Deeply chocolatey, dense and fudgy with that prized paper-thin crackly top. One bowl, no mixer, and endlessly adaptable for a crowd.
Prep
15 min
Bake / cook
25 min
Serves
16
Level
Beginner
Ingredients
One 20 cm (8 in) square tin, cut into 16
- Dark chocolate (60–70%), chopped200 g
- Unsalted butter175 g
- Caster (superfine) sugar200 g
- Light brown soft sugar75 g
- Large eggs3 eggs
- Vanilla extract1 tsp
- Plain (all-purpose) flour110 g
- Cocoa powder30 g
- Fine salt½ tsp
Tip: eggs and whole items round to the nearest unit — use the scaler as a guide.
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Convert This Recipe Start free — no card neededMethod
- 1
Heat the oven to 180°C / 350°F / Gas 4. Line a 20 cm (8 in) square tin with baking paper.
- 2
Melt the chocolate and butter together gently — over a water bath or in short microwave bursts — then cool for 5 minutes.
- 3
Whisk the eggs, both sugars and vanilla for 3–4 minutes until thick, pale and mousse-like; this builds the crackly top.
- 4
Fold the cooled chocolate mixture into the eggs until glossy.
- 5
Sift in the flour, cocoa and salt and fold until just combined — stop as soon as no streaks remain.
- 6
Pour into the tin and bake for 22–26 minutes until the top is set and cracked but the centre still has a slight wobble.
- 7
Cool completely in the tin before lifting out and cutting — they firm up as they cool.
Scaling notes
- •Double the batch in a 23 x 33 cm (9 x 13 in) tin and bake for 28–32 minutes.
- •For thick bakery-style squares, keep the 20 cm tin and use 1.5x — add 5–8 minutes and tent with foil if browning fast.
- •Brownies are forgiving: round egg counts to whole eggs and trust the wobble test over exact timings.
Ingredient substitutions
- •Use 50 g cocoa + 25 g extra butter in place of 100 g of the chocolate in a pinch.
- •Swap a third of the flour for ground almonds for a denser, gluten-light texture.
- •Stir through 100 g nuts, chocolate chips or chopped honeycomb before baking.
Pan size
Written for a 20 cm (8 in) square tin (≈ 400 cm²). Moving to a 23 cm (9 in) square (≈ 530 cm²) spreads the batter thinner — reduce the bake by 4–6 minutes. Use the Baking Toolkit pan converter below to scale batter for any tin.
Oven temperature
180°C / 350°F / Gas 4. For a fan oven set 160°C. Brownies are best slightly under-baked, so pull them while the centre wobbles.
Dietary variations
Replace the flour with a 1:1 gluten-free plain blend; the texture stays fudgy.
Use dairy-free dark chocolate and plant butter, and replace eggs with 150 g aquafaba whipped to soft peaks.
Naturally nut-free as written — simply skip any nut add-ins and check your chocolate is made in a nut-free facility.
Baker's tips
- •Whisking the eggs and sugar until pale and thick is the secret to the shiny crackly top.
- •A clean-ish skewer means cake, not brownie — aim for moist crumbs and a wobble.
Baking Toolkit
Free conversion helpers — oven temperatures, pan sizes and ingredient weights.
Fahrenheit
356°F
Fan oven
160°C
Gas mark
4
| °C | °F | Gas | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 140° | 275° | 1 | Very low / slow |
| 150° | 300° | 2 | Low (macarons, meringue) |
| 160° | 325° | 3 | Moderately low |
| 180° | 350° | 4 | Moderate (most cakes) |
| 190° | 375° | 5 | Moderately hot (pastry) |
| 200° | 400° | 6 | Hot (muffins, scones) |
| 220° | 425° | 7 | Very hot (bread, choux) |
| 230° | 450° | 8 | Very hot |