Easy Traybake Brownies

Have you been looking for an easy to bake traybake brownie recipe? Well these deliciously fudgy homemade brownies are rich, and chocolatey, and designed to serve a crowd. A traybake size tin makes them perfect for parties, bake sales, birthdays or simply if you want to make a larger quantity.

This is one of those delicious recipes that you will come back to again and again as it’s made with only six ingredients, takes 10 minutes to whip up and then it’s easy to bake the brownies, set them for a fudgy texture and have the best brownies ever.

Notes from The Patisserie

I have made well over one thousand trays of brownies in varying forms throughout the years of running this blog, with over 60 brownie based recipes between my blog and books, I would say I am a pretty good brownie expert.

My recipes are fudgy, dense (in a good way how brownies should be), rich and full of flavour and utterly delicious. They are the sort of brownies that people always want more of, and are ideal if you like them warm and gooey and served with ice cream, or cold and delicious straight out the fridge.

Ingredient notes and tips

The full recipe can be found below in the recipe card, but here are some hints and tips on what to use ingredients wise for the best brownies:

• Chocolate – I would always recommend to use dark chocolate in baking brownies, and I always aim for 70%+ in cocoa content. I avoid well known brands of chocolate and just use basic cooking chocolate or basic confectionary chocolate
• Butter – you can use unsalted (or salted) block butter, or you can use a baking spread. Many people believe that using block butter provides a better set of brownie at the end but I swap between the both
• Eggs – I use six medium eggs for this bake, but you can use five large eggs instead
• Sugar – I use either caster sugar or light brown soft sugar, or whatever I have in the cupboard. You can use golden caster sugar, or a mix of them all if that’s what you have – just aim for the same weight.
• Flour – make sure to use plain/all purpose flour, and NOT self raising flour as you do not want any raising agents.
• Cocoa powder – I would always recommend using pure cocoa powder, and not a hot chocolate powder (as they lack cocoa and are mainly sugar). The stronger the cocoa the better, and I use 100% cocoa powder for a deep chocolatey flavour

What makes this a good traybake?

This brownie recipe is entirely based on my famous easy triple chocolate brownies because the actual brownie batter is delightfully delicious and easy to make, and I love it. I wanted to make a version of the recipe that was larger, and baked into a traybake tin, as I get weekly questions and requests for a recipe like this.

Some other countries might call these something different, but this is a true traybake in my opinion. I use a 9×13″ tin, but a 9×12″ or 8×12″ should be fine (but this slightly smaller one will make the brownies a little deeper and could change the baking time)

Always allow the chocolate and butter mix to cool for at least 5 minutes, otherwise the heat could deflate the eggs and sugar.

Make sure when baking to use room temperature eggs (I always keep mine at room temperature anyway) and make sure to let the eggs and sugar whisk together well so that the whisk leaves a trail in the bowl if lifted up.

Always fold the ingredients together to prevent deflating the air you have created and also make sure to not over bake the brownies. As this core recipe doesn’t have any mix-ins, despite being a larger size, it doesn’t take long to bake at all.

Different flavours and mix-ins

As mentioned, I have purposely written this recipe as a plain and basic brownie (which makes it bake quicker than you’d think = the same baking time as the regular 9″ recipe with mix-ins) but I know this traybake would be ideal for flavouring in multiple different ways.

Taking inspiration from my other recipes such as my biscoff brownies, rolo brownies and even my pistachio brownies, there are lots of ways you can adapt and make these brownies whatever flavour you want.

• Adding a spread – you could swirl through 300g of melted spread such as biscoff spread, Nutella, pistachio spread or even white chocolate hazelnut spread.
• Adding chocolate chips – as this is a larger tray size, I would recommend adding a minimum of 200g of chocolate chips or chunks (all the way up to 500g worth). You can use any ready made chocolate chip, or just use any bar of chocolate and chop them up. I like to fold them into the mix, before pouring into the tin
• Adding a sauce – if using something such as caramel, or even a coulis of sorts, I would add about 200-300g of sauce and swirl through slightly.
• Adding nuts – you can add chopped nuts of any variety really, including pistachios, hazelnuts, pecans, walnuts etc. I like to chop them up and fold them into the mix, before pouring into the tin

Adding in any mix-in can increase the baking time, due to the volume of the ingredients being different, and also some being a more liquid element. The baking time for most will only be a few minutes more (25-30 minutes) but keep an eye on the tray in general. The key is baking for a small wobble to the mixture, not completely gooey liquid.

FAQs

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 fudgy 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.