Vanilla Brownies

Name: Vanilla Brownies
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 220 min
Ingredients: ¾ cup boiling water; 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate chopped fine; ⅓ cup cocoa powder; 2 ½ cups granular sugar; ¾ cup vegetable oil; 2 large eggs; 2 large egg yolks; ¼ cup unsalted butter melted; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 9.2 ounces Vanilla Cook and Serve Pudding ((Cook NOT Instant) (Two 4.6 ounce boxes) ); 2 cups all-purpose flour; ¾ teaspoon salt; cooking spray; ½ cup confectioner’s sugar

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Vanilla Brownies are simple to make, and oh so delicious. These fudgy brownies are the perfect combination of chocolate and vanilla together.

I love rich, chewy and fudgy brownies. But, I also love blondies. So, when I can't choose which one I want to make, I mix them together and make these vanilla brownies.

two vanilla brownies stacked on one top of one another and placed on a white plate. The brownies are rectangular and coated with white brown sugar. Two identical plates of brownies in the background along with a glass of milk and a white and blue kitchen cloth.

Chocolate and Vanilla Brownies

These rich and chewy brownies were inspired by my love of chocolate brownies, and my desire for blondies. I mixed the two flavors together and came up with these chocolate and vanilla brownies recipes. Your entire family is going to love these tasty dessert bars!

Ingredients

You only need fourteen ingredients to make these chewy vanilla brownies. Most of these ingredients should already be in your pantry. One quick trip to the grocery store and you are ready to bake.

boiling water
unsweetened chocolate
cocoa powder
granulated sugar
vegetable oil
eggs
egg yolks
unsalted butter
vanilla extract
vanilla cook and serve pudding
all purpose flour
salt
confectioners sugar
cooking spray

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

To make these tasty and chewy vanilla brownies you only need to follow these six easy steps.

Step 1: Preheat the oven and prepare your baking pan

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Make a foil sling for your 13 by 9-inch baking pan by folding 2 long sheets of aluminum foil. Lay sheets of foil inside your pan perpendicular to each other, with extra foil hanging over edges of the pan. Push foil into pan corners and all the way up the sides of the pan. As smooth as possible leaning to pan edge. Prepare with cooking spray.

Step 2: Melt the chocolate

Add unsweetened chocolate and cocoa in large bowl and whisk in boiling water, stirring until melted.

Step 3: Mix the brownie batter

Add sugar, oil, eggs and egg yolks, cooled melted butter, and vanilla. Whisk until blended. Gently whisk in vanilla pudding mix, flour and salt until just incorporated. (Do not overmix.)

Step 4: Bake the brownies

Pour into prepared pan. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out with few moist crumbs attached, 55 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking.

Step 5: Cool brownies

Transfer pan to wire rack and let cool for 1½ hours. Using foil overhang, lift brownies out of pan. Return brownies to wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour.

Step 6: Dust with powdered sugar

Once cooled, dust with powdered sugar. Cut into 3-inch squares, serve and enjoy.

side angle of two vanilla brownies stacked on top of each other. both dusted with powdered sugar.

Substitutions

Don't have the correct ingredients on hand? Or want to change something up? Here are some helpful tips for you to change this chocolate and vanilla brownies recipe.

Chocolate - I like to use semi sweet chocolate but you can use milk chocolate if you want.
Flour - only have self rising flour? Leave out the salt and use self rising.

Variations

Want to personalize this vanilla brownies recipe? Here are some of my tried and true tips for changing up this recipe.

Peanut Butter - change up the flavor by using peanut butter chips instead of chocolate.
Caramel - use caramel pudding in place of the vanilla pudding for caramel brownies

If you love recipes like this, you may also enjoy this butterscotch brownies recipe.

Overhead photo of vanilla brownies on a white plate. The brownies are rectangular and coated with white brown sugar.

Equipment

You only need to make these four kitchen tools to help you make these sweet vanilla brownies.

Saucepan
Mixing bowl
Whisk or spoon
13x9 baking pan.

Storage

Store your brownies on the counter for up to five days.

Tips

Want to make sure that your Vanilla Brownies turn out perfectly? Here are my best tips.

To check for doneness use a toothpick inserted into the middle of the brownies. When it comes out clean your brownies are done.
If you don't want to cleanly remove your brownies for easy cutting, you can skip the foil sling step and just spray your baking spray with cooking spray.

two brownies stacked on top of each other. top one has a bite missing.

More Brownies Recipes

Do you like brownies recipes? Here some recipes you may also like to try:

FAQ

Do you have questions about vanilla brownies? Here are some of the most commonly asked questions about chocolate and vanilla brownies.

Can I make these ahead?

Absolutely, these brownies are great made ahead. I don't recommend making them more than 24 hours in advance though.

Can I freeze?

Yes! These brownies freeze well for up to three months.

Can I add chocolate chips to these brownies?

Yes! You can add in anything you like to these vanilla brownies.