I wanted some homemade brownies as good as boxed, but I know, it's pretty sad to have that as my comparison point, huh? But I used to love those dumb boxed chocolate fudge brownies and haven’t had them in years. Do you know that besides the preservatives and other nasty ingredients, they all still have trans fats in them?! (I just checked again recently!)
Homemade Brownies as Good as Boxed…
These homemade chocolate brownies really do taste as good as boxed and it's a super easy recipe — here's a picture of our youngest son making them:
Homemade Brownies as Good as Boxed!
Yield 9 x 13 baking pan
We don't do a lot of sweets around here, but sometimes you just need a brownie! You'll love this recipe because it doesn't have all the icky stuff like the boxed brownies, but has all the same taste -- with good-for-you ingredients. Try these homemade sundae toppings on your brownies!
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter (or you could use palm oil shortening or no-flavor coconut oil)
- 8 ounce semisweet chocolate baking bar or your favorite chocolate chips
- 1 2/3 cup palm or coconut sugar (or regular organic sugar if that's what you have)
- 4 large eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder (I use aluminum free)
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 3/4 cups flour (I used part unbleached white and part sprouted flour)
- 2/3 cups chocolate chips (I like this brand because it doesn't have icky stuff)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350*. Butter and dust with flour around a 9×13 glass or stainless steel baking pan. (Or halve this recipe for an 8×8.) In a heavy large saucepan, melt chocolate and butter over low heat, stirring as it gets smooth. Remove from heat and cool. Stir in sugar, vanilla and eggs and mix well. Add in flour, salt and baking powder and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour batter evenly into the pan and bake for 25-40 minutes (depends on how much oven temps might vary), until the middle is set but not too firm or they’ll be dry. (Less time for an 8×8.)
See more notes below...
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Let me know what you think when you try them! If you have a different homemade brownie recipe, please share it with us in the comments.
More:
Another idea that our son wanted to try and it was so good: Get more natural marshmallows like these, cut them into halves or quarters if you want smaller hunks, and put on top the last 10 minutes to get toasty and golden.
If you want a chocolatey top for your brownies, don't stir the chocolate chips into the dough, and instead wait until the brownies come out of the oven and sprinkle them on the top. Wait a few minutes and spread them around like frosting.
Here's where we sprinkled some sea salt on top for an extra burst of YUM. 
Or for another yummy idea: use the peanut butter frosting from this recipe!
- We had these brownies with homemade vanilla ice cream, and homemade real whipped cream, yum!
- These other organic brownies from scratch that I posted previously are really good, but more cake-like and with a cream cheese filling.
- More homemade dessert recipes that are at least a little better for you…
- Have you tried the baked oatmeal recipe yet? It’s like dessert for breakfast!
- Check out the comments at this Valentines Day/Organic Chocolates post for loads of information on anything you ever wondered about chocolate!
Hello I made these for my son’s birthday..his request for brownies instead of cake. I am very disappointed. I wanted them to be good but healthy. I thought the recipe was odd but went with it. I used stevia…i’ve used it for yrs..however tho it says its equal to sugar in measurements ive felt it was a little stronger..but i use it for tea mostly. I used it and strongly cacao dk choc and well not only did it NOT come close to filling a 9×13-i thought the 4 eggs and 1tsp of salt was odd but went with it. they filled to a barely covering the bottom of half the pan. they rose and cooked thru but they are salty and bitter and the choc chips didnt even melt in them. They would NEVER pass for fudgy brownies. They took forever to make on the stove top half my butter was frozen and i ususally nuke but as i mentioned i went for it. I am very disappointed. Guess i should of stuck w reg unhealthy stuff i mean a birthday comes once a yr. This is not what i want to give him.
I wish you would’ve ran it by me first about substituting with Stevia because I would’ve let you know that that just does not work in a recipe like this — I’ve never had good luck with it in anything but beverages.
As for the other ingredients, if you make it like the recipe says they’re very good & fit perfectly in a 9×13, my daughter just made them again last week.
Kelly
Recipe sounds good. Is there any easy way to make it gluten free?
I’m not sure, but Jenny might have a recipe for GF brownies in her book which I mention in this post: https://kellythekitchenkop.com/2013/03/the-best-grain-free-cookie-ever.html
Kelly
Made these today! Yum! @ a little over 300 calories apiece they should be! Lol. Loved them so much that i ate 2! They were moist & fudgy & the edges were just right. I baked for 25 minutes. Better than a box! I’ve been wanting a good homemade brownie recipe & this is it! I used 2/3 cup KA white whole wheat flour & the rest was KA unbleached all purpose. I also used a 10oz bag of ghiradelli bittersweet chips in place of the semi-sweet bars. These turned out great & I am tickled pink woth how they turned out!
Hmmm…perplexing to me that anyone would ever consider box brownies better than home made. Have I stumbled into upside down world? Here is the problem with palm shortening: The palm oil producers are clearing swaths as big as 5 football fields of the most diverse tropical forest in our world every single day to plant the monoculture palm forests. These forests contain many many varieties of plants, insects and animals that can be found nowhere else. Once they have been destroyed, they are gone forever, and our world is greatly diminished. Among the wondrous creatures that are being murdered so that we can eat our “healthy” brownies, are Orangutans, the species closest to Human beings. If they are in the way, they are simply run over by the big machines. A photo of the battered body of a young orangutan, skin scraped and bloody, with its arms up in defense, trying to protect its face, is forever burned into my memory. Can you imagine the terror of this innocent creature as its home came crashing down around it and it was relentlessly run down by a giant,noisy, unstoppable machine? Please, please do not contribute to this horror by purchasing palm oil or palm oil products. There are numerous other healthy alternatives.
Yes, butter tastes just as good in these!
And regarding homemade vs. boxed, as I said, I KNOW! That’s how warped my taste buds were!!!
Do you know if what you described is this the case with ALL palm shortening?
Kelly
@ Somethings Cookin – YES!!! Just don’t bake too long and they’re soooooo perfect. 🙂
I’ve been on the hunt too! It’s crazy that the box has some special magic or something, but I can’t get the same consistency and have tried a variety of recipes. Are these gooey soft inside and flaky/crispy outside?
@ Cecilia Krueger – I know! That’s how warped my taste-buds were!
I’ve been making mine with sprouted rye and a little sprouted amaranth. I seriously believe it is the Best chewy brownie ever!
Yay! I too really miss them, so cannot wait to try them!
excuse me? “as good as boxed brownies”? the slogan used to be “as good as home-made”. ;o)
Thank you. I needed to make brownies tomorrow.
I made these yesterday and I’m sorry to report they turned out very dry. I checked them at 30 minutes and they were definitely fully baked. I let them cool a few minutes before trying a small piece and was surprised at how dry and airy and crumbly they were. 30 minutes was way too long, so I’m attributing that as at least one factor. I’m disappointed, but trial and error is how I’ve learned to bake and cook thus far. The next step is to figure out what else I did wrong. This would have been my first attempt and baking with coconut sugar, and I won’t stop trying. I’m on a mission to find that perfect chewy brownie made without processed sugar. Unfortunately this recipe wasn’t it 🙁
Thank you for telling me! I’ll adjust the recipe in case oven temps vary even more than I thought they might!
Kelly
I just made these to take to our church’s ladies meeting tonight and they were a HUGE hit! Everyone raved about them! What a great recipe! I’m going to try them with sprouted flour next!
Thanks for sharing! I’ve been using whole wheat pastry flour for all my non-bread baking with excellent results…just thought I’d share. 🙂 A blessed Easter to all! ~Lisa
BIG SIGH, Kel! I have been doing well giving up refined sugar for Lent and am hoping to keep it going afterwards. Considering my deep, abiding love for boxed brownies (that is completely blind to the ingredient list), you’re killin’ me here! :>) My birthday is Saturday, though, so I might whip these up and stick a candle in them…
[and I gotta admit, this has been the best Lent yet, even though I had lots of doubts about my ability to give up my treats. I knew I’d need help from above!]
I hate how chocolate chips have soy lecithin in them! I have found soy free chips before, but can we just chop up chocolate bars to use? Though would need a GF recipe anyway.
My chocolate bar of choice is Equal Exchange 71% dark chocolate. One of the best bars out there.
You reminded me to add a link to another post with lots of good info (mostly in the comment section) about chocolates and which are best, etc…
https://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/02/chocolates-for-valentines-day-that-you-can-feel-good-about-fair-trade-organic-and-no-gmos.html
But yes, you could chop up a chocolate bar for “chips”!
Trader Joe’s carries organic chocolate bars with no soy lecithin. I’m not sure if they have semi-swee, since we always get the dark chocolate. The price isn’t too bad either!
I made these the other day and they were really wonderful.. my gluten, completely non traditional eating bible study ate them up w/o a blink of an eye. I had to have my husband get one out for me because there was not going to be any left..
https://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2006/01/dark-chocolate-brownies.html
jen
Why is vanillin bad? I guess I don’t know what it even is, just fake vanilla flavor?
I can’t remember exactly why it’s bad, I only know that Jane from the Feingold Association said to avoid it (other options aren’t too tricky to find) because it’s a fake additive/ingredient that causes issues in a lot of kids.
Are your brownies Kal approved? I still LOVE that video, he is so familiar, like one of my kids! But your brownies really do look delish, really delish. I just might have to show my oldest daughter. She wants to bake something for Easter. Have a happy Easter, Kelly!
Melissa, yes, they ARE Kal approved, LOL!
Happy Easter to you, too. 🙂
It just occurred to me that posting that recipe might have been rude. I apologize.
Not at all, I asked for your recipes! I like to see how people make things differently. 🙂
My favorite fudge brownie recipe comes from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. It calls for 2 oz unsweetened chocolate, which I have always substituted with cocoa. Here is the recipe as I make it. It could be improved by WAPF standards, I’m sure!
These brownies really are the best I’ve tasted. They have the right amount of moisture. I once gave a china platter as a wedding present, topped with a double batch of these covered with fudge as a frosting. The guests preferred them to the wedding cake.
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
6 T cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped nuts and or choc chips – optional
dash salt – my addition
Whisk flour, cocoa and salt together. Heat up butter until liquid. Mix butter with sugar to cool it off. Mix eggs and vanilla into butter-sugar mixture. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Mix well. Pour into 8×8 pan. Bake @ 350F for 30 minutes. Let cool in pan. Invert onto plate and cut into 16 squares.
great! I would love to give these a try and you say the brownies dont come out too wet because of the substitution of chocolate rather than cocoa?
No, they come out PERFECT. I want some right now…!!!
These sound too good!!! I am going to try it using gluten free sourdough. Our family does so much better on sourdough than conventional flours.
Carolyn
Wow, kelly…these are sooo pretty.
I was going to ask you…no worries, no hurry….how about macarooms?? I saw some in a magazine and for the life of me couldn’t figure out “how do I translate this into a WP recipe?” Can one use Stevia, too?
You make it look easier than I thought.
Hugs.
Karen
Hi Karen!
There’s a coconut macaroons recipe in Nourishing Traditions!
i recently made a brownie recipe with coconut flour so it was gluten free. it had that typical coconut flour texture to it, but they were good. i’d eat them daily if they were around. not as good as regular brownies, but i don’t complain about moist chocolate treats.
did i miss the post where you explain why you’re down with palm oil products? what’s the big fuss over palm oil and ruining animal habitats and how do you justify your use of these products the rest of the “green” world is having a tantrum about?
Jenna,
I’m not very ‘green’, to tell you the truth. The only stuff I’m “greenish” on are those things that relate to nutrition, although I did finally start recycling a few years ago! Pretty sad, huh? If you’d like to point me to a post to educate me on this, feel free. 🙂
Kel
I do think butter is a better choice.
I wrote a Q & A post a while back and answered this question about palm oil — you can read it here:
https://www.cheeseslave.com/2011/01/23/cheeseslave-q-a-january-23-2011/
Kel- Have you tried making these brownies with 100% sprouted flour (sifted)? I bet they would be just as good. I prefer sprouted flour. Unsoaked white or wheat flour gives me gas!
Yes, I used butter, so I prob wouldn’t switch unless I was out!
I’m down to my last flour and have to sprout and grind more this week. The problem is, I think I’m drying my grains too long after sprouting or something, because the flour gives my baked goods an ‘off’ taste, sort of like burned but not that strong. I’m going to order sprouted flour from our sponsor and try that next! (OR dry them in my dehydrator that my friend gave me!)
Yum! My kids will be so happy to have their beloved brownies back!
Since I don’t have palm sugar on hand, is it okay to substitute organic sugar?
Any sugar will be fine, I just like to use the more natural sugars when I can. 🙂