I have a blanket mistrust of any recipe with a superlative in the title. “The Ultimate” or “The World’s Finest” always makes me raise an eyebrow. But how else can I describe these brownies? I’ve made a lot of brownies in my life, and these really are the best. I learned to make them from the late Robert Steinberg, who changed the world of American chocolate when he cofounded Scharffen Berger chocolate. Part of Robert’s unique charm was that he was quick to argue and that he, like most people who hold strong opinions on things food-wise, was invariably right when you would taste the results. He adapted his brownie recipe from one by cookbook author Maida Heatter. The first time I made the brownies, they were a dry, crumbly disaster. Unconvinced that they were worthy of their accolades, I listened carefully as he walked me through the steps. When he asked if I had stirred the batter vigorously for 1 full minute, I stammered and then finally admitted that I cut that step short. “Aha!” he said. So I made them again and discovered that was one life-changing minute.–David Lebovitz
WHY DO I HAVE TO STIR ENERGETICALLY FOR ONE MINUTE?
As David Lebovitz says in the author note, above, he doubted this direction himself—and paid the price. We really, really, honestly, suggest that you time yourself doing this. Vigorously stir until the batter loses its graininess and lightens in color. You’re doing this for the sake of the texture of your finished brownies. As the batter becomes thick and glossy, your brownies will become fudgy and rich because you’ve smoothed out all the graininess and made a more cohesive batter. It’s a simple trick but it works.
David Lebovitz’s Best Brownies
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons (3 oz) unsalted or salted butter, cut into chunks, plus more for the pan
- 8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, or pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Line an 8-inch square pan with 2 long lengths of aluminum foil or parchment paper, positioning the sheets perpendicular to one other and allowing the excess to extend beyond the edges of the pan. Lightly butter the foil or parchment.
- In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Add the chocolate and whisk until it’s completely melted and smooth.
- Remove the pan from the heat and, still using the whisk, stir in the sugar and vanilla until combined.
- Whisk in the eggs by hand, 1 at a time. Add the flour and whisk with everything you’ve got until the batter loses its graininess, becomes smooth and glossy, and pulls away a bit from the sides of the saucepan, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Seriously, time yourself. During stirring, the batter may appear to separate, and midway through stirring it may appear grainy, but when you keep whisking with vigor, you’ll end up with a batter that’s rich and thick.
- Stir in the chopped nuts and scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until the center is almost set, 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overbake.
- Place the pan on a wire rack and let the brownies cool completely—yes, we understand how difficult this can be—before removing them from the pan by lifting the foil or parchment paper. Cut into 9 squares. (In theory, the brownies will keep, covered, at room temperature for up to 4 days and in the freezer for up to 1 month. But c'mon. We both know that's not going to happen.)
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
Anything with “Best” in the title has to be worth a try. The flavor was superbly rich and chocolatey. The preparation for these brownies is simple and straightforward.
The chocolate melted within 90 seconds of being added to the butter. About 25 seconds into the “energetic” mixing section of the recipe, the batter looked like it might separate. I kept up my mixing for the duration of the minute and found that the batter turned glossy and began to pull away from the pan in its entirety—no separating. The brownies baked in 30 minutes, and they looked beautiful with their crackly surface. When I cut into them, the brownies were fudgy but in no way underdone. Almonds added a bit of crunch and texture.
All in all, was it the best brownie? I think they’re pretty close to one of the best brownie recipes I’ve ever tried. I think I will continue to test other recipes, though, just to be sure.
I was craving brownies and needed a brownie fix and SCORE! I had all of the ingredients for these best brownies in my pantry. “Best Brownies” is quite a claim, but this recipe lives up to the name in my book. I have to say, this has instantly taken the spot as my new personal favorite brownie recipe. I love a fudgy but not gooey decadent brownie with a crackly top and just a bit of cake or crumb. And this recipe delivers on a rich, deep, buttery, walnut flavor with a chocolatey goodness I was hoping for.
The brownies are somewhat dense but still light. This recipe was so easy to make, especially because I tag-teamed it with my husband and he did all the measuring, stirring, and assembling. (Often when we cook together, I read out the recipe and he cooks to speed up the process. It made for a quick assembly. My husband put this recipe together in less than 5 minutes.) I love that only 1/4 cup of flour was used in the whole recipe. One alteration we made was cutting the sugar down to 1/2 cup and I am glad my husband decided to do so, mainly because we were using Ghirardelli semisweet chocolate chips (1 cup) instead of bittersweet. The brownies were almost on the verge of being too sweet but were perfect. For semisweet chocolate, 1/2 cup sugar is enough sweetness, although I would use only 3/4 cup sugar with bittersweet chocolate.
I did not toast the walnuts ahead of time but they still tasted toasted in the finished product. We started to smell an intense brownie aroma at 22 minutes and by 25 minutes they looked done with a crackly top and a toothpick coming out practically clean. We pulled the pan out just at the right time. Sorry, we just couldn’t wait till they cooled. The brownies were delicately cut into squares and were fine even when slightly warm. Boy, did these make a good brownie sundae!
Picking the best brownies recipe is a lot like picking a favorite child. It just can’t be done. Sometimes you’re in the mood for one, sometimes the other, and sometimes having them both around you at once is the best. And there’s always room for more good ones, just as with these brownies. The recipe worked as written and gave me a fudgy brownie with crisp sides. I used the nuts and found that toasting them really enhanced their flavor.
Mixed by hand with a wooden spoon, the batter is easy to make, easy to clean up, and yummy to lick from the spoon. Not sure about absolutely the best, though. Maybe they should be called “absolutely include these in your brownie recipes brownies.”
These brownies are very quick and easy to put together. The vigorous stirring for 1 minute is a must. You can see the very grainy texture before you mix, but as it goes along, everything comes together. What a difference 1 minute makes!
I made 2 batches of this best brownies recipe—one with pecans and one without—and they both turned out fantastic. The batch with the nuts almost acted like bread because the batter started pulling away from the side of the pan while you stirred. There is still a slight grainy texture when you finish mixing, but that’s okay. It produced a fairly thin, dense, moist, fudgy brownie. I suggest cutting them into 12 bars because these are very sweet. Everyone said they wanted the recipe because it will be the only brownie they make from now on—these brownies are that good. Now all I need to do is make more brownies because both batches are gone.
These brownies have entered the weekly rotation at my house. They are as delicious as they are simple and quick.
You can easily shift the flavor profile by using semi or bittersweet chocolate, adding different nuts, or even using orange- or mint-infused chocolate. Cook them for less time for a very fudgy result or longer for a more traditional brownie chew.
I saw David Leite’s comment about espresso powder, so we added a teaspoon of King Arthur Flour Espresso Powder to the latest batch. This wasn’t enough to give the brownies a discernable note of espresso so we will definitely add more next time. However, we added a teaspoon to the cream we were whipping and this put the brownies over the top!
I have made these about 10 times with Gharardelli semisweet chocolate and they are always sublime. But today, I made them with chocolate cut from a block of Callebaut semisweet chocolate (I weighed out 8 ounces), and they did not turn out. Even before they went into the pan, the batter was more runny than usual. I checked the ingredients on both chocolates, and they were the same, with the first ingredient on the Gharardelli being chocolate, and the first ingredient on the Callebaut is unsweetened chocolate. They are cooling now and look grainy and they bubbled in the oven. I am wondering if the cocoa butter content in the Callebaut is much higher and that is the reason for the fail. I mixed it vigorously for one minute as I always do. Any ideas what went wrong?
David, unsweetened chocolate doesn’t have the sugar found in semi-sweet chocolate. Sugar helps to dissolve cocoa solids and adds to a smoother, glossier texture. Your tweak, if I understand correctly, relies solely on the granulated sugar. That might not be enough to dissolve the cocoa solids entirely, hence the grainy texture.
David: Thank you for your reply, and I guess I didn’t express myself correctly. I used Callebaut semisweet chocolate. The inqredients listed are unsweetened chocolate and sugar. For some reason the brownies did not turn out with this chocolate, and were a grainy, greasy mess. (although they had good flavor). Yesterday I tried them again with my usual Ghirardelli semisweet chocolate (ingredients listed as Sugar, unsweetened chocolate). With the Ghirardelli, they were successful as usual. Although the Callebaut says semisweet, the proportions must be different enough to cause the failure. But any more input is appreciated. I am going to chop the rest of the Callebaut and use it in Oatmeal cookies. It was a gift of a 2.25 pound block. To clarify, both the Callebaut and Ghirardelli are marked as semisweet.
David, I’ve gone down a rabbit hole on Ghirardelli’s website. Honestly, some of the info seems contradictory.
What I can tell you is that while a company has to list the cacao percentage on the package (the percentage by weight of cocoa beans, including added cocoa butter or dry cocoa solids), they don’t have to tell you the percentage of cocoa butter. My guess is that even though both are semisweet, there’s probably more fat in one (most likely the Callebaut).
That’s my best guess. If you really want to go sleuthing, I’d suggest reaching out to Callebaut’s customer service (866) 443-0460. Sorry I couldn’t have been more helpful.
Hi, David: You have been very helpful. I, too, suspect that perhaps the Callebaut had more fat or cocoa butter. I have always followed this recipe to melt the chocolate and butter over very low heat. Since I have enough of the Callebaut left to try again, this time I am going to melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler, before proceeding. It is possible that the Callebaut chocolate got too hot and seized. That has never happened with the Ghirardelli. I will keep you posted what happens when I try it. Thank you very much for your replies and help.
You’re more than welcome, David!
Made these an hour ago and can’t keep my hands off them! Read the reviews and though I love baked goods I’m not a fan of overly sweet so used 1/2 cup sugar and added a tablespoon of Hershey cocoa powder as well as a teaspoon of espresso powder. Super rich and delicious. Cooked 27 min in 8×8 pan using lightly sprayed parchment-came out easily but had a rough time spreading. Probably would skip the parchment and just light spray the pan next time. They are not as tall as I had hoped, kinda flat but since they are so good probably the less there is the better.
My mouth is watering, Mcgruber. Those look fantastic.