Crinkle Top Fudge Chocolate Brownie Recipe

Overhead shot of baked crinkle fudge brownies

Crinkle Top Fudge Chocolate Brownie Recipe

These Crinkle Top Brownies are your ultimate homemade brownies with a shiny flakey top and the most scrumptious and rich chocolate fudge center.

Course Dessert, Snack

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 40

Servings squares

Calories 230kcal

Author Samantha Pickthall

Ingredients

1/2 cup plain all purpose flour scoop & leveled
1/3 cup dutch-process cocoa powder or unsweetened natural cocoa powder
Pinch fine salt
170 g unsalted butter
200 g plain dark chocolate block
3 large eggs, at room temperature (each weighing approx. 55g-60g in shell)
1 cup golden caster sugar or white caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 170ºC (340ºC). Line a 8 inch x 8 inch (20cm x 20cm) square baking pan with parchment paper, set aside.
In a small mixing bowl, sift together flour and cocoa. Whisk through salt an set aside.
Prepare a double boiler with a heat proof mixing bowl over simmering water.
Place butter in the bowl then break the chocolate block up into squares and place into the bowl with the butter. Gently melt over a low-medium heat, stirring occasionally. Remove bowl and set aside to cool mixture down for 10-15 minutes until it’s only slightly warm.
In a large mixing bowl, using either electric hand beaters or a stand mixer with the paddle attached, add room temperature eggs, sugar and vanilla. Beat together for 3 minutes, scraping down the sides as needed. The mixture will turn thick and pale.
Once melted chocolate mixture has cooled and is only slightly warm to the touch, pour it into your beaten eggs.
Gently fold chocolate into eggs for about 3-5 minutes until they’re well blended. Take your time as you don't want to lose too much air in those beaten eggs.
Add dry flour mixture and gently fold through until well combined and no pockets of flour remain, ensuring not to over-mix.
Pour batter into lined pan, spread out evenly with a spatula.
Bake for 35-37 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out with some moist crumbs, not completely clean. Slightly under-baking this brownie will create a fudgy center.
Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes.
Gently lift up sides of the baking paper to remove brownie from the pan. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Still leaving the baking paper on but peeled down completely from the sides.
Slice brownie into squares.
Serve and enjoy!

Notes

Store brownies in an airtight container, in a cool, dry, dark pantry, for 3-4 days. Then transfer to the refrigerator to keep fresh if needed.

The melted chocolate and butter mixture needs to be cooled down until it’s close to room temperature or still slightly warm, not hot, before being added to the beaten eggs. If the chocolate mixture is too warm, it will curdle/cook the eggs and you’ll end up with bits of solid cooked egg in your brownies, no thanks!

Whip eggs and sugar together for the full 3 minutes. This is crucial as this is the process that creates the crinkle crust.

Folding the melted chocolate gently into the beaten eggs will take 3-5 minutes and we must not rush this step. You just spent 3 minutes aerating your eggs, don’t lose that precious air by deflating them by quickly trying to fold in the chocolate.

Folding in the dry mixture also takes time. Again, we don’t want to deflate our eggs if we want that glorious crinkle shiny top.

Substitute dutch-process cocoa powder for natural unsweetened cocoa powder in this particular recipe. As there is no baking soda or baking powder added, it’s safe to swap these two in this recipe. Although I highly recommend you use dutch-process cocoa as it makes the best brownies that aren’t overpowering with sweetness. Dutch cocoa is less sweet and more bitter with mellow/woodsy undertones.

Slightly under-baking these brownies will create that fudgy middle we’re after. Over-baking these brownies will dry them out which results in a cakey texture.

Nutrition