Overview
Double chocolate, salted caramel, peanut butter. Leave your green smoothies at the door and treat yourself to one of Brisbane's dense blocks of deliciously decadent dessert. One of the most simultaneously indulgent and stripped-back of the baked good family, the humble brownie has been celebrated by Brisbane institutions in many a mouthwatering form.
From heart-shaped morsels to the forgotten sister of the brownie, the Blondie, Brisbane knows its way around the sweet rectangular crowdpleaser. Popping up in the glass cabinets of Jocelyn’s Provisions, the degustations of Bacchus and farmers markets of Jan Power, the mighty brownie has a special place in Brisbanite hearts. Now arrange a coffee date and get amongst Brisbane's best brownies, it's high time you treated yourself.
Flour and Chocolate
Flour and Chocolate are a Brisbane institution when it comes to all things baked, so it should come as no surprise that they whip up a darn good brownie. Make your way to Morningside on a Friday and experience the beauty of brownie day. Double chocolate and salted caramel are the store's staple flavours but monthly specials like peanut butter are pretty hard to say no to. While some varieties are flourless, all of them are absolutely straight-up delicious.
Brownie budget: $5
Jocelyn's Provisions
It's near impossible to talk baked goods in Brisbane without mentioning Jocelyn’s Provisions. At Jocelyn's, the often forgotten sister of the brownie — the Blondie — is given a chance to shine. A rich and chewy texture, abound with chunks of white chocolate and macadamia nuts should be reason enough for you think twice before judging the lack of cocoa. A classic fudge brownie and alternatives like pecan and chocolate are also available.
Brownie budget: $5.70
Dello Mano
Dello Mano's reputation precedes them after being named favourite brownie by Oprah Winfrey and Ashton Kutcher. And boy oh boy, do they live up to the hype. At $5.50 a pop, the saying 'good things come in small packages' could not ring more true. After carefully selecting your flavour from the fridge, do yourself a favour and wait until your brownie drops to room temperature before eating, in order to experience its true wonderment. For those poor souls who don’t live in Brisbane or can’t get to the Teneriffe bricks and mortar store and café, you’ll be please to know you can order the luxury brownies online in either a 9 or 16-piece gift box and spoil someone special (or yourself).
Brownie budget: $5.50
I Heart Brownies
Found exclusively at Jan Power’s Farmers Markets, selected cafes in Brisbane and available for ordering online, I Heart Brownies are like little chocolate hugs. Heart-shaped and dusted with icing sugar, these babies are gluten free and available in a variety of sugar-filled flavours. We hearted Classic Chocolate and Delightfully Turkish. Top notch.
Brownie budget: $4
Malt
Malt Dining prove there's always space on a menu for a great brownie, even in fine dining. The Attic present the Malt Brownie with salted caramel, chocolate textures and peanut brittle. Two pieces of dense, fudgy brownie are delicately sandwiched together with a creamy vanilla bean ice cream.
Brownie budget: $15
Moo Moo: The Wine Bar and Grill
Although Moo Moo might be known for their steaks, be sure to leave room for their hot fudge sundae — featuring our baked star. Cooked to order and plated with ice cream, chocolate fudge sauce, chewy honeycomb and fresh flowers, this one is a feast for your eyes and your stomach. The brownie is warm and cake-like, soaking up the chocolate fudge sauce and making for an extremely decadent end to an evening.
Brownie budget: $19
Kokopod
Salted caramel. Peanut butter. Raspberry. They're brownies, but not as you've had them before. We got our hands on the heart-shaped sweet raspberry and peanut butter kind, and raspberry took the cake — but only just. Popping up at the Carseldine Markets, the mastermind behind Kokopod, Brigid, is a professionally-trained chocolatier and only uses fair trade Swiss chocolate. The proof of quality lies in the brownie.
Brownie budget: $4
The Bakers Arms
While not technically a brownie, the salted caramel and popcorn hedgehog from The Bakers Arms deserves an honorable mention. A fudgy textured hedgehog with generous chunks of biscuity goodness is crowned by sticky salted caramel popcorn that will leave cavities in your molars and a smile on your face all day long.
Brownie Budget: $5
Chester Street Bakery and Bar
Chester Street has seen a myriad of brownies adorn its beloved glass cabinet. The current offering is a rich, classic chocolate brownie smeared with white chocolate ganache. Just like yin and yang, the opposing chocolate forces compliment magically and bring harmony to the universe.
Brownie budget: $5
Bacchus
This one comes with a catch: four other dessert degustation courses. Oh. Yeah. It might look like a work of art, but that won't stop you eating the brownie at Bacchus. The most decadent of them all, not in sweet richness but in the gold foil and culinary skill involved, the dessert is served up as course two of five in the venue's dessert degustation. The brownie is perfect in texture and served with Frangelico ice cream and a tempered chocolate cylinder lined with hazelnut crumb and filled with hazelnut mousse.
Brownie budget: $49 (Bacchus degustation)