Whether you are team fudgy or team chewy these whole wheat brownies are here to please. They have a chewy outside and a decadent, fudgy center. They are made with 100% soft white wheat flour (whole wheat pastry flour).
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We love our chocolate desserts around here, like chocolate cake, German chocolate cake, chocolate muffins, chocolate cookies and of course, chocolate brownies.
It took a total of 14 tries to get these brownies to brownie perfection. We tried a lot of different techniques and ingredient ratios and this recipe is what we deemed the winner.
A lot of brownie recipes don’t have any leavener (baking soda or baking powder) in them, while they are ultra fudgy, decadent and delicious, we felt they were missing that outside chewy factor that we love in a brownie, so we added just a touch of baking soda to achieve that texture.
What's Cool About This Recipe
- Chewy and fudgy: These brownies have a wonderfully chewy outside with a fudgy center.
- Divine flavor: Browning the butter gives these chocolate brownies the most divine flavor, the whole wheat flour also adds a nice flavor profile.
- 100% whole grain: These are made with all whole grain wheat flour. Using fresh soft white wheat or spelt flour will give you the best results.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Soft white wheat: We use soft white wheat flour to make these brownies, spelt flour is also incredibly delicious and is probably our favorite out of the two.
- Baking soda: We add just a touch of baking soda to give the brownies a chewy edge and make them a little less dense.
- Salt: If you use salted butter you can do half the amount of salt.
- Butter: We use European style butter, Kerrygold is our favorite.
- Oil: Adding a little bit of oil helps add chewiness.
- Brown sugar: Brown sugar also makes a more chewy brownie, you can use regular sugar. We use raw granulated sugar.
- Unsweetened cacao powder: We like using cacao powder for a slightly darker chocolate brownie. If you want an ultra dark chocolate brownie, use a dark cacao powder like Hersey’s Special Dark. Regular unsweetened cocoa powder will work also.
- Vanilla extract: This adds another layer of flavor to the brownies.
- Eggs: Eggs are the backbone of this recipe, just use regular large chicken eggs.
- Optional add-ins: We like adding chopped walnuts to our brownies. You can add chopped chocolate, chocolate chips or leave them plain.
See recipe card for quantities.
Variations
- You can add a teaspoon of espresso powder if you want to amp up the flavor. Add it into the butter when you add the cocoa powder, sugar, etc.
Instruction Photos
Overview of instructions with photos. See recipe card for quantities and full instructions.
Step 1: Brown the butter then add to a bowl with the sugar, cacao powder, oil and vanilla. Mix until well combined. Make sure the mixture is not hot to the touch before proceeding.
Step 2: Add the eggs and beat with an electric hand mixer on high speed for about 2 minutes. The mixture should be shiny and the sugar should be mostly dissolved.
Step 3: Add the flour, salt and baking soda, mix just until combined. Fold in any mix-ins (walnuts or chocolate chips).
Step 4: Pour the batter into an 8x8 inch pan lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350°F for 28-32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a light coating of batter. You do not want the toothpick to be clean. Cool in the pan before cutting.
How to Tell When Brownies Are Done
The best way to tell when brownies are done is with a natural (un painted) wooden toothpick. You want to poke it in the middle of the brownies, all the way down and pull it out. It should have a light coating of batter on the toothpick for fudgy brownies. They will most likely be over baked if the toothpick comes out clean.
Note: If you have chocolate chips or chunks in the brownies you may need to check in a few spots, if you poke the toothpick through a chunk of chocolate it’s not going to give you a very accurate result because you will get melted chocolate on the toothpick instead of brownie batter. Once you try it a couple times you should be able to tell how they look different from each other.
Serving Suggestions
These are our favorite ways to serve brownies:
- With ice cream
- Topped with whipped cream and berries
- Frosted with cream cheese ganache
- Top with coffee whipped cream
- You can also cut them into bite sized squares and make brownie parfaits with whipped cream and fruit sauce.
Storage
Store the brownies covered at room temperature for 3-4 days or in the refrigerator for 5-7 days.
How to Freeze
Place the brownies into a freezer safe bag or container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature.
Tips From Our Kitchen
Please do not over bake the brownies, if they are over baked they will be dry and cakey. Take them out of the oven when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a very light coating of batter. If the toothpick is clean they are most certainly overbaked. Always test with an uncoated toothpick, painted toothpicks are not very accurate.
Cool them completely before cutting for the best looking slices. They need at least some time to cool to set up. If you try cutting them while hot, they will probably seem like lava cake. But hey, a pile of hot brownie goo with some ice cream on top sounds good to me, so you do you LOL.
FAQ
Dry brownies are most likely caused by over-baking.
Related Recipes
📖 Recipe
Chewy Whole Wheat Brownies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (169 g) unsalted butter
- 1 cup packed (210 g) brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons (24 g) oil olive oil or avocado oil
- ½ cup (48 g) unsweetened cacao powder
- 1 tablespoon (15 g) vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup (120 g) soft white wheat flour (whole wheat pastry flour) or spelt flour
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup chopped walnuts or chocolate chip or a mix of both (optional)
Instructions
- Brown the butter: In a small saucepan, melt ¾ cup (169 g) unsalted butter over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until the butter starts to turn brown and develops a nutty aroma.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line an eight inch square baking dish with parchment paper, grease the pan lightly so the paper will stick to the pan.
- To a large mixing bowl add 1 cup packed (210 g) brown sugar, 2 tablespoons (24 g) oil, ½ cup (48 g) unsweetened cacao powder, 1 tablespoon (15 g) vanilla extract and the browned butter. Stir together until well combined. Let cool until no longer hot to the touch.
- Add 3 large eggs and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes or until the sugar is mostly dissolved And the mixture is shiny.
- Add 1 cup (120 g) soft white wheat flour, ½ teaspoon sea salt, and ⅛ teaspoon baking soda, mix just until combined. Fold in 1 cup chopped walnuts or chocolate chip (is using).
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 28-32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a very light coating of batter (you do not want the toothpick to be clean).
- Let the brownies sit in the pan to cool before cutting.
Notes
Nutrition
We calculate these nutritional facts using an estimate and they can vary drastically between ingredients used and measuring technique. So, they are not intended for medical use.
Jenny
Omg!!! Divine!
I made brown butter and oh my. I'm definitely going to add this to my recipe for future use. yum
WholeWheatKitchen
That makes us so happy!