5-Ingredient Brownies
A recipe for 5-Ingredient Brownies takes away all the excuses for not making brownies for the family, bake sale or just for yourself. A quick mix together and about half an hour in the oven and you'll be in brownie heaven.
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Easy Brownie
- Prep Time: 15 m
- Cook Time: 30 m
- Total Time: 45 m
- Servings: 16Brownies
Ingredients
- 4 ounces unsalted butter
- 8 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350ºF and grease an 8-inch cake pan with butter.
- Melt the butter and chocolate together in a double boiler, or carefully in the microwave. Set aside to cool.
- Beat the eggs and sugar together in a stand mixer, or with an electric hand mixer, until it reaches the ribbon stage (the eggs fall from the beater in one solid line like a ribbon). Add the salt and beat well. Drizzle in the cooled chocolate mixture.
- Stir the flour into the mixture just until no streaks of flour can be seen. Try not to over-mix at this stage.
- Transfer the batter to the greased cake pan, smoothing out the surface.
- Bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out relatively clean.
- Let the brownies cool completely in the pan. Then, remove the brownies from the pan, cut into squares and serve.
Nutrition Facts
Easy Brownie
Amount Per Serving
Calories 221
Calories from Fat 108
% Daily Value*
Fat 12g18%
Saturated Fat 7g35%
Cholesterol 46mg15%
Sodium 86mg4%
Potassium 100mg3%
Carbohydrates 25g8%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 17g19%
Protein 2g4%
Vitamin A 230IU5%
Calcium 16mg2%
Iron 1.4mg8%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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These brownies are so easy to make. They ate the best. So light and fudgy.
These are very good brownies. Easy to make and fudgy!
So good! I’ll never buy boxed brownies again!
Can this be made with powdered cacao?
Hi Pamela. This specific recipe won’t work if you substitute cocoa powder, I’m afraid, because cocoa powder and chocolate do not have the same properties of fat and moisture.
ML
oh my goodness, these are the best, so moist and flavourful.
Family loved them
Is there anyway to make them diabetic friendly like using Splenda instead of sugar? I am willing to try it!
Hi Melanie. I don’t cook with Splenda or other sugar substitutes very often, so I can’t give you a good answer. If you give it a try, let us know here!
Hi Meredith! I don’t have unsalted butter right now. Should I omit the added salt? Thanks!
You can reduce the salt or omit it, yes.
Gosh, these couldn’t be easier! I can’t wait to try them tomorrow.
These brownies are great and seem to get fudgier over a few days. Can you add cocoa powder to the recipe? I heard that cocoa powder can intensify the chocolate flavor.
Hi Angie. Cocoa powder will definitely intensify the chocolate flavor. I have not tested this recipe adding cocoa powder, but you’re welcome to give it a try.
Can you use chocolate chips for this recipe?
Sure – semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips are fine to use.
I don’t care if you use 5or 6. They are so good. Will use this recipe from now on. Thank you
Crazy easy, crazy delicious
Could I use whole wheat flour?
I haven’t tested it with whole wheat flour and whole wheat flour will have a much different result – it will be very dense. You could try using a 50/50 blend of white and whole wheat flour, but you should expect a different result.
If I double the recipe can it be baked in a 9 x 13 pan?
These sound and look so yummy.
Hi Weni. You could double the recipe and put it into a 9×13 pan, but you might have a little batter leftover. You’ll also need to increase the baking time to between 35 and 45 minutes.
Sound exactly like my Katherine Hepburn recipe for Brownies
Where did you get your silicone liner used in your video?
Hi Mary. That was a product from QVC. You can check their website to see if they still have a similar item or you could find it any cooking store or on Amazon.
YES, I love chocolate. Thank you for an easy and fabulous brownie recipe. It will now be my go to recipe.
I absolutely love these brownies,Very few ingredients which we usually have on hand.Lovely texture, fudgy Just perfect. Everyone I’ve made them for has raved about them and asked for more. Doesn’t get much better than that. Easy, Convenient and a people pleaser.💕I am making a batch right now for Valentine’s day,and decorating with white chocolate hearts.💖
Another delicious recipe! I only had bittersweet chocolate so I was afraid it might be too dark and bitter but turned out really good. It was very easy, as promised, but I got in a hurry and couldn’t wait till it “cooled completely” like you suggested. They need the cooling process to hold together neatly. It didn’t ruin the flavor though! Yuuummmm!!!!
Hi Meredith, my name is Bernadette can you please tell me 8 oz of semi sweet chocolate is equal to how many grams… I know I can google but I am getting so many different weights in grams – 160 grams – 200 grams I am so confused – need to try out your recipe over the weekend… thank you so much
Hi Bernadette. There are 28 grams to 1 ounce, so 8 ounces is equal to 224 grams (the exact conversion is 226.8g).
ML
I just made these and they are delicious. As they cooled, the thin shiney layer of crust separated from the brownies. When I cut into them, the crust crumbled. Any idea why?
It sounds like you may have overbeaten the batter. When you mix it too much, you incorporate air into the batter. As the brownies bake, the air bubbles expand and then deflate as the brownies cool. This causes the crust to crack. Next time, try mixing the batter by hand with a wooden spoon just until all the ingredients are mixed together.
Hi Meredith,
I baked with this receipe for 30 minutes at 350 degrees however when i started cutting it into squares, i found that the bottom had a puddle if liquid. I did try the toothpick earlier and that came clean. Could you help find out where did i go wrong. Used a borosil glass baking pan for it. The edges on top were heavenly when i tasted them. I have a picture but there isn’t an option to add one here
Hi Kavita. I’m afraid I don’t really know what went wrong. It sounds like it just didn’t bake for long enough. Perhaps your oven runs a little low.
i’m sure these taste amazing but i think i did something wrong…. i put the brownies in for 30 mins like you said in the directions but when i took them out the middle was very undercooked. so i then put it in again for another 15 mins but it is still very undercooked. i’m not sure what i did wrong and i’m very bummed out… the edges are fine and cooked but the middle is basically liquid. once again, this is probably my fault but i’m not entirely sure what went wrong. pls help 😭
It’s hard to say what could have went wrong. This recipe has been tested many times and if the ingredients were properly measured and baked in an 8 or even 9-inch pan, it should take about 25 to 30 minutes to bake. All ovens are different and you may need to add a few additional minutes. The middle of brownies will always be little softer than the edges, but they shouldn’t still be liquid. The middle will also set up more as the brownies cool.
Which chocolate did you use for the recipe and where can I buy it?
Hi there. I honestly can’t remember what brand of chocolate I used in the video (but it looks like Ghirardelli), but any semi-sweet or bitter-sweet chocolate THAT YOU LIKE will be good. You’ll find several options in the baking aisle of your grocery store.
ML
Can I use milk chocolate chips?
Hi Deb. It’s not ideal to make that substitution. Milk chocolate has not only more milk solids, but also more sugar than semi- or bittersweet chocolates. So, it changes more of the recipe than you think. Sugar is hygroscopic (attracts and holds onto water) and plays a role in baking beyond just sweetening things. Having said all that, if milk chocolate chips are all that you have, you could give it a try, but not having tried it myself I can’t say if it will work (or work out well). Great question though!
ML
I mixed half semi sweet and half bittersweet chocolate. I added nuts.
I cut parchment paper to use as a sling. It worked perfectly. Due to my oven,it took 25 minutes.
Any adjustments for high altitude? I live at 6,450 feet.
Hi Belinda. I always refer people to King Arthur Flour for help with high altitude baking. Here’s the link: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/learn/resources/high-altitude-baking
ML
What happens if you use salted butter instead of unsalted?
Your brownies might be just a tiny bit saltier.
So, which ingredient do you leave out to make it 5-ingredient brownies? I count 6 ingredients.
Hi. I don’t consider ½ tsp of salt as an ingredient and in the video I talk about “5-ISH” ingredients. But… you could leave that salt out if you wanted to be really strict about ingredient count.
Any chance you could use ounces for the sugar and flour? I live in Ireland and we use imperial cups (8oz or 240gr) and/or metric measures for dry ingredients. Thanks
Hi Jill. I would use 140g of flour (1 cup) and 200g of sugar (1 cup).
ML
Absolutely delicious! But you might want to check you time at the top of the recipe. It’s says 15 min cook time, 30 min total. Now that would be a game changer lol.
Thanks for letting us know! The recipe has been adjusted.