Make Fudgy Brownies ~ 3 Easy Secrets
Over time I’ve discovered 3 easy secrets for making Fudgy Brownies. I’m sharing them with you. They are ‘smack-your-hand-to-forehead’ easy.
Now you all know that I love desserts. And while I am spending a little less time making straight up sweets, I still occasionally get to bake up something sweet for a family gathering or a party. Fudgy brownies are a family favorite.
For the brownies pictured in this post I used the 3 secrets listed below. I am convinced, however that the 3 things I’m going to tell you will work with almost any brownie mix or scratch recipe.
Let me start by giving you 2 quick tips to prevent the mistakes that some cooks make: Fudgy brownies do not come from under-baking them. That’s just makes chocolate dough bricks and they will have a raw-flour taste. Yuck. (You and I would never do that, right? 🙂 ) Of course over-baking will dry them out and harden them. Remove them as soon as they are tested with a toothpick and the toothpick comes out with a few crumbs clinging but not gooey. If the toothpick comes out cleanly, it may be too late. If this is the case, #2 & #3 below may help rescue them a bit. These suggestions should work for any brownie recipe or box mix.
So here are my 3 easy secrets for making fudgy brownies:
1. For the fat content, use half oil and half butter.
Why? Butter for flavor. Oil to prevent too much loft. We all know that butter lends a delicious flavor. But did you know that the milk solids in it can give your brownies a more cake-like texture? (This is also why you should never put milk products in any baked goods that you don’t wish to have a bit more loft and cake-like texture.) A 50-50 split seems to be a happy compromise between flavor and texture. What loft there is will come from the eggs and sometimes a very small amount of baking powder in the mix you are using. And yes, there must be a little loft so there is a crumb texture present or we are right back to chocolate bricks.
2.When removing the brownies from the oven, ‘tap’ the pan down on the counter.
You know, allow it to thump down on the counter a bit. Yup. The one thing mom told you never to do when removing a cake from the oven — make those brownies fall. (And when I say tap, I mean it. Don’t bang it. Especially a glass pan!) Even if you don’t do #1 or #3 this is the one that is a must for getting those brownies into true fudgy territory.
3. Frost them while the bottom of the brownies are still slightly warm.
This secret is literally the icing on the cake. This is how you ensure that the fudginess is not just on the bottom but that there is a silky top layer where the frosting and the brownies have fused. It’s important to wait though until the top is cool and the bottom is only a bit warm, or you will just have a melted frosting mess on your brownies. If you are not going to frost them, you could skip this step, but it truly makes these great and protects the moisture level in the brownies.
Below is my go-to frosting for small batch brownies. It is a chocolate buttercream frosting recipe that is silky smooth and just perfect for a 9″ x 13″ pan of brownies. — Enjoy! –Laura
Fudgy Brownies Frosting
Ingredients
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1/8 th tsp. salt pinch
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup butter softened
- 1/4 cup milk not skim
Instructions
- Place 1 cup powdered sugar, salt and cocoa in a medium mining bowl.
- Add the butter milk and vanilla.
- Mix on low until the ingredients are incorporated and then gradually add the remaining two cups of sugar one at a time.
- Turn mixer speed to high and whip the frosting for 30 to 60 seconds.