NBR troubleshoot my brownies

huntjul · April 2014

I used to love my brownie recipe, but the last few attempts at have left me disappointed. I'm using the same pan I always did, same toaster oven, but they're getting a crust on top, which I don't like, and I swear they're more cake-like than before and seem less chocolatey and less moist. Any ideas why the top crust is forming instead of staying fudgey? I prefer fudgey brownies, so I'm choosing the smallest eggs in the carton (ours vary in size here). one time I tried 3 eggs instead of 4 and adding oil to correct consistency, they weren't right then either--too much oil I think. In case you need it to diagnose, the recipe is 2c sugar, 3/4c cocoa, 1c flour, 1 stick butter softened, 4 eggs. I toss it all in the bowl and stir, no beating of eggs as the recipe says (I'm a minimalist and a rebel). Please help.

tashad18 · April 2014

Is the oven old? When mine started getting older it started over baking/burning things even when cooked at the right temperature for the correct time.

TXswissmiss · April 2014

More eggs would be more fudgy...

Also have you tried sifting the flour for a less dense "cake" feel?

Brownies to me usually have the crust but is ultimately the amount of time cooking that determines fudginess. (ie undercook for fudgy)

You could also try cooking with foil cover for part to hold in moisture?

huntjul · April 2014

@txswissmiss i thought more eggs = cakey and more oil, less eggs = fudgey. I pull them out as soon as a knife comes out clean. I don't own a sifter, but I could shake up the bag of flour first. May e that would help, lol? I'll def try the foil next time. @tashad18 it's a few years old. Not sure if that's old for a toaster oven. I think my parents still have the one they got as a wedding gift. I could put an oven thermometer in there and see if the temp is true. It is cooking a little warmer in the back than in the front (can't remember if it always did that or more recent) so I turn the pan halfway thru.

huntjul · April 2014

@quartermisses I tried cooking them in our big oven and they were even worse. We have a second toaster oven that came with the apartment, but we don't use it--doesn't look as nice but it's probably newer in terms of hours used. We use the snot out of our toaster oven.

scamberlous3000 · April 2014

huntjul said:
@txswissmiss i thought more eggs = cakey and more oil, less eggs = fudgey. I pull them out as soon as a knife comes out clean. I don't own a sifter, but I could shake up the bag of flour first. May e that would help, lol? I'll def try the foil next time. @tashad18 it's a few years old. Not sure if that's old for a toaster oven. I think my parents still have the one they got as a wedding gift. I could put an oven thermometer in there and see if the temp is true. It is cooking a little warmer in the back than in the front (can't remember if it always did that or more recent) so I turn the pan halfway thru.

Just whisk the dry ingredients together and that will constitute sifting them. I'd also pull them out a few minutes early so they'll be more fudge like. I'm wondering if maybe the humidity there is contributing? Have you made them there before and had them turn out?

huntjul · April 2014

scamberlous3000 said:

@txswissmiss i thought more eggs = cakey and more oil, less eggs = fudgey. I pull them out as soon as a knife comes out clean. I don't own a sifter, but I could shake up the bag of flour first. May e that would help, lol? I'll def try the foil next time. @tashad18 it's a few years old. Not sure if that's old for a toaster oven. I think my parents still have the one they got as a wedding gift. I could put an oven thermometer in there and see if the temp is true. It is cooking a little warmer in the back than in the front (can't remember if it always did that or more recent) so I turn the pan halfway thru.
Just whisk the dry ingredients together and that will constitute sifting them. I'd also pull them out a few minutes early so they'll be more fudge like. I'm wondering if maybe the humidity there is contributing? Have you made them there before and had them turn out?

Now that I think about it, I'm not sure I've ever made a really good batch here. Def high humidity and temp here. Once they are cooled I usually put them in the fridge. Also we buy the freshest ingredients we can, but they won't be as fresh as in the US since it has to be shipped here and there's not as much store turnover.

Gatorsgirl731 · April 2014

huntjul said:

scamberlous3000 said:

huntjul said:
@txswissmiss i thought more eggs = cakey and more oil, less eggs = fudgey. I pull them out as soon as a knife comes out clean. I don't own a sifter, but I could shake up the bag of flour first. May e that would help, lol? I'll def try the foil next time. @tashad18 it's a few years old. Not sure if that's old for a toaster oven. I think my parents still have the one they got as a wedding gift. I could put an oven thermometer in there and see if the temp is true. It is cooking a little warmer in the back than in the front (can't remember if it always did that or more recent) so I turn the pan halfway thru.
Just whisk the dry ingredients together and that will constitute sifting them. I'd also pull them out a few minutes early so they'll be more fudge like. I'm wondering if maybe the humidity there is contributing? Have you made them there before and had them turn out?

Now that I think about it, I'm not sure I've ever made a really good batch here. Def high humidity and temp here. Once they are cooled I usually put them in the fridge. Also we buy the freshest ingredients we can, but they won't be as fresh as in the US since it has to be shipped here and there's not as much store turnover.

My vote goes with the toaster oven not cooking. How different is the altitude from where you were in the states? That would make a difference too.

MangoMama82 · April 2014

Same as @quartermisses‌, I use bakers chocolate and vanilla. I also use semi-sweet chocolate chips. I do the Ina Garten recipe. It would be hard to pull off in a toaster oven, and you'd hate it because it's not a fuss-free recipe, but they are consistently the BEST brownies ever. Everyone goes crazy for them

sarahcatie · April 2014

Are you using a different kind of cocoa? That could change flavor and possibly consistency.

kirbabe · April 2014

You can try several things.

Use egg yolks instead of a whole egg. The whites add structure to baked goods, yolks add richness.

Use less flour.

Melt and cool some (1-2 oz) semisweet chocolate and add it to your liquid ingredients (I'm guessing you won't care to add this step).

To me a brownie is overbaked if the skewer comes out clean. For my brownies, I don't even poke them to check their doneness, I just wait for them to puff up on top and when they start to fall, I pull them. I really don't know if this techniques transcends to all brownies, though.

Jalee85 · April 2014

On my brownie cake box. You add eggs to make it cake like.

huntjul · April 2014

Thanks for all the advice!

Our altitude is not noticeably different than PA was. The cocoa is the same (Hersheys) though as I said, it's possibly not as fresh. It's possible I'm using too much flour since it may have settled more in transit to here and I haven't been sifting.

If it means redeeming my brownies, I could switch to the baker's chocolate--just always had been a cocoa kind of girl

@kirbabe if I do yolks-only, do I need to do more eggs than the 4 the recipe calls for? Like, 5 maybe? or just correct consistency with water?

@cruchymama11 - I will look into the possibility that the problem is the missing ant-sprinkles. However, as we got our house treated last week, ants are in short supply now.

ncase2 · April 2014

kirbabe said:

You can try several things. Use egg yolks instead of a whole egg. The whites add structure to baked goods, yolks add richness. Use less flour. Melt and cool some (1-2 oz) semisweet chocolate and add it to your liquid ingredients (I'm guessing you won't care to add this step). To me a brownie is overbaked if the skewer comes out clean. For my brownies, I don't even poke them to check their doneness, I just wait for them to puff up on top and when they start to fall, I pull them. I really don't know if this techniques transcends to all brownies, though.

This, and if you don't like the "crust" on top, put tinfoil over the top until the last 5 min or so of the baking time.

ETA: add the same amount of yolks that you would eggs, don't add extra egg. You could use water, milk, cream, etc. to correct the consistency if needed.

pmarie33 · April 2014

I would drop the temp a little then check it a few minutes earlier.

TXswissmiss · April 2014

Yeah definitely don't wait for the skewer to come out clean !!!!

Depending on the pan they cook a little after they come out as well with residual heat...

Underdone brownie = gooey fudgy brownie

Clean skewer = puffy cake

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