Fudgy Cocoa Powder Brownies

Love fudgy brownies and you don’t happen to have any unsweetened chocolate on hand? Don’t worry, because you can make cocoa powder brownies instead!

I’ll give you some basic rules to follow when your goal is fudgy and not cakey brownies, too.

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How Chocolatey Is Your Chocolate?

When I want brownies but don’t have any bar chocolate, I turn to cocoa powder.

And that’s what you should do, too.

Why not substitute semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate or unsweetened? I’ll tell you.

The more sugar in chocolate, the less chocolaty the chocolate is. That leads to boring brownies.

For those of you who scratch your head and say, “Come again?” think of it this way.

Each ounce of a chocolate bar is made up of a certain proportion of ingredients.

The more of one ingredient you squeeze into each ounce, the less of another.

In this instance, sugar squeezes out chocolate liquor. And that’s not good for anyone.

For maximum chocolate goodness, choose the concentrated chocolate flavor of cocoa powder.

Cocoa Powder Brownies

Rather than do Math and Leave out Sugar and such, I decided to take the path of least resistance and go with cocoa powder brownies.

Cocoa powder, like unsweetened chocolate, doesn’t contain any sugar, so it’s mostly pure chocolate liquor that has been pressed and then ground up into powder. And that means super chocolaty brownies.

And for these cocoa powder brownies, I turned to my dear-but-as-yet-unmet friend Alton Brown.

You can find his original recipe here, but I tweaked and messed with it to make them How I Wanted.

Because I wanted to make sure what I ended up with was fudgy brownies. And then I tinkered some more to get that crackly, shiny crust folks love so much.

If fudgy brownies are your kinda brownie and you decide to make these, I have a favor to ask:

How to Make Your Brownies Fudgy

Alton’s recipe calls for regular cocoa powder, and I wanted to use Dutch process. Why? Because I didn’t want to have to deal with balancing the pH by using baking soda.

I also wanted these guys to be rich, moist, and dark. And you can’t get that using regular cocoa powder.

Acidic batters, which is what you end up with when using regular cocoa powder, set up more firmly. And that would have given me Cakey Brownies. Or at least less fudgy brownies.

If I wanted that, I’d have just made Cake. So, that’s why I went with Dutch Process Cocoa.

You can also use a mixture of half Dutch process and half “regular” cocoa powder. I’ve made them both ways, and they’re fudgy and delicious both ways.

Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make my (now) favorite cocoa powder brownies. Feel free to tweak the amounts to make them your own! If you don’t need the overview, please feel free to skip on down to the recipe.

• eggs: in this case, eggs function as a leavener since you’re whipping a bunch of air into them. This will give the brownies a little lift in the oven. They also provide structure, emulsifiers, and fat to carry flavor and for richness
• espresso powder: just enough to underscore the chocolatiness. If you increase the espresso powder (or instant coffee) enough, you’ll have mocha brownies, which is never a bad thing.
• brown sugar: this provides the sweetness and lends to the tender, gooeyness of these cocoa powder brownies. You may also substitute a cup each of granulated sugar and packed brown sugar for the 2 cups of brown sugar called for
• granulated sugar (not pictured): To get a crackly crust, I needed to reduce the amount of ingredients that attract moisture, and using all brown sugar was just too much of a good thing.
• molasses: adds to the richness and bittersweetness of these brownies. I generally use honey these days, since molasses is already present in the brown sugar
• kosher salt: counteracts any bitterness from the cocoa and molasses and brings all the flavors into focus. You can substitute with fine salt, but reduce the amount by about 1/3.
• Dutch process cocoa powder: provides the deep, chocolatey flavor we want in a good brownie. You may also use American cocoa powder or a mixture of the two
• melted butter: Often in making cakes, we cream the butter and sugar together (See: the creaming method). This provides some leavening. With melted butter, we won’t get any leavening. What we will get is lots of delicious fat to carry deep chocolate flavor. Creaming leads to cakey brownies, so using melted butter keeps things nice and gooey-fudgy, which is what we want
• dry milk powder (also not pictured): a new addition to this recipe, the dry milk powder provides a milky, mellow note without the addition of any other liquid, which would result in more of a cake than a brownie
• vanilla extract: rounds out the chocolate flavor
• cake flour: provides a little bulk and adds to the structure while not being so much that your brownies lose their gooey lusciousness. You can also use all-purpose flour with no issue.

Procedure

These brownies aren’t hard to make, but the procedure might be a little different than what you’re used to.

NOTE: The images do not match the procedure for the moment because I have tweaked the recipe. A full overhaul will be coming soon, including new photos, but I wanted to make sure you could make the new and improved version ASAP.

Read through the steps so you know what to expect:

1. Whip the eggs, espresso powder/instant coffee, brown sugar, molasses (honey, if you prefer), salt, and vanilla together until very light, thick, and fluffy. Like billowy. The mixture will at least double in volume and should reach the ribbon stage. To be sure you dissolve enough of the sugar, whisk the mixer bowl over a double boiler to heat the ingredients up to about 125F. Then whip for about 7-8 minutes on high speed.
2. While that mixture is whipping, melt the butter together with the milk powder over medium low heat and set aside.
3. Whisk the cocoa powder and flour together.
4. Once billowy, drizzle the butter into the egg/sugar mixture and whip in on medium speed.
5. Turn the mixer off, add the cocoa powder/flour mixture, and whip in on medium low speed until mostly combined. Finish mixing with a spatula, making sure to scrape down to the bottom of the bowl to ensure the mixture is homogenous.

Here are some collages so you can get an idea of the procedure and the texture of the brownies.

In the collage above, notice how light the egg and brown sugar get with constant whipping on the stand mixer. Whisking all that air into the eggs helps to lighten the brownies a little bit so they aren’t super dense and have a bit of crumb to them.

And here’s a collage of the last few steps of making and panning up the batter.

Equipment Recommendations

Because there is a lot of whipping, I recommend you use a stand mixer or a hand mixer to make these brownies.

Don’t not make them if you don’t have either–use a whisk and some elbow grease, and you will be enjoying fudgy brownies before you know it!

My favorite brownie pan, the one pictured in the photos, is a 9″ square non-stick pan from USA Pans. Worth having for brownies, snack cakes, and coffee cake, for sure!

Tips for Maximum Fudginess

In a nutshell:

• Use lots of butter and eggs for richness
• Don’t use any leavening like baking powder or soda
• Use unsweetened chocolate or cocoa powder–Dutch process
• Use a relatively small amount of flour.
• Deepen the flavor and chew with some liquid sugar. Anything from neutral corn syrup, to honey, maple syrup, or deep molasses
• Underscore the chocolate flavor with a hint of espresso.

Tips for Shiny, Crackly Tops on Your Brownies

• Ensure sugar is at least mostly dissolved (whisking over double boiler does that job)
• Whisk egg mixture thoroughly to create what is basically a meringue which will rise to the surface in a thin layer during baking
• Limit hygroscopic ingredients to promote that dry, shiny, crackled top

Fudgy Brownie Q & A

A Note About Measurements

My recipes are almost all written by weight, including liquids, unless otherwise specified.

For accuracy and consistency of results, I encourage you to buy–and use–a kitchen scale.

I promise that baking and cleanup will be so much quicker and easier.

This is the scale that I recommend for home use. I have owned and used one for years.

Escali Primo Digital Scale

Love These Brownies? Please Rate and Review. Thanks!

These cocoa powder brownies are amazing, rich, and fudgy.

Completely dark, completely moist, completely chocolate-y, bitter edge of burnt sugar. My Idea of Brownie Perfection. Enjoy!