Chewy Brownie Recipe - Cook's Illustrated - Review (2024)

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By Katie Moseman 4 Comments

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Chewy Brownie Recipe from Cook’s Illustrated Baking Book

Really chewy brownies are difficult to achieve without usinga box mix. The Cook’s Illustrated Baking BookChewy Brownie Recipe - Cook's Illustrated - Review (2) claims to have found the magic formula, which involves the use of vegetable oil (for chewiness) and extra egg yolk (to decrease the greasiness from using vegetable oil). I’ve decided to test out this recipe and see if it really lives up to the hype.

After reading their lengthy explanation of why this recipe works the way it does, I’ve taken note of their recommendation to “Use high-quality in this recipe” and used it as a fantastic excuse to buy some good chocolate.

Chewy Brownie Recipe by Cook's Illustrated

Chewy brownies specially designed to mimic the ultra chewiness of a box mixture with the flavor of made-from-scratch brownies

CourseDessert

CuisineAmerican

Author Cook's Illustrated

Ingredients

  • 1/3cupDutch-processed cocoa powder1 ounce
  • 1 1/2tspinstant espresso powderoptional
  • 2ozunsweetened chocolatechopped fine
  • 1/2cupplus 2 TB vegetable oil
  • 4TBunsalted buttermelted
  • 2large eggs plus 2 large yolks
  • 2tspvanilla extract
  • 2 1/2cupssugar17 1/2 ounces
  • 1 3/4cupsall-purpose flour8 3/4 ounces
  • 3/4tspsalt
  • 6ouncesbittersweet chocolatecut into 1/2 inch pieces

Instructions

  1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Make foil sling for 13 by 9 inch baking pan. Grease foil and set pan aside.

  2. Whisk cocoa, espresso powder, if using, and 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons boiling water together in large bowl until smooth. Add unsweetened chocolate and whisk until smooth. Whisk in oil and melted butter. (Mixture may look curdled.) Add eggs and yolks and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Whisk in sugar until fully incorporated. Whisk together flour and salt in a small bowl and then mix into batter with rubber spatula until combined. Fold in bittersweet chocolate pieces.

  3. Transfer batter to prepared pan; spread batter into corners of pan and smooth surface. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. Transfer pan to wire rack and let cool for 1 1/2 hours.

  4. Remove brownies from pan using foil. Return brownies to wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour. Cut brownies into 2-inch squares and serve. (Brownies can be stored in airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Tasting Notes:

These chewy, fudgy, and densebrownies are topped by a picture-perfect, paper-thin, shiny crust. The mild chocolate flavor is somewhere between milk and dark chocolate, rounded off by a warm taste of cocoa. The chewiness of the brownies gives them a bit of candy-like stickiness.

Chewy Brownies Recipe from Cooks Illustrated Baking Book

VERDICT:

This chewy brownie recipe is highly recommended if you want to make chewy brownies from scratch. Many of the other recipes in this book looked great, too. The Cook’s Illustrated Baking Bookhas so much good information in it that it would be very useful to any baker- definitely worth purchasing.

PS- If you prefer a cakey brownie, try this Fudgy Brownie Cake.

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Chewy Brownie Recipe - Cook's Illustrated - Review (5)

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Comments

  1. Dini @ giramuks kitchen

    I made this recipe just last week! I think mine were a little on the fudgy & chewy side! maybe I should have kept them in the oven abit longer?
    But I’m not complaining… a brownie is a brownie is a brownie and I can eat any brownie! haha!! 🙂

    Reply

    • Katie

      They are chewiest the first day; once they start to dry out the second day, they lose some chew. And some flavor- the lack of butter becomes apparent. These are one of those recipes that I think should be eaten the day it’s cooked. (Some brownies store better than others.)

      Longer cooking might’ve firmed them up a bit. I did a post to show how to tell when brownies are done.

      I just made a brownie pudding that’ll be posted in a few days… 🙂 Whoa is it good!

      Reply

  2. Jen

    You reference boiling water in the directions, but don’t list it in the ingredients or mention how much?

    Reply

    • Katie Moseman

      Oops! My mistake! I’ve corrected it just now. It’s 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of water.

      Reply

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Chewy Brownie Recipe - Cook's Illustrated - Review (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between chewy and fudgy brownies? ›

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.

Which brownie mix is the chewiest? ›

Duncan Hines Dolly Parton's Fabulously Fudgy Brownie Mix

And if you're looking for fudgy, this is the best brownie mix for you. Even the fully cooked brownie was like chewing brownie batter. And it doesn't end there.

What are Katharine Hepburn brownies? ›

The brownies are made with unsweetened chocolate, which is also known as baking, plain or bitter chocolate. It is chocolate in its rawest form and this means that unsweetened chocolate is just ground cocoa nibs that have been refined and contain between 50-55% cocoa butter (cacao fat).

How do you keep brownies chewy? ›

Chewy brownies must be slightly under-baked. One of the top mistakes to avoid when making brownies is waiting until there's no more crumbs on the toothpick to pull the pan from the oven. By that point they're close to over-baked, and you will lose out on that chewiness you want.

Are Ghirardelli brownies chewy or fudgy? ›

Ghirardelli perhaps had a better chocolate flavor than Pillsbury but had dry edges. Otherwise, those brownies had an excellent texture with a fudgy center, and I thought that the addition of chocolate chips was a great touch.

How do you know when chewy brownies are done? ›

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.

Why are they called blonde brownies? ›

The name 'blondies' comes from their light color, which contrasts with the dark color of traditional brownies.

What is in brownies on the moon? ›

Description. The most delicious brownies are combined with premium high-quality chocolate cream and vanilla ice cream to give you an experience that is out of this world!

Why are brownie fairies called brownies? ›

They received their name from the fact that they are usually described as brown-skinned and completely covered in hair. In the earliest traditions, brownies are either the same size as humans or sometimes larger, but, in later accounts, they are described as "small, wizened, and shaggy".

How to make your box brownies chewy? ›

Try using one less egg than called for in the recipe. That will make it more chewy and less cake like.

Why did my brownies turn out chewy? ›

The molasses content in brown sugar is what is responsible for chewy yet soft brownies. If you don't want chewy brownies, completely keep brown sugar out of the picture. If you do want chewy brownies and it's not mentioned in your recipe, add 3-4 tbsp of brown sugar in the end for beautifully chewy brownies!

Should you refrigerate brownies after baking? ›

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.

What determines whether a brownie is 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.

What's the difference between brownies and fudge brownies? ›

Fudge doesn't contain very much besides chocolate, sweetened condensed milk and if you want some inclusions like nuts, marshmallows, cookies, cacao nibs, peanut butter, dried fruit and so on. Whereas brownies contain cacao powder (no chocolate!), flour, eggs, butter or oil, baking powder and nuts.

Are brownies supposed to be fudgy in the middle? ›

Brownies are perfect when the middle is just baked, so it sets to a fudgy, moist consistency - if your flour and baking powder are causing the edges to rise, cook and set too quickly, they will give the appearance of a sunken centre, even if the centre is perfectly cooked.

Why do brownies get chewy? ›

The path to brownies with a fudgy, chewy center — so dense their crumb becomes fine enough to almost (but not quite) disappear — is the combination of melted butter and sugar. Cookbook author Jesse Szewczyk details the science behind using melted (rather than solid) butter in cookies in the secret to fudgier cookies.

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