Fudgy Brownie Recipe

1. Stage

To start making the fudgy brownies, fill a heavy saucepan with the sugars, butter, water and coffee granules. Turn on the heat and stir, stir, stir until the mixture comes to a boil. Once boiling, remove the mix from the heat. Then add in 1-3/4 cups of the chocolate chips (we'll come back to that other cup later). Stir in the chips until melted and the mixture is nice and smooth. Let this cool slightly before moving onto the next step. Test Kitchen Tip: The instant coffee in this recipe isn't to give the brownies a mocha flavor. A touch of instant coffee or espresso powder gives the chocolate extra depth of flavor. If you're really not a coffee fan (or don't have any instant granules at home), you can omit it from the recipe.

2. Stage

When it comes to brownies, everyone looks for that crinkly, tissue paper-like top. Something about that texture just screams these are going to be good. And the secret to getting that crackled finish: whisking the eggs. You'll want to give your eggs a good whisking until they're nice and frothy; this should take about three minutes of whisking by hand. When the eggs are perfectly foamy, add in the vanilla extract. Like the instant coffee in this recipe, vanilla really amplifies the chocolate flavor. Don't skip it!

3. Stage

Next, it's time to start adding the fudgy, chocolate mix to the eggs. Be sure that the chocolate isn't too hot; it the chocolate mix is super hot, it will cook the eggs (and no one wants chocolate scrambled eggs). Start by whisking in a small amount of the warm chocolate into the eggs, then add in the remaining chocolate until you have a consistent mix.

4. Stage

In a separate bowl stir together the flour, baking soda and salt. Then add the dry ingredients to your chocolate mix and stir gently until the mix is just combined. You want a light hand with this step to ensure your brownies are tender and fudgy—not tough.

5. Stage

You know you can't stop with just one form of chocolate when learning how to make fudgy brownies—there's got to be multiple cocoa additions! The last step before popping these brownies in the oven is to add in that remaining cup of chocolate chips. Fold them in until just combined. Test Kitchen Tip: This recipe calls for more of the same chips melted into the batter, but you can fold in any kind of chip you like here: milk chocolate, white chocolate or even some fun flavored baking chips.

6. Stage

With the batter complete, it's time to prep the baking pan. You'll want to use a light-colored metal pan here. You also want to line the pan so you can remove the brownies easily. To do this, give the pan a quick coating of cooking spray and grab a roll of parchment paper (aluminum foil will also work) to line the pan. You can use a single sheet and carefully fold the edges in. Or use two sheets—one going across one way and the other going perpendicular. Test Kitchen Tip: If you only have dark metal pans, that doesn't mean you can't bake brownies! Decrease the oven temperature by 25 degrees. Then bake the brownies as instructed.

7. Stage

After you've prepped your square pan, add your brownie batter and pop it into a 325ºF oven. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes; start checking for doneness at the 40-minute mark (you do not want overbaked brownies!). You know your brownies are done baking when you insert a toothpick into the center and it comes away with gooey crumbs. You want the brownies to have that slightly underdone interior coming out of the oven so you achieve that fudgy, chewy center. Test Kitchen Tip: Don't worry about the brownies being underbaked or raw if the toothpick comes out with crumbs. Your baked goods do continue to bake after coming out of the oven thanks to carryover cooking.

8. Stage

After your brownies are done baking, let them cool in the pan on a wire rack. Once they're completely cooled, you can lift the entire pan of brownies right out of the baking dish with the parchment paper. Peel away that paper and cut the brownies into neat bars for serving. Need some cutting tips? Here are our favorite techniques for cutting brownies right from our Test Kitchen pros. Finish off your brownies with a dusting of confectioners' sugar and start snacking!