Will You Marry Me Brownies ~ a simple pan of homemade brownies has won more hearts than any box of bonbons or dozen roses ever could. This easy chocolate dessert is deceptively simple and surprisingly persuasive.
Nothing beats a fudge-y homemade brownie!
Brownies are the most democratic of all the desserts, they’re within everyone’s reach, which is probably why they’re one of the first things we learn to cook. You need no special skills or equipment to make them ~ a tired old apartment oven will do the job as well as a fancy Wolf or Gaggenau range. All you really need is a bowl, a wooden spoon, a classic pyrex baker, and a burning desire to eat a warm chocolatey brownie. (Or a burning desire to impress someone special with one.)
Can you remember the first time you pulled a pan of hot brownies out of the oven?
Those first bites of molten chocolate were testament to the fact that even with rudimentary skills, we could pull off a masterful act of magic in the kitchen. Making a first great batch of brownies is enough to launch a lifelong love of cooking (not to mention chocolate!) If you don’t have a favorite brownie recipe under your belt, this is a good one to try.
Can we agree? The perfect brownie is:
- moist and fudgy inside without being wet or soggy
- has a paper thin crackly crust with a slight sheen
- and a nice rich chocolatey flavor
- there should be bits of melty chocolate in every bite
- and the nuts are optional, I can go either way.
How to know when brownies are done!
Brownies are super easy to throw together, but the art comes in knowing when to pull them from the oven.
- Brownies go from perfect to over-cooked in a very short time, so this is key. A toothpick won’t do you any good, the inside is supposed to be moist! (And am I the only one who can’t bear to mar the sleek surface of a pan of brownies with a big old toothpick hole?)
- Your best bet is to look at the surface and the edges. The surface should be dry and the edges juuuuuuuust looking a little more cooked and starting to pull away ever so slightly from the sides of the pan.
I always err on the early side when cooking brownies because even if a brownie is slightly under-cooked it’s still amazing, you can’t lose.
When you taste a great brownie it should make you wonder why you would ever want any other dessert.
More romantic chocolate recipes for you ~
- Flourless Belgian Chocolate Cake
- Hot Chili Pepper Truffles
- Homemade Ferrero Rocher Truffles
- Dark Chocolate Pot de Creme
Will You Marry Me Brownies
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 and 1/4 cups cocoa powder, I used a combination of regular and Dutched (Hershey's Special Dark)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp espresso powder
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 sticks, 1 cup unsalted butter
- 2 and 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups a 12 ounce bag semi sweet chocolate chips
- powdered sugar for dusting, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F, lightly butter a 9x13 pan
- Beat the eggs with the cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, espresso powder, and vanilla until smooth and well combined.
- Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and stir in the sugar. Cook, stirring constantly, on medium low heat, until the mixture almost comes to a simmer, but not quite (don't let it bubble.) Stirring constantly helps the sugar to dissolve.
- Pour the hot butter into the egg mixture, gently beating or whisking well to combine. You aren't looking to incorporate any air into the batter, so don't use too much elbow grease!
- Blend the flour and the chocolate chips into the batter. Turn into your prepared pan and spread out evenly.
- Bake for about 28-30 minutes, or until dry on top and the edges are starting to look cooked and are just slightly pulling away from the sides of the pan. Cool on a rack.
- Dust the cooled brownies with powdered sugar if you like.
Notes
Nutrition
So yummy! Perfectly fudgy!
My husband (and I) loved these brownies! Definitely a repeat recipe!
Thank you!
Well these are delicious! I volunteered to bring brownies to a women’s retreat next week so I had to test them out first. I mixed it up as directed but baked in two 8” pans so my son & daughter could each take a pan home. Baked around 25 mins. So moist and chocolatey- perfect! Will definitely make these to share with the ladies!
Thanks Niki!
This recipe was outstanding! I would lined the 9×13 pan with parchment paper for easier removal of the brownies from the pan, it worked great, I’d highly recommended it for others.
I posted a photo on my Instagram of them, it’s @bakingwithzastrow
Thanks Emily <3
Thank you for responding back to me. I feel like a total idiot. I have 2 9″x13″ pans. I just forgot I did. I must’ve had a senior moment. Now that I don’t have to go buy one, I can try out this recipe. It sounds yummy. These brownies will be the next dessert recipe I will be making. Thank you.
Haha, I was wondering about that Cheri! Most of us have that size 🙂 Hope you love these.
I have not yet made this. They sound delicious. Your recipe calls for a 9″x 13″ pan. Can another size pan work just as well? I don’t want to buy the size pan you call for just for this recipe, and every brownie recipe I have seen or made calls for either an 8″ or 9″ square pan. Please let me know as I would like to try this recipe. I am giving this recipe a 5 star rating based on the ingredients. Thank you
This particular recipe works best in that pan, and it would be too much batter for the square baking pans.
I’ve made this about five times now. The last batch was on Father’s Day when I visited my cousins at the Jersey shore. They said they were the best they ever had. I gotta say they’re my favorite brownies recipe. I like them best when I used Hershey’s special dark. Ever since unsweetened chocolate got so expensive I switched to unsweetened cocoa. I like the addition of espresso powder ( I cut in half) to add to the richness of the flavor. I cut back on the sugar and added more chocolate chips on top. I’m thinking of entering it in the L.A. fair competition. I won a blue ribbon for my chocolate chip cookies last year. Who knows ? Maybe I will win for these!
Keep us posted!!
Will you marry me indeed! 🙂 I love these brownies!