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Whole-Wheat Brownies

These brownies get a healthy boost from whole-wheat flour and applesauce, while cocoa powder plus 8 ounces of semisweet chocolate make them nice and fudgy.

Whole-Wheat Brownies

Everyday Food editor Sarah Carey shows you how to make a more virtuous brownie (hint: it uses applesauce) that's every bit as delicious as the traditional treat.

Everyday Food, September 2010
  • Yield Makes 16
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Ingredients

  • 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)
  • 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour (spooned and leveled)
  • 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon coarse salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups unsweetened applesauce
  • 1 large egg
  • 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking dish; line with parchment, leaving a 2-inch overhang on all sides. In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, cocoa, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.

  2. In a large bowl, stir together sugar, applesauce, and egg. Place butter and 6 ounces chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a pot of simmering water; stir until melted. Stir chocolate mixture into sugar mixture. Stir in flour mixture. Pour into pan and top with 2 ounces chocolate.

  3. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 40 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack. Use parchment to lift cake from pan and cut into 16 squares.

Recipe Reviews

  • seasonal_sensations
    12 Feb, 2013

    I just tasted them and I agree with the rest of the comments, this is not a brownie. This is cake. It's not fudgey, it doesn't even taste that chocolatey. It's light and fluffy instead of chewy and dense. I've never had a problem with recipes from this site but this was a HUGE disappointment.

  • seasonal_sensations
    12 Feb, 2013

    I haven't tried the brownies yet, but there's one thing that's glaringly obvious-- they're way too thick. I think there might be a typo when the recipe instructs to use an 8 by 8 cake pan, because they're twice the size as normal brownies. More like a cake than a brownie. Probably explains a lot of the complaints in the comments. I think it would be better to use an 8 by 12 pan to get the right thickness and moist to chewy ratio that you'd expect from brownies.

  • JJ Lee
    10 Feb, 2013

    My husband did not like these at all he said they were too cakey and likened them to the dry cake on the outside of a devil dog
    Sorry not a keeper

  • goodgoinmartha
    17 Jan, 2013

    ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm wow. all i can say is wowe is this some kind of a sick scam??? ??? good goin martha. these came out gross, cakey, and crunchy. crunchy??? like how that hapen??? my doge wont even eat this. my boyfriend broke up with me over this ........... next time try not to ruin my life

  • MairiC
    15 Apr, 2012

    These are really delicious. I have often had trouble with brownies being too dry, but these are moist and chewy, and the chocolate chunks give it nice texture. I guess I made a small mistake, I did not melt the butter first, I just put pats of butter in with the chocolate pieces, but they seemed to turn out fine. I would look no further for a brownie recipe.

  • Kingy513
    3 Sep, 2011

    I really like this recipe. I'm not big on brownies but these are very delicious and very chocolatey. Have made it several times and will not look any further for a brownie recipe!

  • jesusheart
    27 Aug, 2011

    I found an only-cocoa brownie recipe in Alice Medrich's Bittersweet -- an intense cookbook on chocolate. You may find you like Joanlue's recipe more (I prefer more cocoa/chocolate and less sugar) or you can search recipes like tastespotting.com or foodblogsearch.com. Hope this helps! :)

  • Joanlue
    23 Aug, 2011

    Here's recipe using only cocoa. I love the richness that baking choc. gives a brownie. I want to try the one above.

    Cocoa Brownies

    2 Cups Sugar
    5 Tblsp. Cocoa
    ½ Tsp. Salt
    ¾ Cup Margarine
    4 Eggs (One at a time)
    1 ½ Cups Un-sifted Flour
    1 Tsp. Vanilla
    1 Cup Nuts (Opt.)

    Mix Sugar, cocoa, salt and melted margarine. Add eggs; mix after each. Add flour, vanilla and nuts. Pour in a 9x13 inch ungreased pan. Bake at 375° for 20-22 minutes. (Good with or without frosting.

  • anniequinn
    8 Nov, 2010

    When I searched the Internet I found that 3 tb of cocoa powder and 1 tb of melted butter equals 1 1-oz baking chocolate square. I'm not sure how that might change the texture of your finished product but I guess you'll never know unless you try. Wouldn't work for this recipe because of the chocolate you put on top but there's plenty of other recipes out there.

  • theverytalented
    26 Oct, 2010

    can any one please help me find a brownie recipie that doesnt use any chocolate, and only uses cocco powder??