Triple-Chocolate Brownies

Tell the world you’re working on a brownie recipe and you unleash everyone’s inner critic. Should brownies be fudgy or cakey? Should they contain only dark chocolate, or is milk chocolate invited to this party? Listen, we’re not about to make any grand declarations about what a brownie should be. We’re just here to offer you our best brownie recipe: The chewy, crackly topped, chocolate-loaded version that requires only a bit more work than the boxed mix. We promise, they’re worth it.

As much as we love peanut-butter-spiked or cheesecake-swirled fudge brownies, this triple-chocolate brownie recipe is our everyday hero. It has (you guessed it) three types of chocolate—but no, we aren’t talking about milk or white chocolate chips. Melted bittersweet chocolate forms the fudgy-smooth base for the brownies; unsweetened cocoa powder adds pure, intense chocolate flavor and reduces the amount of flour needed as a binder; and semisweet chocolate chips provide textural contrast, forming molten pools while the brownies are warm and hardening into crunchy chocolate chunks once cooled.

No need for an electric mixer: Simply combine the melted butter-chocolate mixture with the sugar and eggs over a double boiler, then remove the bowl from the heat to fold in the dry ingredients and chocolate chips (be sure not to overmix, which will result in dry brownies). For crisp edges and a dense center, bake the brownie batter in a metal pan, as it transfers heat more readily than glass. We’re well aware that some people prefer gooey brownie batter over brownies themselves, but follow the recommended baking time for this one: It yields perfectly sliceable, still-fudgy brownies that pair remarkably well with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Watch Chris’s development process here!