The Rapping Technique For Ridiculously Fudgy Brownies

Brownies are, by definition, a dense and fudgy confection. Invented in 1893 at the Hilton's Palmer House, they entered the world comprising close to a pound each of chocolate, butter, sugar, and eggs, with what amounts to little more than a puff (4 ounces) of flour. Members of Team Cakey will find their needs satisfied by recipes containing more flour, if not a leavening agent like baking powder.

For a fudgy, chewy, gooey brownie, by contrast, you'll need to start with a recipe that's fundamentally similar to the original (i.e., heavy on the moist ingredients and light on flour and air). Ingredient-related fudgy brownie hacks include using dark brown sugar for ultra-gooey brownies or adding mascarpone to your brownies, but how you handle your ingredients can also affect the fudginess of your brownies.

For example, adding cold eggs to brownie batter will result in a spongier texture, so you'll want to let your eggs come to room temperature before stirring them in; speaking of which, it's also worth noting that the way you mix your brownie batter determines how fudgy they are too. As a general rule, the more you agitate (read: overmix) the batter, the more air you incorporate therein. And airy brownies are cakey brownies.

That, of course, brings us to the best-kept fudgy brownie secret of them all. It involves a rapping technique, and trust us, you've got this.

Listen up, brownie bakers, this here space is not for cakers. We not tryin' to be judgy, we just focused on the fudgy. So listen up, 'cause here's the chew. If fudgy brownies be your groove, here's where we tell you what to do.

So that was embarrassing. But our point is, the brownie rap has nothing to do with whatever that was or was supposed to be. Rather, if you've done all the right stuff in pursuit of ridiculously fudgy brownies — which is to say, you sought out a recipe that promises fudgy brownies, assembled the right ingredients, added any desirable bonus ingredients, and only minimally agitated the batter as you mixed and poured it into the pan — then it's go time. Just be sure to keep in mind, this rap is not about the rhyme (sorry, couldn't resist).

Halfway through your brownie recipe's baking time, take the pan out of the oven and rap it against your countertop — just once — and firmly but not roughly — because the point of pan rapping (aka slamming or banging) isn't to send brownie batter flying about your kitchen, but rather to use the laws of physics to break up the air bubbles in your batter, which lead to fluffiness (i.e., the opposite of fudginess). And for the win, rapping the pan again upon removing it from the oven will also give your brownies the perfect cracked top.