Brownie Philosophy: Chewy, Cakey or Fudgy?

I've had a lot of pumpkin desserts in the past few days. And don't get me wrong, this is a good thing. But in between now and Thanksgiving, I generally find myself turning towards chocolate and fruit-based sweets. And the first obvious choice: brownies.

When it comes to brownies, there are generally three camps of folks: chewy, cakey or fudgy. Chewy brownie aficionados like a slightly gooey brownie but one with enough structure so it doesn't seem as dense as, say, a truffle. This is usually achieved by adding more all-purpose flour and whole eggs. Folks who like cakey brownies like an airier interior. They're made with batter that contains less butter and often have an added chemical leavener (like baking soda, for example). Last, fudgy brownie lovers go for a deep, dark, dense, moist brownie. They generally contain a higher percentage of chocolate and more eggs, and often have a longer shelf live than a cakey brownie.

So in thinking about which recipe you turn to when a brownie craving strikes, what's your brownie philosophy? Are you a fan of chewy, cakey or fudgy brownies?

(Image: Megan Gordon)

Comments (34)

I personally like a combination of chewy and fudgy. I've also found that I prefer the edge pieces, or brownies baked in a mini muffin pan.

Hands down, I'm for fudgy. I'm always incredibly disappointed by cakey brownies. Although slightly less disappointed if they have frosting.

@kristinapp

Me too! I remember once in school, someone brought these very cakey brownies, & I had to ask the teacher if she had any plastic forks. I was not about to eat this cake masquerading as a brownie with my bare hands. lol

If it's going to have toppings, like icing, then I like cakey as long as it's not dry.

Great "icing" for any kind of brownie is chocolate chip cheese ball. Google it it is super good (only cheese is cream cheese).

when i'm making brownies, my goal is to make them as awesome as i remember cosmic brownies to be (can't remember the last time i bought little debbie snacks)... slightly chewy, not cakey, with a fudge and "cosmic" candy coated mini choco chips on top that i used to pick off and eat one by one before diving into the brownie... am i the only one that did this?? brings back fun nostalgia from a kid-sized idea of life....

I think most will say fudgy. I would too. The best brownie recipes I've made start off kind of cakey but, if you can be patient, are amazingly dense and fudgy/chewy in a day or 2.

I will not eat fudgey or cakey brownies. Those words describe fudge and cake, respectively, which I can have if I am craving either of those things.

I also will not eat brownies with frosting on them. That sounds terrible.

And... edges all the way!

chewy or fudgy, never cakey, that's what cake it for.

the best brownies I've ever eaten are 1-2 day old fudgy brownies. I like mine with a light layer of chocolate frosting and walnuts!

Fudgey is my fav, and I like the recipe from Smitten Kitchen, reviewed here.

That said, I had to supply cookies to the high school recently, and so whipped out cakey brownies (reviewed here), and was shocked at how good they were with chocolate-coconut frosting.

I like my brownies slightly undercooked. so I guess that's fudgy.

great, now i'm craving brownies ;-p

Wow, Alicelost, couldn't have said it better myself!

A nice edge piece of a perfectly chewy brownie is where it's at for me. Otherwise, I would have whipped up a frosted chocolate cake, or made a batch of fudge! A good brownie should walk the middle line between these two, in my opinion.

Chewy all the way!!

Also, if a brownie has icing on it, it's cake. Not a brownie.

fudgey and chewy for me. frosting on a brownie is a distraction from its brownie-ness, although still delicious.

Cakey, but not spongy. The lack of excessive sponginess is what keeps it in the brownie category, but the cakiness keeps it from being sludgy, slumpy, or crumbly. It holds the thing together.

Fudgy, chewy all the way, with the edges the best. I am not a big fan of boxed mixes for brownies, but as a mom, I must commend Trader Joe's brownie mix. If you're a mom, at least once you've been told at 9:30 p.m. that your child has to take a treat to school the NEXT MORNING!! Use TJ mix, throw in a handful of chopped pecans and dried cherries, and you have a brownie delight! Thank you, TJ!

Chewy/Fudgy all the way. Cakey brownies always leave me disappointed. It's not quite a brownie, not quite cake and definitely not the best of both...

Fudgy, chewy for sure. If I wanted cake, I'd make cake. I like a dense, dark brownie, preferably with no nuts or icing. I guess I'm a brownie purist. :)

Fudgy and chewy. They're always better the next day. With cakey brownies, I always feel they're too sweet and should be an actual cake.
Mmmmm....brownies. They're so easy to make!

Fudgy. My favorite recipe is the Best Cocoa Brownies recipe on epicurious. I always get lots of compliments, and my boyfriend asks for them weekly. I'm gluten intolerant, and I make them with a gluten-free flour mix, and they taste amazing, exactly like the ones I used to make with regular flour.

The perfect brownie has multiple textures - dense and super chocolatey with a crispy edge and a thin, crackly layer on top. Made from scratch and, for pete's sake, no frosting.

Not that I need to learn to form an opinion or anything.

I'm not sure any one of these adjectives is an accurate description of the perfect brownie, but cakey is definitely the least apt. As far as I'm concerned, if you make brownies and they need frosting, you haven't made brownies at all, you probably just made chocolate cake. For me, real brownies almost defy description, which is why they get their own category instead of just being a type of cake or cookie or what have you.

Chewy. With cream cheese swirled in. Frosting optional. Cakey-no. Fudgy-maybe.

chewy fudgy! with walnuts. no frosting, that's weird. now i need to make some.

Chewy. Chewy. CHEWY. When I worked in a bakery, the big sheetpans of brownies cooked so quickly on the edges that we always lopped off all four sides and discarded them. I would often grab one piece of "brownie bone" (as I dubbed them) for my walk home.

And I second laurainboston on the crackly, flaky crust. That shiny crust is a good sign.

Chewey fudgy, not frosted, and a piece from the edge, i.e. the Betty Crocker mix with can of Hershey's syrup of my youth. I haven't had them in years but anytime I evaluate a brownie it needs to lot exactly like that brownie.

I would love to find a recipe for the cakey/chewey/glossy crackle top brownie.

Chewy. And rich.

Hands down, the best recipe I've ever used is in the New York Cookbook (Katherine Hepburn's Brownies, p.440) - they are fantastic. And you should totally cut them, as suggested, into bite-sized pieces.

CHEWY. I'm a crusty-edged person too, although sometimes if brownies are overbaked then the crusty edges get too hard and the insides are the chew-tastic ones.

Is it sad that I've never made brownies from scratch? Only from a mix, and even then not in a really long time. There are always so many other delicious desserts to be baking...

molten

I guess that is waaay past fudgey.

Molten chocolate cake is essentially a hot gooey brownie in my book. (I'm not big on brownies otherwise...)

Chewy only. No frosting, no chunks. Maybe some walnuts. Maybe. Edge pieces only. I agree with alicelost 100%.

I didn't really like brownies until about 2002. My creative writing teacher made some for our end of semester bash at her place. I must of had eight brownies that day on top of all the other great food we all brought. They were moist and gooey and no icing required. I have made them since and they are always a hit. Ultimate Chocolate Brownie ahh...makes me want some ASAP.
Sad to think I was in my forties before I was able to find someone making a brownie that was worth eating.

Now I'm craving brownies. I don't care if they are chewy/fudgey/cakey... I like them all!!

FUDGY!!!