture that you want. Add the vanilla and beat again until combined.
4. Add the slightly cooled melted chocolate and butter to the eggs, sugar and vanilla and stir to combine using a wooden spoon or spatula. Sprinkle the flour and salt over the batter and gently stir it in, just until no streaks of flour remain. Stir in chopped walnuts and/or additional chocolate chips, if desired.
5. Pour the brownie batter into the prepared baking dish and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick or skewer inserted into the center of the brownies comes out mostly clean with only a few crumbs attached. Be sure not to overbake these brownies.
6. Cool completely before cutting. Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the fridge.

Recipe Notes

Recipe from Handle the Heat.