Ultimate Chocolate Brownies

If you've been searching for the ultimate chocolatey treat - your search is over! People lined up out the door of our bakery to get their hands on these brownies - and for good reason! They are perfectly fudgy and crumbly at the same time, they have a deep, craving-satisfying chocolate flavour that makes you close your eyes and say 'mmm!' when you first bite into them, and they are absolutely chock full of both semi-sweet and milk chocolate chunks so that every single bite is different and wonderful. For a chocolate fix, these brownies are seriously hard to beat.

Cocoa Powder vs Melted Chocolate

For most things I am an advocate of using real chocolate in my baking, but when it comes to brownies it actually pays off to use cocoa powder instead. The fats in chocolate are fantastic when they are warm, but when the brownies come down to room temperature, the fats solidify and you lose that wonderful fudginess that you want in a brownie. That's why so many brownies seem dry only a few hours after baking. But if you use cocoa powder instead and replace the fat with butter, butter stays soft at room temperature and so maintains the lovely fudgy consistency. And don't worry about flavour, this recipe has a wonderfully rich, deep chocolate flavour - I promise you won't be disappointed!

How to Know When Brownies are Baked

It can be tricky to tell when brownies are properly baked. Over-bake them and they'll be too dry and cakey - under-bake them and they will be a sticky mess and sink in the centre. There are a few telltale signs though that let you know they are ready to come out the oven.

The standard 'insert a toothpick and see if it comes out clean' test won't work on brownies, as a good brownie which is fudgy in the middle will still be a little gooey when it's hot.

You should see a smooth kind of topping form on the brownies as they bake, it will start off glossy and a little 'wet' looking. Once this smooth topping looks shiny but dry, the brownies are ready.

If you shake the pan gently, there may be a very slight wobble in the middle, but the mixture should seem mostly set and all moving together as one.

The very edges of the brownie will look more done than the middle and they will start to move away from the edges of the pan slightly once they are baked.

If you start to see small cracks forming on the surface of the brownie, this is another sign they are ready - take them out right away.

Recipe