There’s nothing I love more than a pan of brownies in my oven at all times. Brownies are the perfect comfort food and dessert. Today, I will present to you the quickest and easiest homemade brownie recipe. This recipe requires the most basic of baking ingredients and the smallest of prep time. They’re healthy, but they still have the same decadent sweetness that we all know and love them for, just with less of the guilt.
Butter vs. Oil
Bakers have long debated the use of butter vs. oil in desserts. Although both work for this recipe, I personally prefer using canola oil, and here’s why:
Butter helps provide an airy brownie batter, but this recipe is, first and foremost, designed for moist and fudge brownies–my favorite and the most comforting. In this case, oil acts as an emulsifying agent that will help us reach this goal. Additionally, using oil makes this recipe slightly healthier, which will help you justify eating that extra serving.
Aerating the Mixture
It’s very important to aerate the brownie batter. If you chose oil over butter, you’ve already sacrificed a little bit of aeration for the sake of taste and health. However, this is a situation that can easily be mended–you don’t want a wet brownie! First, you need to take the mixture of the wet ingredients very seriously. Brownie batter isn’t something you want to mess around with, of course. The color of the mixture needs to turn light (almost like pancake mix) before adding the dry ingredients. This is an indication that you’ve created loads of aeration in the mix, which sets a wonderful foundation for the rest of the process. Second, when mixing in the dry ingredients, I recommend you use a silicone spatula to fold in the ingredients rather than an electric mixer. This ensures that you don’t flatten the airy mixture that you’ve created, preparing you for the most fudgy but still light brownies.
Cocoa Powder
In this recipe, I used Hershey’s Cocoa Powder, Natural Unsweetened. I’ve also tried this recipe with Ghirardelli’s 100% Cocoa Powder and Navitas Organics Cacao Powder, but I found that Hershey’s works best.
Other Brownie Recipes From Our Fellow Spoon Friends
Here are some other brownie recipes from our friends from Spoon who try unconventional (but fun) methods of making brownies. You can save these for a rainy day!
Making Brownies With Black Beans
Making Brownies With Applesauce
Quickest and Easiest Homemade Brownie Recipe
Ingredients
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit for 25 to 30 minutes.
Use an electric mixer to mix the canola oil, sugar, and vanilla extract.
Then, add one egg at a time into the oil and sugar mix. Mix until the color of the mixture turns lighter (almost like the color of pancake mix).
Sift the flour and cocoa powder into a separate bowl. Add the baking soda and salt into that bowl as well.
Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with a spatula. Try not to over mix. If you have chosen to add chocolate chips, this is a great time to add them to the batter.
Pour the brownie batter in a square dish (preferably 9 in x 9 in) lined with parchment paper, and bake.
There you have it. This is the quickest and easiest homemade brownie recipe. Enjoy!