Lesson 5 of 5 · Cookies & Dessert Basics

Brownies and blondies

  • Free video
  • Beginner
  • Cookies & Bars
  • 7 min
Share
Video by Binging with Babish on YouTube: “Brownies | Basics with Babish” Watch on YouTube ↗

What you'll learn

Lesson 5 of 5

Control whether brownies come out fudgy, chewy or cakey, get a shiny crackly top, and adapt the method to brown-sugar blondies.

  • More fat and chocolate relative to flour means fudgier brownies
  • Beating eggs and sugar well makes a shiny, crackly top
  • Underbake slightly and cool completely before cutting

Ingredients for this lesson

Madagascar Vanilla Extract, 2 oz BottleVanillaGoods$13.00
Shop
Madagascar Vanilla Beans, Grade B, 5 BeansVanillaGoods$12.00
Shop

Shop all vanilla extracts →

Lesson notes from VanillaGoods

Fudgy, chewy or cakey

  • Fudgy: high fat and chocolate, little flour, melted butter
  • Chewy: some brown sugar and an extra egg
  • Cakey: more flour, a little baking powder, creamed butter

The crackly top

Beat the eggs and sugar for a few minutes until thick and pale. Dissolved sugar forms a thin meringue-like layer on top that bakes into the shiny, crackly crust.

Baking and blondies

  • Line the pan with a parchment sling for easy lifting
  • Bake until a toothpick shows moist crumbs, not wet batter
  • Cool completely, ideally chill, for clean squares
  • Blondies use brown sugar and vanilla instead of chocolate for a butterscotch flavor; don't skimp on the vanilla
← Lesson 4Back to the course →

Tools for this lesson

The equipment that makes this easier. VanillaGoods vanilla is always our own; these tools are from Amazon.

As an Amazon Associate, VanillaGoods earns from qualifying purchases. We only suggest tools that fit what you're learning.

Put it into practice

Bake along with a VanillaGoods recipe that uses this technique.

Find vanilla cookies recipes

Videos are embedded from YouTube with the official player and belong to their creators. VanillaGoods is not affiliated with these creators unless stated; lesson notes and product suggestions are our own.