How to Tell When Cookies and Brownies Are Done (2024)

FAQs

How to Tell When Cookies and Brownies Are Done? ›

To test for doneness with a toothpick, insert a toothpick into the center of the brownies and pull it back out. For fudgy brownies, you'll want to see some moist crumbs attached to the toothpick when you pull it back out. If it looks like it's covered in brownie batter, the brownies will need to bake a bit longer.

In America's Test Kitchen's chewy brownie recipe — which swept the competition — it says to “bake until toothpick inserted halfway between edge and center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached.” Not only did this tell me what to look for on the toothpick, but also where to insert it.

Our Favorite Alternative to Toothpicks

Look at your knife set and find the one with the thinnest blade. Then insert the blade into the center of the cake. If the knife comes out clean, the cake is done. If batter or crumbs stick to the blade, let your cake bake a few minutes more and retest with a clean knife.

Break a cookie in half: Take and gently break one in half. Observe the texture and colour of the interior crumb. Texture and colour: If the cookie crumb is still wet, doughy, or appears raw, the cookies need more time in the oven. Fully cooked cookies should have a slightly dry and crumbly texture.

Place a toothpick into the brownie halfway between edge and center. A toothpick covered in brownie batter means a wet batter and will need to bake a bit longer. Moist crumbs on the toothpick means the middle of the pan is still gooey.

Shake the pan to see if the brownies wobble in the middle.

Gently shake the pan back and forth a few times and look at the middle of the brownies—if you're cooking fudgy brownies, they should wobble or jiggle slightly. They'll finish cooking after you take them out of the oven.

As soon as you see that rich, light, honey-brown coloration, you know they're ready to go. They've started to crack around the edges - A well-cooked cookie will often start to crack or crumble slightly around the edges.

If you are able to touch the top of them and they are right between soft and firm (or how you would prefer them), they would be good. if you are able to touch them and they still feel to dough-like, leave them in the oven for another 2 or 3 minutes.

They're supposed to be soft. They harden as they cool. Don't keep baking them trying to get them crisp, or they'll be too hard after they cool.

Put the brownies back in the 300 degree oven and bake until a cooking thermometer reads 195 degrees, or about 30 more minutes. Finally, you'll cool the brownies for 30 minutes in the pan, then for 10 minutes on a cooling rack before slicing with a pizza cutter (my favorite tip) and serving.

How do you not overcook brownies? ›

Rotate Your Pan

Oven temperatures vary substantially—what's 350 degrees in your oven might be more like 375 in your mom's. To correct for this, always rotate the pan of brownies halfway through. This not only ensures even baking, but also reminds you to check in on your brownies.

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).

If it feels set and springs back slightly, it is likely done. Avoid pressing too hard, as this can deflate the cookie. Light Cracking – Look for light cracks on the surface of the cookies. If you see them, the cookies have been baked long enough and are ready to be taken out of the oven.

While eating slightly underbaked cookies generally isn't dangerous if all the ingredients are safe to consume raw (like pasteurized eggs or egg substitutes), they can be unsatisfying in texture and may have an uncooked flour taste.

To avoid overcooking, remember that brownies will firm up A LOT once taken out of the oven; the brownie should still be wobbly in the middle when you take it out of the oven (there is a lot of butter and chocolate in the mix, both of which are basically liquid when hot, but firm when at room temperature).

Put the brownies back in the 300 degree oven and bake until a cooking thermometer reads 195 degrees, or about 30 more minutes. Finally, you'll cool the brownies for 30 minutes in the pan, then for 10 minutes on a cooling rack before slicing with a pizza cutter (my favorite tip) and serving.

If you've waited to take your brownies out of the oven until there are no more crumbs stuck to the toothpick, brace yourself for the disappointment of overcooked brownies. Instead of soft and fudgy, these are more likely to be dry and crumbly.

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).