These homemade brown butter brownies have a rich, dark chocolate flavor enhanced by nutty brown butter, and are loaded with melty chocolate chips and topped with flaky sea salt. They have crisp edges, a chewy fudgy center, and perfect crinkly tops!
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Why You'll Love These Brown Butter Brownies
Better than box brownies - These homemade fudgy brownies are like classic boxed brownies but SO much better! The brown butter gives a rich, nutty flavor that elevates the brownies to a new level!
Rich, fudgy, texture - These brownies are extra chewy and fudgy and they stay moist for days!
Shiny, crinkly, tops - If you follow my tips, your brownies will have that perfect classic crackly top that everyone loves!
You might also like these olive oil brownies or these brown butter chocolate chip cookies!
Ingredient Notes
You just need a few ingredients to make these fudgy brown butter brownies!
Brown Butter - My favorite ingredient of all time is brown butter!! Brown butter is just unsalted butter that has been melted and gently cooked to bring out a toasty, nutty flavor. If you've never made brown butter before, you can check out this post with all my tips for how to make brown butter! But if you're trying to keep things simple, you can just use regular unsalted butter in the brownies!
Cocoa Powder - My absolute favorite cocoa powder to use in my baking is the King Arthur Flour Triple Cocoa Blend! It's a blend of natural, Dutch, and black cocoa and is perfect for any baking. But this recipe will work great with whatever cocoa you have on hand! You can use either natural cocoa or Dutch processed cocoa!
Espresso Powder - This is optional, but I love how espresso powder enhances and deepens the chocolate flavor! King Arthur is my favorite brand of high quality espresso powder!
Chocolate Chips - If you like dark chocolate, I highly recommend the Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate baking chips. You can also just chop up one of your favorite chocolate bars for chocolate chunks instead. You could also add in up to 1 cup of chopped nuts if you want!
Flaky Sea Salt - This is completely optional, but I love a little sprinkle of flaky sea salt on top of the brown butter brownies.
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
How to Make Fudgy Brownies
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, and salt. Set aside.
Whisk together the melted (but slightly cooled) brown butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract.
Add in the eggs one at a time and whisk each one until fully incorporated and the batter starts to get lighter in color. To get crinkly brownie tops, be sure to whisk the sugar and eggs together for at least 4-5 minutes.
Fold in the cocoa powder, flour, and salt and mix until the batter is just combined.
Then gently fold in the chocolate chips if desired.
Cut a parchment paper sling slightly smaller than the width of the cake pan and make sure it fits flatly in the bottom. Then lightly spray the bottom and sides of the pan with a vegetable oil based spray (I love Bakers Joy or Everbake). Place you parchment paper sling in the bottom of the pan and smooth it out so that it sticks to the pan spray (you can use metal binder clips to secure it to the pan). After baking you’ll be able to just slide the brownies right out of the pan!
I love all of my USA Pan cake pans because they are extremely sturdy and truly nonstick. However, I still like to prepare my pans to ensure the brown butter brownies come out easily.
Pour the batter into your prepared baking pan.
Bake at 350°F for 30-40 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out mostly clean. Remove from the oven and let fully cool in the pan.
Once the brown butter brownies are cool, use the edges of the parchment paper to slide the brownies out of the pan.
Cut in to squares, sprinkle with flaky sea salt and enjoy! [They're also delicious with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top!]
Tips for the Best Brownies!
(and blondies too!)
Use room temperature ingredients! Always make sure ingredients like butter, eggs, milk, etc. are at room temperature before baking (unless the recipe indicates otherwise)! This ensures they'll incorporate into the batter more easily and leads to overall better texture. Remove all ingredients from the fridge 30 minutes to an hour before baking for best results.
Measure your flour correctly! It's most accurate to use a kitchen scale, but if you're measuring by volume you want to spoon and level! Fluff up the flour a bit with a spoon, and then spoon flour into the measuring cup. Once it's overflowing, use the back of a knife to level it off. Don't ever pack flour into the measuring cup or you'll end up with way too much! Improperly measured flour can lead to dry, dense baked goods. Same goes for cocoa powder!
Use an oven thermometer! Just because your oven says it's 350, doesn't mean it is! If you oven hasn't been calibrated recently, it can be as much as 30 degrees off, which will negatively affect all baked goods from cakes to macarons! An oven thermometer is the easiest/cheapest way to ensure your oven is always at the proper temperature.
Use a metal baking pan! Not all materials are created equal when it comes to baking. Metal cake pans conduct heat much better than other materials like glass or ceramic, so your baked goods will cook faster and more evenly!
It's better to undercook the brownies slightly, than overcook them! Brownies will dry out quick, so it's best to err on the side of caution when baking brownies! Bake just until an inserted toothpick comes out mostly clean but still a tad gooey. If you aren't sure, just go ahead and take them out because they'll continue to firm up as they cool. Note: the larger the pan, the less time the brownies will take to cook.
Be patient and let them cool. Warm brownies fresh out of the oven are delish, I know. But it's best to let them fully cool before digging in. The brownies will be less likely to crumble when you cut them and the center is more likely to be fully cooked while still being perfectly fudgy.
Special Equipment
Recipe FAQ's
Brownies are best eaten within the first 2-3 days, but will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
To get crinkly tops on your brown butter brownies, be sure to beat the eggs and sugar together for at least 4-5 minutes! This incorporates extra air into the batter which is what helps form those crinkly tops!
To get clean slices of these brown butter brownies, run a super sharp knife under hot water until the blade is warm, then wipe it dry. Then cut a single slice and repeat. It's a bit tedious to clean the knife before every cut, but you get perfect slices every time!
Yes! These brown butter brownies can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 months! I recommend cutting the brownies into squares before freezing. To thaw, you can place in the fridge overnight or reheat in the microwave.
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
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Recipe Card
Brown Butter Brownies
Special Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder, optional
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ¼ cup unsalted brown butter, melted but cooled
- 1 ½ cups light brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips
- flaky sea salt, for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Whisk together the melted (but slightly cooled) brown butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract.
- Add in the eggs one at a time and whisk each one until fully incorporated and the batter starts to get lighter in color. To get crinkly brownie tops, be sure to whisk the sugar and eggs together for at least 4-5 minutes.
- Fold in the cocoa powder, flour, and salt and mix until the batter is just combined.
- Then gently fold in the chocolate chips if desired.
- Cut a parchment paper sling slightly smaller than the width of the cake pan and make sure it fits flatly in the bottom. Then lightly spray the bottom and sides of the pan with a vegetable oil based spray (I love Bakers Joy or Everbake). Place you parchment paper sling in the bottom of the pan and smooth it out so that it sticks to the pan spray (you can use metal binder clips to secure it to the pan). After baking you’ll be able to just slide the brownies right out of the pan!
- Pour the batter into your prepared baking pan.
- Bake at 350°F for 30-40 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out mostly clean.
- Remove from the oven and let fully cool in the pan.
- Once the brown butter brownies are cool, use the edges of the parchment paper to slide the brownies out of the pan.
- Cut in to squares, sprinkle with flaky sea salt and enjoy! [They're also delicious with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top!]
- Brownies are best eaten within the first 2-3 days, but will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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