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The best espresso brownies with real espresso grounds! Fudgy and dense, adaptable recipe for a small or large pan!
The best espresso brownies with real espresso grounds! Fudgy and dense, adaptable recipe for a small or large pan!

Oh my goodness. These might be the best thing I’ve ever tasted. Get your baking ingredients ready because I hope by the end of this post I’ve convinced you to make them.

Last week I wrote about how even food bloggers sometimes use box mixes. Box mixes are great, but nothing will ever compare to these amazing homemade espresso chocolate chunk brownies. No box mixes in this recipe, just 100% love and espresso.

The best espresso brownies with real espresso grounds! Fudgy and dense, adaptable recipe for a small or large pan!

I’m not sure what kind of brownies you like, but I like thick, chocolatey brownies.

And that’s exactly where this recipe starts, with lots of melted chocolate. These brownies get there amazing espresso flavor from ground espresso.

Since Ryan worked at a coffee shop in high school, he has always loved coffee. So we have lots of coffee supplies around the house including regular coffee, decaf coffee, regular espresso grounds, decaf espresso grounds, a coffee maker, a french press, and an espresso machine.

Could we start our own coffee shop? I would have to buy more mugs :)

The best espresso brownies with real espresso grounds! Fudgy and dense, adaptable recipe for a small or large pan!

If you only have regular coffee grounds at your house, I would suggest picking up some espresso grounds or espresso powder to add to your baking collection. Using coffee grounds in this recipe will not produce the same flavor as espresso. You should be able to buy espresso grounds at any coffee shop in your neighborhood. Or you can buy it from Amazon, King Arthur Flour, and even Williams-Sonoma, take a look here.

If you’re contemplating buying espresso powder, you probably want to know what else it’s good for.

Besides using it to make espresso chocolate chunk brownies, it can be used when making cookies, cakes, cupcakes, cheesecake, flavoring pudding or mousse, add it to hot beverages, making espresso glaze, put it in banana bread, rub it on a pork tenderloin, use it to ‘dust’ baked goods like you would with powdered sugar, and lastly, make homemade mocha ice cream :)

The best espresso brownies with real espresso grounds! Fudgy and dense, adaptable recipe for a small or large pan!

Did I convince you to buy espresso powder?

I think I convinced myself to buy a few more containers!

The espresso glaze is optional and adds an extra punch of BOOYA!

If you’re a chocolate lover and if you love your morning cup of coffee, these are going to be a favorite!

The best espresso brownies with real espresso grounds! Fudgy and dense, adaptable recipe for a small or large pan!

The best espresso brownies with real espresso grounds! Fudgy and dense, adaptable recipe for a small or large pan!
5 from 2 ratings

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Espresso Chocolate Chunk Brownies

By: Beth
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 22 minutes
Total Time: 32 minutes
Servings: 16 -20 brownies
The best espresso brownies with real espresso grounds! Fudgy and dense, adaptable recipe for a small or large pan!

Ingredients

Brownies

  • 1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ¾ cup chopped chocolate chunks or semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 10 oz dark chocolate chips, equal to 1 & 1/4 cup
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces (1 cup)
  • 3-4 tbsp espresso grounds or espresso powder
  • 1 cup sugar
  • ½ cup packed brown sugar
  • 5 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze (optional)

  • 2 tsp espresso grounds or powder
  • 1 tbsp water
  • ½ tsp vanilla
  • ¾ to 1 cup powdered sugar

Instructions 

Brownies

  • Preheat the oven to 350º F. Liberally butter a 9x13 inch baking pan. Remove the eggs from the fridge.
  • In a bowl, mix together the flour, salt, cocoa powder and chopped chocolate chunks. Set aside.
  • In a medium saucepan over low heat, combine the dark chocolate morsels, butter and espresso. Stir the mixture occasionally until everything is melted. Once melted, remove the pan from the heat.
  • Add the sugar and brown sugar to the chocolate mixture in the saucepan and mix. If the mixture is not already at room temperature, allow it to cool for a few minutes before adding the eggs.
  • Add three eggs to the chocolate mixture and mix well. Add the remaining two eggs, and mix again. Stir in the vanilla.
  • Slowly combine the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture, stirring to mix. Avoid over mixing, if a little bit of the flour is visible that’s okay.
  • Transfer the batter into the 9x13 inch pan, spreading evenly. Bake in the center of the oven for 22-27 minutes, Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few crumbs. Let the brownies cool completely before cutting.

Glaze (optional)

  • In a small bowl, dissolve the 2 tsp of espresso into 1 tbsp of water. Stir in the vanilla and powdered sugar, mix everything until smooth. Drizzle the glaze over the brownies either before or after cutting them.
  • Store the brownies in an airtight container, either on the counter for up to 2 days or in the fridge.

Notes

To bake this recipe in an 8x8 inch square pan, divide each ingredient in half. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a few moist crumbs come out on a toothpick.

Nutrition

Calories: 407kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 89mg | Sodium: 192mg | Potassium: 253mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 34g | Vitamin A: 443IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 81mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutrition Disclosure

All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.

Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!

About Beth

I believe that everyone should have a go-to dessert to bring to parties! With hundreds of recipes, I'll help you find yours!

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43 Comments

  1. Pick me, pick me! *Waves hands in the air* I want one! I LOVE beautiful thick chocolate brownies like these!

  2. Thick and chocolatey – the way brownies should be! These look so incredible! I love the addition of espresso. What an awesome flavor combo!

  3. Beth, you win the blue ribbon for brownies from scratch! I never have the time, but some day when I do, I’m making these bad boys!

  4. I love how these are packed with espresso flavor, Beth! They look amazing! I wish I lived next door to you and could get samples :)

  5. Funny enough, I have always put espresso in my brownies, but I always just use those little samplers that I’ve picked up along the way. I JUST ran out and have been trying to figure out WHERE to buy espresso powder. Thanks for the tips! I’m picking some up this weekend. I LOVE that these have intense espresso flavor – you SHOULD open a coffee shop and put these on the menu;)

  6. I’m such a fan of brownies and these look absolutely divine, Beth! They definitely wouldn’t be safe around me!

  7. Hi there, I’ve been looking for quite some time for a recipe just like this so I’m really excited to try it!  I’m just wondering what kind of pan do you use for these?  Like metal or glass or does it matter?  Thank you!

  8. I have been dying to try this recipe! I went to a specialty store to get chocolate that was free trade; I refuse to buy chocolate from companies that utilizes slavery to harvest the cocoa beans. So here I am, supposedly ready to make these to-die-for treats, but after rereading the recipe I realize that I do not know what some descriptions mean: 3/4 cup chopped chocolate chunks (semi sweet? unsweetened? 88% cocoa?) I think you get my drift. The next ingredient is 10 oz dark chocolate morsels (again, I have the same questions). What I purchased is semi sweet morsels and semi sweet bars of chocolate. Please let me know how I can make this work. I can go back to the store and get the chocolate at many levels of cocoa. Please let me know how to make this recipe work as I really want these lovely sounding brownies in my tummy!

    1. Hi Katie! So chopped chocolate chunks are a type of chocolate that Nestle sells in the bags. I’m pretty sure they are semi-sweet, but they are literally called “Nestle Chunks.” For the 10oz dark chocolate morsels – they are called “Nestle Dark Chocolate Morsels” and you’ll need 10oz of them, which is 1 bag. I hope that helps!