Instant Pot Brownies? Yep, you read that right! You absolutely can make rich fudgy brownies in your Instant Pot and the result is delicious. If you love brownies, you might want to also try these Air Fryer Brownies.
Why Make Brownies in an Instant Pot?
Okay, just because we CAN make brownies in an Instant Pot, why should we? After all, oven-baked brownies are already pretty darn good.
There are two good reasons that I can think of. First, you don’t have to heat up your kitchen. If you live somewhere warm or are baking in the summer, this is a big plus for IP cooking.
Second, it’s a matter of preference. I know there’s a whole group of people out there who love the outside edges of the brownie pan.
There are so many of those people, in fact, that someone designed a brownie pan that ensures EVERY brownie comes out like an edge piece. If you’re one of these people, buy that pan and skip the Instant Pot Brownies.
But if you’re like me, and you like the ooey, gooey middle pieces, you are going to love Instant Pot brownies! This is our answer to the brownie pan.
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Ready to make up a delicious batch of fudgy brownies? Ok, here’s what you’ll need:
Ingredients for Instant Pot Brownies
Ready to get started? Ok, here’s what you’ll need:
- Eggs
- Sugar
- Olive oil
- Cocoa powder
- Salt
- Vanilla extract
- Flour
- Chopped walnuts
Substitutions and Add-Ins
Boxed Brownie Mix: If you don’t have the ingredients above or simply want to save time, you can absolutely use boxed brownie mix instead.
Oil: I prefer to use olive oil because I think it’s healthier than other options, but corn oil or canola oil will do the trick here. I DON’T recommend butter (even melted butter) because your brownies won’t turn out as moist and chewy.
Nuts: I love walnuts in this recipe, but chopped pecans also work great. Don’t like nuts? Leave them out!
Chocolate Chips, Chunks or Candy: You can use these in place of, or in addition to, the nuts for added texture and flavor
Marshmallows: Feel free to add a handful of mini marshmallows if you like them — they go great with chocolate!
Equipment & Helpful Tools
- Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker
- Trivet
- 7-inch cake pan, push pan or springform pan
- Parchment paper
- Nonstick cooking spray
- Rubber spatula
- Aluminum foil
How to Make Instant Pot Brownies
Once you have everything you need, it’s time to get cooking!
Step 1: Prepare Your Pot and Pan
First, place the trivet that came with your Instant Pot in the bottom of the inner liner. Pour in two cups of water.
Then, line a 7-inch cake pan or spring form pan with parchment paper. Spray the paper with cooking spray.
Step 2: Prepare Batter
To make the batter, combine two eggs and one cup sugar in a medium bowl and beat until fluffy and smooth.
Then, add 1/2 cup of oil, 2/3 cup cocoa powder, 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt to the egg mixture. Beat on medium high for one minute.
Add 1/2 cup of flour but in four separate stages, mixing on low in between each addition just until the flour is incorporated. Avoid over mixing the batter because you’ll end up with cakey brownies — not a terrible thing, but definitely not the dense, rich brownies I’ve promised you.
Finally, pour in 1/2 cup of nuts and fold them into the batter with a spatula.
Step 3: Pressure Cook
Carefully pour batter into the prepared pan. Make sure you scrape the sides with your spatula! We don’t want to let any of that chocolatey goodness go to waste.
Create a foil sling (you can see it in the picture above) to wrap under the pan. Use the “handles” to gently lower the pan into the Instant Pot until the pan sits securely on top of the trivet.
Secure the lid, make sure the valve is set to sealing, and select high pressure for 24 minutes. When the timer beeps after the cook time is complete, allow for a 10 minute natural release before turning the valve to venting to quick release the remaining pressure.
Step 4: Cool and Serve
Once the pressure release is complete, carefully remove the lid of the Instant Pot.
Use the foil sling to remove the pan from the Instant Pot. It should look something like this:
Set aside and allow the brownies to cool for 10 minutes. Then, cut the brownies into squares or triangles (like a pie) and serve or store.
Optional Toppings / Serving Suggestions
Frankly, I think these brownies are the perfect dessert just as they are, but if you want to make them next level awesome, here are some suggestions:
Top with frosting. This peanut butter frosting goes great on brownies!
Serve with ice cream. Either put a giant scoop right on top or add bite-size pieces of brownies to a bowl of vanilla ice cream.
I include step-by-step photos for my readers who are still learning to use their Instant Pots and want to know what each part of the process looks like. For those of you who just want to see the recipe and instructions without all that scrolling, here you go.
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๐ Recipe
Instant Pot Walnut and Pecan Chocolate Brownies
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Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
- 2/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup chopped nuts
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Place Instant Pot rack in bottom of inner liner and add 2 cups water.
- Line a 7-inch round cake pan with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.
- Add eggs and sugar to medium-sized bowl. Beat until smooth (about 3 minutes).
- Add oil, cocoa powder, vanilla and salt to egg mixture. Beat on low until well combined (about 1 minute).
- Add flour to mixing bowl about 1/8 cup at a time, mixing in between, until well combined.
- Add nuts and fold into batter with a spatula.
- Pour brownie batter into to the prepared baking dish.
- Lower baking dish into Instant Pot using a foil sling. Secure lid and set valve to sealing.
- Cook on high pressure for 24 minutes. Quick release pressure. Once the pressure is fully released, carefully remove lid.
- Using foil sling, lift the baking dish out of the Instant Pot. Set pan aside and allow brownies to cool for 10 minutes.
- Cut brownies into squares or triangles to serve.
Video
Nutrition
More Instant Pot Resources
Love your Instant Pot? Find more Instant Pot Recipes here. And check out my favorite Instant Pot Hacks.
My son, husband and my sweet tooth thank you for saving us from heating up the house more during a Texas heatwave! If anyone who hasn’t tried this reads this review, please do yourself a favor and make it as a warm brownie sundae. So delicious and fudgy!
These are amazing and exactly the fudgy brownies of my dreams! I used chocolate chips this time around because I was too lazy to chop walnuts. Thank you!
I’m so excited to hear how much you liked these brownies. That’s the great thing about recipes, you can modify them to meet your tastes, or how you’re feeling that day. Thanks for commenting.
Love how they turned out! Just like you said, ooey gooey yummy brownies!!!! Thank you for sharing your instant pot recipes.
I’m so glad you liked the brownies! Thanks for commenting and letting me know.
Can you use a push pan for this?
You mean the kind where the bottom of the pan isn’t attached and can be pushed up and out from the sides? I don’t see why not!
Can you use a brownie mix
Hi Carlene, I haven’t tried it but I don’t see why not. If you try it, please come back and let me know what you think of the result.
Can you omit the nuts and they remain the same consistency? Thanks.
Yes! They’ll turn out fine without the nuts. You can also replace the nuts with chocolate chunks if you want without needing to adjust the recipe (or leave them out).
At first I thought you’d frosted your brownies, but then I realized it was the shiny top that resulted from being steamed. They look delish!
Yes! No frosting required! They come out so moist and chewy, they’re perfect all alone.
OMG, this is a must-do for me. I do not like the crispy edges of brownies at all – this seems like heaven to me! Do you know how I would adapt it for a 3-qt Instant Pot?
Hi Colleen, I don’t have a 3-quart so this recommendation is my best guess. Cut the recipe in half and bake it in a cake pan that fits inside your 3-quart IP (I found this one on Amazon).