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Whole Grain Brownies
Tasting is believing! These whole wheat brownies are the treat we serve when we're trying to convince folks that baking with whole grains doesn't have to be an exercise in deprivation! Moist, rich, and deeply, darkly chocolate, these brownies are the ones to go through life with.
This recipe is featured in our Bake the Bag challenge: a series of nine recipes that, when baked, take you through an entire 5-pound bag of white whole wheat flour. Want to see the rest of the challenge recipes? Sign up to Bake the Bag!
Ingredients
- 16 tablespoons (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups light brown sugar
- 3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder, optional but recommended
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour, organic preferred
- 2 cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan; line the pan with parchment paper if desired.
- In a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl, or in a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine.
- Return the mixture to the heat (or microwave) briefly just till it's hot (about 110°F to 120°F) but not bubbling. Don't worry if it separates; just stir it briefly to recombine a bit. Heating this mixture a second time will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies.
- Transfer the mixture to a bowl, and stir in the cocoa, salt, baking powder, espresso powder if using, and vanilla.
- Add the eggs, stirring till smooth.
- Then add the flour and chips, again stirring till smooth. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake the brownies for 30 minutes, until a cake tester or sharp knife poked into the center reveals wet crumbs, but not raw batter. The brownies should feel set on the edges and in the center. Remove them from the oven, and cool completely on a rack.
Nutrition Information
- Serving Size 60g
- Servings Per Batch 24
Amount Per Serving:
- Calories 247
- Calories from Fat 120
- Total Fat 14g
- Saturated Fat 8g
- Trans Fat 0g
- Cholesterol 56mg
- Sodium 134mg
- Total Carbohydrate 32g
- Dietary Fiber 2g
- Sugars 25g
- Protein 3g
* The nutrition information provided for this recipe is determined by the ESHA Genesis R&D software program. Substituting any ingredients may change the posted nutrition information.
Tips from our bakers
- You can add 1 cup of nuts, or try other flavor combinations that appeal to you: toffee chips, or white chocolate, peanut butter, cappuccino, or mint chips. The total volume of mix-ins shouldn't exceed 3 cups, and may increase baking time by 3 to 5 minutes.
- If you want to cut shapes out of the brownies, line the baking pan with a sheet of parchment paper. Use a paper or metal spring clip to secure the parchment to the edge of the pan so it doesn't flop down on the batter as it bakes. After the brownies are cool, you can use the parchment to lift the slab of brownies out of the pan, making them easier to frost or glaze, and cut.
- We discovered something interesting when sampling these. For those finicky about texture (kids!), try waiting 24 hours before cutting into these brownies. Why? The wait gives the wheat bran a chance to soften and "disappear," texture-wise.
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Reviews
Delicious. I served the next day as suggested. I used 1/2 the espresso powder but may use full amount next time.
Excellent recipe! So nice experience sharing with the WG Baking Bag initiative.! Congratulations. Thank you. 5 stars (I could not select the directly, I no doubt wanted sending my opinion)
This is my favorite thus far of the Bake the Bag series. I did wait almost 24 hours to cut them. They are fudgy and cakey. I used the Burgundy Cocoa. As I poured the cocoa out to weigh, it smelled amazing. I had never used it before. I think it will be my go to Dutch process cocoa from now on. I did not have the organic whole wheat flour so I use the white whole wheat. I used a 70% chocolate chip. I will definitely be making these again.I will definitely be making these again.
These bake into what I'd call the perfect brownie - they are moist and somewhat fudgy but still cakey enough to be a brownie. Great texture, appearance, easy to toss together. Delicious both on the same day baked and the next. Our favorite of the Bake the Bag series so far!
Using 100% whole wheat makes these good for you, right? I sure hope so, because I at more of them than I probably should have. In my house we prefer whole wheat for bread, buns, rolls, biscuits, etc., and we're finding, thanks to the Bake the Bag challenge, that it works great for sweets, too. OK, so maybe it doesn't exactly make them health food, but you can feel better about eating a few of these brownies knowing that they're made with whole grains. As with the other recipes we've tried for the challenge so far (banana bread and chocolate chip cookies), we thought the sugar could be cut back a bit in these. But they were moist, rich, and delicious. My daughter took them to a party, and they passed muster with a group of 14-year-old girls. We will definitely be making these again!
Delicious! My husband said he could smell chocolate before he walked in the door. :-)
I was very pleasantly surprised by this recipe. I'm not generally a fan of whole wheat flour in "sweets," but you really don't taste the whole wheat in these brownies. I will say that the advice on the recipe to let them sit overnight is valid. I tasted a small piece when they were right out of the oven and didn't think I'd like them (because of whole wheat taste), but the next morning they tasted just like really chocolatey brownies! I made them exactly like the recipe, weighing my ingredients as advised. Excellent!
My family, friends and I love this recipe! I recently tweaked it to make it vegan for my husband that is on a vegan diet and they also turned out delicious! I substituted the butter for almond butter and the eggs for applesauce (8 ounces applesauce), plus added a drop or two of mint essential oil. I cooked them for 25 minutes. They were awesome and very fudgy!
I cut down on the flour, the baking powder, the oven temperature, and the baking time and these brownies still came out rather dry and cake like. They aren't bad, by any means, they just aren't as good as a traditional fudge brownie made with unsweetened or bittersweet chocolate.
I made these according to the directions (except for the espresso powder) for the first time and they are very good. A little moister on day 2, as the recipe states. Brought the pan to work and got very good reviews. To me, they were tasty, but not quite as good as the on-the-fence brownie recipe that i have always followed. They are the best! These a close 2nd.
