Instant Pot Brownies are baked directly in electric pressure cooker without any water and are a true one-bowl recipe. Easy, delicious, convenient! Perfect for busy holiday season!
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I need to start this post by saying: there’s no pot in these Instant Pot Brownies. Even though pot is actually legal in Canada now… Haha
Ok, now with this out of the way, let’s talk about these super easy one-bowl (or shall I say one-pot?) Instant Pot Brownies. They are chocolatey and slightly fudgy (but not too much).
They are easy and quick and very convenient to make! Perfect to have with a cup of coffee or tea and great to bring to a potluck.
I also would like to confess – I am not a brownie expert. I very rarely make brownies so I am not going to say that these Instant Pot Brownies are the ultimate and best brownies ever. No.
However, I am extremely proud and happy with the technique that I developed of making Brownies in Instant Pot and this post is mostly about that. I am almost certain that this technique can be adapted to your favourite brownie recipe.
How to bake Instant Pot Brownies
First of all, these Instant Pot Brownies are actually baked in Instant Pot, not steamed. Yes, I am not using any water in my Instant Pot. And yes, I’m baking directly in the Instant Pot insert.
So, what’s the trick? I use a Non-Stick Ceramic Insert! It is one of my absolutely favourite accessories for Instant Pot and highly recommend getting it.
The actual process is very easy:
- Melt the butter and the chocolate directly in the non-stick ceramic insert in Instant Pot using a sauté function.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and mix.
- Cover with a lid.
- Choose LOW pressure and bake.
NOTE: Instant Pot will NOT (most likely) come to pressure, which means that the pressure valve will not pop up. It is expected.
IMPORTANT: I only tested this technique in my Instant Pot. I have Instant Pot DUO Plus 60, 6 Qt 9-in-1 and it never displays burn message. I do not know how this technique would work with other models, especially Ultra model which is notorious for displaying burn messages all the time. If you try this method with a different model of Instant Pot, please let me know in comments and I will update the post.
UPDATE: Many people told me that this technique doesn’t work for them and they keep getting burn notice. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you how to fix it or whether your model will support this baking technique or not. I personally have baked bread, cinnamon rolls, cornbread, these brownies, and Russian cheesecake using this technique many times without getting a burn notice. That’s why I know that it works for me. There’s no way for me to know if it would work for you and your model of Instant Pot.
How else can you use Instant Pot Ceramic Insert?
- I love that I have a second insert!! I often cook something in my stainless steel insert and keep it in the fridge and then cook another dish in my ceramic insert. Two inserts mean that I don’t have to use another pot to store food.
- Ceramic Insert is great if you are sautéing something as it doesn’t usually stick so you don’t need to deglaze. I love using it for my Instant Pot Fish and Potato soup.
- I have made my Instant Pot Hot Chocolate with both stainless steel and ceramic inserts and I definitely prefer making it with the ceramic insert.
- And, of course, I love baking Instant Pot Cornbread with Real Crispy Crust in my ceramic insert.
For more Instant Pot accessories, check out my article for 9 Ultimate Instant Pot Accessories You Need to Buy.
Why bake Instant Pot Brownies?
So, here’s the thing. Instant Pot Brownies aren’t going to be the fudgiest ever, ultimate brownies. But they will be the easiest and the most convenient brownies ever!!
- Literally only one bowl (or insert in this case) to wash! You are melting and mixing all the ingredients right in the insert that will be used to bake the brownies.
- You do not need to preheat the oven which saves you a bit of time and also lets you use the oven for other recipes if needed.
- Because the oven isn’t needed, the kitchen will not get hot, so this recipe is ideal any time of the year, whether it’s cold or hot outside.
- You can make these Instant Pot Brownies if you don’t have a working kitchen or if you are on a road trip.
- You don’t have to babysit the oven and take the brownies out once they are done baking. You can actually leave them right in Instant Pot. If you change your Instant Pot settings to not have Keep Warm function active after the cooking cycle, then you can leave your home while brownies are baking in Instant Pot and not have the brownies burn like they would if you left them in the oven (although the brownies most likely will dry out a bit while the pot is cooling down).
Texture of these Instant Pot Brownies
These brownies aren’t too fudgy. I know lots of people say that the fudgier the better and if you are one of those people then this particular Instant Pot Brownies recipe is not for you.
There are a few reasons why I chose to make the brownies not too fudgy. For once, I actually prefer more cakey style of brownies than the ultra soft and gooey ones. But also, because of the technique of baking brownies right in Instant Pot, I needed a recipe that is more sturdy.
The most difficult part of this recipe is taking the baked brownie out of the Instant Pot, so the brownie needs to be pretty solid and less gooey to do so. This is the reason why I use that particular amount of flour and the cooking time.
TIP: most likely the brownie will fall apart just a little bit while taking it out of Instant Pot, just go with the flow and patch the brownie up on a platter!
FUN VARIATION: if you want to serve a bowl of gooey and fudgy Instant Pot Brownies topped with some ice cream and you don’t care if the brownie falls into pieces, then you could totally use a bit less flour and bake a few minutes less and then just scoop out the deliciousness out of the Instant Pot with a spoon into a bowl!
More Instant Pot Desserts:
- Instant Pot Gingerbread Cheesecake for Two
- Instant Pot Hot Chocolate
- Instant Pot Pumpkin Pudding Cake
- Instant Pot No Knead Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
- Instant Pot Baked Apples
DO YOU WANT MORE INSTANT POT RECIPES?
Join my Real Ingredients Instant Pot Recipes Facebook Group!!! It’s a fun and safe place to share your own Instant Pot recipes made with Real Ingredients.
Instant Pot Brownies
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 3/4 cup sugar (see note)
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup flour
Instructions
READ BEFORE YOU START
- IMPORTANT: This is an unusual technique and it might not work for your particular model of Instant Pot. You need to have an electric pressure cooker that keeps the heating element on even when there's no pressure and doesn't display burn notice if you look at it funny!There are many people who have successfully used this technique and shared their results with me on facebook so it works! But it really depends on your model of Instant Pot.Here's my model of Instant Pot.
Instant Pot Brownies instructions
- Put a Non-stick Ceramic Insert into your Instant Pot.
- Press sauté button and add the butter to the Instant Pot.
- Let the butter melt halfway, turn off the sauté function and add the chocolate chips.
- Mix with a spatula until the butter and the chocolate are fully melted together.
- Add the sugar and mix well.
- Test to see that the mixture isn't too hot. If it's too hot, then let it cool for a few minutes. Once the mixture cooled, add the eggs and mix until fully incorporated.
- Add the cocoa powder, flour, and mix just until the mixture comes together. Do not over mix.
- Run a silicone spatula (or a silicone scraper) along the sides of the ceramic insert to clean them up as much as possible.
- Close the lid. It does not matter if the valve is turned to sealing or not as the pot will not get pressurized anyway.
- Make sure to choose LOW pressure for Instant Pot. Set the time to 30 minutes.
- It'll take about 3-5 minutes for Instant Pot to heat up and then it'll start cooking and the countdown will start.
- Once Instant Pot beeps that the cooking of 30 minutes is done, open the lid, remove the ceramic insert from Instant Pot and let cool for about 10 minutes. Carefully slide a long silicone spatula around the edges of the Instant Pot Brownies a few times to loosen them. Try to bend the spatula and slide under the bottom of the brownie as much as possible.
- Invert the ceramic insert onto a plate and hopefully the brownie will come out in one piece. I usually lose a few pieces as they stick to the bottom of the pot but the rest of the brownie comes out in one piece.
- NOTE: These Instant Pot Brownies taste more cakey right after baking and get a bit fudgier after a few hours.
Video
Notes
- I prefer to use less than 3/4 cup sugar as I like less sweet desserts. I usually make these brownies with 1/2 cup + 1/8 cup sugar.
- The reason for adding sugar before the eggs is that sugar cools the mixture so that the eggs can be added almost right after without scrambling them.
- I use a silicone spatula similar to this design to get the brownie out of Instant Pot. It is thin and slides well around the edges. It is also long and bendy so it can even slide under the brownie.
- ATTENTION: read all the comments and instructions. Not all models of Instant Pot will work with this technique!
Peter says
January 28, 2019 at 8:08 pmI have the Crock-Pot Express cooker with the new coated pan I just put the brownie mix instant brownie mix into the bowl I’m pushed dessert but it only gives me a heating notice and is not turning on
Julia says
January 28, 2019 at 8:57 pmAs I mentioned in the post, I only know how my particular model of instant pot behaves when this technique is used.
Di says
January 21, 2019 at 1:39 pmI am receiving the same burn notice in my 6qt duo with the ceramic insert too. I am trying to save by opening the pressure valve? Any other suggestions?
Julia says
January 21, 2019 at 2:10 pmI don’t think you are doing anything wrong. I also don’t think there’s anything that could be done to fix it. I think that your particular model just won’t work this way. Mine, for example, has never given me a burn notice. I have “baked” real bread and cinnamon rolls in mine, made cornbread multiple times, baked Russian cheesecake a few times, and made these brownies a few times – not once have I gotten a burn notice. It doesn’t mean that you are doing something wrong, it just means that your model doesn’t work the way mine works. I am sorry it didn’t work for you 🙁
Linda says
December 5, 2018 at 12:26 amI love this idea so I tried it in my new VIVA 6 at. I keep getting a burn notice. I tried the cake button and pressure cook. Now what do I do? My pot has liquidy brownie batter in it.
Julia says
December 5, 2018 at 6:48 amAs I said in my post, I only tested this recipe in my 6-qt duo model. It never gives burn notice. I’ve baked in it many times. Are you using a ceramic insert and low pressure? If so and it still doesn’t work then I would bake in the oven