Basic Fudgy Brownies Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

What makes a brownie more fudgy? ›

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.

Achieving a fudgy brownie is all to do with the ratio of fat to flour. A fudgy brownie recipe will use more fat than flour. Generally this is achieved by adding more butter or real chocolate to your brownie recipe. A cakey brownie recipe on the other hand will call for more flour in the ratio of fat to flour.

Ghirardelli's brownies weren't too sweet and had a denser, more fudgelike texture. They had the most intense flavor of the bunch, which I think came from the chocolate chips and the darker chocolate used in the batter. These were also fudgy, which is my personal preference for a brownie.

Fudgy brownies are moist, dense and gooey, with almost the texture of fudge, but not quite as compact. Chewy brownies are dense (like fudgy brownies), but have a little more “bite” to them or elastic texture when you chew them.

The desired consistency of your batter depends on what results you want to achieve, so there's not one exact answer to your question. Cakey brownie batter contains more flour so it'll appear thicker, while fudgy brownie batter has more butter or margarine and is therefore more “liquidy” (more fat, less flour).

In brownies, both butter and oil will offer a moist, tender texture, but only butter will give the dish the aeration needed for rising brownies well. If you use a cake brownie, butter is a better option because it helps rise the batter. For denser, fudge type brownies, oil is permissable.

Use butter, not oil (and definitely not margarine!)

At room temperature, butter is more solid than oil - and even more solid when fridge-cold - which makes the brownies dense and fudge-like. Oil helps them keep for longer without drying out (and it's a lot cheaper!) but it makes for crisp edges and a chewier texture.

First things first, bake your brownies on a rack positioned in the middle of your oven. If the pan is too close to the bottom, then the bottom could burn before the top gets a chance to bake. If it is too close to the top, then the top will bake too fast and leave raw brownie batter on the bottom.

If you like chewy, sticky brownies, I recommend: Betty Crocker Dark Chocolate Brownie Mix. If you like light, less dense brownies with a picture-perfect sugar top that flakes when sliced, I recommend: Duncan Hines Chewy Fudge Brownie Mix.

Are Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker brownies better? ›

For those looking for light and cakey brownies, Duncan Hines is likely the mix for you, while Pillsbury or Betty Crocker's mixes are better for fudge fans.

Using caster sugar in brownies also helps to get a super crinkly top. Caster sugar has a smaller grain size than granulated sugar, so it dissolves better in the egg mixture, to give that nice crinkly top. If you only have granulated sugar on hand it will still work fine particularly if you are in the US.

The Londoner describes why they called them "slu*tty brownies" perfectly: "they're oh so easy, and more than a little bit filthy." Just as simple as I would've imagined. They are as easy to make as they are messy to eat. If you look up slu*tty Brownies on Pinterest there are thousands of recipes listed.

To test for doneness with a toothpick, insert a toothpick into the center of the brownies and pull it back out. For fudgy brownies, you'll want to see some moist crumbs attached to the toothpick when you pull it back out. If it looks like it's covered in brownie batter, the brownies will need to bake a bit longer.

But oil isn't the only key to a chewy brownie: Using dark brown sugar helps create that texture. Mixing in some white sugar gives you the shiny tops. However, the best touch for the chewy brownie experience comes at the very end. Chewy brownies must be slightly under-baked.

Getting the perfect crust for you means choosing a recipe with just the right proportions of granulated and brown sugars. More brown sugar leads to dense brownies with incredible depth of flavor, but the additional moisture can cause their upper crust to be more solid than delicate as a result.