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When a super-easy, yet rich chocolate dessert is in order, these Simple Fudgy Brownies, adapted from Alice Medrich, are the answer. An unusual technique creates incredibly dense, dark, and delicious brownies!

The keys to this Best Brownie Recipe are a paper-thin, slightly crinkled top and a soft, fudgy interior. It’s what chocolate lovers crave and what brownie aficionados will adore!

Simple Fudgy Brownies garnished with berries.
Table of Contents hide
1 Why You Should Make
2 Ingredient Notes
3 How to Make
4 Expert Tips
5 Frequently Asked Questions
6 More of the Best Brownie Recipes
7 Simple Fudgy Brownies

Why You Should Make

  • This is an Alice Medrich brownie recipe. She’s an author, pastry chef, and former owner of the renowned chocolate dessert shop, Cocolat. She is known for Americanizing the chocolate truffle. Her recipes are phenomenal.
  • Her unusual technique makes one of the Best Fudgy Brownie Recipes you’ll ever taste!
  • If you have a chocolate lover near and dear to you, this Fudgy Brownies Recipe is the perfect treat.
Simple Fudgy Brownies Ingredients on a sheetpan with labels.

Ingredient Notes

  • Butter – It’s OK to use salted butter as salt is a flavor enhancer; the small amount won’t make the brownies taste salty. If you use unsalted butter, make sure to add the salt called for in the recipe.
  • Unsweetened Chocolate (affiliate link)- Use the best chocolate you can afford. Ghirardelli bars are good (and what I use), but Scharffen Berger is the best (use for a special occasion).
  • Granulated (white) Sugar – Regular white sugar.
  • Bown Sugar (affiliate link)- Adds extra moisture and caramel undertones.
  • Vanilla Extract (affiliate link) – Use only pure vanilla extract. Imitation vanilla cannot compete. I use the Nielsen-Massey brand.
  • Table Salt – Fine salt incorporates more easily than kosher salt.
  • Eggs – Have at room temperature for easy blending. I will often set them in a bowl of very hot, not boiling water, to gently warm them if I don’t get them out of the refrigerator ahead of time.
  • All-Purpose Flour (affiliate link) – I use the King Arthur brand, but any AP flour works well.
Simple Fudgy Brownies with a dollop of whipped cream and mint sprig on a round white plate.

How to Make

Melt butter with chopped chocolate.
Stir until smooth.
Add sugars, vanilla and salt.
Mix in eggs, one at a time.
Mix in flour and stir until very smooth.
Spread batter into the prepared pan.
Bake as directed.
Place the pan in an ice bath to help it cool. Remove from the pan with foil, slice, and serve!

Expert Tips

This Alice Medrich-inspired recipe has one of the most unusual baking techniques I’ve seen. But it’s worked each time I’ve made these winners! They’re an irresistible cross between brownies and fudge! Plus, they’re perfect for the chocoholics in your life!

  • These Fudgy Brownies are baked at 400°F for only 20 minutes before being plunged into an ice bath. Weird, huh? But don’t knock ’em till you bake ’em! 
  • But besides this out-of-the-box method, there are a few tips for making brownies, like lining your pan with non-stick foil for easy removal and cutting.
  • PRO-Tip: Use a Metal Pan (affiliate link), NOT a glass or Pyrex pan. The glass could shatter when you place the pan of hot brownies into ice water.
  • PRO-Tip: Line your pan with foil for easy removal when they’re cool and easy cleanup! You can use Non-Stick Foil (affiliate link), if you have it on hand or spray regular foil with Pam.
  • I like microwaving my chocolate and butter to avoid having an extra pan to wash. Do it gently by stopping, stirring, and restarting until melted. I typically use 30-second increments, then shorter zaps as the chocolate melts.
  • You can stop when there are a few small unmelted bits, as the residual heat will continue the melting process. You can always microwave a few seconds more if your chocolate isn’t completely smooth. You do not want to overheat, as that can ruin the chocolate.
  • PRO-Tip: Mix by hand so you don’t add any extra air into the batter.
  • Use a Wooden Spoon or Silicone Spatula (affiliate links) and mix until the flour is incorporated.
  • PRO-Tip: Placing the pan in an ice bath when it comes out of the oven will help minimize carryover cooking. This is when the heat of the pan continues to cook the brownies. Make sure your ice bath is shallow enough that water doesn’t get into the pan.
  • Chill before cutting for perfect squares, but serve at room temperature.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Makes These Brownies so Unusual?

First, they’re baked at a high heat for brownies, 400°F instead of 350°F. Then, after they’re pulled out of the oven, the pan is set in an ice water bath to stop the cooking process.

Why is the Pan Plunged into Ice Water?

Putting the hot pan into an ice water bath stops the cooking process. The batter contracts, and the brownies become dense and the flavor intensifies.

How Do You Make Fudgy Brownies?

Look at the recipe ingredients. Fudgy brownies have a higher ratio of fat to flour. For Alice Medrich’s New Classic Brownies recipe, the fat comes from 2 eggs (the yolks), 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, and ½ cup butter. The flour amount is ½ cup, so there is definitely more fat than flour.

Not over-cooking and not incorporating too much air into the batter also helps make for fudgier results. I mix with a wooden spoon instead of a hand mixer.

How Can You Intensify the Flavor of Chocolate Desserts?

Coffee and/or espresso accentuates the flavor of chocolate without making the result taste like coffee. Adding a tablespoon of coffee or a teaspoon of Espresso Powder (affiliate link) to the batter will give a boost to the chocolate flavor.

More  of the Best Brownie Recipes

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Simple Fudgy Brownies on an oval white dish garnished with fresh berries
The Recipe:

Simple Fudgy Brownies

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Yield 16 brownies

Dense, simple fudgy brownies adapted from Alice Medrich's New Classic Brownies.

5.0 Stars (47 Reviews)

Ingredients

  • 8 tablespoons butter
  • 4 ounces of unsweetened chocolate, chopped
  • ¾ cups sugar
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ cup flour

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400º. Line an 8-inch square metal baking pan with nonstick foil.
  2. Melt butter and chocolate in the microwave stopping every 30 seconds to stir. When almost completely melted, stir until smooth.
  3. Stir in sugars, vanilla, and salt.
  4. Stir in eggs one at a time, followed by the flour. Stir until very smooth, about 1 minute, until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
  5. Spread batter in prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes.
  6. Prepare a water bath. Pour ice water into a large roasting pan or kitchen sink to a depth of about 1 inch.
  7. Remove pan from oven and place in a water bath...avoid getting any water on brownies. Let cool completely, then lift out and cut squares.

Notes

Do not use a glass pan as it will shatter when placed in ice water.

Use the best quality chocolate you can afford for the best results.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

16

Serving Size:

1 brownie
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 178Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 39mgSodium: 91mgCarbohydrates: 20gFiber: 1gSugar: 15gProtein: 2g

HOW MUCH DID YOU LOVE THIS RECIPE?

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© Liz Berg
Cuisine: American / Category: Brownies

We just returned from 2 weeks in Switzerland with a couple of days in the Italian lakes district and here it is Father’s Day. We needed something sweet!

Sleep deprivation and fancy, complicated desserts are not a good mix. When I asked the hubby what he wanted for Father’s Day, he replied, “Beer and Mousse.” Knowing him, beef was expected, too. As usual, I took liberty with his suggestion and decided on these super-rich brownies for dessert.

I discovered them in 2010, coincidentally after we arrived home from a family trip to Italy. Brownies and Chocolate Chip Cookies are my go-to desserts when the brain is fried. There are never any complaints.

Our kids in Rome posing in front of the Vatican in 2010.

 Mini-photo of the kids at the Vatican, circa 2010. After this trip, Nick said I should make these simple fudgy brownies again ASAP.