How to Make Brownies

A couple of years ago, I made my first batch of brownies. I was astonished by how easy they were to make and how perfect the gooey inside and the crusty outside turned out to be.

Brownies can be made any flavour you like. You could add to the brownie batter caramel, butterscotch, Oreo, chocolate chip, white chocolate chunks, cinnamon, coffee, mint, nuts, peanut butter, Nutella, your favourite chocolate, and what have you. I love my Nutella flavoured brownies with chocolate sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. Oh yes, and a dollop of whipped cream!

There are a couple of things one needs to keep in mind while making brownies:

1. Pan: The results vary slightly when different types of pans are used. A shiny medium-weight pan should be just fine. If you’re going to use a dark metal pan, you will either need to reduce the oven temperarture or the cooking time. Brownies made in a glass pan will have chewier edges and a fudgier center. I always use a light aluminum pan. The size matters too; sometimes the recipe will call for a 9×9, but if all you have is an 8×8, the brownies will take longer to bake.
2. Oven temperature: Use an oven thermometer to make sure your baking it at the right temperature.
3. DON’T change anything in the recipe, especially the fat. I.e. if it calls for butter – don’t try to use vegetable oil!
4. Line the pan with parchment paper; you will be able to lift out the whole piece when they have cooled. Cutting the pieces also becomes simpler.
5. If the recipe says to grease and flour the dish, use sifted cocoa powder instead of flour.
6. Brownies continue to cook for a bit after removed from the oven. So don’t overdo the time.
7. Sift some icing sugar on top to have it look pretty.
8. Alternatively, place a paper doily, shake powdered sugar over the top and carefully lift the doily off. This gives it a pretty pattern.
9. The crusty bits are always good crumbled over ice cream, especially if they have nuts in them.

A brownie’s character comes from the underlying structure of flour, sugar, butter, eggs and chocolate. Use the freshest and the best quality ingredients and you’ll have an incomparable brownie.

Tagged as: baking, how-to