Recipe: Chewy Zucchini Brownies (2024)

FAQs

What does it mean when your brownies are chewy? ›

A chewy texture often indicates that something went awry; usually overbaking. Why do brownies have a hard chewy texture? If hard and chewy, the batter was over mixed. You want to mix only enough to hom*ogenize all ingredients.

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.

Fudgy brownies benefit from less cocoa powder and the addition of chopped chocolate, which gets melted with the butter to create a thick, molten base. Pulling them out of the oven before a toothpick comes out clean also ensures the center stays fudge-like and gooey.

Brownies fail to rise due to the insufficient batter in your baking pan and not enough air has been infused, or your batter may not have enough egg or other key leavening agents.

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.

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.

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.

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 9" pan, or 8" x 8" pan (for slightly thicker brownies).

Whether you use butter, margarine, or vegetable oil, putting too much in your brownie batter causes it to be greasy. Don't worry, you're not alone. Many people fall into this trap when trying to substitute butter with oil.

If the brownies still look wet or aren't pulling away, they aren't done. Even fudgy brownies will pull from the edges once they've finished baking. You'll see that the edges look dry while the middle still looks soft or slightly wet. Chewy and cakey brownies will have dry edges with firmer-looking centers.

What keeps brownies moist? ›

Storing Brownies in the Refrigerator

Unlike cookies or cakes that tend to dry out more quickly in the fridge than at room temperature, the fridge helps brownies to stay moist longer.

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.

Insert a toothpick to see if just a few crumbs stick.

If you pulled the toothpick out and it looked clean or there weren't any crumbs sticking to it, the brownies are most likely overbaked.

If you've waited to take your brownies out of the oven until there are no more crumbs stuck to the toothpick, brace yourself for the disappointment of overcooked brownies. Instead of soft and fudgy, these are more likely to be dry and crumbly.

The ratios and mixing techniques of these ingredients determine whether your brownies will be fudgy, cakey, gooey or chewy. Fudgy brownies are dense, moist, and intensely chocolatey. To achieve this texture, use more chocolate and less flour. Melt the chocolate and butter together to form a smooth base.