Best Ever Brownie Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What makes brownies fudgy instead of cakey? ›

Fudgy brownies have a higher fat-to-flour ratio than cakey ones. So add more fat—in this case, butter and chocolate. A cakey batch has more flour and relies on baking powder for leavening. The amount of sugar and eggs does not change whether you're going fudgy or cakey.

Swirl in Some Good Stuff

Dollop cream cheese, fruit jam, pumpkin puree, peanut butter or caramel over brownie batter. Spoon it into the pan, then cut through the batter to create this wow-worthy effect. Your dessert will be prettier and tastier than every other treat on the table.

Many brownie recipes don't contain baking powder or baking soda; these recipes tend to be for the dense, sometimes chewy, kind. Cakelike brownies usually contain a leavening agent, which helps give them their fluffy texture. The technique you use also makes a difference in the texture of the final product.

If you prefer fudgy brownies, mix until the wet and dry ingredients are just combined. Overmixing allows more air into the batter, which will give you lighter, cake-like brownies instead of dense, rich ones. (On the flip side, if you do want your brownies to be cakey, beat the eggs more.)

One change is to use milk or heavy cream instead of water. This change will make brownies more moist and gooey since milk is more fatty and flavorful than water. A second change is to use butter instead of oil. For similar reasons to using milk, butter adds a rich and more decadent quality to the batter.

Best Overall Brownie Mix: Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Premium Brownie Mix. When you want a delicious brownie for a baking emergency—or just to treat yourself—look no further than a box of Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Brownies.

If you opt to add more eggs, say double the amount, something interesting happens. Even though you are adding more moisture, the air bubbles that you catch in the extra eggs add volume, which decreases the density of your final product. This makes your brownies rise and gives them a much more cake-like texture.

Here's what you need to make box brownies taste homemade: Butter – Boxed brownie mix typically calls for vegetable oil. Using butter is the secret to brownies that taste like they're baked from scratch (use unsalted butter to control the salt level). Espresso powder – Intensifies the chocolate flavor.

Adding a layer of cream cheese, marshmallow fluff, caramel, or peanut butter goes a long way towards turning a mix into something special. You can add this layer before or after baking the brownies.

Making Brownie Batter in Advance

Because most brownie recipes call for eggs, the batter shouldn't sit out for longer than two hours before baking. On the other hand, the sauce and dry ingredients can be made a few days in advance and refrigerated for freshness.

What not to do when baking brownies? ›

The secret to the fudgiest, most chocolaty brownies is cocoa powder—not melted chocolate. We borrowed chocolate expert Alice Medrich's technique, then added a cream cheese topping for tangy balance.

The butter and chocolate are melted and then the eggs, sugar and vanilla are added. The eggs and sugar should be beaten just enough to break up the eggs and slightly dissolve the sugar.

If you want a fudgy chocolate brownie, use melted butter. For cakey brownies, beating softened butter and sugar together to create air pockets will make your brownies lighter and cakier.

Cookbook author and food stylist Jerrelle Guy might have given away the secret: In an article for The Kitchn, Guy suggests the secret to a "glossy" and lifted brownie — like the ones you see in bakeries and restaurants — is to beat the eggs and the sugar together for 10 minutes before adding additional ingredients.

Using airtight wrappings (including using plastic wrap right against the brownies) is key to keeping your brownies fresh, whether you're keeping them at room temperature for short-term storage, or planning to freeze them so you can have a fresh brownie ready whenever you need it.

**Add Extra Moisture:** Incorporate ingredients like sour cream, yogurt, or applesauce into the batter. These add moisture and contribute to a chewier texture. 3. **Use Oil:** Instead of melted butter, use vegetable oil or melted coconut oil.

To test for doneness with a toothpick, insert a toothpick into the center of the brownies and pull it back out. For fudgy brownies, you'll want to see some moist crumbs attached to the toothpick when you pull it back out. If it looks like it's covered in brownie batter, the brownies will need to bake a bit longer.

The desired consistency of your batter depends on what results you want to achieve, so there's not one exact answer to your question. Cakey brownie batter contains more flour so it'll appear thicker, while fudgy brownie batter has more butter or margarine and is therefore more “liquidy” (more fat, less flour).