These espresso brownies are rich, fudgy and contain an entire shot of brewed espresso! They're the perfect coffee flavored treat for dessert (or even breakfast). The edges are a little chewy and the centers are insanely gooey and delicious! Truly the ultimate brownie for anyone who loves both chocolate and coffee!
If you love coffee flavored desserts, you might also like these espresso cupcakes or espresso macarons!
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Ingredient Notes
You just need a few simple ingredients to make these fudgy espresso 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!
- Butter - I like using melted butter for flavor, but you can also sub a neutral vegetable oil if you prefer. I also love to sub brown butter for even more flavor!
- Sugar - I use a combination of granulated sugar and brown sugar, but you can easily swap and use just one or the other.
- Espresso powder - You can't have espresso brownies without espresso powder! It not only adds a rich coffee flavor, but also helps deepen the flavor of the chocolate for a super rich brownie. King Arthur is my favorite brand of high quality espresso powder! Note: espresso powder is NOT the same as instant espresso!! Espresso powder is much more flavorful and more finely ground, making it more suitable for baking.
- Brewed coffee - I love adding brewed coffee or espresso to the brownies for an even richer coffee flavor! These brownies have an entire shot of espresso!
Feel free to also add in some chopped dark chocolate chunks if you want!
How to Make Espresso Brownies
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar.
Add in the eggs one at a time and whisk each one until fully incorporated and the batter starts to get lighter in color. Then add in the brewed espresso and vanilla extract and mix until smooth.
Fold in the cocoa powder, flour, espresso powder, and salt and mix until the batter is just combined.
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 espresso brownies come out easily.
Pour the batter into your prepared baking pan.
Bake at 350°F for 30-45 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out mostly clean.
Remove from the oven and let fully cool in the pan. Then use the edges of the parchment paper to slide the brownies out of the pan.
Serving suggestion: Kyle likes to pretend he doesn’t have a sweet tooth....but that boy will put ice cream on anything. I walked into his office the other day and he excitedly told me that if you put the brownies in the microwave for 20-30 seconds and then top with vanilla ice cream, it’s to die for. He was right, of course. The rich espresso and dark chocolate flavor are perfectly balanced by creamy vanilla ice cream! 10/10
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.
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.
Yes! These espresso brownies can be frozen for up to 3 months! I recommend cutting the brownies into squares before freezing. To thaw, you can either 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.
More Recipes You Might Like!
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Recipe Card
Espresso Brownies
Special Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 ½ cups light brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ cup brewed espresso
- 1 ½ cups unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon espresso powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar.
- Add in the eggs one at a time and whisk each one until fully incorporated and the batter starts to get lighter in color.
- Then add in the brewed espresso and vanilla extract and mix until smooth.
- Fold in the cocoa powder, flour, espresso powder, and salt and mix until the batter is just combined.
- 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. 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).
- Pour the batter into your prepared baking pan.
- Bake at 350°F for 30-45 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out mostly clean.
- Remove from the oven and let fully cool in the pan. Then use the edges of the parchment paper to slide the brownies out of the pan.
- 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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Kayla says
These brownies are really good! I don’t know if I over-baked them slightly (checked them at 30 mins and baked for another 8 because they were quite runny still) but they are a little dry.
I may try subbing coconut oil for the butter and half the cocoa powder with half melted chocolate chips and see what happens.
Debbie says
we absolutely adore these brownies . I also add a mocha/espresso icing to the top. Major fans in my church!
Jessica says
Easy to make and SO delicious! 👏👏
Lillie says
Made these for my coworkers and got so many great compliments! I will be using this recipe more often. they were fantastic! Thank you
Chelsea says
The instructions say to add in espresso powder but you don't have any in the ingredients list.
Kyleigh Sage says
Thanks for pointing that out! It's been corrected!
Lily says
Amazing brownies! everybody loved them
Courtney says
These were so good!!! Thank you for the recipe!! So much better than a box mix!!