This Is How Temperature, Butter, And Sugar Affect Your Brownies (2024)

FAQs

How does butter temperature affect brownies? ›

“Room temp butter is able to hold onto air,” Szewczyk says. “You can mechanically shove air into it by creaming. Warm butter is not able to hold onto it, so you're going to get a denser dough.” When using warmer or melted butter, cookies will struggle to lift and lighten, resulting in a cakier texture, like brownies.

Typically, brownies bake at around 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes, but Brown's version goes like this: Bake at 300 degrees F for 15 minutes, then remove the pan from the oven to cool for another 15 minutes.

And while the ingredients and method do play some part in the texture, ultimately the most important thing might just be the brownie temperatures. Because even with a higher fat percentage, cooking anything for longer and to a higher temperature will eventually dry it out, solidify it, and crisp it up.

The temperature of your butter is critical when creaming butter and sugar. Too cold, and your sugar won't properly dissolve into your butter. Too hot, and your cakes will end up flat and greasy. The magical temperature of softened butter is actually around 65℉, slightly cooler than the ambient temperature of your home.

Most boxed mixes call for vegetable oil, which gives brownies a lighter texture and more neutral flavor. To make them taste homemade, try substituting equal amounts of melted butter for the oil. This is my number one tip because the butter will add a richness both in flavor and texture.

Temperature and baking time

The baking temperature depends not only on the mold, but also on the oven you use: In a convection oven, you should bake your brownie at 320/355°F (160/180°C). In a deck oven, the recommended temperature is 355/390°F (180/200°C).

Brownies: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Line the bottom and sides of an 8 inch (20 cm) square baking pan with foil.

A toothpick covered in brownie batter means a wet batter and will need to bake a bit longer. Moist crumbs on the toothpick means the middle of the pan is still gooey. Because the brownies will continue to cook as they cool, pulling them out now is the key to perfectly set centers.

If you want a fudgy chocolate brownie, use melted butter. For cakey brownies, beating softened butter and sugar together to create air pockets will make your brownies lighter and cakier.

Middle. The default position. It's ideal for most foods since it situates the item in the middle of the oven, allowing the hot air to circulate evenly around the food, resulting in even cooking. Use this for a single tray of cookies, sheet-pan dinners, fish, brownies, banana bread, and so on.

What happens when you cook butter and sugar together? ›

You accomplish two things when you cream butter and sugar: Creaming evenly disperses the sugar throughout the batter, completely dissolving it into the butter. You also increase volume by mixing thoroughly and incorporating more air into your batter.

Starting with your stand mixer or hand mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugar until it is pale yellow, light, fluffy, and has visible volume, using your spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

As the sugar heats, it will melt and start to "caramelize" (hence the name "caramel"), changing color and creating caramel flavors. Once the sugar has all dissolved and turned brown, we add butter. The heat of the caramel will melt the butter and create even more wonderful flavors.

The importance of butter temperature in baking

butter that is too warm will reduce the flakiness of the layers. The butter may melt into the dough instead of creating distinct layers. butter that is too cold will crack into shards into the dough. This will have an impact on the layers and flakiness of the dough.

Fudgy brownies have a higher fat-to-flour ratio than cakey ones. So add more fat—in this case, butter and chocolate. A cakey batch has more flour and relies on baking powder for leavening. The amount of sugar and eggs does not change whether you're going fudgy or cakey.

the butter brownies actually had a fudgier texture. they were softer, and they really just melted in your mouth. they also had that shiny crust and just better flavor, whereas the oil brownies were actually chewier. they were crunchier at the top and at the edges.