What Ingredients Set Chewy And Fudgy Brownies Apart?
The ideal brownie is different for everyone. Some people like nuts and chocolate chips peppering their treat, while others prefer the pure brownie experience. But what is that pure experience? When it's just the brownie, you can have three distinct textures: cakey, fudgy, and chewy. Cakey is at one end of the spectrum. But fudgy and chewy seem similar. What is the difference? And what ingredients are crucial for each?
To help clarify the difference between a chewy brownie and a fudgy brownie, think of things that are chewy. These foods are yielding and resilient at the same time. Gum is chewy. Nougat is chewy. Saltwater taffy is chewy. By comparison, with brownies, when something is chocolaty and gooey, but still melts in your mouth, that is fudgy. You might need to eat a fudgy brownie with a fork, but a chewy brownie is great finger food.
Whether you prefer chewy or fudgy brownies, ingredients and cooking temperature are the key elements to achieve your desired texture.
How to make a chewy brownie
If you are a fan of chewy brownies, cakey or fudgy just won't cut it. You want something rich and chocolaty that you can sink your teeth into because chewy brownies have a little more density and substance than those other options.
To get that perfect consistency, consider replacing a whole egg with two egg yolks. This helps because the egg yolks contain emulsifiers that give your brownie a combination of stability and gooeyness to create a chewy experience.
Also, if you want to up the chew-factor, try adding canola oil. However, this alone may not make your brownies as chewy as you desire, but it will make them moist. The best ingredient to keep your brownies chewy is brown sugar. Admittedly, this adds a darker taste than granulated sugar, but it will give you the chewy texture you seek. Using cocoa powder instead of melted chocolate can help decrease the gooeyness, so your brownies have a better chance of turning out the way you like.
How to make a fudgy brownie
For a fudgy brownie, the goal is gooey. Something that is so sweet it melts in your mouth. There are a few ingredients you can add to get this delectable texture. Also, there are some you should use sparingly to help keep your brownies from turning cakey.
Whole eggs are best for this type of brownie. And don't use more eggs than the recipe calls for or you risk getting a taller, drier result. For a fudgy brownie, you want to increase the fat. Adding extra butter and chunks of chocolate is a great and flavorful way to accomplish that goal. Conversely, being stingy with flour and cocoa powder is another way to keep your brownies fudgy.
While not an ingredient, the other essential element that keeps your brownies soft is slightly undercooking them. You do not want uncooked batter to remain in the center of your brownies, but when you stick a toothpick in and remove it, there should still be a few clumps on it. This will help ensure your brownies are as fudgy as possible.