Espresso Brownies

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Super fudge-y espresso brownies made with dark chocolate and fresh brewed espresso. These brownies have four shots of espresso in them and they can also be made with espresso powder. Have your coffee and eat it too!

Why you’ll love this recipe

If you’re not familiar with my brownies, I encourage you to check out my PERFECT Fudge Brownies to see why I love them so much. Basically, they’re the perfect combination; thick, chocolatey, fudgy, gooey but not in an under-baked kind of way.

What more would someone want right? Coffee. One would want coffee with their brownies. So why not add in four shots of espresso while we’re at it?

If you’re as obsessed with my brownies as I am, you’ll love my biscoff version, oreo, hot chocolate, pecan pie, and cosmic brownies.

fudgey brownies with dark chocolate puddles

How to make espresso brownies

For these brownies I use dark chocolate chips melted with butter and espresso. Eggs mixed with granulated sugar and brown sugar. A little flour and cocoa powder, followed by extra chocolate chunks.

To accommodate the extra liquid from the espresso in the brownies, I reduced the butter by a quarter cup and doubled the amount of cocoa powder. Since there’s less butter, I used my absolute FAVORITE butter, Danish Creamery’s Premium Sea Salt Butter, to still get extra thick and fudgy brownies.

Ingredients & Substitutions

Butter: with 85% butterfat, Danish Creamery’s Premium Sea Salt Butter still gives the brownies a great thick and fudgy texture even with the added liquid from the espresso.
Chocolate: I prefer dark chocolate chips melted in the brownie batter because it pairs nicely with the espresso. These brownies are super rich so if you prefer them slightly sweeter and less dark, feel free to use milk chocolate or semi sweet chocolate in the batter.
- For the chocolate chunks in the brownies, I prefer to use a block of (dark) baking chocolate because that’s going to create those melty pools of chocolate. If you use chocolate chips here, the stabilizers will make them set and they’ll give it more of a crunchy texture than a melted, gooey texture.
Eggs: always use large, room temperature eggs. Pop them in hot water for 5-10 minutes if they’re cold.
Sugar: I use both brown sugar and granulated sugar in this recipe for the perfect flavor and texture combination.
Flour: I use all purpose flour.
- I also HIGHLY recommend using a digital scale, as flour is almost always over measured.
Cocoa Powder: the better quality your cocoa powder is, the better your brownies will taste! I like using Dutch Process Cocoa Powder for a darker color and richer flavor but unsweetened natural cocoa powder works as well.
Salt: salt brings out the flavor in all baked goods; I add just a little since the butter is also salted.
- I also like to top the finished brownies with sea salt flakes because I love salted dark chocolate but that’s totally optional!
Espresso: I used four shots of espresso from my espresso machine. The four shots add up to ½ cup or 4 fluid ounces.
- If you don’t have an espresso machine, you can still make these brownies with espresso powder. Use 2 grams of espresso powder to 1 oz of hot water to make one shot. These brownies use 4 shots so about 8 grams of espresso powder to 1/2 cup (4oz) of hot water.
- Alternatively you could also use coffee in place of the espresso. The texture and consistency should stay the same but the flavor of the coffee won’t be as strong.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Melt the butter with the chocolate chips and stir until they’re completely smooth.

Step 2: Add the espresso shots and mix until they’re completely smooth.

butter melted with chocolate and espresso

Step 3: Whisk the eggs with the sugars JUST until they’re barely combined. You want it to still be kind of gloopy/eggy, not super thin and smooth.

Step 4: Add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and whisk just until they’re combined, again still a little gloopy.

Step 5: Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk just until the dry ingredients are incorporated.

combine the two mixtures and add the dry ingredients

Step 6: Add chocolate chunks and fold until they’re evenly distributed.

Step 7: Spread brownie batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 40 minutes, remove and allow to cool completely to room temperature.

Step 8: Bang the brownies on the counter a couple of times and top with extra chocolate chunks and sea salt flakes. Let the brownies cool completely to get clean slices.

brownies finished baking with melted chocolate and sea salt — bang the pan against the counter to release the air

FAQs

What if I don’t have an espresso machine?

If you don’t have an espresso machine, you can still make these brownies with espresso powder. Use 2 grams of espresso powder to 1 oz of hot water to make one shot.
These brownies use 4 shots so about 8 grams of espresso powder to 1/2 cup (4oz) of hot water.
If you want a stronger coffee flavor, you can increase the amount of espresso powder but don’t increase the amount of liquid you’re adding to the batter.
Again, you could also use coffee in place of the espresso. The texture and consistency should stay the same but the flavor of the coffee won’t be as strong.

When are espresso brownies done baking?

Brownies are by far the hardest thing for me to assess when they’re done baking. This is especially difficult when you have a meringue top instead of a thin crackle, because the top gets hard and crunchy so touching it with your finger doesn’t really help. I make these brownies with a paper thin, crackle top because:
They taste better
They bake up better
They’re quicker to make
When the top of your brownies have a thin little crackle on top instead of a thick meringue, you can press on it with your finger to see how firm the brownies are underneath. When you move the pan, if the batter jiggles, it’s definitely not done baking.
You want to be able to push your finger on the top (in the center) and feel some resistance. It should feel like a brownie that’s a little “too gooey but almost perfect”. At this point, you’ll remove them from the oven and they will continue to bake as they’re cooling. If they’re firm when you remove them from the oven, they won’t be very fudgy once they’re completely cooled and everyone wants fudgy brownies.

Can I just use the toothpick test?

Many people like to insert a toothpick into the center of baked goods to test for doneness. Usually if the toothpick is clean or if there are only a few moist crumbs on it then a cake is done baking. That doesn’t work for chocolate brownies. We want gooey, fudge brownies so when we remove them from the oven, they will still be a little undercooked and will finish baking as they cool.

How to perfectly slice brownies?

Ok I don’t know if it’s just me but if I’m not careful to take these extra steps, my brownies always end up looking like a pile of not so tasty brown stuff instead of a delicious pile of brownies.
To get my brownies perfectly sliced it’s best to chill the brownies briefly. I usually freeze them for about 20 minutes after they’ve cooled and then I ALWAYS run my large knife under hot water between every slice I cut.
Yes, between every slice. Because they’re fudgy, some of the gooey chocolate gets stuck on the knife and if you just go to cut another slice it gets less and less pretty.
If you cut these warm, make sure to still use a large knife and clean it between every slice you cut. When you slice, very gently and slowly press the knife down, then lift a little, move forward, press down again and repeat until you get to the end of that slice.

baked brownies and topped with more chocolate and sea salt while warm

How to store brownies?

Once the brownies have cooled completely, store them in an airtight container. They can stay at room temperature for a few days and in the refrigerator for 7-10 days. Make sure to bring them to room temperature or warm them up before serving.

To freeze, place them tightly in an airtight container or a ziplock bag and freeze for 2-3 months. Bring them back to room temperature before serving.

There are so many brownie recipes out there and I’m sure so many of them are amazing but I hope you give my lotus espresso brownies a chance. If you make these brownies, make sure to tag me @baranbakery on instagram so I can share them with everyone!

As always, have a blessed day and happy baking!

Love, B

Yield: 16 brownies

Espresso Brownies Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 cup (113g) Danish Creamery Premium Sea Salted Butter
1 cup (6oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup (4 shots/4oz) espresso
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (100g) light brown sugar, lightly packed
3/4 cup (90g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1/2 cup (40g) unsweetened cocoa powder, spooned and leveled (I like dutch-processed)
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
2/3 - 1 cup (4-6oz) chopped dark chocolate (I like Trader Joes 72% pound chocolate)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 325F/163C convection (300F/149C conventional). Use cooking spray and parchment paper to grease and line an 8-inch square pan.
In a heat safe bowl or a saucepan, melt the butter with the dark chocolate chips. Mix until they’re smooth.
Add the espresso and mix until they’re all combined. Set aside to cool while you get the rest of the ingredients together.
In a large bowl, use a whisk to combine the eggs, granulated sugar and brown sugar until they’re just barely combined; don’t over-mix. They should still be a little gloopy.
Pour in the butter, chocolate, espresso mixture to the eggs and sugar while whisking. Don’t over-mix again.
Add the flour, cocoa powder and salt into the wet ingredients and mix them together just until the last streak of flour is combined.
Fold in the chocolate chunks until they’re evenly distributed.
Pour the brownie batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 40 minutes.
Remove the brownies from the oven, bang them on the counter and top with additional chocolate chunks and sea salt.
Allow them to cool in the pan for about 30-60 minutes, until they can be sliced without falling apart.

Notes

If you don’t have an espresso machine, you can still make these brownies with espresso powder. Use 2 grams of espresso powder to 1 ounce of hot water to make one shot. These brownies use 4 shots so about 8 grams of espresso powder to 1/2 cup (4oz) of hot water.
Alternatively you could use coffee instead of espresso. The texture and consistency should be the same but the coffee flavor won't be as strong.