The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What does it mean when your brownies are chewy? ›

Recipes for chewy brownies use more flour than those for fudgy brownies, which results in a more structured, chewy bite and less dense texture.

Brownies are a great source of protein and fiber, which helps you feel full longer. Protein also works as an appetite suppressant, so you won't be as tempted to snack on unhealthy foods later on in the day. There are so many reasons why adding brownies to your diet is a great idea. First of all, they're delicious!

When you peek in the oven, the brownies should be pulling slightly away from the sides of the pan. The brownie's top should have a dry-looking sheen. At the edge of the pan, the brownies should be slightly puffed, and in the middle of the pan, the brownies should be set, and not wobbly.

Brownies should be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, and placed in an airtight container to help keep them from drying out and going stale. (You can also use a layer of aluminum foil around the layer of plastic wrap to help protect them from air exposure.)

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.

A clever hybrid between cake and cookie, brownies are a dense, chocolaty bar cookie baked in a rectangular pan; they can be fudge-like, cake-like, or anything in between. It was about three times more expensive to make the brownies from scratch than to use a mix, owing mostly to the cost of chocolate and walnuts.

The brownie was developed in the United States at the end of the 19th century and popularized there during the first half of the 20th century.

Eggs create structure and stability in a batter, they add moisture and impact the texture of the final baked good. Their ability to assist with bringing ingredients together makes for a smooth, velvety brownie batter.

Instructions: Brownies: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Line the bottom and sides of an 8 inch (20 cm) square baking pan with foil. Butter the foil.

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.

Should brownies still be gooey in the middle? ›

To avoid overcooking, remember that brownies will firm up A LOT once taken out of the oven; the brownie should still be wobbly in the middle when you take it out of the oven (there is a lot of butter and chocolate in the mix, both of which are basically liquid when hot, but firm when at room temperature).

A toothpick covered in brownie batter means a wet batter and will need to bake a bit longer. Moist crumbs on the toothpick means the middle of the pan is still gooey. Because the brownies will continue to cook as they cool, pulling them out now is the key to perfectly set centers.

Notice how the brownies are somewhat rubbery. Th larger amount of protein from the egg causes this. Some desserts are made this way, such as bread pudding.

The chewy brownie (center in the photo) is likely the one you know and love. It has—you guessed it—a thick and chewy outer crust with a rich chocolate center. A fudgy brownie (far left in the photo) is slightly underbaked and is very gooey and dense. It is for true chocoholics.

Problem 2: My brownies are too GOOEY

Honestly, there is a slim chance they are underbaked, but it's more likely that they just need to firm up in the fridge. Our brownies are basically a chocolaty puddle when they come out the oven.