January 26, 2015

Old Fashioned Brownies

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Old fashioned brownies are rich, dark chocolate brownies with a soft chewy center, firm edges and a crackly top. Easy and simple to make using just one bowl.  A family favorite!

Old Fashioned Brownies | Green Valley Kitchen

Since Valentine’s Day is coming up I thought I’d share with you a recipe for old fashioned brownies.

These brownies have a soft chewy center, firm crisp edges and a sugary, crackly top.  They are rich, chewy, fudgey, dark chocolate brownies.

They are super simple to make – using just one bowl.  So make yourself or someone you love some of these old fashioned brownies

I like the old fashioned kind of brownies.  The chewy, fudgey kind with firm edges and a softer center.  My friend told me we could be brownie buddies since I like the softer center brownies and she likes the firmer outer edge brownies – especially the corner pieces.

Old Fashioned Brownies | Green Valley Kitchen

I’ve made these brownies a couple of times now and they come out consistently every time – chewy, rich and with an intense dark chocolate flavor.

These brownie are so simple and straightforward to make I wonder why anyone would use a boxed mix.  You could dress them up with some vanilla ice-cream if you want – but I like them just as they are.

A lot of readers have made these with their kids or grandchildren – so if you’re looking for a fun recipe to make with your family then this recipe is for you.

Old Fashioned Brownies | Green Valley Kitchen

A couple of notes:

  • It’s important to let the cooked brownie cool before remove it from the pan.  If you try and remove it too soon the whole brownie could break up into a bunch of pieces – so wait about 30 minutes before flipping the whole brownie out of the pan.   Once the brownie has cooled in the pan, gently loosen around the edge of the pan and the brownie with a thin metal spatula, you should then be able to easily flip the brownie out of the pan.  Also, you’ll get a cleaner cut on the individual brownies if you wait for the whole (uncut) brownie to cool and slice it up once it’s out of the pan.
  • I used dark chocolate chips which gives these brownies a rich, dark chocolate, slightly bittersweet flavor but if you wanted to lighten the brownies up a bit you could use regular chocolate chips.
  • Did you know that brownies will cook more quickly in a metal pan versus a Pyrex pan?  I cooked mine in a metal 9 x 13 non-stick pan.  If you are using Pryex you may need to cook your brownies a little bit longer than stated in the recipe below.  There are all kinds of interesting brownie tips in this article.
  • This recipe is from Hershey’s kitchens.  They have a lot of great recipes – so go check out their site if you’re looking for a great chocolate baking recipe.
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Old Fashioned Brownies

Old Fashioned Brownies | Green Valley Kitchen

★★★★★

5 from 2 reviews

A rich, dark chocolate brownie with a soft chewy center, firm edges and a crackly top. Easy and simple to make using just one bowl.

  • Prep Time: 20 mins
  • Cook Time: 35 mins
  • Total Time: 55 minutes
  • Yield: 24 brownies
  • Category: Dessert

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup Hershey’s cocoa
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 2/3 cup butter – melted
  • 1/2 cup boiling water
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 cup dark chocolate chips

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Grease a 9 by 13 baking pan.
  3. Add cocoa and baking soda to a large bowl and stir to combine.
  4. Melt 2/3 of a cup of butter over low heat on the stove (or melt butter in the microwave). With a wooden spoon, stir 1/2 of the melted butter into the cocoa and baking soda. Stir until combined.
  5. Add 1/2 cup of boiling water to bowl with cocoa and butter. Stir until combined and smooth.
  6. Add sugar, eggs and the rest of the melted butter to the cocoa mixture. Stir until combined.
  7. Sift in 1 1/3 cup of flour. Add vanilla and salt. Stir until combined and batter is smooth.
  8. Add dark chocolate chips to batter and stir until combined.
  9. Pour into prepared baking pan and smooth the top out with a wooden spoon. Bake for between 35 and 40 minutes. Mine took 35 minutes. Test with a toothpick for doneness.
  10. Cool for 30 minutes in pan. When cool, remove from pan and cut into 24 brownies.

 

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64 comments on “Old Fashioned Brownies”

    1. Geraldine Post author

      Hi Carol – Thank you so much for letting me know! I appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment and rating. Everyone really likes these brownies!

      Reply ↓
    1. Geraldine Post author

      Hi Rhonda, sorry but fudge won’t work. If you don’t have chocolate chips, you can try chopping up a bar of chocolate into small pieces so that it equals one cup.

      Reply ↓
  5. Deborah

    Can. Make these without the chocolate chips without adjusting any other ingredients?
    Thanks! They look just like them!

    Reply ↓
  6. Jackie

    I have these in the oven now. I have some homemade Bailey’s buttercream frosting that I am going to smear over the top when they cool.

    Reply ↓
  7. Julie

    I made these with my grandchildren for Valentine’s Day. We added maraschino cherries and a bit of the juice. They put them in small pieces tins and baked them. They came out great. The children gifted them to their parents.

    Reply ↓
    1. Geraldine Post author

      Hi Carman: I have not added peanut butter to this so I’m not sure if it will work. I looked up swirling peanut butter into brownies on google and it said that you need to prepare the peanut butter by adding melted butter and powdered sugar – I’m assuming this is to make the peanut butter more “swirlable” since peanut butter is so thick. I’d suggest looking it up on google for measurements. Let me know if it works out!

      Reply ↓
    1. Geraldine Post author

      Hi Samantha – you are going to melt the butter so it’s fine cold. Also, I just used eggs right out of the fridge. Hope you enjoy them!

      Reply ↓
  12. Kathy

    One of my adult kids was visiting and raved about how good these brownies were. He winked and said he did not recall my baking being that good when he was a kid. Thanks for teaching an old dog new tricks 😉

    Reply ↓
  13. Jade

    Making these for Christmas. Turned out really well and they taste amazing! I used a milk chocolate slab instead of dark choc chips. Thanks for the great recipe, will definitely make these again! 🙂

    Reply ↓
  14. Patti

    I just made the brownies with my 4 year old. Very simple to make. I lined my pan with parchment for easy clean up. They look just like they do in the picture and delicious!

    Reply ↓
  15. Joy

    Hi! This recipe looks fantastic, definitely will be trying soon. Can the melted butter be replaced with oil?
    Thanks.
    Joy

    Reply ↓
  16. Molly

    Darn, I was hoping in the comments would be someone saying they made this successfully with a gluten free all-purpose flour substitute. My daughter has Celiac and is missing good old fashioned brownies. When you search for gf brownies on Pinterest you get a lot of super-wet looking black bean or eggless brownie recipes. If I get brave and try this I’ll let you know how it works.

    Reply ↓
  17. Anita T.

    I am baking a batch right now. I split the recipe when it was time to put in the pan. On one side, I left them according to the recipe, and on the other side, I mixed chopped pecans to the batter.Sometimes I like my brownies without nuts, and then there are times I like a little bit of nuts in them. I can hardly wait for them to come out of the oven. ?

    Reply ↓
  18. Nupur

    If I wish to grate and use a dark chocolate slab instead of chocolate chips, can that be done? And if yes, how much in weight?

    Reply ↓
    1. Geraldine Post author

      Hi Nupur – one cup of chocolate equals 6 oz of chocolate. I would roughly chop the chocolate versus grate it – so it’s more chocolate chip size.

      Reply ↓
  19. Janelle

    I’ve made these brownies twice so far exactly how the recipe is. I love them and so does everyone else!! Best brownie recipe so far!! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply ↓
    1. Geraldine Post author

      Hi Kira – yes, semi-sweet chocolate chips should work well. I always get confused by chocolate chip labeling – but according to google “semi-sweet is dark chocolate” so they should work fine. Please let me know how it goes!

      Reply ↓
  21. Purpleswift

    Hey,i was just wondering if these will work with applesauce instead of eggs..?
    Anyways this looks like an AWESOME recipe
    Thanks

    Reply ↓
    1. Geraldine Post author

      Hi Anna – I’m with you on classic brownies – they don’t need a whole lot of fancy ingredients since there’s so good by themselves!

      Reply ↓
  26. Isadora @ she likes food

    I’ve been craving brownies likes crazy for the past few weeks and I still haven’t gotten my hands on any but now I want them more than ever! These look like the perfect brownies, soft on the inside but still have that nice crust on the top 🙂

    Reply ↓
  32. Traci | Vanilla And Bean

    Yes, Please!! There are so many varieties of brownies! How can it be? I’ll take the dark chocolate and the chewy center piece too… but I also love the crunchy edges. Rob would love these for Valentien’s day (and so would I) with a big scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and chocolate drizzle… Mmmmmmm!! These will not last long! Thank you, Geraldine! 😀

    Reply ↓
    1. Geraldine Post author

      Thanks, Traci! There are so many different kinds of brownies – it’s kind of amazing all the different ways you can make them. I’m definitely a fan of the old fashioned kind. I love the idea of ice cream and chocolate drizzle to jazz them up though! Have a good one.

      Reply ↓

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