Brown Butter Brownies

These homemade brown butter brownies have a rich, dark chocolate flavor enhanced by nutty brown butter, a chewy fudgy center, and perfect crinkly tops!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 35

Cooling Time 1

Total Time 1 55

Servings

Calories 373kcal

Author Kyleigh Sage

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

US Customary - Metric

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

To make brown butter, melt unsalted butter over medium heat, stirring frequently. Watch closely for the butter to develop brown specs and a nutty aroma. Once you start seeing brown specs, let cook for just a few seconds longer (watch very carefully or it will burn). Remove from the heat and pour into a small bowl so that it doesn't continue to cook. Set aside and let cool for about 30 minutes so it's no longer hot to the touch. If you don't want to use browned butter you can just use melted butter. Note: For every ½ cup (1 stick or 113g), you'll lose about 1 tablespoon (14g) to evaporation while cooking. So you can either add in an extra 1 tablespoon before browning, or if you're browning big batches, just make up the weight difference in your recipe with regular unsalted butter if needed.

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.

Note: The square cake pans I use are between 2 ¼ and 2 ½ inches deep (so that you can get those super thick brownies). So if your pan happens to be shallower, you might end up with a little too much batter. So instead you can also bake these brownies in a 9x13 inch pan, just note the brownies will be much thinner than the photos.

Nutrition