I met Michelle Lopez, the author of the great baking blog Hummingbird High, on a trip a few years ago and due to a weird scheduling deal, we both found ourselves with 3-4 hours sitting in the airport bar together. It didn’t take me nearly that long to realize that A) she is an amazing human and B) she is an amazing baker.
I think what I love most about Michelle’s recipes is that while she is a trained engineer and clearly approaches baking with exactness, she is also incredibly down-to-earth. Her recipes are very makeable. She also goes through pains to tell you what steps are worth it in a recipe and what steps you can cheat on.
The culmination of all of this is her first book, Weeknight Baking, which is a tome of all of her years of experience. The book is filled with funny stories, delicious recipes, and REAL tips you can use to make baking approachable. I say this as someone who is a self-admitted bad baker.
Heck, I somehow even managed to use the wrong flour in this brownie recipe and they were still delicious! 😂
Read on for Michelle’s brownie recipe and check out a giveaway at the end of the post!
Weeknight Baking Fudge Brownies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, chopped
- 2 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 8 oz. dark chocolate, 63%-73% cocoa
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350˚F. Lightly spray a 9×13 inch cake pan with cooking spray and line with parchment paper. Leave a few inches of parchment overhanging the pan so you can easily remove the brownies. Spray the parchment paper as well with cooking spray.
- Place butter and cocoa powder in a double boiler. Be sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Cook until butter is melted. Add the chocolate to the melted butter. If your chocolate is in big chunks, chop it so it melts faster. Use a rubber spatula to stir the mixture and scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally until the butter and chocolate are combined, about 10 minutes total. Remove mixture and let cool slightly.
- In a small bowl whisk together flour and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the eggs, sugars and vanilla together. (You can also use a hand mixer, I believe). Increase mixer to medium speed and slowly add chocolate mixture aiming for the sides of the bowl as opposed to the whisk. Continue mixing until batter is smooth, about 1 minute.
- Sprinkle dry ingredients over the batter and use a rubber spatula to fold in the dry ingredients until just combined.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few crumbs attached. Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.
- Run a knife around the edges of the pan and use the overhanging parchment to lift out the brownies. Slice into 20 rectangles. Serve immediately or brownies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days.
Notes
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe?
Weeknight Baking Brownies
I’ve made many a brownie recipe in my day. Some of them can be out-of-control finicky. Requiring special chocolate and other business that, frankly, I’m just not going to do.
Michelle’s recipe is the perfect mix of the things that are required to make a brownie worth making, without being overly fussy. Perfect for me!
This brownie recipe starts by melting together butter and cocoa powder on a double boiler. Add the dark chocolate. Use good quality dark chocolate here although it doesn’t have to be ridiculous. I used Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate (63% cocoa) and they worked great.
Heat the butter and chocolate over low heat to avoid burning anything. It should take 8-10 minutes to slowly melt. Time is your friend here.
One tip I loved from Michelle: Many brownie recipes insist that you have to completely cool this chocolate mixture before adding it to your batter. Not true! You can add it relatively hot if you add it in a slow drizzle and add it to the outer portions of the bowl as you mix it.
I mixed together my sugars, eggs, and vanilla and then slowly drizzled in my slightly cooled, but still hot, chocolate mixture with no problem!
Then the dry stuff gets folded in!
I somehow ran out of all-purpose flour so I used whole wheat flour. Honestly, I kind of liked the whole wheat nuttiness, but definitely a departure from the original!
My finished batter looked good to me! Ready to bake!
Bake the brownies in a pan lined with parchment paper and sprayed with nonstick spray for easy removal.
The finished fudgy brownies have a paper-thin crust and have, what I consider to be, the perfect brownie texture.
Low fuss. Chocolatey. Delicious.
A Weeknight Baking Giveaway!
I’m giving away a copy of Weeknight Baking on my Instagram today! Check out the post on the ‘gram for full instructions!
And MEGA CONGRATS to Michelle for the amazing book. I can’t wait to bake more from it!
michelle @ hummingbird high
NICK. these look so good. now i’m curious—what flour did you accidentally use in the recipe?!
Nick
I used whole wheat flour because it’s all I had and didn’t want to go to the store. haha! It was great though!
greyfavorite
ooo good to know because all i ever have is white whole wheat, or almond flour
Leah
These sound amazing! If I wanted to have a smaller batch, would you recommend an 8×8 pan for a half recipe? Thanks for sharing this.
Nick
Yep! half it and it should be 8×8. ALso reduce baking time by 5-10 minutes. :)
Kerrie & Woody
These look delicious. Out of curiosity, if I were to make these ‘Healthier’ what could I substitute?
rachel bustin
Thanks for this brownie recipe. I’ve been looking for an easy one to make with my girls. They look delicious!
Angelly
What temperature?
Luana Ferreira Lopo
I’m in love with Fudge Brownies and Michelle’s recipe sounds wonderful! I’ll test it here at home and I’ll be back to tell you.
eliza
Wow! Thanks for this recipe. I’ve been thinkng for an easy one to make with my childrens. They look delicious!