The Hershey's Chocolate Syrup Brownies Redditors Are Calling Their "Go-To"

I am always in search of a good brownie recipe. In fact, after my grandma passed, I haven’t had a brownie that lived up to the precedent she set, and for some reason, her recipe doesn’t turn out the same whenever I attempt to make it. I’ve tried many cookbooks, blog posts, friends' recipes, and the like, all to no avail. 

So when I saw a Chocolate Syrup Brownies recipe on the Reddit subthread r/Old_Recipes from a 1934 Hershey’s cookbook, I figured that maybe I should give the new recipes a break and turn back to the tried-and-true. After all, Redditors certainly seemed to be big fans. Some comments in the Reddit thread mention this recipe as their childhood “go-to,” so how could I not try it? Sometimes retro recipes just hit the spot. 

How To Make Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup Brownies

Are these the easiest brownies to make? Probably. First, an egg is beaten with brown sugar and Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup before sifted flour, baking soda, and salt are folded in. Finally, melted butter and nuts are mixed in, the batter is scraped into a greased 9x9-inch metal baking pan, and the whole thing is popped into a 350°F oven for just over 30 minutes. 

The main problem I’ve encountered in my previous brownie baking experiences is just what a pain melting the chocolate is. When all the other ingredients get tossed in a bowl and stirred, it just feels like so much work to take out the double-boiler and properly melt chocolate. To be able just to pour store-bought chocolate syrup into a measuring cup and be done with it was a total game changer in terms of time and cleanup. 

The Results 

Usually, I am a gooey-chocolate, heavily-fudgy brownie person, but in this case, I am most certainly not. These brownies are light, almost peanut butter-y with an ideal texture. They rose more than expected but did not turn cakey. They have a moist and slightly gooey layer but on the whole are soft without being sticky, and are puffed without turning crumbly. 

I will say, if you are looking for a chocolate-heavy brownie, these are not the brownies for you. They’re subtle and gentle without being cloyingly sweet—the kind of treat you can keep eating without ever feeling overly full. 

Tips for Making These Brownies 

• One little extra step I took while making these brownies was that I toasted the nuts before adding them to the batter. The recipe calls for either walnuts or pecans—I opted for walnuts—but doesn’t specify raw or toasted. I found that in toasting them, I brought out a balanced, complementary nutty flavor that made a difference in the taste of the overall brownies.
• The bake time on the original recipe is 35 to 40 minutes, but I found that my brownies were done at 32 minutes, so I definitely recommend checking them at the 30-minute mark to gauge how much more time they need. Because every oven and every pan are going to impact the outcome of any baked goods, it makes sense that there will be variance in baking time—it’s always better to air on the side of caution. 
• I didn’t do this on this round, but next time I bake these brownies, I’ll add chocolate chips; maybe mini chips. I think it would be a wonderful way to give a pop of extra chocolate flavor, but you could also fold in coconut flakes or peanut butter chips or top the brownies with flaky salt before baking. Just because the recipe is nearly 100 years old doesn’t mean you can’t play around and innovate with add-ins to your liking!