Food & Wine

We Tested 5 Brownie Recipes From Famous Chefs and Found the One We’ll Bake Again and Again

Few desserts carry the same weight as a brownie. It’s a treat that can transport you back to childhood while remaining your standard bakery order through adulthood. Whether baked to a rich and fudgy texture or airy with a cakelike quality, brownies offer a satisfying hit of deep chocolate flavor.

The best part about brownies is their ease and approachability. Recipes can incorporate more advanced pastry techniques, but they certainly don’t need to in order to achieve top-tier results. Excellent brownies can be made by simply whisking sugar, melted butter, and eggs together, then adding dry ingredients like cocoa powder, flour, and salt. Or they can incorporate chopped, melted chocolate, include a layer of homemade salty caramel, or even receive the s’mores treatment. These twists, though fun and creative, aren’t mandatory to achieve a deeply pleasing brownie.

The team at Food & Wine decided to dig into the brownie archives and revisit five classic recipes from famous chefs. The talented team of the People Inc. Food Studios tested the recipes, and a panel of tasters evaluated each for flavor, texture, and balance to identify the best of the bunch…