Sarah Kieffer Brownies

About Sarah Kieffer’s Brownies

Sarah Kieffer’s brownies are light-yet-chocolaty, fudgy-yet-chewy, and complete with a shiny top that crinkles and flakes when sliced! The recipe comes together quickly, with a batter that is mixed by hand. This is the perfect brownie recipe for folks who love boxed mix brownies, and want something a little lighter and less intense than a dense and thick homemade fudge brownie recipe!

Wait, who is Sarah Kieffer?

Sarah Kieffer is the baking blogger behind The Vanilla Bean Blog and author of multiple baking cookbooks like The Vanilla Bean Baking Book, 100 Cookies, and Baking for the Holidays. Personally, she’s one of my favorite food bloggers. I trust all her recipes wholeheartedly and rely on her recipes for all kinds of baked goods (like this New York-style cheesecake, or these Neapolitan cookies).

For more delicious homemade brownie recipes, check out Hummingbird High’s Brownies, Blondies, & Bars Recipe Archive! Popular recipes include these Chewy and Fudgy Purple Ube Brownies and Small Batch Almond Flour Brownies.

Ingredients and Substitutions

Now that I’ve convinced you to make Sarah Kieffer’s brownies, here’s everything you need for the recipe:

Natural Unsweetened Cocoa Powder versus Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder

Cocoa powder, when used in baking recipes, often comes in two varieties: natural unsweetened, and Dutch-processed.

Natural unsweetened cocoa powder is more typical and is cocoa powder in its purest form. It is slightly reddish brown in color and results in deeply flavored chocolate goods. Because it is slightly acidic, it is often paired with baking soda in baking recipes to help create a chemical reaction that will cause the baked good to rise in the oven.

Dutch-processed cocoa powder is natural unsweetened cocoa powder that’s been treated with alkaline to neutralize its acidity, giving it a darker color and milder flavor. It is the cocoa powder that is used for making midnight-black baked goods like Oreos.

I only have natural unsweetened cocoa powder. Can I use that instead?

Yes! You can substitute natural unsweetened cocoa powder for the Dutch-processed cocoa powder in this recipe, no problem. Just a head’s up—your brownies will look and taste just ever-so-slightly different than mine. They will have a more reddish-brown color instead of a blackish-brown one. They’ll also taste a little bit sharper from the acidity of the cocoa powder.

How To Make The Recipe

Here are the basic steps to make Sarah Kieffer’s brownies from scratch:

1. Prep the ingredients for the brownies. (Prep Time: 5 to 10 minutes)
   It usually takes 5 minutes to prep—that is, measure out all the ingredients needed for the recipe itself—for most of the recipes on Hummingbird High. However, if you’re using chocolate bars to make these brownies, you need to chop up the chocolate. Doing so usually takes around 5 minutes.
   
   To save yourself time, buy thin chocolate bars that are easier to slice. You can also use a food processor to chop the chocolate. But my personal recommendation is to use chocolate discs or fèves for the recipe! You won’t need to chop them before melting.
   
   
2. Start making the brownie batter by melting the chocolate and butter together. (Work Time: 10 minutes)
   Combine the chopped chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler (or a homemade one—see FAQ for more info!). Melt over medium heat until smooth. Whisk in the cocoa powder, then set aside to cool slightly while you work with the rest of the ingredients.
   
   
3. Make the rest of the brownie batter. (Work Time: 5 minutes)
   The rest of the recipe goes by in a breeze. Whisk together the eggs, sugars, and vanilla. Add the melted chocolate, whisking to combine. Then, mix in the remaining dry ingredients by hand with a rubber spatula. That’s it!
   
   
4. Assemble the brownies. (Work Time: <5 minutes)
   Pour the brownie batter into an 8-inch square pan lined with parchment paper. Spread the batter evenly across the pan with an offset spatula, and smooth its top if necessary.
   
   
5. Bake the brownies. (Bake Time: 25 minutes)
   Sarah Kieffer’s brownie recipe bakes for between 30 and 35 minutes. When baking brownies, it’s always better to pull them out of the oven early. Leaving them in too long means that they’ll turn out tough! Check out the recipe and FAQ below for more tips.

Recipe Troubleshooting and FAQ

Is it better to use a glass or metal pan when baking brownies?

Alright, here we go—when you google the answer to this question, the first few search results will tell you that it is better to use a glass pan when baking brownies. THEY ARE 100% INCORRECT. It is my *FIRM* opinion that it is always, ALWAYS better to use a metal pan when baking brownies.

Why? Glass pans are slow to heat up; however, when hot, they retain heat for much longer. This quality often results in uneven baking. By the time the interior of whatever you’re baking is done, the exterior of it is often overcooked, dry, and overly dark.

What does that mean for these fudgy brownies? If you’re baking the brownies in a glass pan, they’ll continue to bake LONG after being pulled out of the oven because the pan continues to retain so much heat. That usually means dense, dry, and overcooked brownies that are not fudgy at all.

Metal, on the other hand, conducts heat. Because metal heats up faster than glass, it leads to brownies with a better rise (but without being cake) with crispier edges. And because metal pans lose heat quickly after being pulled out of the oven, your brownies will too. That means the brownies will cool faster, and they won’t be overdone. Instead, they will instead be perfectly fudgy and set. So please use a metal pan for this recipe!

Finally, if you want to be a perfectionist, choose a light colored metal pan over a dark metal pan. Dark pans absorb more heat, which, like glass, can cause the exterior of the brownies to bake too quickly. I always use pans from Williams-Sonoma’s Goldtouch Pro Nonstick line for my baking.

Help! My brownies don’t have the shiny paper crinkle top like yours do. What did I do wrong?

It’s likely that you either:

a) used too much flour
b) used too little sugar
c) baked the brownies for too long and/or used the wrong type of pan to make them.

First, let’s talk about measuring ingredients. A lot of people don’t have the right technique when using measuring cups. It’s easy to use too much flour when using volume measures. Don’t use the measuring cup to scoop the flour in the bag and pack it down into the cup. Instead, set the measuring cup on the counter and then spoon the dry ingredients into it. Once it’s formed a small mound, don’t pack it down. Use a butter knife or bench scraper to level it off.

While this technique works best for ingredients like flour, you’ll need to do the exact opposite for measuring brown sugar. Spoon the brown sugar into the measuring cup. Once it’s formed a small mound, pack it down, then add more brown sugar until it is level with the top of the measuring cup.

Finally, if you used the techniques above OR used weight measures (which I always recommend, since you won’t need to fuss with the techniques I just outlined) and are STILL experiencing issues, it’s likely that the brownies were overbaked. Check out the FAQ above on why you should always use a metal pan when baking brownies, as well as the baker’s notes below on how to test brownies for doneness.

Can you freeze this brownie recipe?

Yes! You can freeze the baked brownies.

To freeze the brownies, individually wrap any leftover bars in two layers of plastic wrap, then a layer of aluminum foil. The aluminum foil will prevent the bars from absorbing any other flavors or odors in the freezer. Freeze for up to 3 months.

When ready to serve, transfer to the refrigerator to thaw overnight. You can eat the brownies straight from the fridge, or rewarmed in the microwave.