This post may contain references to products from one or more of our advertisers. Oh Sweet Basil may receive compensation when you click on links to such products.

I think a good brownie recipe is actually kind of hard to come by. Some are too cakey, some too dry, some taste like cocoa powder and others just taste like booty. For me, well I think these are way too stinkin’ rich. I think they have fantastic flavor, perfectly moist, but too rich. In fact I use half semi-sweet and half milk chocolate chips just to tone it down a bit. Now, most of you probably loooove rich, I prefer strawberry shortcake or a berry trifle for dessert so I guess you can’t really take my opinion. My husband LOOOOOVES Ina Garten’s Outrageous Brownies recipe. It’s the most requested brownie recipe at my house. I bet  you’ll love it too.

How Can You Tell When Brownies Are Done?

For cake-like brownies, take them out of the oven when the brownies begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.

A toothpick inserted near the center of the brownies will come out clean when brownies are at a cake-like consistency.

For fudgy brownies, bake within the suggested baking time.

A toothpick inserted into fudgy brownies will come out with a few moist crumbs attached.

For very fudgy brownies, remove from the oven at the minimum baking time.

A toothpick inserted into very fudgy brownies will come out covered in moist crumbs, but not batter.

How Long Will Brownies Keep?

Store cut brownie squares in an airtight container at room temperature; they’re best eaten within 1 to 2 days.

Uncut brownies, wrapped well with plastic wrap or foil will keep for 2-4 days at room temperature.

Can You Freeze Brownies?

To freeze brownies or bar cookies, cool brownies or bar cookies completely, but do not cut into individual servings.

Wrap tightly in plastic wrap, then wrap again with foil.

Brownies or bar cookies can be frozen for up to 3 months.

Ina Garten’s Outrageous Brownies

4.12 from 117 votes

Ina Garten's Outrageous Brownies

By Sweet Basil
Prep10 minutes
Cook45 minutes
Total55 minutes
Servings30
Rich chocolaty brownies
Want to save this recipe?
Get this sent to your inbox, plus get new recipes from us every week!

Ingredients 

By Ina, herself

  • 1 Pound Unsalted Butter
  • 1 Pound Semisweet Chocolate Chips, plus 12 ounces
  • 6 Ounces Unsweetened Chocolate
  • 6 Extra- Large Eggs
  • 3 Tablespoons Instant Coffee Granules, we omit this
  • 2 Tablespoons Pure Vanilla Extract
  • 2 1/4 Cups Sugar
  • 1 1/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour
  • 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 3 Cups Chopped Walnuts, we omit these

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  • Grease a 12 x 18 x 1-inch baking sheet.
  • Melt together the butter, 1 pound of chocolate chips, and the unsweetened chocolate in a medium bowl over simmering water.
    1 Pound Unsalted Butter, 1 Pound Semisweet Chocolate Chips, 6 Ounces Unsweetened Chocolate
  • Allow the chocolate mixture to cool slightly.
  • In a large bowl, stir (do not beat) together the eggs, coffee granules, vanilla, and sugar.
    6 Extra- Large Eggs, 3 Tablespoons Instant Coffee Granules, 2 Tablespoons Pure Vanilla Extract, 2 1/4 Cups Sugar
  • Stir the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and allow to cool to room temperature.
  • In another medium bowl, sift together 1 cup of flour, the baking powder, and salt.
    1 1/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour, 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder, 1 teaspoon Salt
  • Add the dry ingredients to the cooled chocolate mixture.
  • Toss the walnuts and 12 ounces of chocolate chips in a medium bowl with 1/4 cup of flour, then add them to the chocolate batter.
    3 Cups Chopped Walnuts
  • Pour everything into the baking sheet.
  • Bake for 20 minutes, then rap the baking sheet against the oven shelf to force the air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough.
  • Bake for about 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
  • Do not overbake! Allow to cool thoroughly, refrigerate, and cut into 20 large squares

Recipe Notes

store in an airtight container at room temperature

Nutrition

Serving: 1g, Calories: 295kcal, Carbohydrates: 23g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 23g, Saturated Fat: 10g, Cholesterol: 33mg, Sodium: 82mg, Potassium: 167mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 15g, Vitamin A: 380IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 40mg, Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Like this? Leave a comment below!

About The Author

Carrian Cheney

Carrian Cheney is the creative force behind ‘Oh, Sweet Basil,’ a food blog she co-authors with her husband, Cade. She creates fresh, family-friendly recipes that encourage togetherness in the kitchen.

More Ideas

4.12 from 117 votes (114 ratings without comment)

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




77 Comments

  1. Tiff says:

    I want to attempt to make these with 1 Ib and 12 ounces of milk chocolate Hershey bars  and 6 ounces of  dark chocolate Hershey bars, but since it’s like double the sugar would I put in 1/2 of the sugar or none at all ?

    1. Sweet Basil says:

      Hey Tiff! I’m not sure as those Hershey’s bars aren’t baking chocolate which is a different source of chocolate. I haven’t ever used a true candy bar in baking these.

  2. Stefanie says:

    Hi Ina! I made these brownies and they were AMAZING!! The consistency was perfect, but my kids are more milk chocolate fans. I think using ALL milk chocolate will maybe be too sweet? Then again I’m not the chef. If so, what would be the perfect ration of semisweet/milk chocolate or unsweetened/ milk chocolate ?

    1. Sweet Basil says:

      This is totally my issue too! I prefer a little more milk chocolate flavor in my brownie too. I haven’t toyed with the ratios in this brownie, but you could try going half and half. You could try our Caramel Brownies that are our absolute favorite of all time!
      https://ohsweetbasil.com/caramel-brownies-scratch-recipe/

  3. Pamela Major says:

    Not good, too much coffee taste. More like blah cake than brownies. Cooking time varied immensely from recipe. Disappointed in this recipe

  4. Emily says:

    Question: Can I half this recipe and make it in an 8 by 8 or 9 by 9 pan?

    1. Sweet Basil says:

      Absolutely! Either size will work. I would cut back the bake time by about 10 minutes on the first baking time and keep your eye on it during the second baking time to make sure they don’t get overdone.

  5. Jamie says:

    By unsweetened chocolate do you mean chocolate or powder?

    1. Sweet Basil says:

      It’s a chocolate bar:)

  6. Carol Harris says:

    5 stars
    Ina, do glad I found you again. I isrf to watch your show and loved it. So naturally when i saw this brownie tecipe I had to make it.
    I loved it!
    Nice to hang with yoi again.

    Carol
    Your friend in NY

  7. denise says:

    i made these a while back for the first time and loved them..the best. Then a few months later I made again for a pot luck at work. Not sure what happened but this batch came out with a like gritty feel. They tasted ok but I did not like the gritty texture. It was as though the sugar had not disolved. Very weird. I had not changed my sugar type. Do you use extra fine sugar or regular?

    1. Sweet Basil says:

      Hi Denise, we use regular, however it sounds like it may have been a tempering issue with the chocolate that messed with it properly mixing and baking. Always make sure to use a glass bowl over a pot of water and don’t allow the water to touch the bowl or it will scorch the chocolate.

  8. Gina says:

    These are the best! Made a half batch on Friday night, figured I’d have enough for my daughter’s lunch this week. Nope. They were almost gone by Sunday morning. Only 3 people in my house. My daughter was wary about letting her cousins in the kitchen because she didn’t want to share! (Usually she is the first to share!) I see another batch in our near future.

    1. Sweet Basil says:

      Haha, I love that! Three people and no brownies left is always a good sign. Thanks Gina!

  9. Dawn says:

    Hi, I love your Instagram feed and it’s brought me to your website to see more. I’m wondering if there is a way I can print out this recipe without the ads as they take up a lot of room. I find it very distracting trying to read through ingredients and instructions with adds in the way. Can they be limited to the side of the page with the others? You have delicious looking recipes but these ads are killing it for me.

    1. Sweet Basil says:

      Hi Dawn, thank you so much for following and for taking the time to write us about the ads. In all honesty, we hate the ads and wish we could completely get rid of them. Unfortunately we have our hands tied as the blog takes over 40 hours a week (and we are still always behind!) and so the only way to keep going and to keep it a free site is to have ads which pay our income so we can continue with it as our full time job. I’m so sorry they are annoying. We are always looking to approve so we will work hard to see what we can do to move things around. Promise.

  10. sophia says:

    did not like these as much as i was hoping I would. Funky texture and a waste of a lot of ingredients. will be sticking to my go-to brownie recipe

    1. Sweet Basil says:

      How interesting. I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy it. It is one of the most popular recipes on the internet for brownies but just goes to show that everyone’s tastes are different. I am interested in the texture though, it is like a perfect brownie, not cake like, but brownie so I’m wondering if maybe something happened. Anyway, best of luck!