The Best Fudgy Chocolate Brownies Ever! (Double Fudge Cocoa Brownies)

If you’re looking for the BEST Fudgy Chocolate Brownies Ever, then you’ve come to the right place! 🙂 This tried and true recipe uses cocoa powder (instead of melted chocolate) to make double fudge cocoa brownies that are slightly chewy and fudgy at the edges of the pan, while the middle pieces are super fudgy. 

These fudgy cocoa brownies have just the right amount of sweetness with deep, bittersweet chocolate flavor. I’ve also included plenty of tips in this post to help you make the BEST fudgy chocolate brownies! 

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I’ve been waiting to share this recipe with you guys for a while now, because I really wanted to perfect this recipe for the BEST fudgy chocolate brownies ever, and I finally got around to sharing it. 🙂

These fudgy chocolate brownies are a hit no matter who or what occasion I bake them for. But it did take me a few tries to get it right. I usually make brownies with melted chocolate (which is great, obviously), but I wanted brownies that were even fudgier with MORE chocolate (which is never a bad thing in my book). So I started experimenting with cocoa brownies, and after numerous attempts, I’ve perfected the recipe for these addictive fudgy chocolate brownies (or as I’d like to call them Double Fudge Cocoa Brownies).

These fudgy chocolate brownies (cocoa brownies) have been tested over and over again, so I can confidently say that this recipe is foolproof! 🙂 And they don’t mess around in terms of flavor either. They are double chocolate cocoa brownies (or double fudge cocoa brownies), with deep chocolate flavor. You can also easily adjust the fudginess to your liking by adjusting the amount of baking time as follows.

• 30 minutes for extra gooey, fudgy pieces in the middle, and perfectly fudgy pieces at the edges of the pan.
• 35 minutes for perfectly fudgy pieces in the middle, and chewy-fudgy edges.
• 40 minutes for chewy-fudgy pieces in the middle, and chewy edges.

It helps to understand what each ingredient contributes to your chocolate brownie recipe, so that you can learn how to make the perfect fudgy chocolate brownie with cocoa powder!

The melted chocolate adds the fudginess to chocolate brownies. Or more specifically, it’s the cocoa butter and sugar in the chocolate that make chocolate brownies fudgy. However, since cocoa butter remains a solid at room temperature, the chocolate brownies tend to be a bit firm as well.

So instead of melted chocolate, these are fudgy brownies made with cocoa powder. The cocoa powder also adds a deeper chocolate flavor to these brownies. Another advantage of making cocoa brownies is that here you remove all the cocoa butter and replace it with regular butter instead. And since regular butter is soft at room temp., this makes the brownies extra fudgy. It’s important to use melted butter for this recipe. Unmelted butter will make the brownies more cake-like than fudgy.

But by removing melted chocolate, you’re also removing a certain amount of sweetness (sugar) as well. So you must add extra sugar to compensate for that in this fudgy chocolate brownie recipe.

What does the sugar do in a cocoa brownie recipe? And which sugar is better? White sugar or brown sugar?

• The obvious purpose is to add sweetness. Cocoa powder is bitter, and the extra sugar will provide balance and make the chocolate brownie sweeter (instead of bitter, which obviously isn’t as desirable).
• Sugar makes the brownies “softer”. This is because sugar acts as a tenderizer for baked recipes. For example, with regular vanilla cakes, recipes with extra sugar tend to have a softer crumb. For this brownie recipe though, we are not really worried about getting “softer” brownies, as it doesn’t really provide an advantage as such.
• White sugar makes the chocolate brownies chewier. Since white sugar is “dry” (with no molasses) it melts to create a chewier brownie.
• Brown sugar makes the brownies fudgy. The molasses in brown sugar melts to create a “wetter” batter that becomes fudgier when baked.

So with all this in mind, I decided that it was important to include both kinds of sugar in this cocoa brownie recipe. You can use ALL white sugar if you do want a chewier brownie, and use ALL brown sugar for a fudgier brownie recipe. However, be mindful of the baking times when you make those adjustments, as you could end up with slightly different results then.

Eggs play a big role in chocolate brownies as well. A brownie isn’t really a brownie without a nice, crackly top, amiright? Eggs + sugar is how you achieve that deliciously crackly brownie surface!

How do you get that nice, crackly brownie surface?

The eggs and sugar are beaten together until you have a pale, thick mix. This stage is crucial to create that beautiful brownie crust. The eggs are whisked with sugar to incorporate air which creates an almost meringue-like mix and THAT is what creates that crackly brownie crust we all love!

This also brings us to another reason why eggs are important in this fudgy chocolate brownie recipe. Egg whites help create the meringue-like crust, while the yolks help make the chocolate brownies fudgy.

The eggs whisked until pale and thickened. This step helps create that crackly brownie surface that we all love. 

Since I wanted extra fudgy brownies, I used 3 whole eggs plus 1 egg yolk. When I make these cocoa brownies using ONLY whole eggs, the edges of the brownies become more cake-like than fudgy. And if I removed 2 whole eggs and used 2 extra egg yolks, the brownies were fudgy, but the batter was too dry. So 3 whole eggs plus 1 egg yolk is the sweet spot.

To make these cocoa brownies EXTRA fudgy, I added chopped dark chocolate to the batter as well! 🙂 You can substitute this (or add in addition to it) with chopped nuts, or other types of chocolate like white chocolate or milk chocolate, or even fruits like raspberries and strawberries, or even crushed Oreos!

More tips on how to make these PERFECT FUDGY COCOA BROWNIES

• Use melted, very warm butter. The butter melts both types of sugar during mixing which helps create that fudgy and chewy texture, and the meringue-like, crackly surface.
• Use both types of sugar for best results. That way you get the best of both worlds – chewy and fudgy brownies!
• Mix the butter, sugar and eggs together for 2 minutes. So that you have a pale, thick mix.
• NEVER over-mix the flour and cocoa powder. You want to avoid using a hand-held mixer to fold in the dry ingredients. Whether you use a hand-held beater or spatula, you should mix the flour and cocoa powder ONLY until they are just mixed through. This way you avoid the gluten from developing, and end up with a deliciously fudgy brownie. Over-mixed brownie batter on the other hand, results in cakey brownies.

These fudgy chocolate brownies are so decadent and rich in flavor with perfectly sweet, deep, bittersweet chocolate flavor. And they also keep really well in the fridge (in an air-tight container), so you make a batch of it and store in the fridge for a special occasion or whenever you fancy some fudgy, chocolatey deliciousness in your life! 🙂 These will be PERFECT for Valentine’s day as well.

The Best Fudgy Chocolate Brownies

Course: Dessert

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

Servings: 16 generous portions

Author: Dini

The Best Fudgy Chocolate Brownies - these fudgy brownies are made with cocoa powder with chunks of real chocolate in the brownies. Included in the accompanying post are detailed tips on how to make perfect fudgy cocoa brownies. 

There is inactive time in the recipe, so please read the full recipe first before proceeding. 

For recipe measurement conversions - https://www.theflavorbender.com/measurement-conversions/

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Ingredients

• 8 oz butter
• 6 oz brown sugar
• 6 oz white sugar
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp coffee extract optional
• 3 eggs
• 1 yolk
• 8 oz dark chocolate cut into chunks
• 3 oz cocoa powder I use Callebaut cocoa powder
• 3 oz AP flour

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8 x 8 inch square pan with parchment paper. To make it easier to remove the brownies later, have an overhang of parchment paper over the edges of the baking pan. Set aside when done. 

2. Place the butter in a heat-proof bowl and microwave to completely melt the butter.

3. Add the brown sugar, white sugar and salt while the butter is still warm. Mix to combine the butter and sugars together until you have a smooth paste.

4. Add the vanilla, coffee extract (if using), eggs and egg yolks to the butter-sugar mix. Whisk in the eggs until they have been incorporated into the butter sugar mix. Using a hand mixer, whisk the butter-sugar-egg mix on medium speed, until the batter becomes pale in color (about 2 minutes).

5. In a separate bowl, sift the flour and cocoa powder together.

6. Add the flour-cocoa mix into the wet ingredients (in two batches if that's easier) and mix it in until just combined. DO NOT OVER-MIX. Add about ⅔ of the chopped chocolate halfway through the mixing in of the flour. The goal is to make sure the batter is not over-mixed when the flour is being incorporated. 

7. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Spread the batter evenly. Sprinkle the rest of the chocolate on top.

8. Bake for 30 - 40 minutes (30 minutes = extra fudgy, 35 minutes = perfectly fudgy for my liking, 40 minutes = less fudgy).

9. Remove from the oven and let it cool down to room temperature. Remove the brownies from the pan and let them chill in the fridge for a couple of hours (chilled brownies are easier to cut).

10. Cut the brownies into 16 pieces. Use a warm knife to cut, making sure to clean the blade after each cut for clean, neat edges.

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