should i cut before or after the brownies cool?

i am looking for whichever method will crack the brownies less. it seems like whenever i take a knife to them (or a pizza cutter as i tried last time), the tops crack a lot. has anyone done any experiments america's test kitchen style?

thanks in advance!

I am just this minute awaiting some brownies to cool before cutting. That is the instruction offered by baker extraordinaire Dorie Greenspan.

I think the real trick is a very sharp knife after the brownies have cooled. You could score the top of the brownies to make guidelines and lesson the cracking once they've cooled. Cutting hot brownies is never recommeded, but often unavoidable.

I think the best tasting brownies are cooled completely before cutting. In fact, I let brownies cool in the pan, then place them in the freezer for a couple of hours (or in the refrigerator overnight) and only after they have been thoroughly chilled. I use a butter knife to cut them and they never crack.

I really despise brownies that are cut long before serving as they quickly dry out.

thanks!!

Ms. Ingie wrote:I think the real trick is a very sharp knife after the brownies have cooled. You could score the top of the brownies to make guidelines and lesson the cracking once they've cooled. Cutting hot brownies is never recommeded, but often unavoidable.

Yeah, I'd rather have warm, gooey brownies than pretty ones. Priorities, people!

If you eat them fast enough they don't dry out.

There is another variable in the whole brownie/cutting/cracking/cooling issue and that is what type of brownies are you making. I always make a very fudgey brownie that's full of nuts and chocolate chips so they're very easy to cut without cracking. I'm not sure that the refrigerator chilling method will do much to reduce the cracks in a less moist brownie.

And, don't forget to dip your knife in water before cutting to avoid stickage.

I didn't believe it until I tried it, but my personal chef colleagues swear by the plastic knife (the disposable kind). Works EVERY time, no need to dip the blade in water, very few crumbs and no cracks.

Be sure the brownies are at room temperature or colder for best results.

choppcs wrote:I didn't believe it until I tried it, but my personal chef colleagues swear by the plastic knife (the disposable kind). Works EVERY time, no need to dip the blade in water, very few crumbs and no cracks.

ooh, that's interesting, i may try that. i'm making barefoot contessa's outrageous brownies (with chocolate chips, no walnuts).

Similar to Veloute, I think it depends on the type of brownie - cakey? fudgey? dense and chewy? Each has its own characteristics and some are more prone to cracking than others. Since I only bake gluten free these days, I only make a dense brownie, little flour, and that is slightly undercooked.....no cracking.

What is this thing you speak of called "cool brownies"? It is some different kind of brownie recipe?

Around here, a pan of brownies is devoured typically before the added chips (chocolate and butterscotch) stop being melted.
So the answer, like how many licks 'til you get to the Tootsie roll center of a Tootsie Pop, is, "The world will never know."

I've been using this recipe for brownies since the 6th grade, when for an 8-week period, the boys cooked and sewed, and the girls did wood shop.
It's one bowl, one pan, you can prep it faster than you can preheat the oven, faster than reading the instructions on a box mix.

Preheat oven at 350. Makes a 7x11 pan
2 oz unsweetened chocolate
2/3C butter
Melt these together (microwave has made this easier than the original double boiler)

Stir in 1C sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 eggs
Add 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking powder, 3/4 C flour

Fold in 1/4-1/2C of chocolate and/or butterscotch chips (not in the original recipe)

Bake 18-20 minutes, do not overbake. (Edit - corrected flour amount -- original would have worked, but would be wetter, less cakey)

these were fudgy dense brownies. alas, i tried several different methods mentioned here (plastic knife, knife in hot water, even tried a lettuce knife) but the result was less than i was hoping for. maybe i should have chilled them? they still tasted good.

I have a very thin, flexible metal cooke spatula from Crate & Barrel. I use the edge to slice the brownies. Since it is so thin, it doesn't disrupt the top crust as much as something thicker. I have an oxo lettuce knife and that would be too thick. The plastic knife is not bad, but I vote for using something as thin as possible.

technique must be important here...

Wait, you cut brownies?

That takes all the fun out of eating them with a spoon!

if i was that concerned with cracks, i'd probably just dust the top with powdered sugar and call it a day.

I think the way they are made must have something to do with why some form a crusty top and others do not. I don't get a crusty top on mine. I wonder if it's related to beating or not beating the batter, specifically eggs....just thinking of things that get crusty, like pecan bars or lemon bars or those little pecan cookies. When my mom makes then, they are not crusty. When my aunt makes them, they are. Same recipe. One must be beating or something that causes a layer to separate and rise, thus becoming crusty.

But, that is food science guessing made up in my head.....

JoelF wrote:I've been using this recipe for brownies since the 6th grade, when for an 8-week period, the boys cooked and sewed, and the girls did wood shop.

The Chow Poodle made a batch of brownies using this recipe. Man, they were good! Of course, in true LTH fashion, she gilded the lily by whipping up a batch of chocolate fudge butter cream frosting for the top.

stevez wrote:The Chow Poodle made a batch of brownies using this recipe. Man, they were good! Of course, in true LTH fashion, she gilded the lily by whipping up a batch of chocolate fudge butter cream frosting for the top.

Is the chocolate fudge butter cream similar to the one that Mrs. Field's uses on their birthday cookies? If so, can you please share the recipe? Thanks!

Pucca wrote:Is the chocolate fudge butter cream similar to the one that Mrs. Field's uses on their birthday cookies? If so, can you please share the recipe? Thanks!

I'm not familiar with Mrs. Fields, but the ricipe is a basic buttercream, like on the back of a Hershey's Cocoa can.