best ever chocolate brownies – for a small family or a big crowd

I love baking for a cake stall and pretty much always do my chocolate brownie recipe. Today I upsized it and it was a winner. Here I’ve put the instructions and quantities for whether you want to make just one square pan of brownies or when you need to feed a crowd or make them last. Nothing lasts long here but I made a triple quantity of the batch and they were delicious and turned out beautifully.

There are no fancy ingredients in this recipe and it makes it nice and easy to pick up a couple of things when you want to make them. I usually use dark chocolate but you can use milk chocolate or a mix of both. My personal grocery shopper came home with milk and they were delicious

No thermomix required but I did my raw sugar to caster sugar in mine

melt the chocolate and butter over a very low heat and take it off when you still have a couple of butter bits left so you don’t start cooking the chocolate

Add in sugar and mix, then eggs and mix and then sift in the flour and baking powder and gently combine. You need to check that you’ve got all the flour mixed in and don’t have any pockets of flour in there. You will have a lovely thick smooth mixture

Pour into a lined baking tin and bake according to the recipe card and quantities listed below. Your brownie is cooked when it’s firm to touch on the top and a knife comes out clean but don’t overbake it. It’s better to have the centre a bit gooey and leave the brownie to cool in the tin.

Because we were presenting these for a cake stall we trimmed the edges (oh so good, just pop them a bowl and share them with the kids)

Leave to cool in the tin (I know, it’s hard work, patience is a virtue) and lift out by the baking paper and place on a cooling rack. I leave it to cool some more and then with a sharp knife cut into rows and then cut a few rows at the same time into squares so I can package them up or pop on a plate for a bring a plate. It looks cute on a doily or with some icing sugar dusted over the top too.

Frozen raspberries are absolutely delicious in this and we also loooove a few tablespoons of peanut butter through the batter as well. I hope you enjoy these. We just love them and I’ve been making this recipe since I was about 25 I think so it’ s well loved. The key to the perfect brownie really is not overcooking them so if you know your oven runs hot then lower the temperature a little and watch them closely, as soon as they are cooked get them out of there.


5.0 from 1 reviews
One batch of best ever chocolate brownies
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Serves: 12-16
What you'll need
  • 100g unsalted butter
  • 200g dark cooking chocolate (or milk)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup caster sugar
  • ⅔ cup plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
Instructions
  1. Break up the chocolate into a saucepan or a microwave safe bowl and add in the cubed butter. melt over a low heat until melted and stir constantly. You can do this in the microwave for 2½ minutes on medium and stir a few times.
  2. Add in sugar and mix well.
  3. Add in the eggs and mix well
  4. Add in the sifted flour and baking powder and really mix well.
  5. Pour into a lined square baking tray (not too big) and bake in a 180 degrees oven for about 20 minutes. If your oven runs hot/fan forced drop the temperature by 5-10 degrees.
  6. When a knife comes out clean you are done. Leave to cool in tin and then remove by the paper and slice and enjoy

5.0 from 1 reviews
triple batch of best ever chocolate brownies
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
This is when you really want to feed a crowd!
Serves: 40
What you'll need
  • 300g unsalted butter
  • 600g cooking chocolate
  • 3 cups caster sugar
  • 6 eggs
  • 2 cups plain flour
  • 1-2 heaped tsp of baking powder
Instructions
  1. Break up the chocolate into individual squares and place in a large saucepan with the cubed butter. Melt over a very low heat until almost all melted. Remove from the heat and keep stirring until all of the butter is melted.
  2. Add in the sugar and mix well
  3. Add in the eggs and mix well. I lightly beat my eggs first and then combine into the mixture
  4. Add in the sifted flour and baking powder and combine well ensuring you have no pockets of flour in there.
  5. Pour into a lined huge baking tray or a few smaller ones. I used a roasting tray and it was just a bit too much mixture so you have a few options.
  6. Option 1 - a huge alfoil baking dish or a baking tray about 36x27cm (this is the option I wish I went with), you buy these huge trays in the bbq section of the supermarket and just one will do. Bake in a 170 degrees oven for about 45 minutes.
  7. Option 2 - bake this recipe in 3 square tins or 2 rectangle trays (about 32 x21cms) in a 180 degrees oven. The square tins take about 20 minutes each and a rectangle tray takes about 25-30 minutes. Don't overcook them.
  8. Option 3 - if your largest rectangle tray is about 32x21cms (5cms deep) like mine then just use 1 tsp of baking powder for the whole recipe. Cook in a 170 degrees oven for at least 45-50 minutes or until your top is starting to crisp up and a knife comes out clean. If it comes out clean in a few spots but one is a bit gooey that is ok. Take it out of the oven and leave to cool in the tray.

 

Comments

  1. We have adjusted our brownie recipe to be gluten free – it is great. Brownies don’t require a lot of rising (like cakes) so they turn out almost the same.

  2. Yes brownies are my ‘go to’ for cake stalls or taking a plate along to a party/BBQ etc.. also Corrie. They’re pretty much everyone’s fave and versatile with the variations that can be added or subtracted. This looks like a delicious recipe, could do with a slice right now :) xo

  3. They look divine even screen lickable! I’ve recently acquired a personal shopper too…he’s actually saving me money as he totally sticks to the list!

  4. I made the triple batch last week, since I figured the single batch wouldn’t last long enough in our house, and have to make another batch today, to give to some students I’m farewelling…my kids are hoping there’ll be leftovers, but I doubt it! This is a super easy, super tasty recipe, thanks Corrie!

  5. If you use the foil tray for the triple batch do you need to line it?

  6. Wendy Forster says:

    Hi Corrie, does the brownie freeze well?

  7. Hi! Could you give us this great recipe for the thermomix?
    Thank you!

Leave a Reply to corrie Cancel reply

*

:  

Optionally add an image (JPEG only)