Recipe: Decadent Frosted Brownies (2024)

FAQs

Are brownies better with or without frosting? ›

Drum roll please........ Unfrosted is the clear winner! Unfosted got 5 votes, Frosted got 1 vote and 1 person was Undecided. Food Specialist Jennifer Bartoli was the lone frosted vote.

But fear not if you're freezing leftover frosted brownies! Though they might not be as pretty as they initially were, the texture and flavor of frozen frosted brownies will still be OK. Just make sure to wrap them well and be prepared for the frosting to weep slightly.

Room Temperature Cooling: Allow your brownies to cool at room temperature on the wire rack for at least an additional 30-60 minutes. This gradual cooling process helps to achieve that coveted fudgy texture without becoming a gooey mess.

I find frosted brownies ridiculously delicious. It's like cake, but better, and I'm pretty particular about my baked goods. Frosted brownies pairs fudgy, rich brownies with that delicious stuff typically reserved for cake and cupcakes: frosting!

Cool completely before frosting. While brownies are cooling, add all the frosting ingredients to a bowl and using a handheld mixer, mix until creamy. Spread on top of cooled brownies, let set for 30 minutes or until frosting has harden.

(You can also use a layer of aluminum foil around the layer of plastic wrap to help protect them from air exposure.) Brownies can be kept at room temperature for up to five days for most brownie types. A cheesecake swirl or frosting or a ganache frosting should not be kept at room temperature.

Do Brownies Need to Be Refrigerated? Brownies don't need to be refrigerated, but they'll hold up a few more days if they are. Unless your brownies include more perishable ingredients like fresh fruit or cream cheese frosting, they'll be fine at room temperature as long as they're stored in an airtight container.

Refrigerating your brownies may actually be your best storage method, especially if you won´t be enjoying them for a few days. To store brownies in the refrigerator, simply place them into an airtight container. You can use plastic containers with a lid or a zippered storage bag.

If the toothpick comes out completely wet and coated with batter, you know the brownies are underdone and need more time. If the toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs clinging to it, the brownies are ready!

How to tell if brownies are done without a toothpick? ›

Our Favorite Alternative to Toothpicks

Look at your knife set and find the one with the thinnest blade. Then insert the blade into the center of the cake. If the knife comes out clean, the cake is done. If batter or crumbs stick to the blade, let your cake bake a few minutes more and retest with a clean knife.

Various causes include overbaking, underbaking, cutting the brownies too quickly, and lacking oil and fluid contents in the recipe. Underbaked and overbaked brownies turn out to be crumbly. When cut sooner before cooling down can make the brownies crumb.

Though it may seem odd, a plastic knife is better than a metal one when it comes to cutting brownies because of its non-stick nature. Brownies are less likely to adhere to plastic, so you can cut through them cleanly without worrying about tearing or crumbling.

After greasing the pan, many bakers like to line it with pieces of parchment paper or aluminum foil that have been cut larger than the size of the pan so that the edges hang over the sides like a sling.

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.

Airtight Containers

Use parchment paper to layer brownies into an airtight container for best results. Tip: When storing brownies in an airtight container, add a slice of bread in with them. The moisture from the bread will help keep your brownies fresh and soft for a couple more days.