How to Make Brownies

Delicious Chocolate Brownie Recipes

Learn how to make brownies from scratch. Did you know that there are many different types of chocolate brownies recipes that you could make?

There are chewy brownies, fudgy brownies, cake like brownies, blonde brownies, brownies made with cocoa powder, flourless chocolate brownies, brownies with cream cheese, brownies made with alcohol, fruit and nuts.

As you can see from the list above that there are so many different recipes and everyone has their own favorites, but there are some guidelines that should be followed when baking brownies.

But before I go into the steps of baking brownies let me briefly discuss some of the brownie types mentioned above.

Types of Brownies

Chewy brownies

Chewy brownies are moist and not a gooey as fudgy brownies. The recipes usually call for more all-purpose flour, an extra egg or two and a combination of different types of chocolate.

Unsweetened chocolate has a higher proportion of starches which will give a firmer textured brownie or you can use a semisweet chocolate which will give you a creamier texture. You can use these on their own in the recipe or use a combination of the two to create a texture somewhere in between.

If you like your brownies extra chewy use bread flour – bread flour has a high gluten content compared to all-purpose. The gluten in the flour gives bread its chewiness and when used in your brownies you will have a chewier brownie – but you must mix the batter for a longer time than you normally would – give it about several minutes of mixing for the gluten strands to develop.

Fudgy brownies

Fudgy brownies are made with the least amount of all-purpose flour possible (usually half a cup) and no raising agents such as baking powder or baking soda are used. The butter is usually melted which will help give it is fudgy texture. Unsweetened chocolate is usually used and one to two cups of sugar is usually added to give it a sweetness.

Cake like brownies

Cake like brownies; usually have less butter than other brownie recipes and use baking powder to create a light and airy texture and can contain milk.

Blonde brownies

Blonde brownies also known as butterscotch brownies; they are made with brown sugar, eggs and butter and usually have nuts and they are not made with chocolate. These are very much cake like in texture.

How to Make Brownies

The following information will give you a brief guide on how to make brownies. If you would like to skip this information you can go directly to our links below for brownies recipes.

Preparing the Pan

How to make brownies should always start with well prepared and correct sized tins. You should always use the tin size specified in the recipe. If you don't use the tin size recommended you could ended up with thin and dry brownies if using a too large a pan or if you use one that is too small you will end up with undercooked centers.

It is recommended that you use a tin or pan that is light in color as this will conduct the heat evenly as your brownies cook. Glass or a dark colored tin can cause the edges to over bake or burn.

You should always grease the tin thoroughly with a shortening, butter or cooking spray this should be done even if the recipe does not state it.

After greasing the tin I like to line the tin with continuous piece of parchment paper (you could even use aluminum foil) that has been cut longer than the size of the tin so that the edges extend up past the sides of the tin. Grease lining as well.

You will use the extended pieces of lining to lift the cooled brownies from the tin. This can then be peeled away before cutting into squares.

How to Make Brownies - Mixing and Baking Brownies

Melting Chocolate and Butter

Just about all brownie recipes have the butter and chocolate melted together. Most recipes will say to do this over a double boiler; in this method you melt butter and chocolate together in a heat proof container which is has been placed over a pot of gently simmering water.

Another method that you can use; and one that I use in the brownie recipes on this site is to place the butter and chocolate in a saucepan over direct heat but you must make sure that it is a very low flame.

You will need to stir this mixture constantly until the chocolate and butter have just melted. Don't walk away while doing this method as you can burn the mixture and will have to start over.

I always use a larger pan to melt the butter and chocolate in as I like to use this as the mixing bowl - it just cuts down on the washing up.

Mixing

One of the secrets to successfully baking brownies is not to over mix the ingredients. Over mixing will cause the brownies to turn out tough.

You should mix the wet and dry ingredients just long enough for them to blend together.

Baking Brownies

You can tell when your brownies are done by the way they look and feel. They will look dryer and less glossy with a firm feel when pressed lightly in the center. For cake like brownies you can test by placing a skewer into the brownie and if it comes out clean it is done.

For fudgy brownies the skewer will come out with a few moist crumbs sticking to it, also the sides of fudgy brownies will pull away from the sides of the tin. Fudgy brownies will have a slightly gooey center when warm which will firm up once it has cooled.