Brown Butter Brownies
These fudgy brown butter brownies are even better than regular brownies! Cocoa powder, melted chocolate, and chocolate chips give these brownies a super chocolaty flavor, while the brown butter adds even more flavor!
If you love homemade chocolate brownies that are fudgy in the middle and have a shiny, crackly top you’re going to love today’s recipe. This brown butter version delivers the same results, but even better!
The brown butter adds a lightly nutty undertone to the brownies that makes them taste richer and more decadent. It’s that extra “something” that takes these brownies over the top without anyone quite knowing what you did to make them so good.
These brownies are also incredibly chocolatey thanks to the cocoa powder and melted chocolate in the batter. For even more chocolate, a full cup of chocolate chips is folded in just before baking.
If you’re looking for a fun treat to bake this week, I highly recommend whipping up a batch of these brownies. They only take about 20 minutes to mix together and disappear quickly!
Watch The Full Recipe Video
The Chocolate
Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bars
It’s best to use chocolate bars for the brownie base because they melt much more smoothly. I don’t recommend melting chocolate chips for the brownie batter because they contain stabilizers that make them more resistant to melting. Save those chocolate chips for folding into the batter (we’ll discuss that in a minute!).
Cocoa Powder
I prefer using Dutch process cocoa powder in these brownies because it tastes richer and more chocolaty than natural cocoa powder. Either one may be used though, so feel free to use whatever you have on hand! If you’re new to baking, I highly suggest looking through my post about the difference between natural and Dutch process cocoa powder.
Chocolate Chips
You’ll be folding in 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips to give these brownies some texture and add more chocolate flavor. Feel free to swap in another kind of chocolate chip or baking chip, if you prefer though.
How To Brown The Butter
Browning butter is super easy, just make sure not to walk away from the stove as it’s cooking otherwise you may accidentally burn it! Here’s a quick run down on how to do it:
- Grab a light colored skillet so you can easily see the butter changing color.
- Slice the butter before placing it in the skillet so that it melts faster and more evenly.
- Once melted, stir the butter often. It will sputter, then foam, then separate as the milk solids sink to the bottom of the skillet and begin to brown.
- Take the pan off the heat as soon as the milk solids are all golden brown and the butter smells fragrant and nutty. It should look just like the picture above!
- Immediately scrape the butter out of the pan (brown bits and all!). Make sure not to let it sit in the pan or it will start to burn.
If you’re never done this before, I have a detailed tutorial on how to brown butter. It includes lots of step-by-step photos and troubleshooting tips as well!
Tips For Perfectly Fudgy Brownies
- Brown the butter first, then mix in the chocolate and cocoa powder. After the butter has finished browning, it’s immediately poured over the chopped chocolate bar. This 1) prevents the butter from cooking further and potentially burning, and 2) it’s an easier way to melt the chocolate. Stirring the cocoa powder into the warm butter mixture also allows it to bloom and develop more chocolate flavor.
- Beat the eggs and sugar until light in color and thickened. This helps dissolve the sugar and gives you a beautiful crackly finish on top of your brownies!
- Don’t reduce the sugar. Sugar adds moisture to baked goods and results in gooey brownies. Don’t try to cut back on the sugar or your brownies will dry out faster.
- Bake just until a toothpick comes out mostly clean. A few moist crumbs clinging to the toothpick is what you’re looking for! This means that the brownies are done, but they’ll still be fudgy after they’ve cooled to room temperature.
Can I Double This Recipe?
Yes! You’re welcome to double this recipe and bake the brownies in a 9×13-inch pan. You may need to increase the baking time just slightly, but you can also do a toothpick test to make sure they’re done.
Note: I recommended browning the butter in two batches if doubling this recipe. Browning more than two sticks of butter (1 cup) at a time can result in uneven browning. If some of the butter burns, it will ruin the flavor of the entire batch!
Do I Have To Brown The Butter For This Recipe?
Technically, no. However, if you have a few extra minutes I highly recommend doing it because it’s what really makes these brownies!
If you prefer to skip browning the butter though, you’ll need to use slightly less butter since you lose some moisture when you brown it. You can just melt 163 grams of butter (a little less than 12 tablespoons) and use that instead.
Can I Add Nuts?
Absolutely! You can replace some or all of the chocolate chips with your choice of chopped walnuts, pecans, almonds, macadamia nuts, etc.
I’m not kidding when I say that these brown butter brownies are even better than the classic recipe!
If you try them, don’t forget to leave a comment and a star rating to let me know how they turned out. Happy Baking!
Brown Butter Brownie Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chopped (113 grams; I recommend using a chocolate bar)
- 14 tablespoons unsalted butter (198 grams or 1 ¾ sticks; reduced to 163 grams after browning)
- ½ cup unsweetened Dutch process or natural cocoa powder (45 grams)
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200 grams)
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar (100 grams)
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour spooned & leveled (95 grams)
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (180 grams)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line an 8-inch square light metal pan with foil or parchment paper, making sure to leave some overhang for easy removal. Spray the foil or parchment paper with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- Add the chopped chocolate to a large heat-proof bowl. Set aside.4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
- Slice the butter into tablespoon sized pieces and add it to a light-colored skillet (or saucepan). Place the skillet over medium heat until the butter is completely melted.14 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Continue cooking, stirring the butter often with a rubber spatula. Once the butter is melted it will start to bubble/sputter, then become foamy. After that, small bits of milk solids will fall to the bottom of the pan, then quickly start to brown. The butter is browned once you see these brown bits of milk solids on the bottom of the pan and smell a nutty-aroma.
- Immediately remove the skillet from the heat and pour the browned butter over the chopped chocolate that you placed in a heat-proof dish earlier. Make sure to scrape out all of the browned bits from the bottom of the pan as well, this is where all of the flavor is at! Stir until all of the chocolate is melted.
- Add the cocoa powder to the melted chocolate mixture and stir until fully combined. Set aside.½ cup unsweetened Dutch process or natural cocoa powder
- Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and eggs to a separate large mixing bowl. Whisk vigorously for 2 to 3 minutes.1 cup granulated sugar,½ cup packed light brown sugar,3 large eggs
- Pour the melted chocolate/butter mixture into the egg mixture and whisk until fully combined, then stir in the vanilla extract and salt.1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract,½ teaspoon salt
- Add the flour and whisk until just combined, then gently mix in the chocolate chips.¾ cup all-purpose flour,1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Pour the brownie batter into the prepared pan and spread it out into one even layer.
- Bake for 30 to 38 minutes (I usually bake mine for about 35 minutes) or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean, but with a few moist crumbs attached to it.
- Remove from the oven and cool completely on a wire cooling rack.
- Lift the brownies out of the pan using the overhang from the foil/parchment paper, slice into bars, and enjoy.
