You’ll love this extra easy one bowl brownies recipe with gooey centers, crinkly tops, and chewy edges. These are perfection!
These brownies are so easy, you won’t believe it! Just one pan and a spoon, and you’ll be on your way to baking the best brownies you’ve ever made.
Trust us, these will disappear! Everyone raves about their chewy edges, crinkly tops, and gooey centers.
Key Ingredients
- Unsweetened cocoa powder: The secret to the best brownies! We love the classic flavor of natural cocoa powder, but Dutch-processed cocoa powder works, too, lending a mellow, almost Oreo-like flavor and a richer color. We also use cocoa powder to make these rich, bittersweet fudgy brownies.
- Unsalted butter and oil: The combination of butter and oil creates the perfect brownie texture. Butter adds richness, while oil ensures a gooey, moist center. Neutral oil like avocado oil is great, or use a light and fruity olive oil for some extra flavor.
- Sugar: For the best of both worlds (gooey centers, chewy edges, and a touch of crispness), we highly recommend using granulated and brown sugar in this recipe.
- Whole eggs + egg yolk: The eggs provide structure and lift, while the extra yolk adds richness and creates irresistibly chewy edges (just like in our favorite chocolate chip cookies!).
The Secret for Making the Best Brownies
For the best brownies, you want to mix your sugar into HOT butter and oil. Some recipes call for beating butter, sugar, and eggs together until the mixture forms light, airy ribbons. This requires room-temperature butter and extra time. Our no-fuss, one-bowl method is quicker and simple!
To make our simple brownie batter, you will melt butter and oil in a wide saucepan over medium-low heat. When the butter is melted and hot, remove the pan from the heat and whisk in granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, and vanilla extract.
Next, stir in the cocoa powder, then set the pan aside to cool for five minutes. Finally you’ll add the whole eggs and egg yolk, then stir in the baking powder and flour.
How to Tell When Brownies are Done Baking
We bake our brownies in a 325° Fahrenheit oven for 35 to 45 minutes. Pull brownies out of the oven when:
- The edges look dry, and the middle looks slightly underbaked.
- A toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few crumbs attached.
- An internal thermometer inserted into the middle reads between 170°F and 210°F (brownies will be moist and fudgy when the temperature is closer to 170°F and cakey when closer to 210°F).
If you are not sure, it is better to pull brownies out early than to leave them in the oven to overbake.
Once your brownies are out of the oven, keep them in the pan and let them cool completely. Like when making blondies, the brownies will continue to cook as they cool, which helps the middle set properly.
Easy One Bowl Brownies
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
We love this easy brownie recipe made with cocoa powder, eggs, and brown sugar. These one bowl brownies are fudgy and gooey in the middle and chewy around the edges. The batter is made right in the saucepan used to melt the butter.
You Will Need
6 tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter
4 tablespoons light olive oil or canola oil
1 ⅓ cups (265g) granulated sugar
1/4 cup (47g) lightly packed brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, reduce to 1/2 teaspoon if sensitive to salt
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
2/3 cup (65g) unsweetened cocoa powder
2 large eggs
1 egg yolk
3/4 cup (98g) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup chocolate chips, optional
Directions
1Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 325°F (162°C). Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch x 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides to help remove the baked brownies from the pan.
2Add the oil and butter to a medium saucepan. Place over medium-low heat until the butter melts, then turn off the heat. We recommend a wide, medium saucepan for making the brownie batter right in the pan. If you do not have a saucepan, melt the butter into the oil using another pan. When melted, pour the butter and oil into a mixing bowl and continue with the steps below.
3While the butter and oil are still warm, stir in the sugars, salt, and vanilla extract until blended.
4Stir in the cocoa powder, and then set aside to cool for five minutes so that the mixture is warm, not hot. The mix will be gritty.
5Add the eggs and egg yolk, and then stir vigorously to blend. The mixture turns from a gritty paste to a shiny pudding-like batter in this step.
6When the batter looks thick and well blended, add the flour and scatter over the baking powder. If you are adding chocolate chips, add them now. Stir until you no longer see streaks of flour in the batter.
7Spread the brownie batter evenly in the prepared pan.
8Bake the brownies until the edges look dry and the middle looks slightly underbaked, 35 to 45 minutes. You can test doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center. The brownies are finished baking if it comes out with a few moist crumbs attached.
9Leave the brownies in the pan to cool completely. As they cool, the middle will set. Cut into 16 squares.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Can I double the recipe? Yes, double all ingredients in the recipe and bake in a 9-inch by 13-inch baking pan. They will be slightly thicker. Bake time will be similar, but keep an eye on them and use our visual cues in the recipe as a guide.
- Baking pan: We love our USA Pan 8×8-inch metal pan for this recipe. Glass and ceramic pans work, but keep in mind that they may affect bake time. Check on doneness 5 minutes early and every 5 minutes after that.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We did not include chocolate chips
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These were pretty good! I made them for a teammate and took them out a little early so they were a bit underdone but had an amazing chocolate flavor, just super gooey! Overall great recipe 🙂
We are so happy you loved them 🙂
This is my new favorite brownie recipe! My husband complained yesterday that I never make him brownies, so I surprised him with a batch of these today and he said they’re perfect! The balance of sugar, salt, fat, and chocolate is excellent. They’re delightfully fudgy without feeling underbaked, and the rich chocolate flavor really shines through. The only thing I changed was adding a few extra chocolate chips. I’m adding this recipe to my recipe binder for safekeeping!
Love the addition of extra chocolate chips 🙂
Question. Can we use something instead of canola or light olive oil? I read where someone just added more butter, but I’m still wondering.
The oil keeps the brownies gooey and moist in the center. If you prefer you can use 100% butter like we do in our fudgy brownies.
Great recipe! Wonderful texture and taste. I love them. My husband is not as much of a chocolate fan as me, so I would love a suggestion as to how to reduce the cocoa powder. Do I just cut back on the cocoa powder, replace with equal amounts of flour? Curious, as these are keepers, but want to tweak for his liking.
I’m so glad you like the recipe! To dial down the chocolate intensity for your husband, start by reducing the cocoa powder by 1-2 tablespoons and replacing it with the same amount of flour. You might also want to add a bit more sugar for balance.
Can you add sprinkles in these? My daughters birthday is coming up and I want to make these but with sprinkles for a confetti effect.
Hi Emily, the sprinkles might not show very well in the batter itself. A swirl of chocolate frosting with sprinkles is a perfect solution! That’s going to look so cute and festive for your daughter’s birthday.
I have not tried this recipe yet. I have a question. I don’t have any unsalted butter, If I use salted should I omit the salt? I’m wanting to try them tonight.
Yes, if you are using salted butter you can just omit the salt.
This brownie recipe is amazingly simple and wonderfully delicious. I cut back on the chocolate chips, next time I will probably forego them altogether as the cocoa flavour packs an awesome punch on its own. Definitely staying in my baking repertoire!