How do you guys like to make brownies?

Too good for army rations?

...

they had some meetup/potluck, someone who wasn't even there posted a string of images afterward cuming into a batch of brownies, and everyone memed that it was the ones brought to the event.

How much cayenne?

It is pretty obvious you don't meet with internet weirdos.

It was a hoax you dingus.
The "cum" was condensed milk.

Whisk 120g flour with 60g cocoa powder, half tsp of bicarb/baking soda and a quarter tsp of salt. Set aside.

Beat 120g (1 stick) of butter with 400g sugar.
Add 2tsp vanilla extract, 1tbsp vinegar and 3 eggs, one at a time, to the butter mixture.
Mix flour mixture to butter/egg/sugar mixture then pour into a greased and floured baking dish.
Bake in an oven heated to 190c/375f for 30 minutes.
Remove the dish from the oven and allow to cool a bit before slicing into it and removing from the dish.

This'll make brownies halfway between cake-y/fudge-y. If you want it a little less cake-like, add 60g more butter.

Ooh boy, a brownie thread! I like mine fudgey, as in a decadent chocolate doorstop. I'm going to try out ATK's recipe next:
blessthismessplease.com/2012/06/triple-chocolate-brownies-americas-test.html

KAF also has a nice blog post detailing their own recipes for classic/chewy, cakey, and fudgey versions:
blog.kingarthurflour.com/2016/08/28/make-absolute-favorite-brownie/
Also this video gives a good overview of ingredient ratios and how they yield different textures:
youtube.com/watch?v=HIonKbKM-tE

If you like a chewy brownie analogues to boxed mixes the key is to use a high vegetable oil (unsaturated) to butter (saturated) fat ratio which sets up softer/chewier at room temperature. Also using mostly/all cocoa powder vs. whole chocolate as the flavor base performs the same principle (since the cocoa butter component sets up even firmer than butter at room temperature). This is exemplified in ATK's chewy recipe version:
youtube.com/watch?v=oM8bDSzr0U8&t=2m50s
browneyedbaker.com/chewy-brownies/

1/3

>Secret ingredients?
It's not really a secret ingredient since it's an optional, but recommended, add-in to most of the better recipes, but include 1-1½ tsp of instant coffee or espresso powder bloomed in either hot (but not boiling water) along with your cocoa powder or the melted chocolate/butter. It deepens the flavor of chocolate without imparting coffee notes into your dessert. Add 2-3 tsps if you are into that thing. I have seen some recipes recommend adding a scant pinch of cayenne or other chili powder to their recipe for a subtle spice, maybe experiment with an addition of it to some ultra-cheap store box mix to evaluate it's impact before fully committing.

>Tips?
1) altonbrown.com/cocoa-brownie-recipe/
^Alton says in order to get a gooey-er center bake them for 15 minutes, take the tray out to cool off, then finish them for the remainder of the recipe's prescribed baking time. I wouldn't try this if you are going for cakey brownies however, since they tend to use baking powder in the recipe as an added leavener that is double acting (half by contact with moisture and half by reacting to heat). This shortened continuous heating time means they won't yield as high a rise before the eggs coagulate along with the developed gluten network to set the crumb structure in place.

2) acselementsofchocolate.typepad.com/elements_of_chocolate/ACSBrownieChronicles.html
^According to this, you can also mellow out any brownie recipe by refrigerating the batter overnight and up to 3 days before baking.

2/3

3) If, and when, your recipe calls for cocoa powder you have two options:
1. If you want an intense, almost acidic, chocolate flavor that dominates use the natural variety. It will also turn your brownies a kind of copperish rusty-red tinge.
2. If you want a mellower chocolate that plays nice with mix-ins like dried fruits, roasted nuts, or cream cheese swirls use a dutch-process instead. Dutch-process will also turn your brownies EXTREMELY dark like you see on television or the sides of box mixes (ironically they won't taste as strongly of chocolate as those lighter in color made with natural cocoa). You can also use a subset called ultra-dutched AKA Onxy cocoa powder (same stuff as in oreo cookies) which will make your brownies look like asphalt.
blog.kingarthurflour.com/2014/01/10/the-a-b-cs-of-cocoa/

4) philosophyofyum.com/blog/2015/10/28/shiny-brownie-crust-foolproof-perfect/
^If you like a shiny crust on your brownies (like pic related) the key isn't dissolving the sugar completely into the liquids, or how much you beat the eggs (the crust itself is NOT a mini-meringue as some believe) but adding VERY finely chopped or melted milk chocolate on top and spreading it with a spatula. Specifically, it's the milk powder and lecithin emulsifier added to dark chocolate that does it. So apart from just adding the milk variety which tends to be very sweet and/or low quality you can also just buy each ingredient and some discretely to your favorite base recipe.

3/3

5) seriouseats.com/recipes/2016/05/dry-toasted-sugar-granulated-caramel-recipe.html
seriouseats.com/2016/11/how-to-quickly-toast-sugar.html
^A lot of recipes say to use a combination of white and brown sugar for complexity which can also add extra moisture to the batter to the point that it becomes runny. You can experiment with toasting regular sugar on a sheet pan in the oven or in a dry saute pan to the color of beach sand or even tanner to easily incorporate hints of toffee/caramel in your recipes. I've done it for chocolate chip cookies and it works wonderfully.

6) youtube.com/watch?v=FrVOCTGVkFM
^This explains how to make a greased foil/parchment paper sling to get them out of the pan and cut into bars without sticking. It is EXREMELY helpful to use those big binder clips to fasten the folded overhang down (yes they can go in the oven safely).

7) Finally, remember, as with all baked goods, to rotate your pan(s) halfway through baking to ensure even heat distribution and never attempt to bake off more than one tray at a time if you are doing multiple batches as you'll crowd the oven obstructing the heating elements from the top and bottom (speaking from experience here). Also make sure to check your brownies like 5-6 minutes early (especially if you don't own an oven thermometer which are like 5-7$ on Amazon to compensate for temperature drift). The top surface should be dry and a toothpick inserted into the cracks comes out with moist crumbs. IF AN INSERTED TOOTHPICK COMES OUT CLEAN OR EVEN WITH DRY CRUMBS IT'S OVER-BAKED. You want a little wetness left on the inside that will continue to bake with the residual carryover after being pulled out of the oven and which will firm up as it cools.

3.5/3

Is there a reason you guys recommend coffee powder instead of just coffee?

>cakey
I'm thinking you want "spongey", "squishy"...not dense FUUDGE, a loafy, baked, all melty chocolatey

I've not seen autism this severe since the "foreverally tied-up" rat man pictures

If you guys like dense, fudgy brownies, blend black beans with a little water instead of eggs.

You're welcome.

I like chewy, but I'm triggered if I don't get an edge or corner piece with those crispy sides

i can't believe this exists. why not just a muffin tin?

so that every piece is a corner piece, asshole.

a circle is made entirely of edges

Basically just for control and baker safety for bitterness.
Because recipes can reliably define a given amount of powder in teaspoon fractions or grams you won't threaten to turn your brownies into mocha bars (not saying that's a bad thing) since the strength of various sourced bean grinds and brew extractions is different for everyone. Thing get complicated in a hurry because you are often compounding those ingredient vagueries with the bitterness of the cocoa powder and different cocoa % chocolate (or even unsweetened). You essentially do make a very small amount of coffee by blooming the cocoa powder with some of it in a liquid for most recipes, but generally only to the extent that that it potentiates the natural dark smokey flavor of chocolate present in the dessert. The same principle is why sometimes you will see a small amount of cocoa powder/coffee/espresso added to chili recipes which is reminiscent of oaxacan mole.

You have my interest. Got a preferred source recipe or article on this?

this is a good idea for a pan but even with it one side of the brownie isnt going to be a crispy end
better idea would be just a grid pattern pan, that way every side will be a crispy side

What if they made a crispy/chewy brownie tin that has squared compartments with a designated fill line in each, and a sandwich-able cover lid that fits on top encasing each one?

Basically a cross between an ice-cube tray (made of metal) and panini-press. That way you'd get crispy corner edges on every side of every square, even the tops.

But no corners. The corner of the corner piece is the best part of the brownie

How about something textured with lots of corners and hard edges like this?
amazon.com/Nordic-Ware-Heritage-Bundtlette-Metallic/dp/B00CHU8DVE/

We don't have plastic or science that will make your idea not explode in your oven.
Metal is sketchy, but go ahead, get a sheet of aluminum and a hammer.

>Secret ingredients?
cum

...

I've never thought of this before, but now I really want to make brownies in a bunt pan.