Triple Chocolate Brownie Recipe
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If you are looking for the ultimate triple chocolate brownie recipe, then these rich, indulgent and delicious brownies are the ones to bake. Packed with triple chocolate chunks, and with the perfect balance of chocolate throughout, these brownies have the delicious fudgy texture every baker is after.
Whether you are baking for birthdays, afternoon treats, a family gathering, or simply trying to satisfy a chocolate craving, this recipe is the one you will turn to again and again.
Note’s from The Patisserie
I have made these brownies well over five hundred times now, in this base form and with extra flavours throughout, so I feel like somewhat of an expert now. They are thick, fudgy and I have tested this recipe over and over to try and produce the best brownie ever…
- Deep chocolate flavour from a dark chocolate base
- Three chocolates folded through for extra indulgence
- Easy to follow method
- Perfect for freezing and making ahead
- Soft, gooey and fudgy texture all in one
- Great for bake sales, parties, and for use as a base brownie for other flavours
This recipe is part of a ‘back to basics’ series on my blog where I am trying to provide as much information on the basics of baking, to make you a better bake. I firmly believe that once you crack the basics, you can have a lot more fun with baking.
Ingredient notes + tips
The chocolate in the base
This recipe has the best flavour balance, but it does use dark chocolate in the base. This ingredient is particularly important for a few reasons. The higher cocoa solids (I would always recommend 70% dark chocolate or higher) helps create a rich chocolate flavour, but it also has naturally less sugar and milk in the chocolate.
Dark chocolate works best in the brownie base because it creates a richer chocolate flavour and helps achieve that classic fudgy texture. With a higher cocoa content and less added sugar than milk chocolate, it provides a deeper taste and balances the sweetness of the brownie mixture, and with the addition of the rest of the ingredients, provides the best base.
Personally, I would recommend using cooking chocolate such as this one, or using a basic chocolate from the shop. You do not need to use a fancy brand of chocolate for the base mixture.
The rest of the ingredients:
- Butter – I would recommend using block unsalted butter for the base of a brownie, or a baking spread. Generally, block butter may likely create a better set compared to a spread due to it’s less process nature.
- Sugar – You can use caster sugar, golden caster sugar, light brown soft sugar or even dark brown soft sugar. For a basic triple chocolate, I usually use white caster sugar.
- Eggs – to make it slightly easier, this recipe is formulated to use four medium eggs, or three large eggs.
- Flour – it’s important to use plain flour with no raising agent in it – if you use self raising flour, it will cause a cake texture. If you don’t have plain flour, it may also be known as all-purpose flour
- Cocoa – I would ALWAYS recommend using a good quality cocoa, with a high cocoa percentage. I would suggest not using a hot chocolate powder as they are mainly sugar and not cocoa.
Tops tips to making the best brownies
The method behind making these brownies, other than the importance of the chocolate base, is what makes these brownies brilliant and the wonderful texture that they have. Make sure to check out the full recipe and method in the recipe card
Whisking the eggs and the sugar
One of the most important steps in making perfect homemade brownies is whisking the eggs and sugar correctly. This stage creates a thick, mousse-like mixture that forms the foundation of the brownie texture.
You need to whisk the eggs and sugar for several minutes until the mixture becomes:
- Noticeably paler in colour
- Thick and mousse-like
- More than doubled in volume
Do not rush this step. A quick mix simply won’t create the same result, and skipping proper whisking can affect the final texture of your brownies. It’s easier to use a stand mixer or hand mixer because they are quickly, but you do not need to. You just need to whisk for quite a bit longer by hand to get the same texture
Folding the ingredients together
Once your egg mixture has reached the correct mousse-like consistency, gently fold in the melted chocolate and butter mixture, followed by the flour and cocoa powder. This stage should always be done by hand.
Mixing too aggressively can deflate the air you’ve created during whisking, leaving you with a thinner batter and affecting the final brownie texture. So, make sure to fold slowly and carefully in a figure of eight pattern, keep as much air in the mixture as possible, and avoid over mixing.
Using the correct tin and oven setting
As well as making sure to use the correct ingredients, following the top tips above, it is so important to use the correct size tin. I use a 9” square metal tin for my brownies, and for the best results, it’s important to use this too.
Using a smaller tin can cause problems with the bake as the volume difference is much larger than people may realise. An 8” square tin is roughly 25% smaller in volume, and a 7” square tin is 50% less. Also, using silicone or glass or ceramic instead of metal can cause a problem due to how they conduct heat in the oven.
I always bake brownies on the fan setting in my fan oven, so I bake at 160ºc. I bake them for 25 minutes on the dot as I know my oven well, and when the 25 minutes is up, there is a small wobble in the middle.
As ovens vary SO much, even if you think they are all set to ‘the same’ setting, there is a very high chance they are not. Timings can therefore vary, so keep an eye on them and adjust accordingly.
FAQs
Yes, you definitely can. The brownies will still be delicious without (might take a couple of minutes less time to bake)
This is likely due to the brownies being over baked, but they can also be over mixed.
Definitely! You can add in flavour extracts really easily when folding in the chocolate/butter mixture to the eggs and sugar. I would use 1-2 tsps of a strong extract such as vanilla, orange or mint.
Yes, but they won’t have set yet so if they are cut warm, they may still be very gooey. They are still fine to eat, but generally we recommend setting the brownies fully, and the warming a piece through in the microwave if you have one
Brownies do naturally sink slightly when cooling, but if they have sunk a lot it could be due to adding too much air into the eggs and sugar at the start, under baking the brownies, or opening the oven door too early to check on them.
Yes! You can use all white chocolate, all milk chocolate, all dark chocolate or whatever mix you want folded into the brownie mix.
Triple Chocolate Brownie Recipe
Ingredients
- 200 g dark chocolate (70%+ cocoa content)
- 200 g unsalted butter
- 3 large eggs (or 4 medium)
- 275 g caster sugar
- 100 g plain flour
- 50 g cocoa powder
- 100 g white chocolate (chips/chunks)
- 100 g milk chocolate (chips/chunks)
- 100 g dark chocolate (chips/chunks)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180ºc/160ºc fan and line a 9″ square baking tray with parchment paper.
- Melt together the unsalted butter and dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of boiling water, on the microwave for 1-2 minutes until melted.
- Leave to the side to cool to room temperature for 5-10 minutes
- In a new bowl, whisk together the eggs & caster sugar for a few minutes until the colour has turned pale, is very mousse like, and is double the original volume
- You will know its done because when you lift the whisk up out of the mix it should leave a trail for a couple of seconds before disappearing
- When whisked, pour the cooled chocolate mix over eggs and fold together carefully.
- Once completely combined, add the cocoa powder and plain flour on top of the chocolate mix and then fold together again
- Once combined well, fold through the chocolate chips and pour into the prepared tin
- Bake in the oven for 25-30+ minutes until there is a small wobble in the middle.
- Once baked, leave to cool in the tin completely. The, set the the brownies in the fridge for 3+ hours for best results.
Notes
- These brownies will last for up to one week in the fridge or at room temperature on a cool day
- These brownies can freeze for 3+ months
- I use this 9″ square tin in this recipe
Storage and Freezing
These brownies are great as they do last really well. As well as being delicious on the day of baking, they also last for up to a week either at room temperature on a cooler day, but also in the fridge. I prefer mine in the fridge, as it keeps the fudge texture.
These brownies will also last for 3+ months, in the freezer. I would recommend letting the brownies bake and cool fully, and then portioning before freezing.
Absolutely love this recipe! So rich and indulgent! I was just wondering if you could make these using oil instead of butter?
Hey, I am also wondering the same. If we can use half butter and half oil?
What ratio of ingredients would I use the foil traybake trays, they’re 13inch x 8inch (1inch deep too) I wanted to bake and leave in the tray and decorate the top
It would be great to know this too.
Hiya, did you ever find an answer to your question about how much batter for 13×8 tin? Xx
Hi. Love this recipe so much. It’s my absolute go to for brownies. I was just wondering can these be frozen once cooked? Thank you x
Yes, they can!! I am so glad you loved them x
hey, i only have salted butter, would it still work if i used that instead of unsalted butter?
Yes, it works really well!
Yum! Best recipe I have found for brownies. Although the recipe says 25-30 mins at 160 fan, mine take approx 35 mins. Nonetheless they are perfect every time.
Amazing! Ovens can really vary so it’s natural for timings to vary somewhat. x
Hey!
I love these brownies, I make them a lot! I was looking to make more and use a 12x 9 tin!
What would the measurements be for this? I’m terrible at being able to work out the maths of it all!
Also, would it be roughly same amount of time in oven too?
Thanks so much
Liv
You left this comment ages ago but in case this helps you or anyone else who comes across it :
The area of your tin = 12×9 = 108
The area of Janes tin = 9×9 = 81
The difference in area between your tins = 108-81 = 27
So what percentage of 81 is 27? = 27/81 = 0.33
27 is 33% of 81, so your tin is one third bigger than Janes.
You would need to multiply the quantities by 1.3 🙂
As for cooking time, this can very often change the cooking time even if the brownie mix is laid in the pan in the same thickness. Unfortunately I don’t have a tip for this other than to check up on them from the stated cook time maybe once every 5-10 minutes, to see if they look done!
Hi. I love these brownies but they are taking so long to cook. After the required time they are still really soggy in the middle. I cook for extra 5 minutes at a time but I am needing to do this quite a few times. I have adjusted the temperature to 190 but it’s still the same. I follow the recipe completely. Not sure what I am doing wrong.
Hiya – it’s worth checking if you are using the correct size tin, a metal tin, the oven temp is correct with a thermometer, and you are using dark chocolate in the base and not substituting. Checking brownies fresh out of the oven won’t work as they will still be gooey, so you need to bake to a small wobble in the middle and then cool fully in the tin, then you can set in the fridge for a few hours to help set them. x
Hi Jane,
I was wondering if this recipe would work if i used a mini muffin tray. And if so what cues would i be looking for to see if they are done as they’ll be smaller.
Hi, I have made these but they are so dry and almost cake like. Do you know why this would be?
I just can’t seem to master the gooey brownie texture
That definitely means they are over baked x
Not really a ‘hack’ or whatever, but switched the 200g of plain chocolate to salted dark chocolate (still 70%) and found it really balanced out the mix 😍 love the recipe, thank you 🙌
Hey. I want to do these brownies in a bigger tin a 9 x 13 tin. What would the measurements be.
You would need half the amount of each ingredient again. So 100g flour would be 150g flour. 50g coco would be 75g. Hope that helps.
I use the same recipe in a 9inch tin and it works out fine for 25 mins x
Hey Jane,
But random but do you think I could add raspberries to this as a little extra?
Hi I don’t really like brownies with chu ks in I prefer just a plain one could I leave the chocolate chunks out and could I just use 200g of the choc chips
Hiya! The brownies work fine plain! Though, the base mix still needs 200g chocolate. Hope this helps! x
Hi Jane
You mentioned using 70% coco solid, is it vital that this is used? I couldn’t see any dark chocolate in the supermarket being 70% do you have any advice if something else could be used in its place?
Thanks
Hiya! Sometimes supermarket own chocolate can be 70%, or Lindt do it! I really recommend using this for the best results! Hope this helps! x
Hi! Please can you help…I’ve made these to the exact recipe and my top / crust always comes out paper thin and separates from the brownie – when cooked and cut it just flakes off. Is there a reason this would happen?
Hiya! This sounds like it is over whipped. Hope this helps! x