Ina Garten Brownies: The Famous Outrageous Recipe

A random Tuesday afternoon, pants fitting a little too comfortably, is exactly what led to these ina garten brownies. Tackling this famous recipe felt like the right move, mostly because the ingredient list calls for a literal pound of butter and that kind of unhinged commitment to dessert deserves respect.

A previous attempt to halve the recipe for the sake of being sensible once ended in a weird, flat chocolate puddle eaten with a spoon over the sink. These outrageous brownies turn out massive, unapologetically rich, and make anyone in the kitchen instantly popular. Here is exactly how I do it.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Crowd control. This fills a massive 12×18 inch pan, which feeds a small army or one person for a very long week.
• Zero pretension. No mixer is needed, just a bowl and a strong arm.
• Chocolate overload. Three different types of chocolate components satisfy cravings nobody knew existed.
• Freezer friendly. These freeze beautifully, which makes hiding them from family entirely possible.

Tools You’ll Need

Nothing fancy, I promise.

• 12×18 baking sheet Also known as a half sheet pan. If you use a smaller pan, these will overflow and ruin your oven, which I know from tragic personal experience.
• Large mixing bowl. The biggest bowl on hand handles this heavy, voluminous batter without spills.
• Double boiler or glass bowl. Melting chocolate this way avoids burning it into a bitter nightmare.

Ingredients

• 1 pound unsalted butter – Yes, four whole sticks. Do not panic, just embrace it.
• 1 pound plus 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips – Divided use! Keep an eye on the instructions so you do not melt them all at once.
• 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate – This balances the sugar. You can read up on why baking chocolate is crucial here, but basically, it stops them from being cloyingly sweet.
• 6 extra-large eggs – If you only have large eggs, use seven of them.
• 3 tablespoons instant coffee granules – It does not make them taste like coffee, it just makes the chocolate taste more like chocolate.
• 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract – Measure with your heart, but two tablespoons is the baseline.
• 2-1/4 cups sugar – Granulated white sugar works best.
• 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour – Plus a little extra for tossing with the add-ins.
• 1 tablespoon baking powder – Make sure it is not expired, unless you want chocolate bricks.
• 1 teaspoon salt – Essential for balancing the sweetness.
• 3 cups chopped walnuts – Completely optional if you hate nuts, but they add a great crunch.

How To Make Outrageous Brownies

Clear your counters, roll up your sleeves, and prepare for an arm workout.

1. Prep the pan: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 12 x 18 x 1-inch baking sheet. Do not skip the butter and flour step, or you will be chiseling brownies out of the pan until next Tuesday.
2. Melt the chocolate: Melt together the butter, 1 pound of chocolate chips, and the unsweetened chocolate in a medium bowl over simmering water. Allow to cool slightly. If you get water in the chocolate, it will seize up into a grainy mess, so keep it dry!
3. Mix the wet ingredients: In a large bowl, stir (do not beat) together the eggs, coffee granules, vanilla, and sugar. Stirring instead of beating keeps excess air out, so your brownies stay dense and fudgy instead of turning into cake.
4. Combine wet and chocolate: Stir the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and allow to cool to room temperature. If the chocolate is too hot, you will scramble the eggs, and nobody wants chocolate omelets.
5. Add the dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, sift together 1 cup of flour, the baking powder, and salt. Add to the cooled chocolate mixture. Sifting actually matters here to avoid biting into a clump of pure baking powder.
6. Toss the add-ins: Toss the walnuts and 12 ounces of chocolate chips in a medium bowl with 1/4 cup of flour, then add them to the chocolate batter. Pour into the baking sheet. Coating them in flour stops all the heavy chips and nuts from sinking straight to the bottom of the pan.
7. Bake and rap: Bake for 20 minutes, then rap the baking sheet against the oven shelf to force the air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough. Banging the pan sounds violent but it gives you that dense, crackly top we all want.
8. Finish baking: Bake for about 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not overbake! Allow to cool thoroughly, refrigerate, and cut into 20 large squares. Cutting them while warm will result in a delicious but structurally compromised mess, so practice patience.

Make it yours

• Espresso version. You increase the instant coffee to four tablespoons for a deeper, more intense chocolate flavor.
• Mint version. You add a few drops of peppermint extract to the batter for a holiday twist on this classic recipe.

Perfect Pairings

These ina garten brownies suit two specific pairings particularly well.

• A completely unreasonable scoop of vanilla bean ice cream cuts through the intense richness.
• A strong cup of black coffee works as a mid-morning survival snack.

Troubleshooting Guide

Something went sideways? Been there. Here is how to fix it.

• Problem: My barefoot contessa brownies are stuck to the pan.
  Why it happened: You probably skimped on buttering and flouring the pan, or you used a pan with deep scratches.
  Fix it: Stick the pan in the freezer for an hour. Once they are frozen solid, they usually pop out much easier with a sturdy metal spatula.

• Problem: The batter looks grainy or separated.
  Why it happened: The chocolate got too hot, or water splashed into your double boiler.
  Fix it: Vigorously whisk in a tablespoon of boiling water. It sounds crazy, but it can often bring seized chocolate back together.

• Problem: The edges are burnt but the middle is raw.
  Why it happened: Your oven runs hot, or you used a dark metal pan which absorbs more heat.
  Fix it: Cut off the burnt edges (baker’s tax!) and scoop out the gooey middle to eat over ice cream. Next time, lower your oven temp by 25 degrees.

Ina Garten Brownies

These ina garten brownies prove that a full pound of butter and three chocolates create a dessert worth every single calorie. This outrageous brownies recipe delivers a dense, crackly-topped square that feeds a crowd or disappears quietly in the fridge over a long week. Whether sliced neat or served warm with a spoon like a brownie pudding ina garten style, this batch turns any random Tuesday into a genuinely memorable dessert moment.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

2 hours hrs

Total Time 3 hours hrs 5 minutes mins

Servings: 20 servings

Course: Brownies

Cuisine: American

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 454 g unsalted butter
• 794 g semisweet chocolate chips
• 170 g unsweetened chocolate
• 6 extra-large eggs
• 3 tbsp instant coffee granules
• 2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
• 450 g sugar
• 156 g all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 300 g chopped walnuts

Method

 

1. Prep the pan

   You preheat the oven to 350 degrees, then butter and flour a 12x18x1 inch baking sheet thoroughly.
2. Melt the chocolate

   You melt the butter, one pound of chocolate chips, and the unsweetened chocolate together over simmering water, then let the mixture cool slightly.
3. Mix the wet ingredients

   You stir the eggs, coffee granules, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl, avoiding beating to keep the batter dense.
4. Combine wet and chocolate

   You stir the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and let everything cool to room temperature.
5. Add the dry ingredients

   You sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt, then add the dry mix to the cooled chocolate batter.
6. Toss the add-ins

   You toss the walnuts and remaining chocolate chips with a little flour, then fold them into the batter and pour everything into the pan.
7. Bake and rap

   You bake for 20 minutes, then rap the baking sheet against the oven shelf to force air out, then bake for another 15 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
8. Cool and cut

   You let the pan cool thoroughly, then refrigerate it before cutting into 20 large squares.

Recipe Notes

Butter: I use a full pound of unsalted butter for the richest texture.
Chocolate: I melt two types of chocolate and fold in extra chips at the end.
Cooling: I let the pan cool completely, then chill it before cutting.
Nuts: I use walnuts for crunch, though pecans or no nuts work too.
Storage: I keep these refrigerated for the densest, fudgiest texture.