Brownies Lab1,221 recipes
← Brownies Lab

What goes into brownies

The main ingredient list of all 1221 recipes, with names merged so one choice counts once: unsalted and salted butter are butter, light and dark brown sugar are brown sugar, kosher and table salt are salt. Different flours stay apart. Frosting, glaze and other extras are counted on their own at the end.

In short

  • Most brownie recipes use butter (87%); 15% use oil, and 6% use both.
  • For sugar, 63% use white sugar alone, 18% white and brown sugar together, and 10% brown sugar alone.
  • For leavening, 60% use neither baking soda nor baking powder, 31% baking powder alone, and 6% baking soda alone.
  • For eggs, 85% use whole eggs alone, 6% no egg, and 5% whole eggs and egg yolks together.
  • 22% add nuts, 14% coconut, candy or chips and 9% fruit; 57% add none of these.

The main choices

Each block sorts every recipe into one group by a single decision. Amounts are the median among recipes in that group, scaled to 100 g of flour, the size of a typical pan. The recipe named under each group is the one in it closest to the typical pan on every ingredient.

Butter, oil or both

Each recipe counted once, by the fats in its main ingredient list.

  • Butter only

    median 138 g fat · closest to typical: Red Velvet Brownies (thepioneerwoman.com)

    81%994 recipes

  • Oil only

    median 69 g fat · closest to typical: Brownies senza burro (misya.info)

    9%110 recipes

  • Butter and oil

    median 164 g fat · closest to typical: Christmas Tree Brownies (lifeloveandsugar.com)

    6%79 recipes

  • Everything else

    3%38 recipes

Margarine and vegan butter count as butter (10 recipes). Oil includes coconut oil (1%) and olive oil (12 recipes).

White, brown or a syrup

Each recipe counted once, by the sweeteners in its main ingredient list.

  • White sugar only

    median 213 g sugar · closest to typical: Mexican Brownies Recipe (crazyforcrust.com)

    63%773 recipes

  • White and brown sugar

    median 265 g sugar · closest to typical: Red Velvet Brownies (thepioneerwoman.com)

    18%230 recipes

  • Brown sugar only

    median 175 g sugar · closest to typical: Extra Nutty Dark Chocolate Brownies (joythebaker.com)

    10%128 recipes

  • With sweetened condensed milk or honey

    median 268 g sugar · closest to typical: Emergency Brownies (nigella.com)

    7%86 recipes

  • Everything else

    <1%4 recipes

White sugar includes powdered sugar, in 6% of recipes. Coconut sugar counts as brown (4 recipes). "With sweetened condensed milk or honey" means any liquid sweetener (sweetened condensed milk, honey, maple syrup and corn syrup), with or without dry sugar. Coarse and cinnamon sugar are usually sprinkled on top, so they do not count here.

Baking soda, baking powder or both

Each recipe counted once, by what it relies on to rise.

Whole eggs, yolks or whites

Each recipe counted once, by the parts of the egg it uses.

A large egg is about 50 g out of the shell, a yolk about 18 g, a white about 32 g.

Cocoa, chocolate or both

Each recipe counted once: cocoa powder, bar chocolate or chips, or both.

Chocolate includes chips and chunks as well as melted bar chocolate; white chocolate does not count.

Natural or Dutch-process cocoa

Among the 764 recipes with cocoa powder, by the type the ingredient list names.

  • Type not stated

    median 34 g cocoa · closest to typical: Red Velvet Brownies (thepioneerwoman.com)

    83%637 recipes

  • Dutch-process

    median 57 g cocoa · closest to typical: Snickers Brownies (iambaker.net)

    8%63 recipes

  • Natural

    median 41 g cocoa · closest to typical: Christmas Tree Brownies (lifeloveandsugar.com)

    6%51 recipes

  • Everything else

    1%13 recipes

Natural cocoa is acidic and reacts with baking soda; Dutch-process cocoa is not, and usually pairs with baking powder.

Add-ins

Share of recipes that add at least one of each. A recipe can add several, so the shares do not sum to 100%. 57% add none of these. Chocolate is one of the dish's own ratios on the overview rather than an add-in, so it is left out here.

  • Nuts22%

    walnuts 10% · hazelnuts 3% · pecans 3%

  • Coconut, candy or chips14%

    candy or cookies 7% · chocolate hazelnut spread 2% · marshmallows 2%

  • Fruit9%

    zucchini 2% · banana 1% · pumpkin 1%

  • Spice5%

    cinnamon 4%

How often each ingredient appears

Share of the 1221 recipes that list it at least once, for every ingredient in 5% or more of them. The median amount is among recipes that use it and give a weighable amount, scaled to 100 g of flour; for a flour, it is that flour's share of all the flour in the recipe.

  1. All-purpose flour93%

    1138 recipes · median: all of the flour

  2. Eggs92%

    1128 recipes · median 128 g (about 2.5 large eggs)

  3. Butter87%

    1063 recipes · median 137 g

  4. Granulated sugar84%

    1034 recipes · median 200 g

  5. Salt70%

    855 recipes · median 1.9 g

  6. Vanilla69%

    853 recipes · median 5 g

  7. Cocoa powder62%

    764 recipes · median 37 g

  8. Bar chocolate57%

    705 recipes · median 180 g

  9. Baking powder32%

    401 recipes · median 2.7 g

  10. Brown sugar30%

    378 recipes · median 131 g

  11. Chocolate chips or chunks28%

    344 recipes · median 135 g

  12. Vegetable oil13%

    159 recipes · median 51 g

  13. Walnuts10%

    131 recipes · median 67 g

  14. Espresso powder8%

    104 recipes · median 2.5 g

  15. Candy or cookies7%

    96 recipes · median 189 g

  16. Baking soda7%

    94 recipes · median 2.4 g

  17. Milk6%

    82 recipes · median 63 g

  18. Unsweetened chocolate6%

    76 recipes · median 91 g

  19. Water6%

    76 recipes · median 59 g

  20. Powdered sugar6%

    75 recipes · median 100 g

  21. Egg yolks6%

    74 recipes · median 19 g

  22. Cream5%

    67 recipes · median 132 g

Toppings and extras

27% of recipes (332 of 1221) list something beyond the main recipe: a frosting, glaze, filling, crumb topping, a boiling bath or a sprinkle on top. None of it is counted above. The most common extra ingredients, as a share of all recipes:

  • Powdered sugar12% (152)
  • Butter8% (108)
  • Cream7% (87)
  • Chocolate chips or chunks5% (70)
  • Bar chocolate4% (60)
  • Vanilla4% (60)
  • Salt4% (59)
  • Milk4% (53)
  • Candy or cookies3% (45)

How the ingredients are counted

A recipe uses an ingredient when any line of its main ingredient list names it. Names are merged by the words in them, so “1 cup unsalted butter, softened” and “salted butter” are both butter, and a line that offers a choice (“walnuts or pecans”) counts as the first one named. Canola, vegetable and other neutral oils are one oil; coconut and olive oil are listed on their own.

Lines only for greasing the pan are left out (2 of them). Lines for brushing, sprinkling or serving, and lines that belong to a frosting, glaze, filling or topping, count as extras.

Amounts come from the grams on each recipe page: printed by the source, or converted from cups and spoons with standard densities. Scaling them to 100 g of flour lets a small recipe and a double batch line up. Percentages are rounded down.