Biting into a beautifully cooked fudgy brownie is one of the great joys in life. Unfortunately, you can ruin your brownies easily by not cooling them long enough before eating them. While waiting for your brownies to cool might seem like an eternity, having the ideal bite is all worth it.
Generally speaking, for the best brownies to get the perfect brownie, you must let them cool for at least half an hour before eating them. You’ll need to cool brownies in the brownie pan for at least 30 minutes before performing any next steps - adding icing, decorations, or cutting them.
With all that said, you find yourself asking “How long should brownies cool before eating?”
Whether using a store-bought brownie mix or a homemade recipe, you need to cool down your brownies. If you fail to do so, you'll trade that delicious fudgy texture for a gooey mess. In addition, hot brownies are difficult to cut and can have more of the consistency of brownie batter rather than perfect squares.
The other thing to remember is that your brownies don't stop cooking when they come out of the oven. Chocolate brownies in a hot pan will cook a little more while resting. This is why plenty of recipes call for less time in the oven. Your seemingly undercooked brownies will be fudgy and delicious once cooled.
There are plenty of other reasons to exercise patience with your brownies. Trust us; it will all pay off in the end.
It's even more crucial that you wait for at least 30 minutes if you're planning on icing your brownies. There's nothing worse than putting tons of effort into your freshly baked homemade brownies only to have the icing melt all over the place when attempting to make frosted brownies
It might even be a good idea to put your brownies in the refrigerator before icing them, just so the surface is smooth. While it's not as important to thoroughly cool your brownies before drizzling them with a glaze or dusting them with powdered sugar, vanilla, or chocolate buttercream will melt immediately, leaving you with a sticky mess.
When in doubt, err on the side of cooling your brownies for longer.
If you’ve ever tried to cut brownies while they’re still hot, you know the mess of ragged cuts, melted chocolate, and moist crumbs that you’re left with. While it will still be delicious, it isn’t all that aesthetically pleasing. If you want those perfect brownie squares, you need to let your brownies cool down completely before even thinking about cutting them.
You can wait the standard half an hour, then lightly touch the tops of your brownies to ensure that they're cool enough to cut. If your brownie is room temperature, you're good to go.
Another effective trick is using a warmer knife. Run a sharp knife under warm water, wipe it down, and cut immediately. The warm knife will slice through your brownies, leaving you with sharp edges and bakery-worthy squares.
While less common than with cookies, you aren’t limited to using a knife to cut your brownies. You can use cookie cutters - you just have to make sure that the cookie cutter is deep enough to cut all the way through the brownies - as brownies are much thicker than your average cookie.
Food Network’s Reindeer Brownies: Creating Brownies and Using a Knife to Cut the Cooled Brownies While They are Still in the Baking Pan
First, figure out what kind of brownies you want to have. For the ideal cakey brownie, you must cook your batch a little longer. Fudgy brownies need slightly less time, although you'll still need to bake them thoroughly to avoid an undercooked brownie situation.
If you want super fudgy brownies, consider adding a bit more cocoa powder or some chocolate chips to give them some next-level flavor. Follow the recipe or boxed instructions to the letter, and then test your brownies with a toothpick.
If you want fudgy brownies, the toothpick should have crumbs and a little batter on it. Cakey brownies are done when the toothpick is batter-free but has a few lingering crumbs.
Additionally, consider the altitude of the locale you’re baking at. Air pressure from higher altitudes can significantly affect the results of your brownie, so adjust your recipe accordingly to achieve your desired results.
Hard brownies are the bane of everyone's existence, so to avoid a dry and rock-like brownie result, don't wait until your toothpick is completely clean to remove your brownies from the oven. You want a few crumbs or even a little batter on the toothpick.
Remember that brownies continue cooking even after they're out of the oven.
Although the standard wait time is half an hour, many people wait a little longer to get the perfect cut. If you want to be sure that your brownies are completely cool before you cut them, consider waiting at least two hours.
Although this might seem a bit excessive, you'll get the ideal square every time. If you're cooking the brownies for a get-together, waiting a few hours could be the right way to go.
Although brownies get harder as they cool, you can keep yours at that perfect chewy consistency by cooling them on your counter rather than popping them in the freezer. Although it might seem tempting to take a shortcut, resist doing so. Instead, only put your brownies into the refrigerator after thoroughly cooling down.
If you decide to let your brownies cool overnight, make sure to cover them in an airtight container to keep pets and pests away and stop your brownies from getting too hard. They will be moist, fudgy, and ready to enjoy in the morning.
Once your brownies are cool, it's time to cut them. For the best results, turn your pan of brownies upside down on a large plate or board so that the whole thing comes out in a square. Then, you can cut uniform pieces of brownies to serve.
A few other tricks and tips to ensure success are as follows.
By taking these simple steps, you should have bakery-quality brownies in no time. If you're frosting or glazing your brownies, flip them upsidedown onto a plate or cutting board, then frost the whole uncut tray of brownies before slicing them.
If you're frosting your brownies, you'll want to wait until the frosting itself is set, especially if it's buttercream. You can do this by chilling your brownies in the refrigerator or leaving it out to set, as long as your kitchen’s room temperature isn't too hot. However, cutting your brownies when the buttercream hasn't been fully set can be messy.
Ideally, brownies need 30 minutes to cool down, but you can let them rest for up to two hours if you have the time and patience. Don't put brownies into your freezer to rapidly cool because that could mess up the consistency.
Instead, just set a timer and prepare yourself to enjoy a beautiful, perfectly cooked, fudgy brownie bite after about half an hour. If you're anxious, it's ok to check on them from time to time to see if the surface of the brownie is cool enough to cut; just be careful not to poke holes in the top of the unset brownie batter.
Timing is everything, though, and it pays to wait a little longer for the perfect batch. When it comes to brownies, good things truly come to those who wait.
Absolutely. An air fryer works in the exact same manner as a convection oven. Air is heated and then distributed as evenly as possible within the air fryer with a fan. While the baking method is the same, most air fryers have limited capacity when compared to a standard kitchen oven - but you can certainly make small batches of brownies in an air fryer.
