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The BEST Crinkle Top Brownies.
Watch the How To Video:
Because there is a lot to celebrate today, and because it’s FRIDAY…and because everyone knows that Friday’s deserve chocolate.
So if there was ever a classic brownie recipe to have in your back pocket, it’s this one. Trust me on this. They remind me of the brownies I’d eat as a kid, and I’m really not sure there’s anything better. These are light, a little fudgy, extra chocolate flavor, perfectly sweet, and they have the most flakey, crinkly top ever. Oh my gosh, SO GOOD.
Before I dive into the delicious details, let me explain the reason I am sharing them.
As most of you know by now, my younger brother Red took home his first Olympic gold medal last week in Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle in PyeongChang, South Korea. If you missed my recap post, you can read part one here and part two here. I said from the start that I wasn’t going to make any fancy Olympic themed food. One, because I am not good with decorating food in fancy ways, and two, because I just didn’t have any great ideas.
That said, after returning home from Korea last week, I felt the need to create a recipe that I knew Red would love. I mean, he did win GOLD, so a celebratory dessert is certainly in order. Right?
Yes, yes, yes. For sure.
Here’s the thing, Red’s a semi picky eater, and doesn’t like anything fancy. His favorite desserts are Special K-Bars (cookbook recipe), chocolate chip cookies, and brownies.
I have a lot of brownie recipes on HBH, but I don’t have one brownie recipe Red would actually eat. Red likes his brownies simple. Chocolate, no frosting, maybe some powdered sugar, and preferably eaten slightly warm. So basically the brownies my mom would make us when we were kids. The ones that came straight out of the Betty Crocker box.
Not going to lie, I loved them too…which is why I am SO excited about these brownies. I really cannot stress enough just how good they are.
When I set out to make these crinkle top brownies, I thought for sure that I’d make them first try and they’d be perfect. I think I felt so confident because I’ve made a hundred and one brownie recipes. But guys, I tested these brownies over and over and over. It was so important to me that they would have the perfect texture, not be dense or cakey, and have the most flakey, crinkly top.
They needed to be perfect, just like the ones I remember eating as a kid with my brothers.
It took a while, used up a lot of eggs…and even more butter.
Like two full days of testing, way over a dozen eggs, probably pounds of butter. Six batches later (possibly more, I lost count), I finally got them right. My freezer is now full of brownies. It’s awesome and very dangerous.
So what’s the secret to that perfect texture and crinkly top?
Real melted chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and a good amount of whisked eggs.
The chocolate is obvious, but the whisked eggs? You need those to create that crinkly top. Whisking the eggs prior to mixing them in the brownie batter creates air within the eggs that helps to create that crinkly top. It might seem like an unnecessary step, and a waste of a clean bowl, but just trust me on this, it’s what makes these brownies great.
While that and all the semi-sweet chocolate…and butter.
YUMMMMMM.
Red has yet to try these brownies, seeing as he’s still in South Korea, but I’m feeling pretty confident that he’s going to love them.
Speaking of Red, he is competing one last time tonight in Men’s Snowboard Big Air, alongside two of his USA teammates, Kyle Mack and Chris Corning. Kyle is a super close friend of the family, who’s honestly almost like another brother. Pretty excited for the both of them, but I have my fingers crossed for Kyle on this one, as Big Air is much more his event. Make sure to watch tonight at 8pm EST on NBC!
Annnddddd with that, I’m thinking these brownies are the perfect chocolate treat to eat while cheering the boys on.
Lastly, if you make these Crinkle Top Brownies, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Crinkle Top Brownies
Servings: 20 brownies
Calories Per Serving: 252 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Watch the How-To Reel
Ingredients
- 2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons instant coffee granules
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9×13 inch pan with parchment paper.2. In the microwave, melt together the butter and 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (stir at 30 second intervals) until melted and smooth. Stir in the sugar, vanilla, and instant coffee. 3. In a small bowl whisk the eggs for 1 minute until bubbly on top. Stir the eggs into the chocolate mix. Add the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder. Stir until just combined. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips.3. Evenly spread the mixture into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 28-30 minutes or until the brownies are just set. Let cool (or not) and dust with powdered sugar. Enjoy!
Notes
*For extra thick brownies, bake them in a 9×9 inch square baking dish and bake for 30-35 minutes.
The BEST, enough said.
This post was originally published on February 23, 2018
These were amazing and so easy to make! I loved eating them warm with some vanilla ice cream. My new go-to brownie recipe!
So happy to hear that! Thanks Neha!
What is 2 sticks of butter in cups?
2 sticks is equal to 1 cup! Let me know if you have any other questions!
Hi!
What does the coffee do?
Can the recipe be made without the coffee granules?
Thanks so much!
HI! The coffee highlights the chocolate flavors. Yes, you can omit the coffee. Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂
i love it!
Thank you!
Just pulled these out of the oven!!! (Insert very excited emoji!) But I was just thinking this afternoon while browsing your blog that it would be really neat to have a behind-the-scenes post! Recipe fails, kitchen in disaster mode, lol, etc…
Ah I hope you love them! Thank you Kate!
These look fantastic! I appreciate that you test your recipes extensively — so many bloggers slap something together based on what they’re pretty sure they used that one time they made that dish a while back LOL. I’ll have to give these a try! Love me a brownie! I used to be a middle brownie only girl, but I’ve since been converted to a corner lover! 🙂
Thank you Elizabeth! I really like to be sure! I hope you love these!
These were delicious. Very easy to make and I love the crunchy top. Everyone in extended family from young to old loved them
Awh that is amazing to hear! Thank you Barbara!
Congratulations to Red on his GOLD!! I think this is certainly a perfect celebratory recipe for him and I myself can’t wait to give it a go – maybe I will try it for my friends birthday, the celebratory brownie! YUM!
Holly from The Art of Being Holly xo
Yes!! I hope you all love these Holly! Thank you!
Excellent recipe! Just baked and tried. The consistency turned out well, and was baked just enough to have a slight gooiness. I had to make a slight adjustment – didn’t have baking powder and after listening to a podcast on opting for unsaturated fats, I cut the butter down to 1 stick instead of 2. For these two reasons I was very surprised by how well the texture came out. If I could make any change, it would be to add a bit less sugar as the semi sweet chocolate and cocoa powder gave it some too. Overall I’d say this is a win and sticking as a go to recipe for from-scratch brownies. Thank you!!!!
I am really glad you enjoyed these brownies! Thank you!
I made these brownies and the family all agreed……”best brownies ever”! Our new “go-to recipe”.
The baking time ended up longer than suggested but I attribute that to using Jumbo eggs rather than large eggs and the oval baking pan size was somewhere between 9×9 and 9×12 and also baking at 9100ft elevation often takes longer.
Thanks Tieghan for persevering with your many tries and generously sharing your success with us!
I am so glad to hear that Mary! Thank you so much!
You’ll have to try sometime a recipe that dissolves the sugar in butter on the stove. It makes for a perfect crinkly top!!! I have egg allergies so found this method to be awesome.
Hello.This article was extremely fascinating, especially since I was looking for thoughts on this issue last week.
Thanks Lea!
These look gold-medal worthy! Congrats again to your brother on his gold (and on his fifth place finish tonight). Congrats also to his friend/like-a brother Kyle Mack for his silver tonight. Nice that Kyle got his silver after his jacket finished first on your brother in Red’s first event!
…and I can’t wait to try these brownies!
Thanks, Tieghan!
Haha thank you so much Natalie! I am so glad you got to watch them and I am so proud of those two!
Hey Tieghan,
I love these brownies! I agree that simple is best. 🙂 My mom also used to bake me and my sister brownies and I miss her food. These seem like a lovely dessert to have while watching the Olympics or a movie night. I hope Red and Kyle did well! Haha these brownies would be a nice dessert for when they get back. Maybe you can have a movie night with all of their favorite foods for when they get back.
I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s post and Sleep well. 🙂
Thank you so much! I am so glad you like these brownies and yes I totally hope to have a fun night with them! Thanks~
It just so happened I turned the olympics on and the first thing I see is Big Air and it was Red’s turn. Not sure I would watch it if he was my brother, it’s a crazy sport! ? The cameras are so good!
So glad you got to see him! Yes, it is such a crazy sport and so hard to watch! Just so glad he makes it down safe haha!
If I don’t have instant coffee, am I out of luck? I love your recipes! Thank you for being so delicious.
Of course not! You can just omit it. Not a huge deal. Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂