Looking for the printable recipe? Click here for a PDF.
I always am hesitant to make a chocolate recipe that calls for bars of unsweetened chocolate(and many brownie recipes do).
While not exorbitantly expensive, unsweetened chocolate is more pricey than cocoa powder and so I prefer not to bake with it.
So, here is a unsweetened chocolate-free brownie recipe. Not only does this recipe use cocoa powder, is is also very, very easy and it yields dense, chocolatey, moist brownies
I don’t know exactly how these compare price-wise to brownies from a box, but I can tell you that they taste better. 
Plus, they have no artificial ingredients or preservatives.
First, preheat your oven to 350. Melt 5 tablespoons butter in a saucepan over low heat.
While the butter is melting, mix the dry ingredients. (except the sugar! That will get mixed with the melted butter later) together.
When the butter is melted, take the saucepan off the heat and stir in the sugar. The mixture will be a sandy texture.
Stir in the eggs and vanilla (the original recipe says about 40 strokes…I don’t usually count!).
Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir (the recipe says to use a wooden spoon, which I dutifully do. A metal spoon probably won’t ruin your brownies, though!) for 40 strokes.
(again, I don’t really count).
Does this not look delicious?? At this point, I am always sorely tempted to take out a spoon and start eating.
Pour/scrape the batter into a greased 8×8 inch baking pan and bake for 20-25 minutes. When a toothpick is inserted, it should still be a little wet and gooey. This one:
is actually a little on the dry side. Err on the side of wet.
Cool on a wire rack and cut into squares.
Not-From-A-Mix Frugal Brownies
Printable Not-From-A-Mix Brownie Recipe
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
5 tablespoons butter
1 ¼ cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder dissolved in 1 teaspoon hot water
Heat oven to 350⁰ F.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, sifted cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder.
Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Remove pan from heat and stir in sugar (texture will be sandy).
Stir eggs, vanilla, and espresso mixture into butter/sugar mixture until thoroughly combined.
Stir dry ingredients into egg/butter mixture, and mix until no streaks of flour remain.
Scrape batter into greased 8×8 inch baking pan and bake 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center of pan comes out slightly gooey. Cool pan in wire rack, then cut into squares.
sarahcarlos says
They look good! I think ill try them.
Anna G. says
Butter’s melted, dry ingredients are mixed, baking pan is greased… but at what temperature am I baking these at? I should point out that this is my very first time baking anything from scratch, so if there is a standard temperature (350 degrees keeps popping into my head) for baking, I don’t know what it is. I’ll do some Googling to try and find out and hope they turn out as yummy as yours look
Kristen says
Ohhh, I’m so sorry! Yes, it’s 350 degrees. I will go back and edit.
Anna G. says
I went ahead with 350 (glad I did then!) and this morning (they were too warm last night to try) they are perfect fudge brownies! One other thing I noticed – the step to mix the dry ingredients together came before the step to mix the sugar in with the melted butter. I had already mixed the sugar in with the dry ingredients, but the brownies still came out perfect
I made your buttermilk pancakes (from your baking blog) this morning for breakfast (yielded 10 using 1/3 C batter each), and they were also a hit!
Look at me! I’m turning into a baker!
Kristen says
I’m so glad, Anna! That’s stinkin’ awesome!!! And yeah, I should clarify that about the sugar, huh? Thanks for pointing that out.
CanadianSaver says
I was looking for a recipe without the need for baking chocolate also. I always have cocoa powder on hand (buy it in bulk from Bulk Barn) but the only real chocolate I buy is for eating. I have the butter in the fridge… am definitely trying these, thanks for posting!
Janine says
Didn’t quite get them done enough but this is an awesome recipe.
Miriam S. says
Hey Kristen!
I’ve started following your frugal girl blog… I am encouraged by your efforts in my own attempts to be frugal swiss college girl.
I made these brownies today and I loved them… the thing about living in switzerland is that we don’t have cocoa powder, but fortunately the hot chocolate powder mix over here isn’t nearly as sweet, so i just used that and it worked fantastically! Also I made it in a bundt pan because it’s the only pan I have, but I realized that it makes for fantastic all edge brownies! Yay!
WilliamB says
An inexpensive box of brownie mix is about $1 with a coupon. I make mine by using a box + a generous slug of chocolate syrup – some of the water. Comes out very, very tasty to judge by how fast they disappear. I haven’t found a recipe that tastes as good. Yet. I’m going to try yours and see. I’d much rather make them from scratch, the boxes have too much unpronouncable junk in them for me to be really happy.
It doesn’t matter if you use cheap chocolate syrup or fancy Hershey’s stuff for this recipe. I keep the fancy stuff on hand because it *does* matter when you’re making hot chocolate (=hot milk + good chocolate syrup).
PS – One can remove a spoonful or two of batter from the batch without affecting the taste of the baked product. (Ahem.)
Jenn says
Hi Kristen! I made these brownies last night, w/ the espresso powder, and it came out wonderfully! I think I actually like these brownies more than the traditional recipe using unsweetened chocolate! It’s wonderful to make from scratch yet even more gratifying when it’s cheap as dirt and simple
Have a great day.
Linda says
They look delish!! Do you have any recipes with marshmellow fluff? I got a bunch cheap and now it is just staring at me from the pantry shelf.
Mrs. R. says
Thank you for THIS recipe, too! I’m gonna make ’em today for a friend’s children….and better taste-test the batter first, like you did, don’t you think?!
Really like you sense of humor, too!
Mrs Green says
Oh yum; I missed this recipe last year. Have copied down the recipe and will adapt for a sugar free version for DD – thank you so much.
She loves brownies, but like you, I tend not to make them much when they call for ‘real’ chocolate as they work out expensive. I make them at Christmas and birthdays as a treat
Eggs are quite expensive over here now, but I guess 2 isn’t too bad!
david says
Miriam, no hot chocolate mix in Switzerland? You must live in a different Switzerland to the one I know! I always bring a BIG pack – or two – or three back with me from Switzerland. One of my favorites is Caotina Noir – Swiss Chocolate Drink Mix. I love it. That is what I am going to use for my Frugal Girl Brownies.
Angel says
She sais no coco and she used hot chocolaté to do it
Donnita says
Just tried your frugal brownie recipe and it is awesome! Thanks for sharing.
Lee Donovan says
Hi,
My brownies are now in the oven, I found the recipe nice and easy to follow, but my batter came out very very dry (as in solid) I suspect that my eggs were a bit too small, so added about half an eggs worth of mixed eggs.
I guess I’ll find out whether I was right in about 20 Minutes.
Lee Donovan says
I forgot to reply and confirm. My brownies were delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
steff says
I am ecstatic about this recipe! I bought a giant container of cocoa powder for no bake choc peanut butter oatmeal cookies but am ready to use it for brownies! And this is a kid friendly recipe so the brownie monster can make them himself!
Frances says
Thanks so much for the recipe!!! Must Try!!!!
Tracey says
Something very spooky happened yesterday and I found myself on this page with NO clue why! I’d assumed I’d opened a most recent post and that it was yesterday’s “Wednesday Baking” but then I discovered it was nearly 3 years ago! How bizarre!
Anyway, I decided to run with fate and bake these. They are awesome! Dead easy, store cupboard ingredients (ie cocoa not chocolate) and they cooked up with just the perfect crunch on the top and moistness inside.
Now printed and inserted into my “sweet stuff” recipe folder for future making
Thanks again!
Jenny says
I’d recommend adding the coffee even if you hate it. I have a new favorite chocolate cake recipe that uses a cup of cold coffee (black), and it is absolutely awesome, and you can’t taste the coffee at all, it just makes the chocolate flavor more intense. Nobody could tell it had coffee in it, and the 13 year old girl I made it with said she didn’t want to eat it because of the coffee, but after convincing her to try it, she loved it. Then she requested it for her next birthday cake.
Kendra says
Just made these… They are delicious! I was wondering if they would be chocolatey enough (for my pregnant craving) and they definitely are. I love that they are so easy! All the ingredients required are always on hand. Yum!!
Tracey Hand says
Kristen, I know this is an old recipe but boy, do we love these!
They’re quick, easy and yummy and we all can’t get enough of them!
Devrupa Paul says
Hi Kristen,
Thanks for the recipe, my husband took some to office to share with his colleagues!
I tried your brownie recipe yesterday with Caotina Noir (drinking chocolate powder) and it turned out great! Though I used less sugar (about 3/4 of a cup), because of the sugar in the chocolate powder
Carol B says
Made these tonight for my kids and grandkids! We are waiting on Hurricane Sandy! Delicious recipe! Thanks for sharing it! =)
SK says
Thanks for the recipe Kristen! I already made 2 times for past couple of weekends and it is a big hit with kids. My 3 year old always came back for more
Can you please share recipe if you have for Pecan squares? Thank you in advance.
Trishia says
Thank You for this recipe! It’s excellent! My Hubby wanted some first grade brownies made without melted chocolate (he is frugal and prefers to eat his chocolate solo with a cup of tea). I’ve found Your recipe and proceeded to kitchen – it’s 11pm in Poland and we are eating this delicious brownies praising You for this recipe. Coffee is a great touch!
(Ps:For bitter dark chocolate lovers – one cup of sugar is enough in this recipe.)
Kristen says
They are surprisingly good, aren’t they? So simple too.