While I love almost all desserts, to me the BEST desserts fall into the “a la mode” category. They are warm and topped with ice cream, and that combo takes almost any dessert to a whole other level. I LOVE A La Mode.
For a while I’ve been trying to come up with a quick and easy way to make an individual serving of brownie a la mode at home, and the results aren’t always the best. Some have turned out like this…
We’ll call those Brownie A La Garbage Disposal. Bleh. I tried using mixes, thinking that would be a nice way to keep it easy, but I was never happy with the results. Today I decided to work on one based on my favorite brownie recipe and see what I could create, and I think we have a winner.
Yeah, this recipe is a keeper. Hot, gooey, dark chocolatey brownies in a few short minutes using the microwave and simple ingredients??? We’ll call them Brownies A La Anytime.
Here is what you need…
At the very last moment I decided that I wanted to add baking powder, so this guy didn’t make it into the photo, but he made it into the brownies. The ingredients are as follows. This will make one generous serving. It could be shared, if you are feeling generous, but I won’t judge you if you keep it all to yourself.
Brownies A La Anytime
4 Tablespoons Flour
3 Tablespoons Sugar
Pinch Of Salt
1/8 teaspoon Baking Powder
2 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder (I prefer Hershey’s Dark Cocoa Powder)
1 Tablespoon Melted Butter
1-2 Tablespoons Oil (such as vegetable, canola or coconut)
1 Tablespoon Water
1/4 Teaspoon Vanilla
You can top with a few chocolate chips or nuts if you like.
Melt your butter in a microwave safe bowl or cup (took me about 12 seconds). Add the oil to your melted butter and mix well. If you want a moister brownie, go for the full two tablespoons. I prefer a really solid, dense brownie (which I top with ice cream adding a lot of moisture) so I use one tablespoon of oil. Add in your vanilla and water, stir well to combine. In a separate bowl or cup, combine all dry ingredients.
As I said, I used only one tablespoon of oil, so my mix is a bit on the drier/firm side. I pressed it into my ramekin. You could also use a mug, microwaving things in a mug seems to be the popular thing, but being a non-coffee drinker (hello, Diet Coke!), I have more ramekins than I do mugs.
I added a few chocolate chips to the top.
I started with 45 seconds in the microwave and ended up cooking mine for about one minute and ten seconds. That’s 70 seconds people – until hot, gooey, delicious, dark, sweet chocolate goodness. SEVENTY SECONDS! That’s like magic!
Instant. Gratification. Which is both a very good, and possibly very bad, thing. These may be too easy to whip up!
In my opinion, anything “a la mode” needs ice cream. End of story.
These are best enjoyed within a few minutes of heating them up. I have a few yummy variations coming up, but I have to pace myself, eating four of these in a day is probably not recommended. Though it would be damn delicious. ENJOY!
If you are looking for some other delish brownie recipes, maybe I recommend…
More Fudge Less Pudge Brownies
Candy Cane Cookie Crunch Brownies
Sandi O says
July 14, 2012 at 7:59 pmIs it wrong to say I love you? Cuz after this, I do!!!
Rachelle says
July 14, 2012 at 9:02 pmJust made these… They hit the spot!
debzy says
July 14, 2012 at 9:40 pmthat is pure genius!
ThisBakerGirlBlogs says
July 15, 2012 at 1:07 amSo much gooey goodness! So easy aswell, will definitely try this out 🙂
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar says
July 15, 2012 at 4:13 amMmm such a great idea!! Sometimes brownies are needed for one…and now I have a recipe!
Olivia says
July 15, 2012 at 6:32 amOh man…this recipe just made my day. Which just started. Would it be weird to make this immediately after breakfast? 😉
Hayley @ The Domestic Rebel says
July 15, 2012 at 8:03 amYou’re right–these are good and bad. Good because I love knowing I don’t need to whip up a huge batch when I have a brownie craving attack, but bad knowing how quick and easy they are to indulge in a couple ramekins-ful!
marla says
July 15, 2012 at 8:19 amYou are a genius with the sweet treats!! This looks great!
Averie @ Averie Cooks says
July 15, 2012 at 12:38 pmChristi it looks so delish! Saw it on FG, too. Congrats – I want to reach into the screen and grab some!
Natasha says
July 15, 2012 at 5:39 pmI love this! Totally making it tonight! Thanks for sharing 🙂
steph says
July 15, 2012 at 5:46 pmamazing!!!! tried these tonight with chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. awesome! also – i was out of cocoa powder, so as a sub i used dark hot chocolate mix and omitted the sugar. turned out great!!!
Lari says
July 16, 2012 at 2:14 amHey…
That sounds perfect… Unfortunately I don’t have a microwave, does this also work in a normal oven?
XX
Lari
Cent4urThoughts.blogspot.com
linsey says
July 19, 2012 at 9:20 amI tried this delicious looking treat and followed the instructions exactly, but sadly, they turned out completely disgusting! Unfortunately for me, it didn’t really taste like a brownie at all. I mean, it looked just like the brownie you have pictured, it just didn’t taste the way you described it. So I guess I won’t be trying that recipie again 🙁
Sam says
July 27, 2012 at 10:06 amYou are a genius! Although microwave brownies may be dangerous in my hands… too easy!! Cant wait to make (and eat!) xx
Tami says
July 29, 2012 at 5:24 pmSaw this at dinner time. Ended up making this instead of dinner! Good thing I didn’t have to cook for anyone tonight!! Added peanut butter chips and chopped pecans. Delicious!! Dangerously good and easy!
Christi says
July 29, 2012 at 6:19 pmTami, your version sounds delish! Dinner is SO overrated. 🙂
Sam says
August 1, 2012 at 10:26 amI made this the other day and I loved it so much I made many more batches of the dry ingredients so I only have to pull out a baggie and cook! I used 2 Tbsp of oil because I wanted mine super moist. Also, next time I am going to use less cocoa powder since these are super rich. (Needless to say, I did not use any extra chocolate chips!) I made mine all in the same mug to create less dishes and topped it with mint chocolate chip ice cream! It was fantastic! And it was a hit at the office too!
Jasmine says
August 12, 2012 at 6:16 amThat looks amazing! Mmmm……
But if I wanted to make 3 servings, let’s say, do I triple the ingredients? Thanks for sharing this recipe, your recipes are always so creative!
Hanna says
September 9, 2012 at 3:50 pmMade it in a mug and left it for about 20 min, when I came back it was rock solid…. it was still delicious!
Precious says
September 22, 2012 at 8:01 pm1st WOW can’t wait to try these & the chocolate chip a la mode. 2nd I’m not a dark chocolate person so I wanted to know why do you prefer the dark chocolate?
Christi says
September 23, 2012 at 10:31 amPrecious, I just prefer the taste of dark chocolate. I’m not a milk chocolate person, so just a matter of personal taste. 🙂
Katie says
October 3, 2012 at 8:38 pmJust made these in my waffle iron… TO.DIE.FOR!!!
Christi says
October 5, 2012 at 11:41 amKatie, in the waffle iron??? Oh I HAVE to try that. Can we then justify them as a breakfast food? I say yes…
Alison says
October 25, 2012 at 7:38 pmSo tonight I was randomly surfing facebook and a former co-worker that I haven’t had even a brief conversation with in over 5 years had posted about her wish for an on-hand baker to satisfy her spur-of-the-moment brownie cravings. I linked her to this post, and 10 minutes later she called me up and said I was “the bomb!” and then jokingly cursed me for showing her to your baking blog because of all the weight she’ll gain trying out your yummy recipes! I haven’t been told I’m “the bomb”, well, ever. Made my night! Thanks for sharing awesome recipes that make us all look good!
Christi says
October 25, 2012 at 9:33 pmAlison, thanks for sharing that great story! 🙂
Rachel says
December 3, 2012 at 6:32 pmFound this on Pinterest, made it right away, and love it! I topped mine with a few vanilla chips and a few mint chocolate chips. Thank you!
Stephanie says
January 21, 2013 at 10:34 pmMade these tonight for my boyfriend & I. Tried one with coconut oil and the other with vegetable oil… the first came out looking ugly & a little dry, but after adding a little heavy whipping cream to it, it was pretty good, but sort of lacking in sweet-ness. The second came out looking just like yours (I was very excited!), but it was dry inside and tasted a little floury… maybe a difference in microwaves caused this? Also, I used unsweetened cocoa. Overall, I was glad I tried it out. The recipe was quick and fun to make, maybe I’ll try some variations in the prep some other time! Thanks 🙂
Fatema says
January 29, 2013 at 11:39 amHey I tried this recipe of yours tonight and they turned out great except they dried up in the microwave. BUT ended up tasting like a great batch of chocolate cookies! Heh. Also I wanted them super moist but 2 tablespoons of oil didnt help. They were too crumbly. Any tips on how to get them to be a little more perfect the next time I make the brownies? 😀
Courtney says
March 7, 2013 at 5:07 pmjust made 2 of these… they were awesome! had to cook them 5 seconds longer, but it was great! drizzled a little caramel on top before i cooked them.
Jasmine says
April 7, 2013 at 1:21 pmWonderful! The cake is a tad bit bland to me. I should’ve added some coffee powder or something. Anyhow, it was great! I had this, topped with m&ms, whipped cream, and chocolate syrup! Hey, I’m on my period!
Daisy says
April 24, 2013 at 3:39 pmI owe you some serious kudos for this!! I’m in the middle of revision time and just made this. 60 secs @ 800Watt. Chucked some evaporated milk over it which I had in the cupboard. Just sublime. Thank you!
Daisy
Penny says
May 15, 2013 at 9:59 pmOne more thing to do to make the prep minutes/seconds even shorter. MIX in the baking dish! I mixed my dry ingredients in a bowl, melted my butter in the baking dish added the other liquid ingredients and then added the bowl of dry ingredients! Less clean up too!
Naeva says
May 19, 2013 at 9:28 amScrew self control, I’m going to eat all of this.
When I was making the brownie, I dissolved the sugar in the wet ingredients to make sure there would be no graininess…I’m not saying there were, but many single serve recipies I have tried came out sandy. This is by far the best single serve brownie recipe I have ever done. Thank you!!
Christi says
May 19, 2013 at 1:30 pmNaeva, yay! So glad you liked it. And yeah, I’m with you on that self control thing…
Aubrey Schmidt says
May 26, 2013 at 1:38 pmIf you use a mug I would maybe not have the brownie in the microwave for 70 seconds, it kinda burns the bottom and makes it hard! But other than that it was great!
Abby says
May 31, 2013 at 5:12 pmtaste like hot crumble dirt.
kelly says
October 13, 2014 at 8:54 pmMine tasted ok but in no was was similar to a brownie. Was like chocolate crumbles. What did I do wrong??
Christi says
October 14, 2014 at 9:04 amKelly, you might have cooked it a few seconds too long for your microwave. Microwaves have so much variation, and this is absolutely a recipe that starts to get dry and crumbly if overcooked. I would try it again and cut a few seconds off the time at least. Under cooked is better than over cooked with these!
Brianna says
June 2, 2013 at 6:11 pmI only put 1 tbsp of sugar because i have been very into sweets lately…. and it was still incredible! The best microwavable brownie i have tried yet!! So happy i have found ‘THE ONE’ !!
Brianna says
June 2, 2013 at 6:13 pmWanted to add that as pp said, i used a mug and only did about 40 seconds and it was perfect. Any longer would have been too much. I just had a gut feeling..
Bellaboo says
July 22, 2013 at 2:21 pmI just fell in love with you and the brownies… im not sure who i love more 🙂
YOU MADE MY DAY :’)
yes, that was just a small tear 🙂
isla says
July 23, 2013 at 3:18 pmI’ve now tried to make these twice, the first time I found using oil gave it a weird taste and texture, so the second time i used 3 tbsp butter, they were PERFECT.
kate says
July 31, 2013 at 6:43 pmI love this but how many calories?
Christi @ Love From The Oven says
August 1, 2013 at 6:58 amKate, I don’t figure the calories for the recipes, but I’m sure you can figure it out through one of the recipe calorie converter site… http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php
Nazo says
October 19, 2013 at 9:05 amI love this recipe! The other recipes I’ve tried for microwave brownies came out as dry and tasteless, but I love topping this one with some chocolate chips and powdered sugar. 🙂
Tash says
January 19, 2014 at 2:02 pmWOW !! Just made it and it tasted delicious!! Wasn’t sure if it was going to work at first but it does
Junie says
February 18, 2014 at 3:57 pmI added a few peppermint chips instead of chocolate, and it was DIVINE. I love this!
Me says
March 5, 2014 at 1:08 amI just tried to make this using two TBS of oil as recommended for a ore moist brownie, and it didn’t work at all! Really really sad 🙁
Angie says
July 2, 2014 at 6:21 pmLooks dangerous! But in a totally delicious way. 😀 What size ramekin did you use? I’ve been wanting to try several single-serve microwave desserts, but I’m never sure if my standard coffee mugs are big enough. As far as ramekins, I only have 4 oz size, and then I have some 5 oz glass jars Would these be big enough for this recipe?
Christi says
July 3, 2014 at 7:00 amAngie, I think those would be fine. My ramekins are probably about the width of a coffee cup. 🙂
Emily Easterling says
September 7, 2014 at 7:11 pmjust pulled this out of the microwave- we loved it! really good brownie flavor. we added white chocolate chips.. yum!!
Leslie says
February 20, 2015 at 9:19 amMade this last night and it was DELICIOUS! Easy to be addicting. Has anyone tried substituting some of the sugar? That’s my only concern is that 3TBSP of sugar is a lot…let me know if you have suggestions!
Christi says
February 20, 2015 at 11:13 amLeslie, I think you could absolutely try cutting back the sugar, that’s really going to come down to personal taste. Let me know if you try and how it goes, but I would think 2 TBSP could absolutely work (and possibly less) or using something like Truvia.
Alyssa says
March 1, 2015 at 10:59 amI just tried these to surprise my brother who just got out of the hospital, and we both loved them! They were the perfect size, and wonderfully nostalgic to share together. A+++
Christi says
March 2, 2015 at 6:18 amSo glad you liked them Alyssa, I hope your brother is doing better!
Kim says
July 22, 2015 at 6:06 pmWell, that hit the spot! Turned out perfectly for me. I think I might do as someone suggested above and dissolve the sugar in the wet ingredients as it was a big grainy but other than that, it was great. I cooked mine in a standard size coffee mug, for 45 seconds, then an additional 15. Then I topped it with caramel ice cream topping. Delicious! I can’t say it’s EXACTLY like a brownie, but I am tempted to run upstairs and make another one…! Thanks for the recipe.
Amanda says
August 15, 2015 at 5:53 pmI love this recipe! So easy to make. This it’s great so I don’t eat the whole pan!
Ikhlas says
February 2, 2016 at 10:18 pmJust made these! Unfortunately, they turned out quite dry for me 🙁 I only put 1 tbsp of oil and microwaved them for 70 seconds. 25 seconds before it finished, I heard a sizzling sound and I immediately took it out to discover that it had overcooked. It was more like a dry mug cake than brownie for me, but I think it was because of the high heat of my microwave.
Will definitely try this again with less time!
Malaz Nour says
July 9, 2016 at 9:51 pmSo I’m about to figure out if it’s okay to use powdered vanilla instead of liquid wish me luck!
LucyNY says
September 3, 2016 at 3:28 pmWas stuck in the house today, and decided to try this recipe. It was delicious! I will definitely make it again when I need a quick chocolate fix.
Ellie says
January 6, 2017 at 12:07 amJust wanted to let you know that I am a huge fan of this recipe! It’s perfect for satisfying my chocolate craving with nothing less than absolute decadence! ? I usually top it with my beloved almond milk ice cream, but today I opted for drizzling the whole shebang with full fat coconut milk and I loved that, too. Thanks for sharing this too-easy-for-my-own-good recipe!
P.S. Because I am a total weirdo, I tried halving this recipe when I felt like a less guilty dessert. It totally worked!
Christi says
January 7, 2017 at 2:09 pmEllie, I’m so happy to hear you like the recipe! Sometimes you just have to take care of that chocolate craving! Enjoy and Happy New Year!
Clarinet :P says
January 8, 2017 at 2:30 pmThe first time it came out VERY runny, so I cut back on the oil. Wasn’t sweet enough for me so I topped it with powdered sugar! OH YEA!
Im eating this all MYSELF!!! 😀
Christi says
January 9, 2017 at 1:18 pmEnjoy!
Sonali says
May 21, 2017 at 5:40 pmWooooould anyone judge me if I said I ate this raw? It was delicious, 10/10 would make again
Sonali says
May 21, 2017 at 5:41 pmP.S. I cut out the oil and swapped the butter for almond milk b/c I knew I wouldn’t be baking it. YUMMM
Cheshire Cat says
July 25, 2018 at 1:08 pmThis was wonderful. Made with GF flour, highly recommend. Also placed a splot of peanut butter in the center and covered it over before cooking and used butterscotch choco chips on top.
Christi says
July 26, 2018 at 9:40 amSo glad you enjoyed it, and were able to make it GF to fit your needs, that’s great!
RP says
November 16, 2018 at 8:52 pmThis was great! I substituted regular flour with almond flour, used 2 TBSP of sugar instead of 3, light butter spread instead of regular butter, and no salt. Still tasted amazing!