A classic fudge brownie that will always be a hit for any get-together. These fudge brownies are big enough for a crowd, and you can customize them with your favorite add-ins such as nuts, various baking chips or hazelnut spread. You can even top them off with some frosting!
I guess it’s unofficially brownie week here at Eva Bakes. Unintentionally though.
A few months ago, a college friend of mine sent an email to several of his college friends asking if we wanted to get together for a football game at our alma mater. I haven’t been back for a football game in 10+ years so thought it would be fun. I also haven’t seen this group of college friends since I graduated (it was a long time ago, in case you are wondering how old I am… I am only 25. HA!).
When the weekend finally came close, I asked my friend what I needed to bring. He said that we only needed to bring whatever we were going to drink and ourselves. I definitely couldn’t arrive empty-handed so I thought that I’d bring some brownies. They’re portable, easy to eat, and travel well. We would have a ~3 hour drive to get to campus so I didn’t want to make something that would melt or required any utensils.
I thought about making the Nutella brownies but decided to try something new and classic in case there were any nut allergies or non-Nutella fans in the crowd (do these people even exist?). The recipe below makes a 9″x13″ pan, which you can serve to 24+ people, depending upon how big you want to cut them.
I opted to keep my pretty plain, but you can absolutely substitute chocolate chips with your favorite combination of baking chips or even add some nuts. Feel free to get creative here – add in a Nutella swirl or even add a layer of frosting on top (with sprinkles – always with sprinkles).
Enjoy!
Fudge brownies for a crowd
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs
- 1 and 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder Dutch processed preferred
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 sticks unsalted butter
- 2 and 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups chocolate chips of choice
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease or line a standard 9"x13" baking pan and set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix together the eggs, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, espresso powder and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth (or as smooth as can be... mine was definitely clumpy).
- In a separate large microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter in the microwave. Add the sugar and mix well until most of the sugar has dissolved. Heat the bowl up in the microwave again to dissolve more of the sugar. The mixture should be hot but not boiling.
- Add the sugar mixture to the large bowl with the cocoa powder and mix well until smooth. The batter may appear a bit grainy in texture and that's OK. Slowly fold in the flour until a few dry streaks remain. Fold in the chocolate chips and mix until everything just comes together.
- Transfer the batter to your prepared baking pan and smooth out the top. Bake in your preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few wet crumbs. Remove from the oven.
- Allow the brownies to cool before serving and/or decorating with frosting. If you're not taking these to a tailgate like me, these are best served slightly warm and with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.
Notes
