How To Nail The Texture Of Your Flourless Brownies
If there's one childhood treat that still makes us go weak in the knees as adults, it might very well be brownies. These moist, chocolatey bar cookies were a lunchbox staple for many of us as kids, to be looked forward to as we dutifully munched our way through perhaps healthier items such as a sandwich and sliced fruit, then feverishly gobbled it alongside a cold mini-carton of milk. Today, we can enjoy a brownie at any time of day — even at breakfast, if we want to — but the classic dessert somehow hasn't lost any of its seductive appeal.
Grownup brownies can be even tastier than the plain types we likely snacked on as children, with variations featuring sophisticated ingredients such as salty miso fudge and dark espresso powder appealing to an adult palate. One take on brownies that's also sure to delight grownups — and probably children, too — is the flourless kind, which allows the complex flavor of the chocolate inside to shine through in all its glory (via Recipe for Perfection). Plus, depending on how long you bake flourless brownies, you can assure the texture you prefer in the treat.
A shorter bake time for gooey, a longer one for fudgy
If you've ever had flourless chocolate cake, you know that the dessert tends to taste even more decadent than versions containing flour. Typically, these cakes call for plenty of fat and eggs, which lends them a gooey, molten texture more reminiscent of a pudding than it is of cake (via Bon Appétit). Since there's no flour in them, they're also gluten-free and can be a good option to serve at meals with diners that can't eat the structural protein.
Naturally, then, flourless brownies boast the same qualities as these delicious cakes and can be a fun, less formal dessert to make. If you'd like to try your hand at them, know that you can also determine just how you like their texture by varying the bake time, according to The Washington Post. For ooey-gooey brownies reminiscent of molten chocolate cake, keep the bake time on the lower end, about 25 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for an eight-inch-square pan of brownies. For firmer brownies that will nevertheless remain fudgy and moist due to the absence of flour, go for a bake time closer to 30 minutes. At any texture, we have to say, flourless brownies sound like a treat we want to be pulling out of the oven tonight.