Milk Chocolate Brownies with Almonds

Not everyone is a bittersweet chocolate person, right? If that’s you then you have to make these easy milk chocolate brownies. They will give you wonderful chocolate flavor with a touch of almond extract and chopped almonds. They’re the perfect combination of chocolate and nuts in a classic baking recipe.

Don’t like nuts in your brownies? Try these sea salt fudge brownies instead.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Brownies are a simple one-bowl dessert recipe. There’s nothing complicated about the prep, and this also limits the amount of dishes you have to clean up. These brownies turn out fudgy even though they call for milk chocolate instead of dark chocolate.

They have almonds and are also sprinkled with sea salt before they bake. It doesn’t get better than the trio of sweet, salty and nutty. I always think flaky salt makes brownies seem more fancy.

Homemade brownies are freezable. You don’t have to risk your leftover brownies drying out because you can freeze them. Then you can thaw them at room temperature, and they will taste like they did when you first baked them.

The Ingredients

This is what you need:

• Milk chocolate: The recipe calls for 6 ounces of roughly chopped chocolate. This is equivalent to 1 cup of jumbo milk chocolate chips.
• Butter: To help the butter melt evenly with the chocolate, cut it into cubes. Butter adds more flavor to brownies than oil does.
• Granulated sugar and light brown sugar: I use both sugars for a balance of flavors. Brown sugar gives the brownies some chewiness while also making the sweetness more complex and interesting.
• Eggs: You will need 3 large eggs.
• Vanilla extract is even important in chocolate desserts.
• Almond extract: A little goes a long way. That nuttiness will come through.
• Almonds: I prefer roasted unsalted almonds. They have toasty flavor without being too salty.
• Cocoa powder: With both unsweetened cocoa powder and melted chocolate you end up with a good fudgy consistency and lots of chocolate flavor.
• Flour: I use all-purpose flour for these brownies.
• Flaky sea salt: Maldon is my favorite kind of sea salt because each box has a mix of flakes in different sizes.

How To Make Milk Chocolate Brownies

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper and grease it with butter.

1. Melt the butter and chocolate. The best way to do this is the double-boiler method. Bring 1 inch of water to a simmer in a large saucepan over low heat. Put the butter and chocolate in a bowl that fits on top of the pot without the bottom of the bowl touching the water. Stir occasionally to help it melt.

2. Stir the granulated sugar, light brown sugar, cocoa powder, kosher salt, vanilla extract and almond extract into the chocolate-melted butter mixture. Remove the bowl from the heat before you do this.

3. Beat in the eggs one at a time.

4. Fold in the flour and chopped nuts.

5. Spread the brownie batter into the prepared pan in an even layer. Sprinkle the top with almonds and flaky sea salt.

6. Bake the brownies until they are just set. The bake time is about 35 minutes. When you insert a toothpick, it will come out with moist crumbs on it. It’s better for them to be slightly underbaked than over baked. The top should have some cracks.

How To Cut Brownies

Wait to cut the brownies until they have fully cooled, which gives them time to set. Do not use a serrated knife to make cuts. Take a chef’s knife and make straight down cutting motions. Never saw back and forth. It helps to wipe off the knife in between cuts. Also, a metal ruler is handy for a straightedge to get equal squares.

Serving

Brownies and bar cookies are incredibly easy to make. They’re always great for sharing at cookie exchanges, potlucks, bake sales and Super Bowl Sunday. If you want this recipe to go farther and serve more people, cut them into smaller squares. Then you will end up with more than 16 servings out of a single batch.

Leftovers, Storage & Freezing

Brownies will stay good for 3 days covered in the pan at room temperature. Cover the cut edges directly with plastic wrap, so they stay moist. Wait to slice the brownies until right before you’re going to eat them instead of cutting them all at once. If you do have leftover brownies that are cut, put them in an airtight container.

To store brownies longer, freeze them. Wrap the brownies individually, and they will stay good in the freezer up to 1 month. Let them sit at room temperature still wrapped to thaw them.

Recipe Tips

Don’t over mix the batter. Unlike cakes, brownies are very forgiving, but still think while you’re stirring. Be slow and thoughtful with your strokes. Stop stirring right when an ingredient is mixed in and before you go to the next step. 

Don’t over bake your brownies. They’re ready when they have just set. There will be some cracks on top. 

Use a metal baking pan. Metal is a better conductor of heat than glass, so it bakes more evenly.

Wait for the brownies to cool completely before cutting them. If you cut warm brownies, it will get messy.