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These Ina Garten Outrageous Brownies are hands-down the best brownies you’ll ever have – you have to try them. The gold standard for brownies. Ina’s brownies are famously known from her Barefoot Contessa shop (where people would drive from far away for just one of these brownies). Trust me when I tell you they’re better than any other brownie you’ve ever had (homemade or boxed). They are the fudgiest, chewiest, and best flavor profile of any brownie. (And you know I love all things chocolate.)

I can’t even begin to describe how much better these brownies are than most brownies I’ve tried. I’m pretty sure it’s the pound of butter and over 4 cups of melted chocolate. Most brownies just don’t have the right textures or ratios of chocolate to butter to flour. If you’ve been looking for the perfect brownie recipe, look no further (and note my tiny adaptations below). Just a couple things to make these turn out better for you.

Slight Changes to the Ina Garten Outrageous Brownies

Over the past year I’ve been making these Ina Garten Outrageous Brownies over and over with slight recipe adaptations to help with a couple issues: 1) hers are a little too buttery (butter would seep and pool in the bottom of the pan every time the brownies cooled), 2) hers have espresso powder (which I’m sure is delicious but we don’t drink coffee products, so wanted to adapt with some extra cocoa powder here), and 3) they were a little dark for my kids (so I adjusted the ratio of milk to semisweet chocolate and came up with the perfect ratio for our family).

Though Ina can do no wrong in my mind, there is one more gripe I have with her recipe format – she uses pounds for the chocolate – and I do prefer cups for the everyday recipe. I’ve indicated all these changes below on my recipe card – so hopefully its’s easier for you to read as well! I also should note I love them with walnuts (the crunch, the texture!), but I’ve made notes for omitting the nuts as well. When I make these for a group I leave out the nuts in case there are allergies.

Ina Garten Outrageous Brownies

These Ina Garten Outrageous Brownies are hands-down the best brownies you'll ever have – you have to try them. The gold standard for brownies. Ina's brownies are famously known from her Barefoot Contessa shop (where people would drive from far away for just one of these brownies). Trust me when I tell you they're better than any other brownie you've ever had (homemade or boxed). They are the fudgiest, chewiest, and best flavor profile of any brownie. (And you know I love all things chocolate.)

Slightly adapted to keep the butter from seeping and to have a less dark chocolate flavor.

Makes 24-36 brownies depending on size.

Recipe by Ina Garten

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 25

Cooling Time 15

Total Time 1

Serving Size 24

Equipment

Cooking Spray
parchment paper
12×17/18 large rimmed baking sheet
double boiler (small pot with boiling water and bowl placed on top of it)

Ingredients

Melted Chocolate Mixture

2 packages (11.5 oz each) milk chocolate chips (about 3.75 cups)
2 cups unsalted butter
1/4 cup cocoa powder

Wet Mixture

6 eggs, very large
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2¼ cups sugar

Dry Mixture

1¾ cups all-purpose flour (1/2 cup more flour than original recipe)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 bag (11.5 oz) semisweet chocolate chips (almost 2 cups)
3 cups chopped walnuts (sprinkled with a little flour and salt)
(alternately – if you'd like to keep these nut free, can sub extra 1-2 cups of semisweet chocolate chips)

Instructions

Begin by preparing your pan. Line the 12×17" rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and spray generously with nonstick cooking spray or oil.
Set aside.
Next prepare the melted chocolate mixture – in a small pot over simmering water, place a medium sized bowl.
Add in the 3.75 cups of milk chocolate chips, the 2 cups of unsalted butter, and the 1/4 cup of cocoa powder.
Mix well with a rubber spatula, and continue to mix until melted.
Once melted, remove from heat and set aside. Let cool for 10-15 minutes.
Once slightly cooled, preheat the oven to 350°F.
Next, in a large bowl, add all the wet ingredients (the eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract).
Mix until just incorporated (don't beat or over mix).
Add the cooled chocolate mixture into this wet mixture and mix until well incorporated.
In a separate medium-sized bowl, sift then mix the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Once combined, add to the chocolate and wet mixture in the large bowl.
Mix until just incorporated.
In a separate small bowl, mix the semisweet chocolate chips and the chopped walnuts. Sprinkle about 1/8 teaspoon of salt onto them and about 1/8 cup of flour.
Toss them well with the flour. This will help them from sinking to the bottom of the brownies.
Once mixed, fold the walnut and chocolate chip mixture into the brownie batter.
Once incorporated, pour the batter into the prepared baking sheet.

Baking the Brownies

Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the pan from the oven and lightly drop the baking sheet onto the stovetop to force the air to escape from the pan.
Return to oven and bake for about 15 more minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not overbake! Bake until just set and then remove from oven and let cool on the stovetop, while still in the pan.
I find it works best and cleanest to slice these with a plastic disposable knife about 5 minutes after they come out of the oven – this will ensure a clean slice.
You can eat these about 30 minutes after removing from oven, or my favorite way to eat them is refrigerated.
Keep covered and store in the fridge. Enjoy!!