Rich and decadent, these Espresso Brownies with Cream Cheese Frosting are filled with chocolate, coffee, and cream cheese. They're flavorful, fudgy, and a brownie lover's dream dessert!
You can never go wrong with a dose of espresso, and these Espresso Brownies with Cream Cheese Frosting give you a double dose, from the espresso in the brownies all the way to the luscious espresso cream cheese frosting. After one bite of these, you'll be awake all day long, and then you'll surely come back for another slice! Although one slice really is super rich and decadent.
These coffee brownies will satisfy your chocolate cravings and then some! If you love coffee and espresso, you'll love my Coffee Cinnamon Rolls and my Banana Cake with Espresso Cream Cheese Frosting.
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♥ Why You'll Love This Recipe
Fudgy Texture - These brownies are incredibly fudgy and moist.
Rich & Decadent - CHOCOLATE HEAVEN! The combo of dark chocolate and cocoa powder create such a rich and flavorful taste. These are THE chocolate brownies with cream cheese frosting recipe you need to try!
Easy - This brownie recipe is very easy. From start to finish, it doesn't take very long. There's no mixer required for the brownie base, and the frosting comes together in less than 5 minutes.
Espresso - The cream cheese frosting is loaded with espresso and so are the brownies, just like my Chocolate Chip Espresso Cookies. You'll be awake for 5 business days after a bite of one of these. 😉
📝 Ingredient Notes
A full list of ingredients, quantities, and instructions are located in the recipe card at the end of the post.
Espresso Brownies
- Chocolate: I use a 70% dark chocolate. I've used up to 85% and it works deliciously! My big recommendation is to use a high quality chocolate. If you only have chocolate chips on hand, you can use that, but try to use a good quality.
- Espresso powder: I've only ever tried this recipe (for many, many years) using espresso powder so I wouldn't know how well regular coffee or instant coffee would work. It might work just fine, but won't be as strong. Experiment if you like, but if you don't prefer the strong espresso, you could always reduce the amount.
- Cocoa powder: I use Dutch Process Cocoa Powder, as always. I buy mine online from Orson Gygi - Callebaut Extra Brute Cocoa Powder or Amazon.
- Eggs: Make sure your eggs are at room temperature.
Espresso Cream Cheese Frosting
Cream cheese: One of my favorite ingredients in almost any frosting is cream cheese. If you're not a fan, you could leave this out and the frosting will taste just fine, but keep in mind it will be a little sweeter, so adjust accordingly. Make sure your cream cheese is COLD right out of the fridge.
Espresso powder: In the ingredient list, I have ¼ to ½ teaspoon for a reason. I started off adding only ¼ thinking I'm going to go up to 1 tsp, but after tasting the frosting, I realized quite quickly that it was STRONG. Definitely taste test before adding more espresso powder.
See recipe card for quantities.
🍴Special Equipment
Kitchen Scale - It's so important to use a kitchen scale for accurate results.
Baking Pan - My favorite 8 inch Square USA pan is from USA pan. It has straight edges, bakes evenly, and never fails. I highly recommend purchasing a good quality baking pan for your bakes.
Mixing bowls - I love using glass Mixing Bowls when making batters and doughs.
Mixer - You can use a stand mixer, or a handheld mixer for the frosting
⇄ Substitutions
Cocoa Powder - You can use any type of cocoa powder you like. Natural or Dutch process.
Sugar - If you don't have granulated sugar, you can swap it out with brown sugar.
Espresso - You can leave this out and just make plain brownies.
✨ Variations
Peppermint - Swap out the espresso powder for peppermint for peppermint brownies.
Chocolate - Make a chocolate cream cheese frosting to top these brownies with, making them chocolate brownies with cream cheese frosting!
Mix-ins - Add in some chocolate chips or candies, like M&Ms.
𓎩 Step-by-Step Instructions
A few instruction photos to help you nail this recipe every time.
Step 1
In a microwave safe bowl, combine chocolate and butter and melt in microwave in 30 seconds increments, making sure to stir between each increment. Once completely melted, add the granulated sugar, vanilla extract and espresso powder and stir well with a spatula. Let it cool for 5 minutes.
Step 2
Once completely melted, add the granulated sugar, vanilla extract and espresso powder and stir well with a spatula. Let it cool for 5 minutes.
Once slightly cooled, add the eggs one at a time and whisk until incorporated.
Step 3
Sift in the flour, salt, and cocoa powder and mix with a spatula until incorporated.
Step 4
Pour the batter into the prepared pan Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
💡 Hint: The brownies are meant to be fudgy, so the toothpick inserted into the center will come out with quite a few moist crumbs and that is perfectly fine.
Step 5
In a medium bowl, Beat together the cold cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add espresso powder, vanilla extract, salt, and powdered sugar ¼ cup at a time and beat until completely smooth. If needed, add a splash of milk to thin out the batter if you feel it's too thick.
🎩Trick: For clean slices: Warm your knife under warm water, then wipe it down. Slice into the the brownies, and make sure to wipe the knife down between slices to get clean cuts.
💬 FAQ
If frosted, they do need to be refrigerated because of the cream cheese.
You do not. You can leave out the espresso in the recipe.
Absolutely! It's very important to let the brownies cool completely. Otherwise, the frosting will melt on top of the brownies, and when slicing into the brownies, it may end up falling apart because the brownies aren't completely set.
💡Pro Tips
Measure Flour Correctly - As always, with any recipe, use a kitchen scale, as it is the best form of measuring your ingredients. If you don't have a kitchen scale, fluff your flour, scoop flour with a spoon into a measuring cup and level off.
Room temperature - Make sure you bring all your ingredients to room temperature so that everything incorporates well.
Cool chocolate - After melting the chocolate, let it cool slightly before adding the eggs. To say that I have made this mistake not once, but twice is embarrassing! My eggs ended up scrambling and after they cooled and I bit into the brownies, there were chunks of scrambled eggs and it was not good! Don't be me. Have patience!
Line the pan - Make sure to line the pan with parchment paper. This will help when taking the brownies out of the pan.
Don't over bake - Remember, we're going for fudgy brownies and for that to happen, the toothpick inserted to check for doneness needs to come out moist. Since the brownies need to remain in the pan until cooled, the pan actually continues baking the brownies a little after they come out of the oven, so keep an eye on that and don't over bake!
Cool completely - Before frosting and slicing, make sure to cool the brownies completely.
❄ Storage
Frosted - Once frosted, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. You can eat them straight out of the fridge, or let them come to room temperature.
Unfrosted - Store these brownies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days.
📖 Recipe Card
Espresso Brownies with Cream Cheese Frosting
Equipment
- 1 8x8 square pan
- 1 Mixing Bowl
- 1 Spatula
- 1 handheld mixer
Ingredients
Espresso Brownies
- 5 oz. (142g) dark chocolate 70% or higher, chopped
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter cubed
- 1 ¼ cup (250g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon espresso powder
- 1.5 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 eggs room temperature
- ⅔ cup (80g) all purpose flour
- ¼ cup (25g) dutch processed cocoa powder
- ¼ tsp salt
Espresso Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 oz cream cheese cold
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter softened
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- ¼ - ½ teaspoon espresso powder more or less, depending on preference
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Espresso Brownies
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper
- In a microwave safe bowl, combine chocolate and butter and melt in microwave in 30 seconds increments, making sure to stir between each increment. Once completely melted, add the granulated sugar, vanilla extract and espresso powder and stir well with a spatula. Let it cool for 5 minutes.5 oz. (142g) dark chocolate, ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, 1 ¼ cup (250g) granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon espresso powder, 1.5 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Once slightly cooled, add the eggs one at a time and whisk until incorporated. Sift in the flour, salt, and cocoa powder and mix with a spatula until incorporated.3 eggs, ⅔ cup (80g) all purpose flour, ¼ cup (25g) dutch processed cocoa powder, ¼ teaspoon salt
- pour the batter into the prepared pan Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. The brownies are meant to be fudgy, so the toothpick inserted into the center will come out with quite a few moist crumbs and that is perfectly fine. If left in too long, the brownies could become dry. Let brownies cool completely before frosting
Espresso Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a medium bowl, Beat together the cold cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add espresso powder, vanilla extract, salt, and powdered sugar ¼ cup at a time and beat until completely smooth. If needed, add a splash of milk to thin out the batter if you feel it's too thick.4 oz cream cheese, 2 tablespoon unsalted butter, 1 ½ cups powdered sugar, ¼ - ½ teaspoon espresso powder, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon salt
- Frost brownies and enjoy!
Hana says
Tried these over the weekend, they were so good! Just a little piece is all you need because they are so rich and decadent!
Kima says
Thank you for the review! I'm so glad you loved it!
Cass says
Omg...I need these. Vegan. My mouth is watering.
Kima says
Hehe! You were the first person to ever try my espresso brownies! I would have to play around with some vegan ingredients!
Amira says
These are to die for! I made the mistake of letting my kiddo eat some for dessert, and he thought he was parkour king! These will definitely wake you up, and since they're so rich and decadent, they're excellent if you just want a small bite to hit the spot. And that frosting... I was eating it straight from the bowl while I waited for the brownies to cool off. Delicious!
Kima says
Yaay! Thanks for the review, Amira! I'm soo happy you loved them. I should probably add a warning on my post that it will turn kids into parkour masters! LOL.
Melanie Anderson says
This is an absolutely gorgeous recipe. The brownies are easy to make, and are fudgy, lush, and full of chocolate and coffee flavour. Do yourself a favour and make these. You will love them!
Hakima says
Thank you so much for the review, Melanie. I'm so glad you loved them! 🙂