The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (2024)

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by Garlic Girl 17 Comments

You will never need another brownie recipe after this one.

I won’t even distract you with any other words in this postso the main point doesn’t get lost. And the main point is that you’ve got to try this brownie recipe!

If you love rich, gooey, chewy and chocolaty brownies – the kind that make milk a necessity – thisis the brownie recipe for you. You do not need to add thepeanut butter mixture, but I think it was a reallyyummy addition to an already perfect brownie. This original recipe appears to be a Julia Child recipe, but it seems to have been revised from where I found it. And then I made more adaptations. I’d love to think it started with her, so I’ll just call it Julia Child’s Amazing Brownie Recipe.

Enjoy!

The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (2)

Print Recipe

Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe

Servings: 12

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 8 ounces unsalted butter
  • 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate coarsely chopped
  • 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate coarsely chopped (Iused chocolate chips)
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 4 large eggs room temperature

Optional Peanut Butter Filling

  • 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons butter room temperature

Instructions

  • Heat oven to 350°.

  • Sift flour and salt together; set aside.

  • *Optional step for peanut butter filling: With electric mixer, beat peanut butter, powdered sugar, and butter until very creamy, about 3 minutes. Set aside.

  • To make the brownies, melt chocolate with butter in double boiler, stirring frequently. Alternatively, you can melt in microwave in 30-second increments, stirring in between. After dissolving, add 1 cup of the sugar to the mixture; stir to blend. Add vanilla and stir.

  • Pour the mixture into a large bowl.

  • In stand mixing bowl whisk together the remaining cup of sugar and the eggs until just combined.

  • Little by little, pour half of the sugar and eggs into the chocolate mixture, stirring gently but constantly with a rubber spatula so that the eggs don't set from the heat.

  • Using whisk attachment, whip the remaining sugar and eggs until they are thick, pale, and doubled in volume, about 3-4 minutes.

  • Using rubber spatula, delicately fold the whipped eggs into the chocolate mixture.

  • When the eggs are almost completely incorporated, gently fold in the dry ingredients.

  • Pour and scrape the batter in to an unbuttered 9-inch square pan. Note: I sprayed with a little baking spray just to make sure they didn't stick.

  • *Optional step: drop teaspoonfuls of peanut mixture on top of the batter and throughout the pan.

  • Bake the brownies for a minimum of 45 minutes, during which time they will rise a little and the top will turn dark and dry.

  • Cut into the center at about the 30-minute mark to see how the brownies are progressing: they are perfect when they are just barely set and still a little gooey. Note: Some people like them a little less gooey. If so, bake an extra few minutes.

  • Cool the brownies in the pan on a rack.

  • Optional: sprinkle with powdered sugar.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (3)Kimberly Vaswani

    Hi,

    Thank you so much for posting this recipe! I have spent the last week trying to recreate the taste of a brownie that I made in 1996, and I have baked 6 brownie recipes since Sunday. I was beginning to become rather discouraged, but then I saw your recipe today I had a sense of hope, 1) from the beautiful picture and 2) it was Julia Child’s recipe. The brownies are so wonderful, they leave you speechless. When I fed it to my husband I said, “Your going to need a minute after you take a bite.” Food should always taste this good! I am so happy to finally have the recipe for the perfect brownie, at least in my opinion. And this time I won’t lose it. Thanks for all the work you put into your blog and for posting recipes worth posting!!

    Reply

    • The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (4)Garlic Girl

      What a sweet comment! I am so glad you enjoyed it!!

      Reply

  2. The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (5)Angie K

    These were fantastic but 22-26 minutes wasn’t nearly enough time in the oven. I had to bake mine for about 50 minutes just to get them to set. Just fyi for anyone else trying this recipe.

    Reply

    • The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (7)Garlic Girl

      Hi Jessica,
      I’ve heard equal enthusiasm for both versions! 🙂
      Jodi

      Reply

  3. The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (8)Brenda

    Am I reading this correctly? Pour the brownie batter in a 9″ pan and then drop teaspoons of peanut butter mixture on top of that?

    Reply

    • The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (9)Garlic Girl

      That’s correct!

      Reply

  4. The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (10)Merilee

    I don’t have a whisk attachment for my mixer. Should I whisk by hand or whip with my mixer.

    Reply

    • The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (11)Garlic Girl

      Hi there – I would use an electric mixer. Of course if you don’t have one, then beat by hand with whisk. Enjoy!

      Reply

  5. The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (12)Anonymous

    What can be substituted for eggs?

    Reply

  6. The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (14)Stefanie

    Good evening. Found your blog post via Pinterest. Would I be able to substitute the peanut butter with another? My youngest is allergic to peanuts. Thank you.

    Reply

    • The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (15)Garlic Girl

      Hi there! I’ve made these without PB more than with. So I’d recommend just leaving it out. 😊
      GG

      Reply

  7. The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (16)Becca

    These were absolutely the best brownies I’ve ever had!! I’ve been “perfecting” my own recipe for years. Whipping the egg mixture adds so much to the recipe. I made the brownies about 7 hours ago and my boys have eaten every last one of them!!

    Reply

    • The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (17)Garlic Girl

      Oh yay! So glad you love them too! I need to make them again soon!

      Reply

  8. The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (18)Dolly N.

    I just deleted all my other brownie recipes. Due to time and ingredient constraints, I used all 85% chocolate and used the one-bowl method (no beating the eggs separately. The brownies were glorious. This is the only brownie recipe for me! I am looking forward to trying the peanut butter version next.) Thank you.

    Reply

    • The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (19)Garlic Girl

      Yessss! Now I need to make them again! 😊

      Reply

Leave a Reply

The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What are Katharine Hepburn brownies? ›

The brownies are made with unsweetened chocolate, which is also known as baking, plain or bitter chocolate. It is chocolate in its rawest form and this means that unsweetened chocolate is just ground cocoa nibs that have been refined and contain between 50-55% cocoa butter (cacao fat).

Why are my brownies tough and chewy? ›

The molasses content in brown sugar is what is responsible for chewy yet soft brownies. If you don't want chewy brownies, completely keep brown sugar out of the picture. If you do want chewy brownies and it's not mentioned in your recipe, add 3-4 tbsp of brown sugar in the end for beautifully chewy brownies!

What's the difference between chocolate brownies and cocoa brownies? ›

Cocoa and chocolate brownies differ the most from an ingredient standpoint when it comes to the type of fat used: cocoa brownies often use oil, and chocolate brownies use butter. This, partnered with the flavor that cocoa and chocolate each give their brownies, is the biggest difference in the texture of either type.

How do you make brownie mix richer? ›

One change is to use milk or heavy cream instead of water. This change will make brownies more moist and gooey since milk is more fatty and flavorful than water. A second change is to use butter instead of oil. For similar reasons to using milk, butter adds a rich and more decadent quality to the batter.

What is a Little Debbie brownie? ›

Chewy 4 oz. chocolatey brownie topped with a chocolatey frosting and color candy coated chocolate pieces. The Little Debbie® Vending Cosmic Brownie is a chewy 4 oz brownie topped with chocolatey icing then sprinkled with colorful candy-coated pieces to make it simply out of this world!

Why are they called blonde brownies? ›

They're called blondies because they lack the brown cocoa powder of brownies. They're blonde with vanilla and brown sugar, not brown.

Is melted butter or softened butter better for brownies? ›

If you want a fudgy chocolate brownie, use melted butter. For cakey brownies, beating softened butter and sugar together to create air pockets will make your brownies lighter and cakier.

What happens if you put extra butter in brownies? ›

Whether you use butter, margarine, or vegetable oil, putting too much in your brownie batter causes it to be greasy. Don't worry, you're not alone. Many people fall into this trap when trying to substitute butter with oil.

What makes brownies fudgy vs cakey? ›

Fudgy brownies have a higher fat-to-flour ratio than cakey ones. So add more fat—in this case, butter and chocolate. A cakey batch has more flour and relies on baking powder for leavening. The amount of sugar and eggs does not change whether you're going fudgy or cakey.

What is the old version of brownies? ›

Did you know that Brownies were originally called 'Rosebuds'? Rosebuds was established in 1914 for girls to join before they became Guides. Just one year later, the name was changed to Brownies. Brownies are the second-youngest members of the Girlguiding family, for girls aged between 7 and 10.

Which cocoa powder is best for brownies? ›

Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder

It makes amazingly rich, dark, and tender cakes, fudgy, moist brownies and cookies, and incredibly luscious frosting.

Which piece of brownie is best? ›

The edge piece, specifically the corner piece is what I consider the best piece. It is the heterogeneity of textures that I like the most.

What does adding an extra egg to brownie mix do? ›

If you want to get a little more creative with your brownie mix hacks, add an extra egg to the batter. The extra protein will help thicken up the batter and make it fluffier, creating a more decadent, fudgy texture. You can also add the yolk by itself in addition to the 2 eggs a box brownie mix typically calls for.

What does adding coffee to brownies do? ›

Adding coffee to your brownies boosts their flavor because its bitter quality balances out sweetness, making it less overpowering. It allows that delicious chocolate flavor to really shine. You can also switch out the water called for in the batter with brewed coffee.

Is it better to use milk or water in brownie mix? ›

Use Milk Instead of Water

We've encountered mixes in which water is the only liquid. Replace it with a richer, more flavorful liquid, such as milk, buttermilk or coconut milk. The extra fat from the milk will turn a normal box of brownies into a moist and gooey treat.

Why are brownie fairies called brownies? ›

They received their name from the fact that they are usually described as brown-skinned and completely covered in hair. In the earliest traditions, brownies are either the same size as humans or sometimes larger, but, in later accounts, they are described as "small, wizened, and shaggy".

What is in brownies on the moon? ›

Description. The most delicious brownies are combined with premium high-quality chocolate cream and vanilla ice cream to give you an experience that is out of this world!

Why did brownies change name? ›

Girl Guides of Canada announced Wednesday it's changing the name of its Brownies branch to Embers in an effort to be more inclusive. The organization said in November it wanted to change the name of its program for seven- and eight-year-old girls to remove barriers for those who are racialized.

What is so special about brownies? ›

Fudgy brownies are dense, gooey and moist. They have a fudge-like texture while chewy brownies are dense and have an elastic texture that makes them easy to chew. Brownies are always more likeable than cakes and even cookies.

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