“A basic rule of baking is that, in general, it’s almost impossible to make an inedible batch of brownies.” – Linda Sunshine.
Its April already . Why is this year in such a rush to get over with! Not that I should be complaining, I have had a pretty good March . On a personal note , looks as if April and May are going to be the deciding months as to how the rest of my 2017 will go. So fingers crossed , prayers said and hoping for the best!
Meanwhile , the baking must go on of course.
We are making brownies . AGAIN. Because sometimes there are so many great recipes for great brownies out there . This one is especially good. And it has only cocoa . I have made brownies with cocoa before . Have you tried these marshmallow brownies ? And Alice Medrich has a fantabulous recipe for cocoa brownies – its Alice, how can her brownies be anything but fantabulous ! But these ones are sooooooo goooooooood!
Most fudgy brownie recipes have chocolate , but as I have people write in – baking chocolate could be difficult to get in some places and an inferior chocolate could wreck a otherwise good recipe . Now, these brownies have cocoa and a lot of it. These arent for the faint hearted. I like adding a little coffee to my brownies. You can not add the coffee , or increase the sugar. Or add some nuts or berries to cut all that chocolate. Or try baking them as such and just in case you find them too much for you ( you wont !), just serve them with icecream .
But I got to tell you – these cocoa brownies are really bang for the buck. They are rich, and just the right balance of chewiness and fudginess. And can we agree that chopping chocolate is a task no-one is gonna miss ?
The best cocoa brownies
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup unsalted or salted butter
- 200 grams or 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 80 grams or 1 cup cocoa powder
- 65 grams or 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon instant coffee powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt if using unsalted butter
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180 C/ 350 F. Line a 8 inch square pan with parchment or foil, leaving it long enough on two oposite sides to lift out the baked brownies.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan on the stovetop or in the microave.
- Whisk in the sugar well.
- Whisk in the eggs , one by one .
- Whisk in the vanilla extract.
- Sift in the cocoa , flour and salt. Whisk until incorporated.
- Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 22- 24 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out with few moist crumbs.
- Cool completely in pan , remove and slice.
Notes
These aren't very sweet. You can increase the sugar by upto quarter cup , or you could omit the coffee.
You can add in chopped nuts or chocolate chips if you wish.
I have literally run out of ways to describe brownies.Until I increase my vocabulary , lets just say these brownies are GOOD . Really good .
Affiliate links : In these cocoa brownies (and practically everywhere else !) , I used Cocoacraft Cocoa Powder 
Just now made this. It tastes sooo nice and rich. Now I can enjoy brownie anytime without worrying if I have chocolates in my shelf. This one again, shared with my neighbour and they also loved it 🙂
you have some lucky neighbours Nithya ! thanks once again for trying a recipe and sharing the feedback…!
Hi Akshata…can you please tell me how much chopped nuts and/or chocolate chips do we need to add for this recipe….Thanks…looking forward to hear from you
Sorry the late reply Anita.. you can use a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of nuts/ chips depending on how loaded you want it..i usually go with 1/4 cup
Hi Akshatha, you are too good with words. I better say your description compete with your preparation!! I find both very interesting and enjoy reading through!! Lovely recipe!! Keep your writing skills too as tasty as your recipes!! All the best!!
Thanks so much Suneetha for your lovely comment. I loved to write as a child but of course as we grow older , writing gets restricted to work and texting ! The blog let’s me to do a little of writing and I am glad that it resonates with you !
What can I use instead of eggs ? And d proportion for d same ?
Hi Uma.. sorry, I haven’t tried an egg less version of this. But you could check out the egg less chocolate snack cake or the egg less truffle brownies on the blog to see if they interest you !