These moist & fudgy Instant Pot brownies are easy to make from scratch. Enjoy with some vanilla ice-cream for a perfect dessert!
This brownie recipe is so easy to make from scratch in the instant pot. These are the most moist, dense and rich brownies that you will probably ever have. This is the reason we love them. Even a little piece of this brownie goes a long way. These brownies are a chocoholics dream come true!
I first tried these brownies on Valentines day in 2019 and shared on my instagram stories. I got so many requests for the recipe, and I definitely did not mind making it again to share here so you all enjoy it too!
If you want to make gluten-free brownies, check out my Almond Flour Brownies recipe.
Jump to:
Why make Brownies in the Instant Pot?
I know you can make brownies in the oven, and are wondering why make them in the instant pot!
The first reason for me is that the texture of these steamed brownies is so different than oven-baked brownies. They are so moist, dense and fudgy. We love the oven baked one's, but these were also loved by the whole family.
Brownies are so different than cakes. We don't want them to rise much, and dense and moist is a good thing. Hence the instant pot steaming works great. I have still not converted to liking cakes made in the instant pot. Let's see when that happens.
I am in California, so not a big difference for me. However for people living the the hot areas where they don't want to turn on the oven in summer, this is a perfect way to enjoy this delicious dessert. Or maybe if you don't have access to an oven, maybe you are traveling with your instant pot or your kitchen is being renovated. That is the time, your instant pot can come in handy to satiate your sweet tooth.
How to make the best fudgy Instant Pot Brownies?
Let’s start with gathering the ingredients. It is best to have all the ingredients ready before you start mixing.
I tried this recipe with semi-sweet chocolate chips and milk chocolate chips. My family enjoyed the semi-sweet chocolate chips much more. But feel free to take your pick.
- Melt half cup chocolate chips in the microwave. Heat for 30 seconds, then at 15 seconds intervals until smooth.
- In a large bowl, mix melted butter & sugar. Stir until smooth, when the sugar is well combined with the butter.
- Mix in the eggs and vanilla extract. Then add the melted chocolate & mix again.
- Fold in the all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Do not over mix.
- Add a quarter cup chocolate chips and fold them in the batter.
- Grease a 6 inch cake pan with some melted butter (or another cake pan that fits in the pressure cooker). Line a parchment paper on the bottom of the cake pan. I used the 6″ Fat Diddio pan with a removable bottom as that fits easily in the instant pot and also makes it super easy to take out the brownie once it is cooked.
- Transfer the batter to a greased cake pan. Top with the remaining quarter cup chocolate chips.
- Now we want to cover the cake pan with a paper towel and then a foil so the steam does not go into the brownie. You can also prepare a aluminum foil sling to easily take the cake out once it is cooked. I skipped it when making this brownie and used the trivet handles to remove the cake pan.
- Add water to the instant pot steel insert. Place a trivet, and the covered cake pan on the trivet. Close lid with vent in sealing position. Cook on manual or pressure cooker mode at high pressure for 35 minutes. When the pressure cooker beeps, let the pressure release naturally. (Note: I have tried this recipe with high pressure for 30, 35 and 40 minutes and all worked well. Some readers reported that the brownie was not cooked in 30 minutes, so feel free to pressure cook for 40 minutes).
- Carefully take the cake pan out using mitts. Remove the foil and paper towel. Let the brownie rest on the counter for about 10 minutes.
- Check that it is done (insert a clean knife or toothpick at the center of the brownie, which should come out clean). Run a knife around the edges of the brownie.
- Then carefully remove the brownie from the cake pan. I placed the cake pan on a can of coconut milk, and the sides slide out like a charm. Then as we added the parchment paper at the bottom, it came off very easily too.
- Slice and serve warm with vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!
In my opinion, brownies are no good without ice-cream 😉
You will love these Brownies
✓ they are easy to make from scratch with minimal ingredients
✓ they are so moist, dense and fudgy
✓ do not heat up your kitchen
✓ perfect to enjoy with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream!
These brownies are perfect for an easy dessert. You will most likely have all the ingredients at home, so just give it a try!
If you want to try another delicious cake in the instant pot, check out this Lava Cake, Orange Semolina Cake.
Instant Pot Brownies Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup Unsalted Butter melted
- ½ cup Sugar
- ½ cup Chocolate chips to melt
- 2 Eggs
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ½ cup All purpose flour
- ¼ cup Cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon Baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ½ cup chocolate chips divided, to mix in batter & top
- 1 ½ cup Water
Instructions
- Grease a 6 inch cake pan with some melted butter (or another cake pan that fits in the pressure cooker). Line a parchment paper on the bottom of the cake pan.
- Melt ½ cup chocolate chips in the microwave. Heat for 30 seconds, then at 15 seconds intervals until smooth.
Preparing the brownie batter
- In a large bowl, mix melted butter & sugar. Stir until smooth.
- Mix in the eggs and vanilla extract. Then add the melted chocolate & mix again.
- Fold in the all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Do not over mix.
- Add ¼ cup chocolate chips and fold them in the batter.
- Transfer batter to the prepared cake pan. Top with the remaining ¼ cup chocolate chips.
- Cover the cake pan with paper towels and foil. This is important so the steam does not go into the cake batter while it is cooking.
Steaming brownie in instant pot
- Add water to the instant pot steel insert. Place a trivet, and the cake pan on the trivet. Close lid with vent in sealing position.
- Cook on manual or pressure cooker mode at high pressure for 35 minutes (see last note). When the pressure cooker beeps, let the pressure release naturally.
- Carefully take the cake pan out using mitts. Remove the foil and paper towel. Let the brownie rest on the counter for about 10 minutes.
- Check that it is done (insert a clean knife or toothpick at the center of the brownie, which should come out clean). Run a knife around the edges of the brownie. Then carefully remove the brownie from the cake pan.
- Slice and serve warm with vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Note: Nutrition values are my best estimates. If you rely on them for your diet, use your preferred nutrition calculator.
Uncle Bobby's Niece says
This recipe was easy to follow. And the ice cream recommendation was necessary. I love brownies and ice cream more than I love my sisters. But these brownies were more like the love I have for my distant uncle Bobby with a mullet. He's really nice, but he's stuck in the past and he doesn't have air conditioning yet. Anyway, back to the brownies... these tasted like chocolate and all, and didn't stick to the pan, however, I would prefer to call these chocolate fudge cake versus brownies because they didn't have the thick crisp denseness like brownies do. In fact, we could have added a subtle chocolate frosting or caramel drizzle. We tried a few slices, and brought the rest to Uncle Bobby. Thanks for allowing me to practice baking in my instant pot.
Meeta Arora says
Happy to hear you enjoyed the brownies with ice-cream.
Meredith says
Wow these are absolutely delicious and soooo easy! I used peanut butter chips at the end instead of chocolate…so good! My family told me these are definitely a keeper. 🙂
Wendy Arbeit says
I don't know what you mean by Instant Pot steel insert. Maybe my Mini doesn't have one? And couldn't see you inserting it in the video because the video has this message: This video file cannot be played.(Error Code: 224003)
Meeta Arora says
Hi Wendy - The steep insert is the one that comes with the instant pot (in which I add water and place the trivet). Sorry the video could not be played. I checked and the video was playing on my laptop. You can also see the video here on YouTube - https://youtu.be/MI7pQcqFBXA
Tom says
I just made these and OMG let me tell you they are the best brownies I've ever had. Super quick and easy to bring together and easy to cook in the instapot. I did not use semi sweet chocolate chips though, I used dark chocolate chocolate chips and it is simply decadent and Devine!
Meeta Arora says
Hi Tom - So glad to hear you enjoyed the brownies!
Brianne says
I thought it was a recipe for quick weed brownies🤣🤣🤣
Meeta Arora says
Lol...I have got that before too. Emphasizing "Instant Pot" together 😊😊
Bee says
This looks amazing! However, I will have to use substitutions since both my son & I have Celiac. I was also going to use Lilly's chips and a sugar substitute. I am curious about doing this without eggs since I cannot eat that either. But chocolate...dark..ooey and gooey yumminess...ohh man need to make STAT!
Meeta Arora says
Hello - Thank you! I have not tried, but you can try adding 1/4 cup applesauce as a substitute for eggs. I would love to hear how it turns out with the substitutions.
Louvenia says
Oh my! Extremely rich and comes together easily. I used a bar of baking chocolate to make the batter. Next time I will chop up the chocolate chips so they will not be so big. Cooking time was spot on. Will not make any other changes. But seriously, small pieces! I made this in a 3 qt instant pot.
Piping Pot Curry says
Hi - So good to hear that. Thank you for sharing it back 😊
Jill says
Fantastic, will definitely make again!
Piping Pot Curry says
Hi - So good to hear that 🙂