Why Using The Toothpick Test Is A Mistake For Your Brownies

Testing for doneness when baking poses specific challenges, as any fan of "The Great British Baking Show" can attest. The outside of a cake or pie might be perfect, while the inside might come out either still raw or completely overbaked. The most reasonable method to test if a cake or muffin is ready involves a carefully placed toothpick or thin-bladed knife. If a toothpick comes out clean, with no batter or soft crumbs, your cake is ready to pull from the oven. Of course many people use this method when baking brownies, but it turns out that's a mistake. The problem is in how brownies bake, particularly the gooey chewy style.

The fact is, by the time your toothpick comes out clean, it's too late, according to the experts. In the same way that thicker steaks and roasts continue cooking when you pull them out of the oven (and is one of the reasons to let your steaks rest), brownies will continue to cook before they cool. And while those extra couple of minutes might not be too much of an issue with thick cake, it is when it comes to brownies. Pulling them out when the toothpick is clean may be the difference between pleasing, chewy treats and dry, crumbly, or overly dense squares, or nearly inedible edges.

It's not that the toothpick test doesn't work. But with brownies, it helps to know what the test is telling you. This is important for both gooey, fudgy style brownies and cake-like versions. If you insert a clean toothpick in and it comes out clean, you're already too late. You don't want the toothpick completely brown with wet batter, but the fact the interior is still sticking a bit means the right amount of moisture remains to continue cooking for a couple of minutes out of the oven before they cool.

The trick here is to begin testing a couple of minutes early (use a new, clean toothpick each time). You're looking for that magic transition, at the center of the pan, where the toothpick returns no longer covered in raw batter. For gooey brownies, look for streaks of batter and a few gooey crumbs. For thick, cake-style brownies, aim for a few crumbs still sticking to the toothpick.

If the toothpick test isn't helping, remember other crucial rules to avoid over-baking your brownies, like pulling them out right as cracks appear on top, and jiggling the pan to ensure the center is firm and baked. If you find your brownies are cooking inconsistently, resulting in tough outside edges and an undercooked center, consider other fixes, like placing brownies on the center rack instead of the bottom one, or baking them in a water bath like custards.