One-Bowl Fudgy Espresso Brownies Recipe (Starbucks Copycat)

Missing the discontinued Starbucks Espresso Brownies? Well, miss them no more! These rich, chocolatey, chewy brownies are a wonderful copycat recipe of the real deal. And I worked at Starbucks for years! These brownies are sure to please your coffee and chocolate cravings.

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Fudgy Espresso Brownies Recipe

If you were a patron of Starbucks many years ago, you probably remember their famous Espresso Brownies. When I was a barista, this baked good was always such a great seller, and most days would sell out. I never understood the hype until I got to taste a sample and holy moly! I fully understood the obsession. The rich chocolate, the aromatic espresso flavor, and the chocolate chunks you would get in every bite were just incredible.

They were truly, the best espresso brownie recipe for chocolate and coffee lovers alike! Why they stopped making them, I’ll never know, but now you can make this homemade Starbucks brownie recipe right from the comfort of your own home! Plus, you can save yourself a lot of money with these very simple ingredients you can find at any grocery store.

My husband is the ultimate taste taster in my household. He gives me honest feedback which I appreciate. He’s not a huge chocolate lover but is a major coffee lover. My husband never had the pleasure of trying a real Starbucks espresso brownie, so he didn’t really have anything to compare these to. But when he tried them, he asked, “Are these coffee brownies?” He clearly didn’t hear me say that I was trying to replicate Starbucks’ espresso brownies haha! So I guess I did my job and made sure the coffee flavor was there!

The Players aka The Ingredients

• Unsweetened Baking Chocolate – I like to purchase the baking bar from my local grocery store and roughly chop it. This will give the brownies a deep chocolate flavor.
• Sugar – Regular granulated white sugar to sweeten these fudgy brownies.
• Canola Oil – I’m using canola oil for the fat in these brownies. Feel free to use Vegetable oil or melted butter if you prefer.
• Brewed Espresso – I have a Nespresso machine that I absolutely love to use! For this brownie recipe, I brew 2 ounces of espresso and allow it to cool before using the espresso. You can also use brewed black coffee! Just save a little bit of coffee from your morning pot!
• Espresso Powder – In order to get a deep, rich coffee flavor, we’ll be adding in some additional help for our brewed espresso! A couple of teaspoons of espresso instant coffee will do the trick.
• Vanilla Extract – The addition of Vanilla extract will help bring out the chocolate flavor even more.
• Eggs – You’re going to want to use large eggs for this brownie recipe. The larger the better! To help bring them to room temperature faster, crack the eggs in a bowl and allow them to sit out for 30 minutes. Make sure you beat the eggs for at least one minute so they are bubbly and light!
• Flour – You’ll need just plain old all purpose flour to make the ultimate fudgiest brownies!
• Cocoa Powder – I told you this was a fudgy brownie! Cocoa powder helps give the brownies a rich chocolate flavor.
• Chocolate Chunks – These are another crucial ingredient to getting indulgent brownies! I save 1/2 cup to add on top of the brownies before baking them.

How to Make These One-Bowl Fudgy Espresso Brownies

First things first, you’ll want to place your oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Take a 13″x9″ baking dish and line it with parchment paper, spray with non-stick cooking spray, and set aside.

Using a double boiler, add your unsweetened chocolate that’s been roughly chopped into a large bowl and stir continuously with a rubber spatula until the chocolate has melted.

If you don’t know what a double boiler is, don’t worry! All it is, is a medium saucepan that has been filled with a few inches of water set over low heat. You don’t want a lot of water, because you don’t want the boiling water touching the bottom of your bowl that you will place over the saucepan. See the picture below for an idea of what this looks like.

Once your unsweetened chocolate has melted, add in your sugar and oil and whisk well until thoroughly combined. Afterward, add your sugar has dissolved into the melted chocolate, whisk in your cooled espresso, espresso powder, and vanilla extract.

Add in your large eggs that have been beaten and whisk well.

Now’s the time to add in your dry ingredients to the chocolate mixture. Add your flour and cocoa powder to the mixture and stir until the flour and cocoa powder has been incorporated fully. Stir in 1 1/2 cups of the chocolate chunks.

Pour the brownie batter into your prepared baking pan, ensuring the batter is evenly distributed in your prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of chocolate chunks evenly over the batter.

Place brownies in the center of the oven and bake the brownies for 25-28 minutes, checking the brownies at 25 minutes. To check if the brownies are done, stick a toothpick in the center of the brownie and pull out. If there are no crumbs on the toothpick, they are done!

Allow the espresso brownies to cool completely on a wire rack before cutting them into 16 squares. Or if you want them to be precisely like Starbucks brownies, cut larger squares, then cut them in half on the diagonal to create triangle shapes.

Can I use Chocolate Chips Instead of Chocolate Chunks?

If you’re having trouble finding chocolate chunks for these chocolate espresso brownies (I find my chocolate chunks at Walmart!), you can absolutely substitute the chocolate chunks for dark chocolate chips or even semisweet chocolate chips! You would use the same amount of two cups of chocolate chips (saving 1/2 a cup to sprinkle on top).

Want to try other Starbucks Copycat Recipes?

I’m on a journey to try and re-create Starbucks present (and past!) treats so that they are easy to make and so much more affordable. If you ever have any suggestions of what Starbucks treat I should try to replicate next, leave me a comment! I have quite the list I want to work on, but welcome more! For now, I’ll leave with these other yummy Starbucks copycat treats:

• Starbucks Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin
• Starbucks Dupe Pumpkin Loaf Recipe
• Starbucks Dupe Pumpkin Scone Recipe
• Starbucks Iced Lemon Loaf Copycat Recipe

If you end up trying these easy espresso brownies, please leave me a comment down below on how close these are to the real thing! These are the perfect treat to begin or end your day with.