One-Bowl Homemade Brownies

The easiest homemade brownies come together in one bowl with about 10 minutes of prep!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword brownie recipe with chocolate chips, easy brownies, homemade brownie recipe, homemade brownies, one bowl brownies

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 30

Cooling Time 1

Total Time 1 40

Servings brownies

Calories 270kcal

Author Blair Lonergan

2 cups (12 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided (we like Ghirardelli brand)
½ cup (1 stick) salted butter, cubed
3 large eggs
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup chopped walnuts or extra chocolate chips (optional)
Powdered sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
In a large saucepan, melt 1 cup of the chocolate chips and all of the butter over very low heat until smooth, stirring constantly. Remove the pan from the heat.
Add the eggs; whisk to combine. Add the flour, sugar, vanilla extract, baking soda, and kosher salt. Stir to combine. Fold in the remaining 1 cup of chocolate chips and the optional nuts. Pour into the prepared pan.
Bake for approximately 27-33 minutes, or until the brownies are set but still soft in the middle. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out with just a few moist crumbs. If it looks like it’s too wet or just has batter on it, the brownies need to bake for a little bit longer. Cool completely before dusting with powdered sugar and slicing into squares.

Be careful not to scorch the chocolate. Melt the chocolate chips and butter in a heavy saucepan or Dutch oven over very low heat. This only takes a minute or two, so don't walk away -- and stir constantly!

To get a shiny, flaky, light-colored crackly crust on the top of your brownies, beat the batter really well with your whisk after adding the eggs (but before adding the flour). This incorporates extra air bubbles in the batter, and when the brownies cool the air bubbles shrink — giving the tops that cracked texture that so many of us love.

Do Not Over-Bake. Be careful not to over-bake the bars or they will not have that soft, fudgy texture. When you remove them from the oven, the center will still be soft and may even look slightly underbaked. That’s fine! The brownies will firm up as they cool, and will be perfectly moist.

Why are my brownies cake-like or crumbly? The bars will be dry and crumbly if you bake them for too long. That’s why it’s important to pull them out of the oven when they’re still soft and slightly under-baked.