The Best Simple Homemade Brownie Recipe

I stumbled on this recipe in my 2012 obsession with Pinterest and doing all the DIY things to save all the monies when our family increased to 3 people and decreased to one income. In this post, I’ll share with you the recipe that inspired me to ditch boxed brownies and even taco seasoning packets for simplicity, deliciousness, and without all the unnecessary extras with these simple brownies.

Jump to Recipe

This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. Johnson Home NC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and links to Amazon.com.  As part of this Amazon Associates program, the Website will post customized links, provided by Amazon, to track the referrals to their website. And I thank you for using these links!

Are homemade brownies better than boxed brownies?

One hundred percent yes! They taste so much better.

We recently made some from a box and every single person in our family commented that they didn’t taste as good as our homemade ones. The boxed version are lighter in color, have that strange thin, crispy topping, and leave an after taste in your mouth. And no, these aren’t the cheap brownies I’m talking about. These are brand name in a red box kind.

Homemade brownies may take a few extra minutes to mix in the flour, sugar, baking powder, and cocoa but even with boxed, you still have to add eggs and oil. So the two aren’t much different in prep time. But they are significantly different in flavor and of course in quality!

It’s time to swap out all those extra ingredients you can’t pronounce, much less know what they are even used for.

In this recipe, you’ll recognize and be able to say every single ingredient. Nothing you don’t need. Just good, wholesome ingredients in this simple and crowd-pleasing dessert!

This brownie recipe is more on the “fudgy” side of brownies.

Ingredients

• Sugar (I like organic raw cane sugar)
• Flour (fresh milled or organic unbleached all-purpose flour)
• Cocoa powder (can use cacao powder too!)
• Baking powder (non-aluminum!)
• Eggs (pasture-raised, farm fresh!)
• Oil of choice (olive or coconut are okay choices. We use avocado oil.)
• Vanilla extract (homemade is the best but real vanilla over imitation vanilla always!)

Instructions

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl well. Pour into a greased baking pan like a 9×13 but smaller is better if you want the brownies thicker. Or just double this recipe. Bake on 350 degrees for 25-30 mins or until toothpick comes out clean.

This recipe does make the brownies more “fudgy”. For tips on how to make them more cakey, see the Notes of the recipe card below.

Enjoy this delicious dessert warm with vanilla ice cream or a glass of cold milk (raw milk is even better!)

That’s it and that’s all! So simple even my 10 year old can master making these brownies all by himself. And he offers to frequently just so he can indulge his sweet tooth! This mama don’t even mind. Maybe it’s because she, too, loves a good brownie.

I bet you’ll find yourself baking this one so often that you memorize the recipe real quick! I know I have!

Since you like simple recipes

Did you know you can make your own powdered sugar AND brown sugar right at home???? These two will save you money and time (no need for a grocery store trip just for brown sugar)! Give them a try and see what you think.

Bonus pro tip: teach your children how to make these pantry staples. It’ll benefit them in their adult life and make yours easier now that they can help in the kitchen!

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN BROWN SUGAR: two ingredients- sugar and molasses!

POWDERED SUGAR is simply sugar in your blender or Magic Bullet! That’s it. CRAZY, right?! When I first found out, I was almost mad at how simple it is and what they charge for a bag of bioengineered powdered sugar in the grocery store. Use your own organic raw can sugar to make your own powdered sugar when you need it! Process it in your blender multiple times for the finest powdered sugar. It’s sometimes called “10x sugar” for a reason!

Pro Tip:

Every time you make this recipe, go ahead and prepare the dry ingredients for your next batch and store in an air-tight container like a jar with lid and ring.

This way the next time you want to bake a sweet treat or need a dessert quickly, you’ll just add in the wet ingredients and your jar’s ingredients to a bowl.

Share this gem!

We are 12 years strong with this recipe and will continue to bake these homemade brownies for years to come. Share this with a friend so they can see how easy and delicious homemade is over boxed EVERY DAY!

Find Johnson Home NC on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram. Give me a follow to stay in the know of traditional skills I’m learning as I learn them. Sharing is caring!

Serve this homemade vanilla ice cream over those brownies and fall in love!

If you like this easy recipe,

You may also enjoy these:

• The best sourdough graham crackers
• homemade granola
• eggless pancakes
• crockpot applesauce and pear sauce
• Delicious chocolate chip cookies
• easy sandwich bread and buns recipe

Follow along for more

I’m grateful you chose this recipe to try out. Come back here and give it a comment when you bake them!

If you like this one, feel free to follow Johnson Home NC on Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram where I share new kitchen hacks, tried and true recipes, and garden hacks as I learn them!

If you real-time garden updates and suggestions plus first looks at new recipes, be sure to join my weekly newsletter email mailing list.