Brownie Pudding is the best possible cross between rich dark chocolate brownies and molten lava cakes! When you’re craving an easy chocolate dessert, this one is the one for you!
Here’s yet another recipe I’m still kicking myself about not making sooner!
This brownie pudding happened to be one of the choices for the blogging group I ran back in the late 2010s, Barefoot Bloggers, and I never made it when it was called up on the list.
Yes, that’s right. I waited an entire year before making this delicious dessert! Well, heavenly might be a better word for it.
And if you’re as much of a lover of brownie recipes as I am, you’ll truly appreciate all the happiness this brownie pudding brings to you.
What Is Brownie Pudding?
As the name suggests, it’s a cross between brownies and pudding. Think…similar to molten lava cakes but waaaay better.
This brownie pudding yields beautiful brownie edges and a soft brownie batter-like center. It’s the best of both brownie worlds in my opinion!
Brownie Pudding Ingredients
Here’s the very basic grocery list for this brownie pudding recipe. Be sure to keep scrolling down to the recipe card for the full printable Ingredients list!
- Unsalted butter
- Large eggs – Make sure the egg are at room temperature
- Granulated sugar
- Dark cocoa powder – Don’t use Dutch-processed cocoa here. Hershey’s Dark is my recommendation for dark cocoa powder that isn’t Dutch-processed and is easily accessible in almost any regular grocery store.
- All-purpose flour
- A whole vanilla bean – You’ll need to scrape the seeds from inside the vanilla bean to help flavor the brownie pudding.
- Fruit liqueur (optional) – I suggest framboise (raspberry liqueur), khalua (coffee liqueur), amaretto (almond liqueur), or grand marnier (orange liqueur)
PRO TIP!
The only catch to this recipe is that you cannot, under any circumstances, overtake this dessert if you wish to have the gooey interior. Trust me!
In my testing, I made this recipe twice in 3 weeks. The first time, I used a 13 × 9-inch glass baking dish and baked it for 55 min which was too long since I ended up with really dense brownies (which really isn’t a bad thing, is it?).
When I made the second time, I used the dish size that Ina suggests (see the Recipe Card below), and baked it only for 50 minutes this time rather than the hour Ina says to.
And…it came out perfect. Brownie pudding perfection!
How to Make Ina’s Brownie Pudding Recipe
These are the simple steps for how to make the Ina Garten’s brownie pudding recipe. Be sure to keep scrolling down to the recipe card for the full and printable set of Instructions!
STEP 1: Heat the oven and grease a ceramic casserole dish. Do not use a glass casserole dish – the pudding will overbake.
STEP 2: Beat the eggs and sugar together in an electric mixer with the paddle attachment.
STEP 3: In a separate bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together.
STEP 4: Beat the vanilla, liqueur, and dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Then stir in the melted butter until just combined.
STEP 5: Transfer the brownie mixture to the casserole dish. Place the dish inside a larger roasting pan and add some hot tap water to the roasting pan.
STEP 6: Bake. When a wooden skewer comes out mostly clean, remove the pans from the oven. The center of the brownie pudding should be very jiggly.
I don’t suggest you wait as long as I did to make this brownie pudding! So, put aside the 10 minutes it takes to prep, pop it in the oven while you’re eating dinner and serve it warm with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream (a requirement of course). You’ll be thanking me later!
Brownie Pudding
Brownie Pudding is one of those chocolate dessert recipes that you'll want to make over and over again. It's a cross between warm brownies and chocolate pudding, with a crackly lid on top and gooey chocolate in the center. A scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream is an absolute must for this unforgettable dessert recipe.
Ingredients
- 8 oz (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus extra for buttering the dish
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- ¾ cup dark cocoa powder
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean
- 1 tbsp framboise, khalua, amaretto, or grand marnier liqueur, optional (See note below)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325° F. Lightly butter a 2-quart baking dish (do not use a glass casserole dish). Melt butter in a small bowl in the microwave and set aside to cool.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs and sugar on medium-high speed for 5 to 10 minutes, until very thick and light yellow. Meanwhile, sift the cocoa powder and flour together and set aside.
- When the egg and sugar mixture is ready, reduce the speed to low and add the vanilla seeds, framboise, if using, and the cocoa powder and flour mixture. Mix only until combined. With mixer still on low, slowly pour in the cooled butter and mix again just until combined.
- Pour the brownie mixture into the prepared dish and place it in a larger baking pan. Add enough some really hot tap water to the pan to come halfway up the side of the dish.
- Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour. A cake tester inserted 2 inches from the side will come out ¾ clean. The center will appear very under-baked; this dessert is between a brownie and a pudding.
Notes
If you skip the liqueur in this recipe, replace it with 1 tablespoon of water.
recipe adapted from Ina Garten
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 639Total Fat: 28gSaturated Fat: 15gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 155mgSodium: 39mgCarbohydrates: 89gFiber: 5gSugar: 63gProtein: 10g
This calculation is an estimation. For the most accurate calculation, please consult a nutritionist. Smells Like Home Studio, Inc. and Tara Liptak do not provide medical information or advice.
This look AMAZING! I love love love brownies and especially brownie mix. So if that is what this is a combination of, yum yum, I must make it ASAP!
oooooooo This looks GOOD. I printed it out….We will have to have someone over for dinner soon just so I can make this recipe for desssert (because lawd knows I don’t need to eat the whole thing by myself! LOL)
My dorm in college used to make something like this that everyone would go crazy for (myself included). I definitely need to try recreating it…relive my past.
I am KICKING myself that I have sworn off baking until swimsuit season. This looks amazing!
the look is delicious 😉
this looks absolutely decadent and oh so chocolatey!
Wow, these brownies look scrumptious. What a great combo idea, I never would have thought of it. Thanks for sharing it. When I make brownies, I usually stick to this: http://www.recipe4living.com/recipes/godiva_brownies.htm
I’m going to have to try yours soon. Thanks again.
The combination of chewy edges and batter-like center is the best! So for a brownie & lava-cake lover like me, this crossover looks like heaven! I’ll definetely replace the old lava cake with this beauty next time!
All I can say is YUM! Definitely making this soon!
My bf loves brownies and loves lava cakes! to combine them like this would make him putty in my hands! thanks!
I made this last night, it was wonderful!!!
Well I just don’t know what happened.. but it tastes delicious anyway! I was very careful to follow instructions but it cooked up with a hard shell that puffed up over the top. I thought perhaps It just didn’t cook long enough so we put it back in (for about 40 extra minutes now) and it’s runnier than ever! LOL
Do you use sweetened or unsweetened cocoa powder?
Yolanda: Unsweetened. You’ll typically only use sweetened cocoa powder for hot chocolate or recipes containing hot chocolate.
Can you use vanilla extract instead of the vanilla bean? If so, how much vanilla extract do you use?
Sure – 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract would be perfect in place of the vanilla bean.