A Sweet Valentine's Day Treat: Hershey's Cocoa Brownies Recipe

Whether it’s a candy bar or chocolate, you might have difficulty finding an American who hasn’t grown up with Hershey’s. Perhaps one of the most iconic brands of our times, Hershey’s products bring up the innocent days when the grass was greener and the chocolate was sweeter. Although the youth today is not as familiar with them as the previous generation, Hershey’s cocoa brownies recipe is a crowd-favorite, regardless of age.

Fudgy, dense, and sweet. That’s what you get with Hershey’s cocoa brownies recipe. The secret is the combination of the batter and the cocoa. While you should buy the latter exclusively from Hershey’s, making the perfect batter is completely up to you. No worries, though; there are some quality tips below.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Substitutions
• Variations
• Dietary Restrictions
• Equipment
• Storage
• Pro Tips
• A Sweet Valentine's Day Treat: Hershey's Cocoa Brownies Recipe
• Comments

Ingredients

• Butter — 1 cup
• Granulated sugar — 2 cups
• Eggs — 4 large
• Vanilla powder — 2 tsp.
• Hershey’s cocoa — ¾ cup
• All-purpose flour — 1 cup
• Baking powder — ½ tsp.
• Salt — ¼ tsp.

Instructions

1. Set your oven to 350℉ degrees and lightly grease a 9x13 baking pan.

2. Combine sugar and vanilla powder in a mixing bowl. Mix well.

3. Beat the eggs, and add the cocoa, flour, baking powder, and salt.

4. Melt the butter in a microwave or a pan and add to the mixture.

5. Stir well until there are no visible lumps.

6. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 30 minutes.

7. Let your brownies cool before serving.

Substitutions

• Butter — Hershey’s cocoa brownies recipe traditionally uses butter, but you can use margarine without any problems. Both will work just fine.

• All-purpose flour — When it comes to brownies, you could easily replace all-purpose flour with bread flour in a 1/1 ratio. Both will give your dessert a fine, dense texture.

• Baking powder — Don’t get confused. Hershey’s cocoa brownies recipe doesn’t really allow you to use baking powder and baking soda interchangeably. A good rule of thumb is to go with the former if you’ll be using cocoa. That said, you could also entirely skip this one for fudgy brownies.

• Vanilla powder — Remember that substituting vanilla powder, regardless of the alternative, will result in a slightly different dessert, so it won’t be the same Hershey’s brownies you are used to. Regardless, maple syrup and almond extract work great.

Variations

• Nutty — Hershey’s cocoa brownies recipe has a somewhat minimal list of ingredients, which leaves you plenty of room to play around. A common addition to the original recipe is chopped nuts. You can use your favorite kind of nuts for a crunchy twist to the iconic recipe.

• Crunchy — If nuts are not really your thing, feel free to go with chocolate chips. Milk chocolate chips are great, but you could get away with using semi-sweet ones, too.

Dietary Restrictions

• Gluten-free — Hershey’s cocoa brownies recipe can easily be made gluten-free with a single change. While all-purpose flour does the job well enough, it must be substituted with gluten-free flour. Gluten-free plain flour works incredibly well.

• Dairy-free — Hershey’s cocoa brownies recipe uses various ingredients; only butter is a dairy product. If that’s a problem for you, no worries. A cup of canola oil would be a great replacement for butter, and your brownies won’t lack any flavor.

Equipment

• Measuring cups and spoons

• Mixing bowl

• Pan/Microwave

• Baking dish

• Food spray

• Oven

Storage

• Once your cocoa brownies are cooled completely, either transfer them to an airtight container or wrap them with plastic wrap.

• Store the leftovers at room temperature, where they will last for two days before going stale.

Pro Tips

• The batter — The batter is the difference between an average dessert and a great one, and Hershey’s cocoa brownies recipe is definitely the latter. While preparing the batter, remember that mixing the eggs with sugar and vanilla is the most important step. You could use an electric mixer to beat the mixture until it is light and fluffy.

• Don’t overmix — Overmixing the batter is a common mistake, resulting in soggy and bland-tasting brownies. Well, Hershey’s cocoa brownies definitely don’t fit that description, so be careful not to overmix the batter.