The Crucial Rule You Should Follow To Avoid Over-Baking Brownies

So you've found the perfect brownie batter recipe. You've tried all the tricks for rich, fudgy bars. You've selected the right cocoa, nailed the flavor, and experimented with clever ingredient swaps for richness and texture. All that remains is perfecting the baking process. After all that whisking, mixing, and pouring, it might seem like the hard part of preparing the classic treat is behind you. However, if you're not watching the clock and keeping an eye on the oven, all your hard work could be for naught. You could end up with scorched, rock-hard overbaked brownies rather than perfectly moist and fudgy ones.

Whether you're going the boxed batter route or working from a decades-old family recipe, it's important to ensure you're properly baking your brownies. While baking instructions vary and oven temperatures can be fickle, there's one simple visual cue to look for from your brownies that signals they're baked to perfection. The key is to keep an eye out for cracks. Your brownies are ready to come out of the oven just as the surface begins to show signs of cracking. They should appear glossy and the center should remain firm when you give the pan a shake. This rule is more important than the instructions of the individual recipe you're following, so be sure to check on your brownies well before the timer is set to ring. 

The definition of what constitutes a perfectly baked brownie varies from person to person. The longer you cook a brownie, the more cake-like and less fudgy it becomes. If you're looking for fudgy brownies, the tried-and-true toothpick test doesn't work as for other baked goods. A toothpick inserted in the center of a fudgy brownie will not come back clean. If it does, you've probably already cooked the brownies too long. You might also be accustomed to tapping the surface lightly and looking for some firm spring-back, but this won't happen with fudgy brownies. This is where the cracks are helpful. When you see a light, slightly crisp layer on top of the brownies that starts to show cracks, if you tap on it, it should deflate slightly, create more cracks in the surface, and then hold its shape. 

You can also look for the edges of the brownies to become darker and pull away slightly from the edge of the baking dish. Remember that the brownies will continue to bake once you take them out of the oven, so be sure to take them out before the center is too set and the edges are too dark. Another tip to avoid over-baking your brownies is to place them on the right oven rack. Brownies on the lower rack might become too crispy too soon — a pan placed on the center rack results in balanced brownies that are perfectly fudgy through and through.