The Best Brownie Recipe With Chocolate Frosting
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Let me introduce you to the best brownie recipe ever. With a creamy chocolate frosting, make a big batch of these homemade chocolate fudge brownies and you’ll make any chocolate lover’s day (or year).
Welcome to the best fudge brownie recipe! I use this homemade brownies recipe when I want to make a big batch of brownies all at once, as it makes anywhere from 30-40 servings. I promise that these brownies are fudgy and moist with a deep chocolate flavor. They’re finished off with the perfect spreading of creamy chocolate frosting. Although I have several brownie recipes in my personal collection, this one is a favorite of both of the men in my house.
Fortunately, these homemade brownies are super easy to make from scratch. You just have to slowly combine all of the ingredients (I bet most are sitting in your pantry right now) and then bake your brownies for about 25 minutes. Once cool, top them with the creamy chocolate frosting, which is also very quick and easy to make.
If you’re like me and think the fewer dishes the better, whip up the big batch of brownies in one large bowl and then wash that same bowl to make the icing in to lessen the mess. Aside from that, you’ll just dirty up an 18×13 baking sheet (this is a standard half-sheet size), like this. I buy these in two packs for about $15 at Sam’s Club and I have been using them for years – they are the best baking sheets I’ve ever had.
Alright, I think it’s time we make a big batch of chocolate fudge brownies, what do you think?
Recipe Ingredients
- All-purpose flour
- Sugar
- Cocoa powder
- Salt
- Vanilla
- Butter (a lot)
- Eggs (a lot)
- A wee bit of milk
How to Make the Best Brownie Recipe Ever
Melt your butter however you see fit to melt it and set it aside to cool a bit.
Put your eggs in a large bowl. Beat the eggs up with an electric mixer. By the way, if you have a stand mixer this batter will just fit in that bowl so go for it.
Add in sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and vanilla extract. Beat for about a minute or until it’s good and blended.
Add in the flour, melted butter, and milk and beat again until well combined and a good brownie batter is formed, scraping down the sides as needed during the mixing process.
This is my finished batter. If this recipe was just for the batter, I’d call it “luxurious brownie batter”. But this recipe is not just for the batter because you don’t really eat raw brownie batter with a spoon because we live in a fallen world. And that is all I will say about that. ~sniff~
Spread into a greased 18 x 13 half sheet pan (I just spray it with nonstick cooking spray).
Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes.
Make sure the middle is set and done before you remove it from the oven. I know this doesn’t seem like a lot of time but your batter is kinda thin here and spread out over a large area.
These are my cooked brownies. Hi, brownies!!! (y’all wave at my brownies)
How to make the creamy chocolate frosting for brownies
Now clean out that mixing bowl and make up your icing.
(I can’t believe you didn’t wash it while the brownies were baking. Okay, totally believe that. Batter bowls have gone for days in my house without being washed. It gives my sink purpose though so I don’t fret. Never a bad thing to give something purpose, right?).
For the frosting, just put everything in the bowl and beat the heck out of it with an electric mixer until it is smooth and creamy. Y’all have seen me beat the heck out of things before so I’ll spare you the pictures.
Let your big batch brownies cool a bit and then spread the icing on them.
Sprinkle with nuts immediately after icing, if desired.
I usually don’t use nuts because they are outrageously expensive and it seems 9 out of 10 kids are allergic to them these days, but today got the better of me, and I just *NEEDED* walnuts on top of my . I gave in to my desires. Back to that fallen world thing, I am a fallen creature. But I feel better now so can we move on from this instead of focusing on my failures, mmkay?
Here, have a taste of the best brownie recipe ever.
Storage
Because of the frosting, you’ll want to store your brownies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can also freeze the brownies in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight before serving.
Recipe Notes
- If you want to make a smaller amount of brownies, you can half this recipe yourself and make it in a 9×13 baking dish, but I don’t recommend that. Instead, I suggest you just make this big batch brownies recipe according to my instructions and then share the brownies with folks. We have a severe shortage of people who share brownies in our society!
- If you use self-rising flour, the brownie batter will overflow the pan and make a mess in your oven. And if you use a smaller-sized pan from what I am using, your brownie mix will overflow the pan either in a big way or small way (depends on the size of the pan) and make a mess in your oven.
- I promise you’ll live if you use salted butter. The extra salt won’t be noticed and might even add a nice little touch. Just don’t bother adding the salt listed in the ingredients.
- If you use skim milk, almond milk, rice milk, buttermilk, evaporated milk, goat’s milk, etc in place of the whole milk I am using, you’ll be fine in the brownies and most likely in the icing. I’d try to use the richest milk I could in the brownie frosting if I were you. I use whole milk but have used two percent before and the earth did not shift on its axis.
- Enjoy your with a scoop of
- Make this brownie recipe the best for you by adding in one cup of any of the below:
- crushed nuts: peanuts, walnuts, pecans, or almonds.
- dried fruits: dates, cranberries, or raisins.
- shredded coconut
- chocolate chips or chocolate chunks (because there’s no such thing as too much ).
- diced marshmallows
- peanut butter chips
Because you can never bake too many brownies:
Peanut Butter Brownies with Peanut Butter Fudge Icing
Valentine’s Day Brownies With Frosting
Ingredients
- 7 large eggs
- 4 cups sugar
- 2 cups cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups unsalted butter melted and cooled
- 1/2 cup milk
Icing ingredients
- 4 cups confectioner's sugar
- 2/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup butter melted
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Place the eggs in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until broken and blended, about a minute.7 large eggs
- Add the sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and vanilla extract to the eggs and beat until well blended.4 cups sugar, 2 cups cocoa powder, 2 teaspoons salt, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Add the flour, melted butter, and milk to the brownie batter and mix until well blended, scraping down sides as needed.3 cups all-purpose flour, 2 cups unsalted butter, 1/2 cup milk
- Spread into a greased half sheet pan (18x13) and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes, or until set in the center. Allow the brownies to cool slightly before icing.
To make chocolate frosting
- Place all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Spread onto the cooled brownies.2/3 cup cocoa powder, 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 4 cups confectioner's sugar
Nutrition
The world would be a better place if more people made brownies and shared them with others. ~Christy
made these for the grand opening Sunday brunch of my Café tomorrow we just had to sample of course and well I already printed and laminated the recipe for our recipe collection turned out perfect all other recipes I have tried never seem to set in the centre these are perfect all the way THANK YOU Laura
Congratulations on your grand opening!!! I wish you big success and am honored that one of my recipes gets to play a part in your big day!!
Hello Christy, I’m a Peace Corps volunteer without an electric mixer and would like to know if I can make the brownies without it. I need to make enough for 80 people. Thank you.
You can but your arm is sure going to get a workout!!!
What degree should the brownie be baked at in Celsius? LoBing your brownies BTW
Here is an oven temperature conversion chart that should help – and thank you!!
http://www.inspiredtaste.net/23326/oven-temperature-conversion/
Christy,
Thank you for this recipe! I offered to bring brownies to a fire department for training tonight BEFORE I knew we were hosting several other departments at a multiple motor vehicle accident drill. I didn’t have enough time to make multiple batches of my ‘normal’ brownies so I looked online for a large batch and yours fit the bill! I ran out of cocoa powder for the frosting so I added a couple squares of unsweetened baking chocolate. I will let you know what the guys think of them tomorrow.
Thanks again,
Valerie
Oh my goodness, I hope they love them and you for doing that!!!!
I made these a while back but didn’t want the frosting so I added a handful of chocolate chips and a handful of chopped walnuts to the batter. Oh gracious were they good. I cut the pan of brownies in quarters and kept one for us and gave the others away. The comments I got ranged from these are great all the way to “you can never make those again” from my physical therapist. Her and her husband ate the whole quarter of a pan in one evening.
Glad to hear they were a hit, love how you made them your own!!
How to keep these brownies fresh for three days. Will be traveling and taking them with me. Any ideas?
I think they will be fine if you make them as close as possible to when you are going to leave. The key is going to be sealing them as well as you can. Either several layers of foil or maybe go ahead and cut them and put them in rubbermaid take alongs, the big 9×13 ones. Then, you want to keep them out of heat so if you are traveling by car and staying in a hotel in a hot area, bring them in with you each night.
Do you have to use real unsalted butter or just any unsalted butter?
Thank you,
Peggy
My motto is always to use what you have Peggy. It will turn out just fine 🙂
Quick question! I’m making these for a bake sale and they are going to be individually wrapped. Will the icing hold up in a cellophane baggie? Or should I leave it off?
If you let it “dry” a bit it will create a very light crust on top and would be okay in a cellophane baggie but you’ll want to be careful and not stack them.
Looks yummy. A must try.
I hope you get the chance to try them soon Virginia!!
I had the best time making the brownie recipe! I really do not like box brownies. I prefer to bake from scratch. I’m glad I found this!
I usually buy Duncan Hines Brownies and they are delicious….but I do want to try this recipe……they look so delicious……
I would put half chocolate on top and half home made cream cheese icing…..never buy the can icing ……it is terrible……but I do think Duncan Hines makes the best box cake mixes and box brownies…..
Love your blog Christy…..
I cannot tell you enough how you feel like my dearest friend when I read your posts. And your ingredient pictures are just fine !!! You don’t need to change anything ….Thanks for the true sweetness that comes through on print, sometimes on a stressful day you make it alittle bit better !!
Do these have to be frosted?
Well of course not! It’s your house, you do it the way you want. I have long thought that brownies are so good by themselves, why do they need frosting? Peace out.
Part of my job includes cooking for someone. The person loves chocolate, so I made these brownies, minus the frosting (I didn’t have enough powdered sugar) yesterday. These were a big success! Today I will make vanilla ice cream (just two ingredients and a mixer required), then stir in brownie chunks and ribbons of your peanut butter syrup:
https://www.southernplate.com/2013/01/1-minute-peanut-butter-syrup.html
I think this will go over in a great big way, and I have you to thank, Christy!