A layer of thick, gooey brownie topped by a layer fudgy frosting…served cold from the fridge! These are not your nana’s brownies!

These decadent brownies are one of my favorite recipes. Served with Raspberry Coulis, Rich Vanilla Caramel, or simply a cup of coffee, these brownies are sure to become one of your favorite recipes!

Ingredients: Brownies

  • 1  stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • ¼ c Dutch cocoa powder, sifted
  • ½ c canola oil
  • 2 c flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • 2 eggs, room temperature
  • 2 c sugar
  • ¼ c buttermilk
  • 1 packet (a little less than 1 Tbsp) instant coffee granules (can use decaf)
  • ½ tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I prefer Trader Joe’s)

Frosting

  • ½ c unsalted butter
  • ½ c buttermilk
  • ¼ c Dutch cocoa powder, sifted
  • 1 tsp espresso powder
  • 4 c powdered sugar
  • ½ – ¾ c chocolate chips

Tools and Timing

  • 9 x 13 baking dish
  • Parchment paper
  • Medium sauce pan
  • Heatproof whisk
  • Heatproof spatula
  • 2 large prep bowl
  • Beaters
  • Sifter/wax paper
  • Measuring cups and spoons

Background

This is one of my go-to brownie recipes: rich, fudgy, and served cold! I originally found this buttermilk brownie recipe on Shugary Sweets…and while I LOVE the original recipe (and still make it often), I wanted to toy with it to see if I could incorporated a coffee element (fun fact: adding coffee to a recipe doesn’t usually give the baked item a coffee flavor…it actually deepens the chocolate notes)! After much experimentation and several trays of brownies, I finally hit upon my rendition of Fudgy Buttermilk Brownies. Chocolate lovers, enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Shugary Sweets

Step-by-step

  1. Melt butter over medium heat. Once melted, increase heat to medium-high and add cocoa powder. Immediately begin whisking process – you will whisk continually throughout this first step so ingredients combine. Once cocoa powder is whisked in, add oil. Keep whisking! Once mixture begins to boil, remove from heat (this only takes about 30 seconds). Whisk another minute to ensure that all ingredients remain incorporated.Allow to cool until just warm.
  2. Preheat oven to 400. Line a 13 x 9 baking pan with parchment paper.
  3. In a large prep bowl, blend flour, baking soda, kosher salt. Set aside. (I use a regular whisk here to thoroughly blend these ingredients.)
  4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together sugar and eggs. Next, whisk in your buttermilk. Add your coffee granules and vanilla.
  5. Slowly whisk in your warm butter and chocolate mixture from Step 1. Use a heatproof spatula to scrape all of the mixture from the pan!
  6. Next, slowly whisk in your dry ingredients, adding 1/3 of your flour mixture at a time (pour about 1/3 of your flour mixture into your wet ingredients, whisk on low, and when it looks almost incorporated, add the next 1/3, etc. Continue until all dry ingredients have been added).
  7. Switch to using your spatula and gently fold in 1 cup of chocolate chips.
  8. Pour into center of baking dish. Use a spatula to gently spread the mixture evenly into all of the corners.
  9. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes (wash your heatproof spatula, whisk, sauce pan, beaters, and large glass bowl). Then, begin your frosting.
  10. In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the buttermilk; whisk. Add the cocoa and espresso powders. Continue to whisk until the mixture begins to boil. Remove from heat.
  11. Pour your butter mixture into a large glass mixing bowl. Use spatula to scrape all butter mixture from pan! Working 1 cup at a time, beat in your powdered sugar.
  12. Pour frosting over slightly cooled brownies. Use spatula to spread frosting evenly to the edges. Top with ½ c chocolate chips and place brownies into the fridge to set for 4 hours.

Serve and Enjoy

*These brownies are meant to be served cold, directly from the fridge!

  • Fresh Raspberry Coulis
  • Warm vanilla caramel sauce
    Rich Vanilla Caramel

Other Options

Once of my FAVORITE ways to serve these is with fresh Raspberry Coulis! The bright, sweet fruit cuts the richness of the fudgy brownie perfectly! Another fun warm to serve is to drizzle them with Rich Vanilla Caramel Sauce.

Tips, Tricks, and Tweaks

I found my espresso powder at Williams-Sonoma, and my favorite chocolate chips come from Trader Joe’s! I also used Nescafe instant coffee packets for these – that way, my coffee granules stay fresh between brownie bakings!