Brownies in Grams
A typical batch of brownies converts to 114 grams of butter for ½ cup, 198 grams of granulated sugar for 1 cup, 28 grams of cocoa powder for ⅓ cup and 60 grams of flour for ½ cup, each converted with its own published cup weight.
A typical brownie batch, converted
This page converts a classic cocoa brownie — the one-bowl style that fills an 8-inch square pan — into grams. It is a small formula built on half a cup of butter, a cup of sugar and a third of a cup of cocoa powder, and each line is converted using that ingredient's own cup weight.
Brownies are unusually sensitive to proportion because there is so little flour to hide behind: just 60 grams against 198 grams of sugar and 28 grams of cocoa. A heavy-handed half cup of flour can hold a third more flour than intended and turn the centre cakey. Weighing keeps the fudgy ratio exact, which matters more in this bake than in almost any other.
| Ingredient | Amount | Grams |
|---|---|---|
| Butter | 1/2 cup | 114 g |
| Granulated Sugar | 1 cup | 198 g |
| Eggs | 2 large | — |
| Vanilla extract | 1 tsp | — |
| Cocoa Powder | 1/3 cup | 28 g |
| All-Purpose Flour | 1/2 cup | 60 g |
| Salt | 1/4 tsp | — |
| Baking powder | 1/4 tsp | — |
Notes for this pan
The cocoa is the line to get right. A third of a cup weighs 28 grams, spooned and levelled; cocoa is so light and prone to packing that a scooped measure can reach 35 grams, pushing the brownies bitter and dry. The flour is barely more — 60 grams — and should be folded in at the end, only until no dry streaks remain, because with so little flour, overmixing shows up as toughness.
The method shapes the texture as much as the weights. The 114 grams of butter is melted with the 198 grams of sugar, which partly dissolves the sugar and produces the thin, shiny, crackly top. Using softened rather than melted butter gives a matte, cake-like surface from the same ingredients.
Published versions vary in cocoa intensity — 1/4 to 1/2 cup — and in the fat used. A half cup of vegetable oil weighs 109 grams, slightly less than the butter here, and gives a moist but less rich result. Dutch-process and natural cocoa weigh the same per cup and swap one-for-one by weight; natural cocoa is more acidic, one reason this formula carries a little baking powder.
Scaling follows the pan. Doubling the batch — 228 grams of butter, 396 grams of sugar, 120 grams of flour and 56 grams of cocoa — fits a 9-by-13-inch pan and needs a few extra minutes in the oven. Halving works in a loaf pan. At any scale, remove them when the centre still looks slightly underdone; they set as they cool.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get fudgy rather than cakey brownies?
Hold the flour at 60 grams and the cocoa at 28 grams, melt the butter with the sugar, and avoid whipping air into the eggs. Cakey brownies usually trace back to extra flour — a scooped half cup can weigh 75 grams — or to creaming butter and sugar, which incorporates air and lifts the crumb.
Can melted chocolate replace the cocoa powder?
Not weight-for-weight. Cocoa is almost entirely flavour solids, while chocolate bars carry cocoa butter and sugar too, so 28 grams of chocolate badly under-flavours the batch and unbalances the fat and sugar. Recipes built on melted chocolate are formulated separately; this version is balanced as written.
Why did the brownies come out greasy?
The butter was probably hotter than warm when the eggs went in, splitting the mixture, or the brownies were cut before cooling and setting, which makes the crumb look wet. The proportions are lean for brownies — 114 grams of fat to 198 grams of sugar — so greasiness is almost always a temperature or timing issue.
How should doneness be judged?
A skewer in the centre should come out with moist crumbs attached — not clean, not coated in raw batter. With so little flour, the centre finishes setting from the eggs and sugar as the pan cools. A clean skewer means they have already gone past fudgy toward dry.