Cream Cheese Brownie Recipe with Strawberries (2024)

FAQs

How to pimp brownies? ›

Add a teaspoon of instant coffee or espresso powder. Throw in a handful of nuts—pecans, walnuts, macadamia, whatever you have on hand. Scoop in a palmful of dried or frozen fruit. Add an extra splash of the top-shelf vanilla extract, or a dab of vanilla paste, or a dash of vanilla powder, to the batter.

Allow Brownies to Cool

For the best tasting brownies, allow the pan to cool completely or pop them into the refrigerator for an hour before cutting. Once cooled, brownies will be easier to cut and mess-free.

Chewy brownies must be slightly under-baked. One of the top mistakes to avoid when making brownies is waiting until there's no more crumbs on the toothpick to pull the pan from the oven. By that point they're close to over-baked, and you will lose out on that chewiness you want.

Brownies are known for their moist and fudgy texture, which is usually achieved by the combination of: Fat: Butter or oil provides moisture and helps create a tender texture. Sugar: Adds moisture and contributes to the overall sweetness. Eggs: Binds the ingredients and adds moisture to the batter.

Some of our team's favorite ways to spruce up brownie batter involve using flavor enhancers like malted milk powder, browned butter, and high-quality vanilla (either extract or from the bean).

Vanilla extract – Pure vanilla extract adds rich flavor to brownies. Eggs – Most brownie mixes call for one whole egg. Adding one large egg plus an extra egg yolk gives brownies an ultra fudgy texture. Chocolate Chips – Even if your brownie mix contains chocolate, plan to add chocolate chips.

the butter brownies actually had a fudgier texture. they were softer, and they really just melted in your mouth. they also had that shiny crust and just better flavor, whereas the oil brownies were actually chewier. they were crunchier at the top and at the edges.

The trick: Replace the water with coffee. You don't need much, generally ¼ to ⅓ cup. We already know that adding espresso and coffee flavor to chocolate desserts supercharges chocolate flavor, and the same principle applies here. Using coffee in your brownie mix will result in better, more chocolaty brownies.

In brownies, both butter and oil will offer a moist, tender texture, but only butter will give the dish the aeration needed for rising brownies well. If you use a cake brownie, butter is a better option because it helps rise the batter. For denser, fudge type brownies, oil is permissable.

Lesson three: melted butter Because melted butter has already released much of its water content, it makes the finished treats soft and dense, as well as flavourful. Use it in loaves and brownies. Use it in: loaves and brownies. For best results: let melted butter cool to room temperature before incorporating.

Can I use melted butter in brownies? ›

Unsalted melted butter – Most box brownie recipes call for vegetable oil, but swapping it out with with melted butter helps create chewy, fudgy texture with rich bakery-style flavor.

Too much flour? Go back to your edges - if they're not burnt, look a good colour (similar to the centre) but the brownie is too cakey and dry throughout, the recipe probably included too much flour.

Fudgy brownies have a higher fat-to-flour ratio than cakey ones. So add more fat—in this case, butter and chocolate. A cakey batch has more flour and relies on baking powder for leavening. The amount of sugar and eggs does not change whether you're going fudgy or cakey.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the undercooked brownies back in the baking pan they were originally baked in. Bake for an additional 5-10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the brownies cool completely before cutting and serving.

Whether you use butter, margarine, or vegetable oil, putting too much in your brownie batter causes it to be greasy. Don't worry, you're not alone. Many people fall into this trap when trying to substitute butter with oil.

Swirl in Some Good Stuff

Dollop cream cheese, fruit jam, pumpkin puree, peanut butter or caramel over brownie batter. Spoon it into the pan, then cut through the batter to create this wow-worthy effect. Your dessert will be prettier and tastier than every other treat on the table.

You can make several substitutions to help improve a boxed brownie mix and make it taste homemade. One change is to use milk or heavy cream instead of water. This change will make brownies more moist and gooey since milk is more fatty and flavorful than water. A second change is to use butter instead of oil.

If the recipe you're using gives instructions for a specific cooling method, follow it and wait for your brownies to cool completely. If there aren't specific instructions, leave the brownies in the pan, put the pan on a rack and let them cool completely (which means a 2 to 3 hour wait).