The Quest To Make The World's Most Perfect Brownies
People don’t obsess over homemade brownie recipes the same way they do chocolate chip cookies. We suspect it’s because most people—even confident bakers—really love boxed brownie mix. We do, too! It does the trick. But, you guys: We all deserve better. The only problem is that everyone’s idea of "the perfect brownie" is different.
Almost half a million people google “brownies” each month, and the extremely wide and diverse range of results isn’t exciting—it’s overwhelming. So we dug a little deeper and learned that tens of thousands of bakers are looking for something more specific, which led us to four main categories: chewy, fudgy, cakey, and gluten-free.
Lena took on chewy and tasked herself to be better than the box. Jump to Lena's brownie journey.
Makinze handled fudgy, and after many, many batches, she came up with the perfect recipe. Jump to Makinze's brownie journey.
Lauren begrudgingly worked on cakey—mostly to prove to herself that she could come to like them. (Spoiler alert: She did!) Jump to Lauren's brownie journey.
June almost lost her mind testing gluten-free brownies...but she learned eight invaluable tips along the way, too. Jump to June's brownie journey.
We suffered some seriously intense sugar crashes and chocolate withdrawals, but we actually had fun. Since we were looking to make four unique recipes (not pit our four recipes against each other, like we have in the past), we were able to troubleshoot and taste test each other’s recipes. It made our roads to brownie perfection far less lonely. We became each other's cheerleaders, and each of our personal favorites didn't even end up being our own: Makinze loves Lena's most, Lauren prefers Makinze's, June declared Lauren's the best cake brownie she's ever had, and Lena is obsessed with June's.
We might fight over the prime temperature at which brownies should be served (hot, room temperature, or cold), or which brownie piece is best (middle, edge, or corner), but at the end of the day, even after testing more than 40 batches in a span of eight hours in one little test kitchen, we really do love each other—and each other's brownies.
As you might guess, we learned quite a bit along the way—enough to lay out all the biggest brownie don'ts so you'll never mess up a batch again. We geeked out a little, too, to bring you a chart detailing how oven temperature, butter, and sugar affect your final brownie. And if you'd rather just eat brownies than bake them, we gotchyu: We'll tell you what kind of brownie you are based on your horoscope. (Capricorns, you're in for a treat!) And after all this, if you're still #TeamBlondie over #TeamBrownie, you'll find your people here.
Lena's Brownie: The Chewy One
by Lena Abraham
All my journeys start with an almost existential question, this round's being: What exactly is a chewy brownie? As far back as I could remember, the only remotely chewy brownies I've had were from a box. It is my (unpopular) opinion that boxed brownies are the worst, so starting there was not an option for me.
Instead, I turned to some of my other favorite chewy baked goods for inspiration: ginger cookies, yeasted breads, and jam-filled linzer cookies. These became my chewy muses—the gold standard of chew, if you will. I hoped my brownies could join the ranks of these hallowed classics.
So, how exactly did these baked goods influence my brownie? I'll break it down.
From ginger cookies, I stole molasses. Surprisingly, molasses has a lot in common with chocolate. It's sweet but bitter, a little malty, and slightly earthy. I found that a small amount of molasses lended chew and some delicious barely-there flavor that helped emphasize the richness of the cocoa powder. I also learned that too much molasses makes brownies taste like dirt. You live and you learn!
Next up was bread. I knew developing gluten wasn't really much of an option in a brownie recipe, since fats block gluten development—and brownie batter is mostly fat. By whisking the flour and salt with egg whites (which have basically no fat) I was able to develop a bit of stretch which gave the baked brownies a pleasant chew.
Finally, the linzer cookies: I'm a huge fan of pairing fruit with chocolate, so topping my brownies with jam seemed like a no-brainer. Lucky for me, jam brought its own sticky/chewy texture, which was just icing jam on the cake brownie!
I'm happy to report that these chewy brownies taste nothing like boxed mixes. I hope you'll give them a try, just don't tell our girl Betty Crocker.
Makinze's Brownie: The Fudgy One
by Makinze Gore
I used to think I was an all-out fudgy fan. I was also convinced that brownies made from boxed mixes were the best brownies. I had never had a decent homemade brownie. They all lacked actual chocolate flavor and/or were far too cakey. Why is it so darn hard? It made me pumped to take on this challenge—until about 100 brownies in, I decided I was a chewy brownie person, was concerned I had a cavity, and became not so pumped anymore.
I persevered and kept trying brownies (my job is so hard, I know). I discovered melted chocolate is way better than cocoa powder, vanilla is unnecessary, and egg yolks work magic—but you can’t take that magic too far or it will destroy you. Version after version, I kept noting that they needed more chocolate flavor. I finally found the perfect amount of sugar to make them sweet without hiding the chocolate and confirmed that coffee really does help bring out the chocolate in baked goods. I was also determined to make sure my brownies had that gorgeous crackly top. (Pssst: The secret to said crackly top is whisking the eggs until your forearms burn.)
You guys, I came out the other side a changed person. I now know boxed is not best, a brownie doesn’t have to be under-baked to be the fudgiest brownie ever, I prefer a warm brownie over a room-temp one, and I'm the only one on the kitchen team who feels that way. Oh, and I'm proud to say I'm cavity-free!
Lauren's Brownie: The Cakey One
by Lauren Miyashiro
Let’s get one thing straight: I tend to hate cakey brownies. And up until recently, I didn’t believe that anyone else really liked them either. Like, why not just have cake? But I did a poll in the office, and it turns out many people whom I know and respect are really into them. So I made it my mission to not only understand why, but to create a cakey brownie that all chocolate lovers—even stubborn fudgy fanatics like me—could appreciate.
Guys, it was hard. Mainly because drawing the line between cake and brownie was incredibly confusing. Was it cake-like enough? Was it brownie-like enough? WHAT EVEN IS A BROWNIE?!
With these questions in mind, I played around with fat (melted butter, creamed softened butter, oil), sugars (the proportion of brown sugar to granulated), cocoa powders (Dutch process and regular), flours (all-purpose, cake, and bread), eggs (just eggs and eggs plus egg yolks), and other liquids (water and milk).
Eight batches later, I learned that softened butter makes the brownies too fluffy, neutral oil tastes bad when compared to a batch with butter, Dutch process cocoa powder produces a much richer chocolate flavor, extra egg yolks lend fudginess, and whole milk tenderizes the crumb more than water.
And as all things cakey require, I had to top this batch of brownies with frosting. I decided on a boiled icing (the type that goes on top of Texas Sheet Cake) over ganache. Ganache was delicious but extremely decadent and nearly impossible to transport neatly, which is a problem. Brownies are meant to be packed for a party. Boiled icing (mine uses sour cream!) is sturdier and develops an irresistible crackly top. Sprinkling flaky sea salt or rainbow nonpareils on top is highly encouraged.
June's Brownie: The Gluten-Free One
by June Xie
Growing up as a young immigrant from China, my exposure to American desserts for most of my childhood was limited to whatever was available in grocery stores: Sara Lee pound cakes, Entenmann’s donuts, Table Talk pies, and Little Debbie Cosmic Brownies. For me, the golden standard is a Cosmic Brownie: mostly chewy, slightly fudgy, intensely dense, with a fun and colorful crunchy topping.
And you know the story about me and gluten by now: We used to be BFFs but are now star-crossed lovers. My mission was to transform my nostalgic childhood treat into a gluten-free version that both kids and adults can enjoy. Fifteen trials (and errors), 17 cups of sugar, and 45 egg whites later, I think I’ve done it—and I learned a few things along the way.
Because cocoa is the only dry ingredient in this recipe, high quality cocoa is extremely important (like a really good Dutch process one) in order to produce a delicious piece of brownie. Our kitchen is a big fan of Guittard’s Cocoa Rouge.
Oil develops chewiness better than butter does. Butter gives a drier, cakier texture to the brownie and yields a duller-looking top. We don't want that.
Granulated sugar yields a shinier top than brown sugar. Higher sugar content leads to a chewier, tackier brownie.
Egg yolks make a fudgier and grainier brownie while egg whites make a lighter and chewier brownie. The moisture from egg whites is sorely needed in a gluten-free recipe.
Use less vanilla extract to help the cocoa flavor to pop—but don't leave it out altogether. A little is needed to lend a nostalgic taste to the brownies.
Bake at 325° to yield a more consistent texture. If you'd like more textural difference between your crust and the interior, bake at a higher temperature, like 350°.
Cooled, room-temperature brownies will taste sweeter and more moist than warm brownies.
I top brownies with hazelnuts for a Nutella vibe, but they’re totally optional. I dare you to bake a batch of these and see which of your friends can tell they're gluten-free.
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