Instant Pot Brownies from Scratch
There are few desserts as perfect as a warm batch of brownies topped with some vanilla ice cream. However, I can’t say that I love the texture you get from a box mix. There’s just something distinct about that powder that I don’t enjoy. Well, this Instant Pot brownies recipe is incredibly easy to make, and yields a perfectly balanced texture between cake and fudge. They’re everything you want a brownie to be!
Makes a deceptively large batch!
Because we’re cooking this dessert in an Instant Pot, you might not expect there to be a lot. But I’m here to tell you that you can serve a lot of people with this pan of brownies. Not only are the brownies very rich, but they’re perfectly thick too. Not as thick as a slice of cake, but just the right size to cut into about 16 wedges.
Why use the Instant Pot?
One of the number one questions we get is “Why use the Instant Pot for brownies? Wouldn’t the oven be faster?”. While yes, oven baked brownies typically have a shorter cook time than these Instant Pot Brownies, there are several reasons I decided to give brownies in the Instant Pot a try. First, this recipe was developed in the middle of summer. Living in Florida, I prefer to avoid turning on the oven during summer whenever possible. Second, not everyone has access to an oven. Some of our readers travel with their Instant Pot, cooking from hotel rooms or campers that lack a kitchen. Others are using their Instant Pot because they’re in the middle of a home renovation. And then there’s those of us who love our Instant Pot so much that we’ll take any excuse to cook in them. No matter what your reason is, you won’t regret trying these delicious brownies!
The Process
Place room temperature butter in large mixing bowl.
Using a hand mixer, mix butter just a few seconds to get it going.
Then add sugar and continue mixing until fully combined.
Add eggs and blend until fully incorporated.
Add vanilla extract and mix again.
In a separate mixing bowl, add all dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.
Whisk together until combined.
Pour dry ingredients into bowl with wet ingredients.
Gently mix until fully combined.
Add chocolate chips to batter.
Using a rubber spatula…
…mix well.
Add a 3-inch trivet and 1 1/2 cups of water to cooker.
Spray a 7×3 push pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Pour batter into pan and spread out evenly.
Place push pan on top of trivet.
Loosely cover pan with aluminum foil. This will keep out moisture. Lock lid and cook for 60 minutes at high pressure.
Once cook time is complete, allow pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes. Then quick-release remaining pressure. Remove pan from cooker, but allow brownies to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before removing.
And the AMAZING Result…
★ Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating below!
Instant Pot Brownies
Brownies with the perfect balance of cake and fudge textures.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
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Place butter in large mixing bowl. Using a hand mixer, mix butter just a few seconds to get it going. Then add sugar and continue mixing until fully combined. Add eggs and blend until fully incorporated. Add vanilla extract and mix again.
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In a separate mixing bowl, add all dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Whisk together until combined.
-
Pour dry ingredients into bowl with wet ingredients. Gently mix until fully combined. Add chocolate chips to batter. Then, using a rubber spatula, mix well.
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Spray a 7×3 push pan with nonstick cooking spray. Pour batter into pan and spread out evenly.
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Add a 3-inch trivet and 1 1/2 cups of water to cooker. Place push pan on top of trivet. Loosely cover pan with aluminum foil. This will keep out moisture.
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Lock lid and cook for 50 minutes at high pressure. Once cook time is complete, allow pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes. Then quick-release remaining pressure.
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Remove pan from cooker, but allow brownies to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before removing.
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Serve warm with vanilla ice cream!
And as Always… Please Pin & Share the Love!
44 Comments
Rebecca
July 19, 2018 at 7:33 amI love finding new recipes for my instant pot, especially ones that the end product is as good as this one.
And I understand you having to throw them away, it is very hard to have self control when these are in the
house.!
Sandy
July 28, 2018 at 8:13 amWhat could I use if I don’t have a 3″ trivet? Mine came with a very short one.
Chef Gary
July 30, 2018 at 8:36 pmYou can find a 3″ trivet for under $10 on Amazon.com. We haven’t tested the recipe with the trivet that comes with the Instant Pot as it would sits so close to the water. However, if you try it please let us know how it works for you!
honda4fun
August 3, 2018 at 10:02 pmI was thinking you could use a small pan upside down as a stand.
Chef Gary
August 4, 2018 at 10:44 amSomeone mentioned on Facebook that they’ve had success doing that in the past.
Amy
August 21, 2018 at 7:42 amI used the trivet that came with mine. I felt the brownies needed a bit more cook time so I cooked for 10 more minutes in the IP- but I am at high altitude so that may be a factor in the cook time. My son LOVED the brownies and said they were the “best brownies.”
Brittany S
September 22, 2018 at 3:16 pmI just finished making this and I used the trivet that came with the IP as my 3″ trivet put the pan up too high. It turned out fine, not as fluffy as the picture on here looks but it tastes amazing and that’s all that counts! Will make this again. Thank you so much for the recipe!
Kristen
July 28, 2018 at 3:33 pmWouldn’t it be quicker to just bake them in the oven?
Chef Gary
July 29, 2018 at 12:10 pmThere are certainly many recipes for oven baked brownies out there with a 30 to 35 minute cook time. When developing this recipe, we weren’t going for the quickest method. Instead, we were looking for a way our readers could use their Instant Pot to make delicious brownies from scratch. We’ve heard from readers who don’t have access to an oven; some are on the road traveling with their Instant Pot, others are going through a kitchen remodel, and some who do have access to a oven just don’t want to crank it up in the middle of summer. And then there are people who just love using their Instant Pot any chance they get. 🙂
Olga
August 2, 2018 at 7:28 pmWhat if you like it gooey? How long should I set it?
Chef Gary
August 4, 2018 at 10:47 amId say try cooking it for 40 minutes instead of 50. At least that’s what I’d try.
Agos
August 2, 2018 at 7:32 pmThese look so good, I would love to make them! But I feel like 50 minutes is an awfully long cooking time for brownies. Since you usually bake them for 25-30 minutes in the oven… any particular reason for this?
Chef Gary
August 3, 2018 at 8:33 amHi Agos! There are two reasons they take longer in the Instant Pot. First, these are deep dish brownies. Second, the Instant Pot is steam baking, unlike the oven which uses dry heat. The temperature in the Instant Pot is less than in the oven.
Climbergirl
August 3, 2018 at 12:04 am6 quart? And will it halve for a 3 quart?
Chef Gary
August 4, 2018 at 10:48 amWe used a 6-quart IP. I’m sorry, I’m not sure the 3-quart.
Dani Rice
August 3, 2018 at 8:06 amThank you for sharing this recipe….I am most defiantly going to try it! 🙂
Chef Gary
August 3, 2018 at 8:34 amYou’re welcome! We hope you love them as much as we did!
Sonya
August 3, 2018 at 10:16 amAny plans for a gluten free version?
Chef Gary
August 3, 2018 at 2:50 pmWe’ve actually made a gluten-free version for my wife by swapping the flour for Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten-Free Flour. They were slightly softer in the center, but otherwise delicious.
Kathleen
August 3, 2018 at 5:20 pmThank you for adding this gluten free tip
Rebecca
August 3, 2018 at 12:27 pmI do not have a push pan yet, do you have a suggestion for cooking in like a pyrex 7 inch bowl?
Chef Gary
August 4, 2018 at 10:44 amHmmm. That would probably increase the cook time, but I’m not sure. I’d say it’s definitely worth a try though!
Jenn
August 7, 2018 at 7:15 pmI made them tonight subbing a GF flour. I let them sit for 10 minutes before starting the instant ( gluten free flour takes longer to absorb liquids). They came out very fudgy and my kids loved them. I also froze half for another time.
Mr Gee
August 4, 2018 at 11:34 amI just got my IP last week, this is the first attempt at baking in it. You mention to bake it on HIGH – my pot has a cake setting – I am guessing that’s one-and-the-same ?
I also took two small pyrex dishes, inverted them to serve as supports for the IP trivet that comes with it. Baked the recipe in a 7″ pyrex-style dish – for 50 minutes., plus 10 min. natural release. I may have added too much water as well. So I wound up getting something between a soupy brownie-cake and a pudding …. LOL . And yes, I DID put foil on it when it went into the IP.
I just got too far away from your instructions I guess. I used a paper towel to sop up excess water ( condensation ) that sat on top of this …… cake. Now, I transferred this concoction to a toaster oven, for maybe another 15 or 20 mins. Just to save it. The smell, aroma – IS wonderful. If I can’t save it, no problem. I will have learned how NOT to make this !
IMPORTANT QUESTION – you say cookj on HIGH PRESSURE – does that mean the CAKE setting on a 6 qt IP ( LUX Series ) ? Or should I have ignored that and programmed it differently ??
Chef Gary
August 4, 2018 at 2:10 pmThanks for giving this recipe try! I’d say the biggest difference in what you described is using a Pyrex dish. That will DEFINITELY change the cook time. Since baking is really more science than anything, even the smallest changes to a recipe can be disastrous! Trust me… I know this from experience all too well.
Mr Gee
August 5, 2018 at 9:31 amFYI – My “save “was successful – we had brownie sundaes last night – SMALL ones, as they are so Super-RICH !! Thnx again !
Valerie Palmer
August 11, 2018 at 2:45 pmYOU DID NOT ANSWER ABOUT CAKE SETTING VS PRESSURE COOKING?
Chef Gary
August 11, 2018 at 6:58 pmSorry for the delay… we’re getting ready for a baby to be born any minute now. I don’t know about the cake setting. I always use the regular 6qt. IP so that anyone can my my recipes. Not sure about some of the others’ functionality.
Werra Watson
August 4, 2018 at 6:02 pmChef Gary, any downside to using Milk Chocolate chips instead of the Semi Sweet for those who do not like the bitter chocolate?
Chef Gary
August 4, 2018 at 6:27 pmI don’t think so. Those should work just fine.
Werra Watson
August 5, 2018 at 2:36 pmChef Gary, was it a mistake that I actually weighed my ingredients? In other words when you called for 1/2 cup of Coco that weighs out at 59 grams. 1 cup of flour 140 grams and 1 cup of sugar 200 grams. It came out really dry and wayyyyy too much chocolate. I am used to baking with recipes that have the dry ingredients measured out in grams.
Chef Gary
August 5, 2018 at 5:22 pmI did not weigh the ingredients, so I’m sure there will be difference. Next time I make them, I will weigh what I use and include that in the recipe for future reference. Thanks for trying them! And the feedback.
Rebecca Chambers
August 11, 2018 at 5:40 pmAmazing!
Donna Whitham
August 13, 2018 at 1:07 amWe live at 5000 feet. I halved the recipe and made it in our 3 qt IP. I increased the cooking time to an hour and the natural release to 15 minutes because of the elevation and partly because I used an oat flour instead of a wheat flour. I also added a Tbs of espresso powder and a tsp of cinnamon. It came out perfect! Similar to a molten cake! If I could post a photo, I would
Lisa
August 18, 2018 at 12:36 amCongratulations on your baby!!!!!! Hope all is well and thank you for the brownie recipe!!!!!
Shannon Alexandra
August 19, 2018 at 9:33 pmJust made these and absolutely best brownies I’ve ever had! Never again will I use stove and box mix! Will give you another reason the extra cook time was worth it. This is first time ever able to cut clean even pieces. Even down to 1/16ths! Was doubtful that 1/16th would be satisfying. But I promise you IT IS!!
Chef Gary
August 20, 2018 at 9:23 amSo glad you liked them Shannon! And thanks for the shares on social media!
Kelley
August 20, 2018 at 1:33 pmChef Gary, I’m on a GF diet and made your IP brownies last night and they were simply delicious! Due to my GF diet I made a few changes to your recipe; substitute to Pillsbury’s GF Flour and doubled the baking soda to ensure they raised like a traditional brownie. Your recipe’s definitely a keeper and thanks for sharing!!
Gerrie
August 23, 2018 at 4:21 pmHi,
I haven’t made this yet – but can I add walnuts to it? Oh and what is a “push pan” ? Is it a removable bottom cake pan?
Thank you!
Chef Gary
August 24, 2018 at 8:21 amYes and yes to both of your questions! My wife loves nuts in brownies, but I’m not a fan of nuts in desserts. But it should work in this recipe.
gerrie
August 24, 2018 at 12:11 pmThanks ! I hope baby and all are well!!
gerrie
August 24, 2018 at 6:50 pmThese are wonderful!!! I added 1 cup of chopped walnuts and it turned out great! Thanks again!
sharon venske
October 3, 2018 at 10:51 amwhat is a push pan,,,I have a spring form pan will that work?
Chef Gary
October 3, 2018 at 12:13 pmYes, the same size spring form should work!