For the best results, use a metal pan. Metal (especially aluminum or steel) conducts heat quickly and evenly, resulting in brownies that are taller, chewy, and have perfectly crisp edges.
Fastest way to perfect your brownies is to bake them in a metal pan instead of using glass or ceramic. Welcome to my brownie science series. Glass and ceramic conduct heat less efficiently than metal often leading to brownies that sink in the center, don't cook through the middle, or develop a gummy texture.
For the best brownies, use a light-colored aluminum 8x8 or 9x9-inch metal pan, such as the USA Pan Square Cake Pan. Metal conducts heat evenly for a fudgy center and chewy edges, while light-colored aluminum prevents over-browning. Avoid glass, which can lead to overbaked, gummy centers.
If all you have is a glass pan, here's what to do: try dropping the temperature from 350°F to 325°F and increasing the time anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes, depending on the volume of batter. Full article: handletheheat.com/glass-vs-metal-pan.
Metals, specifically aluminum (which is what many baking pans are made of), heat up quickly, allowing batter to rise, bake, and crisp up at a uniform pace. This, says Martin Philip, award-winning author and baker at King Arthur Flour, results in an evenly baked, perfectly moist batch of brownies.
For the best results, use a metal pan. Metal (especially aluminum or steel) conducts heat quickly and evenly, resulting in brownies that are taller, chewy, and have perfectly crisp edges.
Pre-beating your eggs helps to incorporate air into your batter and create the unique crackly top that makes brownie lovers swoon. But once your wet ingredients meet the dry ones, take it easy and avoid overbeating! An overworked batter can make fudgy brownies too cakey or turn cakey brownies tough.
Cool completely before cutting.
Bake your brownies at 325°F if you want dense, ultra-fudgy centers, or 350°F for classic, cake-like brownies. The temperature you choose directly impacts the final texture and how quickly the edges set compared to the middle.
Glass or ceramic? You risk brownies that sink, stay gummy in the middle, or never cook through. 💡 Pro tip: If you're stuck with glass, lower your temp to 325°F and add 5–15 minutes bake time.
The Perfect Brownie Pan (popularly known from "As Seen on TV") is an 18-cavity nonstick baking pan featuring a removable bottom and a grid-like divider insert. It allows you to pour your batter, insert the divider, and bake 18 perfectly uniform, crispy-edged brownies all at once.
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. Thoroughly grease the lining.
To keep brownies from sticking to a glass pan, use a "parchment paper sling" that hangs over the edges. Lightly grease the glass with baking spray or butter before pressing the parchment down. Once baked and cooled, the parchment lets you easily lift the entire batch of brownies out for clean slicing.
To adjust baking time and temperature between glass and metal pans, follow this simple rule: glass heats up slower but retains heat much longer.
Yes, absolutely. Brownies contain a lot of sugar, which caramelizes and makes them highly prone to sticking. To ensure your brownies release perfectly, grease the bottom and sides thoroughly with softened butter, shortening, or non-stick cooking spray.
Our Best Brownie Tips
Variation: Fudgy brownies
For Fudgy Brownies: Preheat the oven to 400°F instead of 350°F. Position the rack on the bottom third of the oven. Fill a large baking pan halfway with ice water. Bake the brownies until dry on top, 15 to 18 minutes.
You can underbake brownies slightly if you want a rich, dense, and gooey texture. However, baking them until the center reaches a safe internal temperature of 165∘F165 raised to the composed with power F165∘F (74∘C74 raised to the composed with power C74∘C) is required to kill harmful bacteria in raw flour and eggs.
Yes, you can, but it will make very thick, cake-like brownies that take much longer to bake. For two standard-sized boxes, you will need to increase the bake time to around 45 to 55 minutes (at 325°F or 350°F, depending on the box directions).
Yes, you can bake brownies in a glass pan, but the results will be different. Glass conducts heat slower than metal and retains it longer, which often leaves you with overcooked edges and a gooey or underdone center.
Some bakers say the key to making brownies with shiny crust is dissolving the sugar in melted butter before adding; others call for several minutes of beating, to make sure sugar and egg are fully combined.
Learn the difference between cakey and fudgy brownies so you can better understand how to fix them, straight from our kitchen to yours.
Adding an extra egg to brownie mix makes them rise more and gives the final product a lighter, more cake-like texture rather than a dense, fudgy one. The extra egg provides added moisture and protein structure, which helps the batter expand in the oven.