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If you love the rich flavor of brownies but prefer the lighter, airy texture of cake, these Cake-Like Brownies are just what you need. They combine all the chocolatey goodness of classic brownies with a soft, melt-in-your-mouth finish that makes them irresistible.
Best of all, they come together quickly with pantry staples you probably already have, so there’s no need for a last-minute grocery run.
With just 10 minutes of prep time, these cake brownies are perfect for busy weeknights or when you want to whip up a quick treat. Plus, they store beautifully and freeze well, so you can always have a sweet bite on hand.
Whether you’re making them for your family or sharing them with friends, they’re sure to be a hit.
One reader, Piper, commented: “I’ve made this recipe twice in the last week. I added finely chopped pecans to the top the minute they came out of the oven. I think you should rename the recipe “Fall In Love With Me Brownies”. Hands down the best I’ve ever had! Easy recipe with brilliant results. ★★★★★ ”
Why We Love This Cakey Brownie Recipe!
- Simple Ingredients: You find you likely will have the ingredients on hand in your pantry. If not all the ingredients are easily found at your local grocery store.
- Easy Homemade Recipe: While a box brownie is good you can whip up these delicious homemade brownies in just minutes. They have such amazing flavor and texture even better than making them from the box.
- Chocolate Lovers Dream: These super chocolatey brownies will certainly satisfy that sweet tooth.
Cake Like Brownies Ingredients
- Granulated Sugar: You can use regular white granulated sugar ororganic sugar if you like. Either works well.
- Butter: Unsalted butter is the fat you will use for these brownies and makes them buttery and gives that gooey goodness.
- Cocoa Powder: Brownies made with cocoa powder have a deep chocolate flavor and a nice soft texture. You can use regular unsweetened cocoa powder or get an organic cocoa powder.
- Flour: All-purpose flour is what you need for this recipe.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda: These are the leavening agents used to give a cake-like texture to this homemade brownie recipe.
- Eggs: Large eggs bind the brownies together.
- Vanilla Extract: Vanilla gives another layer of flavor.
- Milk: I use whole milk to add moisture, but you can use 2% milk as well.
- Chocolate Chips: Even more chocolate gooey goodness goes into making the best brownie recipe.
How To Make Cake Brownies Step by Step
✱ Be sure to see the recipe card below for exact ingredients and full recipe instructions!
Step 1 | Preheat Oven & Prep Pan
Preheat the oven to 350° and prepare the baking pan with cooking spray or grease the pan with butter.
Step 2 | Prepare Chocolate Mixture and Flour Mixture
In a saucepan over medium-low heat, melt butter with sugar and cocoa powder.
While the chocolate butter mixture is melting, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Pour the chocolate mixture into a large bowl. This will also allow the chocolate to cool slightly before adding the eggs.
Step 3 | Combine Wet and Dry Ingredients
Add the eggs and vanilla to the chocolate sugar mixture and stir together. Then add in a small amount of flour and stir to combine. Next, add in a small amount of milk and stir to combine. Repeat until all of the wet ingredients are combined into the chocolate mixture.
Step 4 | Fold in Chocolate Chips, Pour into Baking Dish, & Bake
Add in chocolate chips and fold into the brownie batter with a spoon or spatula.
Then, pour the batter evenly into the prepared baking dish. Once it is in the pan, smooth the top evenly with the spatula.
Place in the oven and bake until fluffy and the wooden pick or cake tester is mostly clean.
Let the brownies cool for about 20 minutes before cutting them. (If you can wait that long).
Variations and Substitutions
Tips for Cake Like Brownies
- Warming the butter, cocoa powder, and sugar together blooms the cocoa powder and is an important step in enhancing the cocoa powder taste. It also helps break down the sugar crystals, resulting in a soft and moist brownie.
- Transferring the butter mixture to a bowl will cool it down a bit before adding the eggs so the eggs don’t cook in the batter.
- This recipe has also been tested using margarine and salted butter. If using salted butter or margarine in place of unsalted butter, you’ll want to cut the salt in half.
- If you want to remove the brownies from the pan before cutting and serving, place enough parchment paper to cover the pan bottom and come up the sides. Then, you can easily pull the brownies out of the pan after they cool.
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How to Store Brownies?
Storage: Store your brownies in an airtight container or cover them with plastic wrap or foil, at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can store them in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Freeze: You can also freeze them. Store them in the freezer in a freezer-safe container or zip bag (labeled) for up to 3 months. For best results, cut the brownies before freezing them. You can take one brownie out at a time.
To thaw, place on a plate on the counter at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on your home’s temperature.
Brownie Recipe from Scratch FAQs
Cakey brownies use both baking powder and baking soda, which will lift the brownies, giving them a fluffy and lighter texture compared to more dense and chewy texture of other brownies.
There are a few things you can do to make the best brownies.
First, you’ll want to bloom your cocoa powder by warming it with butter. This will enhance the cocoa flavor in the brownies.
The next thing you can do is to make sure that your eggs and sugar are well incorporated into the batter before baking. The more you incorporate those into your batter, the more air will develop in the batter, resulting in a fluffy brownie.
Avoid overbaking or underbaking your brownies. Overbaking will result in dry brownies, and underbaking will result in soft brownies. These brownies come out perfectly in 35 minutes. Make sure to test your brownies for 30 minutes (because every oven is different) with a wooden pick. If it comes out clean, it’s ready to cool.
Allowing your brownies to chill for at least 10 minutes also helps. Brownies can become very flaky if they’re cut too early. Allow your brownies to cool to give you the perfect brownies.
Since this is a cake-like brownie, using a metal pan isn’t quite as crucial as when baking a fudge brownie. Metal pans are typically the best choice for brownies. They heat up quickly and distribute heat evenly, leading to brownies with a perfectly cooked interior. A glass pan heats up slower and retains heat longer, which can sometimes cause the brownies to cook more slowly and leave the edges overcooked while the center stays underdone. A ceramic pan was used in the images & testing at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, which worked fine for this recipe.
More Chocolate Recipes
Looking for more chocolate goodness to enjoy give these recipes a try!
- Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake
- Chocolate Cake with Whipped Oreo Icing
- Crock-Pot Chocolate Turtle Candy
- Yogurt Parfait Chocolate Chip Granola Cups from Julie at The Little Kitchen
- Cherry Chocolate Chip No-Churn Ice Cream from my friend at Norine’s Nest
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Cakey Brownie Recipe from Scratch
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar, you can reduce to 1 ¼ cup if desired (250 g)
- ¾ cup unsalted butter
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips, (you can also use milk or dark chocolate)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease and line a 9 X 13 pan with spray oil and parchment paper and set aside.
- In a saucepan, heat the sugar, butter, and cocoa powder over medium heat. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, stir the mixture intermittently (you’ll heat the mixture until the butter melts). Remove from heat.
- While the butter mixture is melting, in a medium mixing bowl add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Using a whisk, stir to combine.
- Once the butter melts, transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Add in the eggs and vanilla. Using a wooden spoon, spatula, or whisk, stir gently and incorporate the eggs until the eggs have combined with the butter/chocolate mixture.
- Add a small amount of the flour mixture to the butter/chocolate mixture, stir to combine using a whisk, wooden spoon, or spatula, then add a small amount of the milk. Stirring to combine the ingredients. Repeat this process until all of the ingredients are well incorporated.
- Then add the chocolate chips to the batter. Using a wooden spoon or a spatula, fold them in.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake at 350°F for about 35 minutes or until a wooden pick comes out clean in the center.
- Once done, remove from the oven and cool for 20 minutes in the pan before cutting into the brownies.
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Nutrition Information
Nutritional Disclaimer
Soulfully Made is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.
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My family is obsessed with the Pillsberry milk chocolate brownie mix. We are trying to get away from all of the artificial ingredients and I was looking for something that I could make from scratch. I switched the semi sweet chocolate chips out for milk chocolate chocolate chips, and these are to die for!! we will never go back to that poisonous brownie box mix again. Thank you so much!
I am so glad you found this Cakey Brownie Recipe and it’s a winner with you family!
Has anyone skipped the cooking step and just melted the butter? Just courteous. I followed the recipie as written except for adding a heaping teaspoon of expresso powder. Also I used hersheys special dark cocoa powder. Brownies were very good and not too sweet.
I made this just as written, and they turned out amazing!!!!
Thank you, Sherril!
Sandy, I have only made these in a 9 X 13 pan so I cannot recommend another size without testing it.
Do I need to cool the butter cocoa mixture before adding the eggs?
I remove it from the saucepan to a bowl and that will cool it down before mixing in the egg.
I would love to try this recipe but am unsure as to the type of cocoa to use. I have Hershey’s Special Dark 100% Cacao. Is that the correct kind of cocoa?
I usually use an unsweetened cocoa powder 100% Cocoa (Hershey’s or Ghirardelli have good ones), but really haven’t made with the dark chocolate one personally. If you really love dark chocolate you may really enjoy them though.
Very good recipe third time making it 😊
Thank you, Julie! I love to hear you are enjoying them again and again!
I had stopped even trying to make brownies because they are all so fudgy- so glad I tried this recipe! I made it vegan by using flax eggs and plant milk. I used 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 cup Walnuts. I also added a peanut butter swirl. These are so amazing and our new favorite!
Thank you for giving them a try! I am so happy to hear you love them! They are a cake brownie lovers dream for sure! I love your additions!
I’ve been looking for a good cake brownie recipe and I’ve finally found it. I followed the recipe exactly and they came out perfect. Fluffy and chocolatey and delicious.
Thank you, Suzy! I am so glad you enjoyed them!!
Hi Nikki
I would love to try your recipe , just wondering if it can be scaled down to fit 8×8 square ? Do you perhaps have the quantities in grams , I’m in Australia so our cup sizes are different and so much easier to rather weigh ingredients
I have not tested this in a smaller pan, but it really is made for a 9 X 13 pan given the amount of batter. I did add the conversions for you and you will now find them in the recipe card. Just click on the metric link in the ingredients section.
Looks so good- can I put it in an 8×11 dish? Thanks
Sandy, I haven’t tested them in that pan size, but it should work for you. You may need to adjust (increase) the cook time a bit.