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.
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.
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.
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!
These brownies have entered the weekly rotation at my house. They are as delicious as they are simple and quick.
Wow! I made these for a family gathering and they were a success. I felt like a plain chocolate brownie so I left out the nuts and it still worked perfectly. I had mixed it for maybe a minute extra, so two minutes total until the batter looked glossy and smooth before pouring it in the tin. Our oven at home is fan forced and gets very hot so I adjusted the temperature to about 165°C (325°F) and it still worked out perfectly. The only change I would make next time, but this is personal preference, is to reduce the baking time to 25 minutes because they were fudgey and not gooey how I like them. But the taste is divine. Definitely the best brownie recipe that is going into the personal archive!
Ci, lovely to hear that you and your family liked these brownies so much! Sounds like you know your brownie cravings quite well, best of luck to you on your proposed tweaks. We haven’t tested them that way so we can’t assure you of what results, but I love your spirit of experimentation.
I have just started seriously looking for the “best” brownie recipe. I’ve tried some here and there, never finding one we really loved. My question is regarding the chocolate. I’ve seen the brands mentioned, but the recipe says semisweet. Chocolate chips? will those work? I don’t want to make these unless I used the right ingredients. Thanks for your help!
Becca, avoid chocolate chips at all costs. They what’s called compound chocolate. I’d use the best quality semisweet chocolate you can find. Knowing David Lebovitz pretty well, he would insist on it!
Thank you! I’ll go get some of the 70% types that have been mentioned here. 🙂
And come back and tell me what you think, Becca.
I’ve made this recipe many times without incident. And, I have done some minor experimentation other than mix-ins.
One of those experiments was to bake them for two minutes longer to achieve a slightly crispier/chewier edge while maintaining the fudge-like center quality. It did have the intended effect. While this is a preference for me, I don’t recommend this for everyone’s tastes. But, with homemade ice cream and caramel sauce, they’re sinfully delicious. It really is the best recipe and after I saw David’s article on this several years ago, I made them and I was hooked. Thanks DL. ( I also made your chocolate ice cream recipe, too and it was almost as good as se….nm )
I do have a question though. If I want to add cocoa to this recipe as a mix in, is there a corresponding amount of butter I should add or am I messing with the brownie gods? I have some Pernagotti cocoa I want try in this recipe.
And yesssssss, I’m a brownie-aholic. : )
Hi Gregg, I asked Cindi, one of our professional bakers, about adding in the cocoa. She thought that you might be messing with the brownie gods but suggested you could try “blooming” a bit of cocoa as a small addition to achieve an extra deep chocolate flavor. She’d start by using 2 tablespoons cocoa and enough boiling water to make that into a paste. How much will depend on the cocoa solids and fat in the cocoa. Generally speaking though, she had the following caveat; “I’m against chocolate substitutions in general except for bittersweet and semisweet which are (well, at least used to be before all the artisan chocolate hit the market) very close in style and composition. When substitutions are suggested they try to compensate for the sugar and fat to supposedly make the substitutes equivalent. But chocolate is much more complex than just the numbers show. It is indicative of that complexity that chocolate makers are willing to put percentages on the labels but would never ever reveal the exact process of their manufacturing. Roasting, conching, and, of course, the type of beans all can make significant differences.”