There's a lot that can go awry with brownies — they can be too cakey, they can have rock-hard
edges with an undercooked middle, and they can be lacking flavor. But better brownies
are easily attainable, especially if you know what it is you're doing wrong.
As with most baked goods, the amount of time brownies spend in the oven can make or break
them. And if you're looking for that spectacularly fudgy texture from edge to edge, it can be
difficult to know just how long those brownies need to bake. So what's the trick?
Well, the tried-and-true method of using a toothpick or a cake tester won't work — that's
because properly fudgy brownies are always going to yield a chocolate-coated toothpick
when you poke them, and if they don't, you've entered into the dreaded overbaked and cakey
territory.
Aside from following a trusted recipe to a T — which is even more important with brownies
than other treats — it's a good idea to rotate the pan halfway through the cooking
time. Since most ovens have hot and cool spots, this ensures that the brownies will bake evenly.
Those are the basics, and following those rules will probably afford you fine brownies.
But the real way to tell when your brownies have reached optimal doneness? Check for the
crack. Katzie Guy-Hamilton, Global Director of Food and Beverage for chocolatier Max Brenner,
said that once the top is shiny and set, the first cracks are a telltale sign that your
brownies are ready.
In this case, no matter what the timer says, yank those bad boys from the oven. The result
should be fudgy and gooey — but not underbaked — perfection.
"Oh! We should be having brownies!"
Maybe you made an entire batch of brownies for yourself and don't care how easily or
not easily they come out because you're going to eat them straight out of the pan with a
fork. We salute you.
But for those of you who want to share a brownie or two, and also want them to look like they
didn't get put through the wood chipper first, you really should think about lining the pan
with parchment paper.
It's an extra step, yes, but it ensures that each and every brownie will come out of the
pan perfectly — even the dreaded first brownie — with no chance of sticking. Real Simple
recommends creating a sling with two strips of parchment by buttering or spraying the
pan, and laying one strip into the pan, leaving an overhang on two sides.
Butter or spray that strip, then press the second strip in to overhang the two remaining
sides. One more coat of butter or spray, and in goes the batter. Once cool, all you need
to do is grab the overhanging parchment to use as handles, and voilà — no fuss, no
muss, easily cuttable brownies.
You might think that ooey gooey melted chocolate would be the superior choice when it comes
to brownie baking, but you would be wrong. Pastry chef Alice Medrich wrote this advice
for Food 52:
"Brownies made with cocoa can have very deep chocolate flavor and still retain a softer
and moister texture than an equally chocolatey brownie made with a bar of chocolate."
How can that be? It's all because of the fat. When you use cocoa powder, you have to replace
the fat that you would have gotten from the chocolate's cocoa butter with actual butter.
The difference in these fats is that butter stays soft at room temperature, while cocoa
butter firms up.
When it comes to choosing between natural or Dutch-processed cocoa powder, Cook's Illustrated
confirms that baked goods made with the more acidic natural cocoa were drier, while those
made with the less acidic Dutched were fudgier, and made for an earthier, richer chocolate
flavor.
If you do choose to forgo the cocoa powder and make chocolate brownies instead, you definitely
want to be picky about the quality of the ingredient. Now, that doesn't mean splurging
for the $20 per ounce artisan chocolate with gold leaf, but you'll want to skip the super-cheap
stuff, too.
Former Bon Appétit senior associate editor Claire Saffitz had this to say:
"I wouldn't bake with an $11 artisanal bar. It should be delicious enough on its own to
eat as a snack."
Now what about chocolate bars versus chocolate chips? Is there really any difference? There
is, and it's a big one. While it might be easier to grab the bag of chips rather than
painstakingly chopping a big bar of chocolate, the chips won't be doing your brownies any
favors.
That's because chips contain stabilizers and preservatives, which aside from impeding the
melting process, can compromise the chocolate's flavor. While Saffitz recommends against baking
with chips, she says that if you do, be sure to choose a high quality product that contains
fewer ingredients.
We've all burned a baked good or two — the phone rings or the dryer dings and next thing
you know there's smoke pouring out of the oven. But have you ever taken a batch of brownies
out of the oven to test for doneness, and then just plumb forgotten to put them back
in? That's what one Epicurious writer did.
"Why is there smoke coming out of your oven, Seymour?"
"Oh, that isn't smoke. It's steam."
Kemp Minifie says that when she realized her brownies had been left out of the oven for
about 15 minutes, she popped them back in and hoped for the best. Surprisingly, the
forgotten brownies were fudgier and far better than her usual recipe. Minifie consulted Harold
McGee, author of On Food and Cooking, who explained why that might be. He said:
"The 15-minute respite is allowing both brownies and pan to cool down, so when you put them
back in the oven, it takes some minutes for them to get back up to temperature before
they can continue to cook and become more done. And the outer portions will end up less
hot than they would with continuous cooking."
In case you need an extra push to try this method, just know that famous chef Alton Brown
co-signs, and promises what he calls "ooey-gooey brownies."
Fans of Ina Garten have no doubt heard the Barefoot Contessa sing coffee's praises in
the making of nearly all of her chocolate desserts. And there's a very good reason that
she adds this secret ingredient. She said:
"If you add coffee to chocolate, it gives it a depth of flavor."
Whether you use instant coffee granules like Garten, or simply substitute coffee for water,
you're doing your brownies a favor. Cook's Illustrated recommends adding 1-1/2 teaspoons
of instant espresso powder per 9 inch by 13 inch batch of brownies, and promises that
it won't result in a distinct coffee taste, only amped up chocolate flavor.
Adding brewed coffee might be even more important than boosting the chocolate flavor: It obscures
the "processed" flavors. That's reason enough to start adding coffee to your brownies, isn't
it?
Anyone who's ever whipped up a batch of boxed brownies knows that all you need is an egg,
vegetable oil, and water. Now, there's nothing wrong with vegetable oil. It's a fine oil
for your brownie baking needs. But you're missing out on an easy opportunity to give
your baked goods a little something extra if you never reach for a different fat.
Olive oil, for instance, will impart its fruitiness and a delicious bitterness into brownies.
Melted butter will result in a richer and chewier brownie than you'll get from vegetable
oil. Coconut oil works well in brownies, too.
You can also substitute vegetable oil with more unexpected ingredients, like Greek yogurt
and avocado. One Spoon University writer tested both substitutions and found that mashed avocado
resulted in rich and creamy brownies, while Greek yogurt produced a chocolaty and moist
result — and was the clear winner in her taste test. Plus, Greek yogurt makes us feel
like we're eating healthy food. Win, win.
Maybe you bought it new, maybe it was handed down from Grandma, but either way you've got
a Pyrex baking dish, and it's probably the dish you reach for when you make casseroles
and brownies alike. Keep right on baking your lasagna in it, but stop with the brownies
already.
Why? Pastry chef Stella Parks says there's only one right pan for baking brownies — and
that's one made of lightweight, reflective metal, like aluminum, she explained. Parks
also said that a glass pan, like that trusty Pyrex you love so much, is so thick and heavy
that it can take twice as long to cook your brownies through, and that can result in a
finished product that's dense and gummy.
Dark non-stick baking pans can result in brownies that bake too fast, and are too brown on the
bottom with dried out edges — which explains why most boxed mixes instruct you to lower
the oven temperature if you're using one. Parks promises that an aluminum pan is your
best bet for optimally puffed brownies that settle into fudgy crinkly perfection.
A common brownie-making mistake is that you're not whipping your eggs and sugar well enough.
It's called the "ribbon stage," and Epicurious insists that it's a necessary evil when it
comes to making better brownies. The ribbon stage is achieved by whipping the daylights
out of the eggs and sugar to a point that when you lift your whisk up, the mixture is
thick enough to "ribbon" back on itself.
Obviously, this adds air into the mixture, which you'd think would be counterintuitive
for fudgy brownies, and though the resulting brownies are indeed loftier than a batch made
without taking this step, they were undeniably creamier on the inside, and shinier on top.
Yes, it takes a bit longer, but your effort will be rewarded.
We get it — when a cake or brownie craving hits, you need to satisfy it as quickly as
possible. Thanks to boxed mixes, that means you could be shoveling molten hot, fresh-from-the-oven
brownies into your mouth in 30 minutes flat. So why on earth would you want to waste 48
hours refrigerating your brownie batter?
To make them taste even better, of course. It's a bit of magical brownie-making advice
from Alice Medrich, who includes this genius tip in her book, "Seriously Bitter Sweet:
The Ultimate Dessert Maker's Guide to Chocolate."
Medrich explains that:
"Refrigerating the brownie batter in the pan for several hours, or as long as two days
before baking, wreaks enormous transformations: it improves the top gloss and crustiness,
and it also blends the flavors so that the brownies taste much richer — and the texture
is chewier too."
All good reasons, no?
Just remember to get the batter into your baking pan first. If you refrigerate the batter
in the mixing bowl, the butter, or cocoa butter, will firm up far too much to be spreadable.
"And you will not leave this platform until you have consumed the entire confection!"
"Entire confection."
No, not a slice of bread in the batter, that would just be weird. But introducing a slice
of bread to your brownies after they've been baked is almost as important as baking them
perfectly in the first place.
If there's one bad thing that can be said about brownies, it's that they go stale almost
as soon as you take them out of the oven. Okay, so maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration,
but the chocolatey squares definitely have the propensity to dry out, and fast.
On the off chance that you're not going to inhale the entire pan of brownies within 12
hours, tossing a slice of bread into the storage container is a surefire way to keep those
squares moist.
Not only does it prevent them from drying out, but this bread trick can help revive
already dried out brownies, too. Just place as many slices of bread over the less-than-fresh
squares as you need to cover them, seal 'em up, and in 24 hours you'll be sinking your
teeth into a revitalized treat. This works because the brownies steal the moisture they
need from the bread, and let's be honest, a few slices of sacrificial bread is well
worth it for this payoff.
"But I've made you brownies. I've made you brownies from scratch!"
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