This Is How Temperature, Butter, And Sugar Affect Your Brownies (2024)

FAQs

How does temperature affect brownies? ›

Most recipes call for baking brownies at 350°. If a fudgy inside and crackly top is your goal, stick with that temperature. Brownies baked at 325° will take longer to bake and will become chewier in texture.

Butter Brownies: These were much fudgier, softer, and had a melt-in-your-mouth texture. The crust was much shinier and crinklier and the flavor was significantly better than the oil brownies.

The reason we melt butter in brownie recipes instead of beating room temperature butter with sugar is because that helps give a rich, chewy, fudgy texture. Beating butter incorporates air and gives a more light, airy, cakey texture, which we don't want in a brownie.

Temperature and baking time

The baking temperature depends not only on the mold, but also on the oven you use: In a convection oven, you should bake your brownie at 320/355°F (160/180°C). In a deck oven, the recommended temperature is 355/390°F (180/200°C).

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.

Baking temperature can significantly impact the texture and appearance of your cake. For a crunchy crust and a golden hue, opt for higher temperatures. For a soft, fluffy sponge with an even rise, use lower temperatures. This knowledge can help you adjust recipes according to your preferences.

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.

You can absolutely substitute butter for the vegetable oil. Use the same quantity specified in the directions (for example, if it calls for 1/3 cup of oil, use 5 1/3 tablespoons of butter). Melt it down, then let it cool a bit. You might not ever go back to oil!

The job of butter in baking (besides being delicious) is to give richness, tenderness and structure to cookies, cakes, pies and pastries. We alter the way butter works in a recipe by changing its temperature and choosing when to combine it with the other ingredients.

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.

What does adding milk to brownies do? ›

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.

If the brownies still look wet or aren't pulling away, they aren't done. Even fudgy brownies will pull from the edges once they've finished baking. You'll see that the edges look dry while the middle still looks soft or slightly wet. Chewy and cakey brownies will have dry edges with firmer-looking centers.

Put the brownies back in the 300 degree oven and bake until a cooking thermometer reads 195 degrees, or about 30 more minutes. Finally, you'll cool the brownies for 30 minutes in the pan, then for 10 minutes on a cooling rack before slicing with a pizza cutter (my favorite tip) and serving.

Bake to perfection

First things first, bake your brownies on a rack positioned in the middle of your oven. If the pan is too close to the bottom, then the bottom could burn before the top gets a chance to bake. If it is too close to the top, then the top will bake too fast and leave raw brownie batter on the bottom.

Glass or dark-colored pans can cause the edges to overbake or even burn. Always grease the pan thoroughly with shortening, softened butter, or cooking spray. (Do this even if the recipe doesn't specify.)

Brownies will last 3 to 4 days in an airtight container at room temperature and up to a week in the refrigerator. Brownies will last up to 3 months in the freezer, but if they stay frozen for a prolonged period of time, their taste and quality will begin to deteriorate.

If your brownies are turning out dry, it's for one of two reasons - either you've overcooked the brownies or there is too much flour in your recipe.

The brownie's body, volume, and structure are created by beating eggs and sugar. Less sugar means that the brownie will have less height or volume. Use the correct amount of sugar as per the recipe at all times. Until foamy and frothy, thoroughly beat sugar and eggs.