Paul Hollywood’s 1-Ingredient Upgrade for the Best Brownies

I love a good brownie as much as anyone else, but does anyone ever feel like brownies are just a little… too sweet? If I’m going to eat a brownie, I want it to be fudgy, gooey in the center, and chewy around the edges with strong bittersweet chocolate notes. Super-sweet milk chocolate brownies? Not for me.

If you feel similarly, there’s one easy upgrade you can add to any brownie recipe to enhance the bittersweet chocolate flavor. I discovered this through the one and only Paul Hollywood. The smart trick is to sprinkle cocoa nibs on top of the brownie batter before baking.

What Are Cocoa Nibs?

Cocoa nibs are crumbled bits of dried and roasted cacao beans, a key ingredient in chocolate. The nibs are the same part of the bean used in chocolate production. 

If you’ve ever seen cacao (with an “a”) nibs, they’re very similar to cocoa (with an “o”) nibs but have a slight difference in the way they’re processed. Cocoa nibs are roasted to enhance their chocolate flavor, while cacao nibs are fermented and dried but not roasted to preserve some of the nutritional benefits like antioxidants. You can use them interchangeably in baking.

I generally find it easier to find cacao nibs (rather than cocoa nibs) in stores. Brands like Navitas Organics are widely available at Target, Kroger, Whole Foods, and other big-box food stores.

Why You Should Add Cocoa Nibs to Your Brownies

Because cocoa nibs aren’t sweetened, eating a cocoa nib is like eating a tiny piece of unsweetened chocolate. They’re not that delicious on their own, but as a topping on top of a rich, already sweetened brownie, they add an earthy, bittersweet contrast.

In Paul Hollywood’s brownie recipe, he calls for adding a mix of milk and dark chocolate chunks to the brownies and topping them with cocoa nibs before baking for nuttiness and crunch. 

To me, adding cocoa nibs on top reminds me of topping a muffin with coarse sugar—it adds a subtle crunch that helps the brownies stand out.

I fed these brownies to my roommates and one said he would actually double the amount of nibs for more crunch. “I love what they do to the flavor, they really amp up the bittersweet flavor,” said the other.

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