All About Cocoa Powders

There are two main types of cocoa powder and both will be divine in this brownie recipe. Cocoa is the most important ingredient for these homemade brownies. Choose the cocoa that you will love to make the perfect brownies!

• Natural Cocoa: If the cocoa powder is labeled as natural, or no label, it’s natural cocoa. Natural cocoa is processed cocoa solids, which are ground into a fine powder. It has a light color and tends to have a slightly acidic taste.
• Dutch Cocoa: This is cocoa that has been processed to help neutralize the acid. It usually has a richer, smoother, more chocolatey flavor than natural. It will also have a bit of reddish color to it.
• Cocoa in this Recipe: I used a combination of both natural and dutch cocoa to create a swoon-worthy flavor that is rich and a real mouth full. You can use any combination or just one or the other cocoa powder to create the flavor you want. The dark chocolate cocoa is both regular and dutch cocoas. The other cocoa is just natural cocoa powder.

Tips For The Ultimate Chocolate Brownies

These will be hard to mess up and be prepared to fend off the masses when they are done! These Chocoalte brownies are to die for and perfect for any occasion.

• Sift: If you seamless mixing, sift the dry ingredients which will get rid of any lumps.
• Do Not Over Mix: Overmixing will result in fallen tough brownies. Mix just until combined.
• Melt the Butter: Melting the butter will help create the shiny crackly top everyone loves so much. Make sure you mix the eggs, butter, and sugar long enough that the sugar starts to dissolve. That is the true secret.
• Thick: The batter will be thick and that is exactly how you want it!
• Do Not Over Cook: You do not want to overcook the brownies, this will keep your brownies good and fudgy.
• Quality Chocolate: If you want impeccable tasting brownies, you want to use good quality chocolate chips or chocolate bar. Trust me you won’t regret it!
• Let it Cool: These brownies will cut best once they have cooled. That way they won’t run altogether. Another trick is to use a plastic knife to cut them.

Variations For Easy Brownie Recipe

There are obviously easy ways to make these brownies your own. Where you might need a recipe to make your easy brownies with a layer of cream cheese or Nutella-based, there are lots you can do with this recipe.

• Mix In: If you are not a super chocolate fan try mixing in milk chocolate instead of semi-sweet or dark chocolate. It will help give it a bit of milder taste. You can leave out the chocolate chunks altogether as well. Also, try using butterscotch or peanut butter chips for a delicious variation.
• Nuts: Try mixing in a cup of chopped nuts. We love using chopped pecans or walnuts. They just seem to go together. For a tropical twist add shredded coconut in with the chocolate chips.
• Top It: Our favorite thing to do is top it with vanilla ice cream and then add caramel or chocolate sauce, nuts, and whip cream for a brownie sundae you not about to forget. You can also frost the brownies once completely cooled to add flavor and decoration.
• Decorate: Add sprinkles or extra chocolate chips to the top after you remove them from the oven for a bit of pizazz.

Awe brownies, the ideal dessert. They are rich, indulgent, and fit in the palm of your hand.  You can make a big 9×13 batch to feed a crowd and they super portable for when you need to take a dessert somewhere.  When I need a dessert fast that will win over everyone, I reach for brownies. Everyone loves them and they will always disappear. Brownies are also customizable and easy to vary to make them just the way you want them. Try these tried and true brownie recipes the next time you need a dessert that will be a sure-fire winner.

Ingredients

Instructions

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