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.
In the picture it looks like bog chunks of chocolate not chocolate chips?
Either works – chocolate chips/chunks is whatever you want!
I made these brownies the other day and they went down a treat in fact it ran out so quickly , I was wondering if I could double the quantity and put it in a bigger tray or would it burn on the edges and be gooey in the middle?
If you click on the serving size, you should be able to alter this so it should then alter the recipe for you!
Thls recipe makes the best brownies. I have
experimented slightly using half light brown sugar and half caster sugar…..even fudgier! Didn’t affect the
brownies any other way, still had the classic brownie
top. I left mine in the fridge overnight before
attempting to cut which helped a lot. Incredible
Recipe, thanks.
Hi Jane, how long should the eggs and sugar take to mix, I’ve been using a handheld electric mixer for about 20mins, it has thixkened a little but when I lift the mixer out, the trail disappears straight away
Hey! I only whip mine for a few minutes in a stand mixer, so a handheld one shouldn’t take that much longer. It may mean the eggs were larger than you thought so the liquid ratio was a bit off – they should be fine to bake though x
Hi Jane. Have you used Callebaut Chunks of Callets fro this recipe? They look like chunks? I tend to use Melier chocolate because I like the shape of the pieces as well as the quality, but Melier is expensive! I’ve not used Callebaut before and want to buy in bulk for cost effectiveness.
What do you recommend please?
Yes, I use the callets!
I love these brownies so much and want to make them for my wedding favours in August, can they be frozen after they’ve been made and cooled?
Yes, they can!
How long can they stay frozen for and need to defrost? I was thinking about doing the same thing!
Made these as my first ever brownies, turned out amazing. Even if it did take 30min to whisk as I had to do it by hand! Would do again just for these brownies.
Next time could I use chopped bars of chocolate instead if chips or would it melt into the mixture too much to leave a more chunky texture than small chocolate chips give?
Amazing! Yes, you can indeed x
Hi Jane! What is the best way to reheat these brownies please to serve warm if I make them a day ahead. I’m planning on making them on Christmas eve for Christmas day.
Hello! One of the things I’ve struggled with when cooking brownies in the past is knowing when to take them out of the oven. 25-30 mins sounds about right but what should the consistency be when I take it out of the oven to make sure the brownies are gooey in the middle but not undercooked? Thank you x
Isabel Pitts: I’ve tried several brownies recipes. I think this one is awesome. I bake at 160 fan for 35 mins. My oven is quite ferocious.
I find the top should look shiny & cracked. There is still a definite wobble to the brownie, but not a sloppy one.
I’ve made these brownies many times and each time they have been 1000000/10. I was wondering if light brown sugar can be used as substitute for caster sugar?
Yes you can!! xx
Hiya, I’ve been using your recipes since lockdown i feel like a pro now.
My colleague has set me a challenge for egg free ones due to her allergy.
Any suggestions for the egg replacement please, I’ve looked online and it seems quite complicated. Please don’t let me fail 🙂
Hiya! It would be best to follow my vegan brownie recipe but use dairy butter and chocolate still x
I love this recipe, but they were just too rich. The dark chocolate overpowered the taste. Can you recommend anything to balance it out?
They are meant to be rich and fudgey, you can use vanilla extract or use a sweeter chocolate chip?
I always add one tsp of vanilla extract, and that makes for me the difference. Its my favorite recipe BY FAR 🙂
Can I use golden caster sugar in these Brownies to replace white caster sugar?
I have made these gorgeous pieces of loveliness several times but have lots of golden caster sugar & wondered if I can swop in.
Thank you.
Yes, you can!!
Hi, I followed the recipe and baked them for half an hour, they were still wobbling so ended up leaving for nearly an hour and just a slight wobble when removing from oven, after 30 mins cooling they hardened, I left them in the fridge for an hour and half and I’ve cut in to them and they’re wet in the middle, I can’t get brownies right 😫
What chocolate did you use for the base brownie, and how did you mix it? x
Hi I left them in the fridge for longer and they were amazing!!
I’m currently praying they are going to set. I cooked them for 35/40 minutes and they are VERY gooey in the centre still. I’m waiting for them to cool then going to pop in the fridge. The mixture didn’t seem to wet, I have been making brownies for years but it’s the first time using this recipe x
What exact chocolate did you use? This is often the culprit or that it wasn’t mixed correctly x