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Chocolate Fudge Brownie Cupcakes

posted in Sweets by Kathy Maister
Difficulty:
difficulty rating

I’ve just completed a video on how to make delicious Chocolate Fudge Brownies from scratch. It is surprisingly uncomplicated and a great recipe to introduce someone to baking.

(Baking means to cook any food in an oven with dry heat – it is also used to generally refer to the art of making breads and cakes, as in baker and bakeries.)

In this post, I’ll use the same recipe to show how to present brownies in a different way, giving them a different visual appeal. The brownies are going to be made in a (12-count) muffin tin instead of using the square pan I used in the video.

Brownie cupcakes made in a muffin tin are great fun to serve at home, or bring to a party. You can buy “special occasion” muffin tins that will make shapes like hearts, flowers, pumpkins, ghosts, or Christmas trees, that can really make cupcakes the centerpiece of a celebration!

If you have never done any baking before, you will need to buy a few ingredients that may not be already standard in your food cupboard. For this recipe, that will include all purpose white flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, (not instant hot chocolate but real unsweetened cocoa powder!) and vanilla extract.

Check the video (and the recipe card above!) for step-by-step instructions on making the brownie batter.

(By the way, when making soups and stews, precise measuring is not essential. However, baked goods like cakes, breads, cookies and brownies do require precise measuring.)

To make brownie cupcakes, line the muffin tin with tinfoil or paper “cupcake liners” and then spray it with non-stick cooking spray.

Just for comparison sake, I decided to also try using a silicone muffin tray as well. You may have seen this colorful, flexible, non-stick bakeware for sale in kitchen shops. They have generally received mixed reviews. I did not line mine with the cupcake liners, but I did give it a spray with the non-stick cooking spray.

Ladle the batter into the muffin pans with a small ladle…

…or a spoon.

Try to make them all the same size. Wipe up any drips or spills on the flat part of the muffin tray. Since the (red) silicone muffin tray is flexible, it is really essential to put it on a baking sheet to bake. Otherwise, lifting it in and out of the oven will be very difficult.

Bake the muffins in a 350-degree preheated oven for approximately 20 minutes. Check to see if they are done by sticking a toothpick into the center of the brownies. When you pull it out, it should have some moist crumbs attached to it.

Be careful not to over bake your brownies!

Remove the brownies from the oven and let them cool on a wire rack.

Use a knife to gently nudge the brownies out of the silicone pan.

The brownies with the cupcake liners just lift right out of the pan.

You can server the brownies with the liner paper or not. It comes off very easily.

Many reviewers of silicone bakeware say that baked products do not brown as nicely as when you use traditional bakeware. For these brownies, there was virtually very little difference, if any, in how they turned out. If you want fun-shaped brownies, I would recommend using the silicone muffin pan, otherwise a traditional muffin tin is just fine!

The really good thing about Chocolate Brownie cupcakes is that no one fights over who has the bigger piece of brownie!

Enjoy!

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25 Comments

Florian said:

I really enjoyed this recipe.

I am from Germany and I’m always searching for good Chocolate Fudge Brownie Recipies but this one was special! It was great in taste and great in making.

I would give 10 stars if there where any :-)

Kathy Maister said:

Florian, I am delighted to hear how well your brownies turned out! 10 stars….WOW!

eveliz said:

it came out very good

Kathy Maister said:

That’s fantastic!

Kathy Maister said:

METRIC CONVERSION TIP

Using the traditional (American) “Dip and Sweep” method to measure:

Flour: white, all-purpose, unbleached:

1 cup = 148 grams = 5.2 ounces

Rosy said:

would like to try this but not sure what how many gram of butter? 2 stick is equivalent to ? thanks.

Kathy Maister said:

Hi Rosy, 198 grams of butter will do the trick! Remember to also add extra time for your workout at the gym :)

Christa said:

Can you replace the butter with something else?

Gigi said:

Would you be so kind to post the amount of all ingredients in the metric sistem? I live in Italy and I would really love to make some brownies here too!

Kathy Maister said:

Gigi here is the metric conversion:

  • 198 grams of butter
  • 45 grams of unsweetened cocoa
  • 250 grams of sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 10 ml of vanilla extract
  • 75 grams of flour
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 120 grams of walnuts – chopped

Christa, here is a brownie recipe that does not use any butter, just vegetable oil.

Bab, thanks. :)

Jenna said:

Hey you now that brownies are good and one thing how can you not like chocolate fudge brownie cupcakes. My friend Megan loves chocolate, she will steal it off of your plate if you had some. Her first word when she was a baby was chocolate. She kept eating chocolate till she was 9 years old.

Cristina said:

hello ms. kathy,

if i’m going to use vegetable oil, the measurement will be the same as butter? 14 tbsp vegetable oil? thanks..

Kathy Maister said:

Hi Jenna, I think your friend should move to Switzerland. There is a chocolate shop on every corner of every block in every single town/city in the country!

Hi Christina, substitutions in baking are tricky even for experienced cooks. Substitutions in savory dishes like soups and stews are much easier. This brownie recipe was tested countless times to make sure the ingredients and amounts worked.

I have never tried this recipe using oil instead of butter so I am not even going to try to guess what the proper substitution should/would be.

If you do some experimenting, be sure to let us know how it turns out!

Elsa said:

Thank u very much for sharing this recipe.I want make sure if i use self rising flour will it be great???

Tyler said:

These were the best brownies I’ve ever made! I’ve been looking for a recipe that’s better than the box kind, and this is it. I’ve even made it with store brand butter and cocoa powder and no vanilla. They are great no matter what. Hands down the only brownie recipe I will ever make again. Where did the recipe come from, Kathy?

Kathy Maister said:

Thanks Tyler!
After researching tons of recipes I usually end of with about 1/2 dozen really great recipes. The hard part is to then translate them into a “startcooking” recipe for beginners. That usually involves repeatedly making the recipe until it not only tastes great but is also really easy to follow.

Cindy said:

Can I replace the coco powder with hot chocolate mix?

Jessica said:

Hello Cindy,

Cocoa powder is used in baking to give a really intense chocolate flavor, and hot chocolate mix won’t do the same thing. Hot chocolate mix contains sugar, powdered milk and cocoa butter, whereas cocoa powder is not sweetened and doesn’t contain cocoa butter.

You must stick to the recipe and use cocoa powder, rather than hot chocolate mix.

The end result will be worth it!

Jessica
Startcooking.com

Mercedes said:

hi! do you think I can substitute the cocoa powder
with melted chocolate chips?…and lessen the
sugar added in the recipe?

Theresa said:

Wow! This is amazing, I have spent over an hour browsing this site. I’ve flipped through so many cookbooks and I’ve never found recipes so simple and so easy to follow. I am a 19 year old college student and I rarely find time to cook, to be honest I avoid the kitchen because I have no idea what I’m doing, but your tips are sure to make a difference! I’m going to be trying your recipes for the remainder of my winter break and these brownies look delicious. Thank you so much for the clear advice, I love this website!

startcooking said:

Hi Mercedes, I think you might be better off finding a different recipe!

Welcome Theresa! I a delighted you have discovered startcooking.com! Good luck developing your cooking skills!

Cheers,
Kathy

Rhed said:

Awesome recipe, my whole family loves them. Thank you for posting this video with which I am made a hero of the kitchen.

startcooking said:

You are most welcome Rhed! Enjoy!

Betty said:

I tried these and they were great! Except one thing, they were really watery! I used the same amount of butter as you, but it was half raw even after it cooled down! How much butter should i use next time? Less?

startcooking said:

Hi Betty,
When baked goods do not come out as expected there could be a ton of reasons:
Was the oven temp set correctly?
Did you open the oven door while the brownies were cooking and throw off the timing?
Did you use real butter?
Did you measure the flour correctly?
Did you use cocoa powder? (Some people confuse it with hot chocolate mix)
I remember when I was making my Pecan Pie, I totally forgot the corn syrup and the pie never set!
Good luck next time!
Cheers,
Kathy

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