The Simple Trick That Will Give You Perfectly Cut Brownies Every Time
Did your pan of brownies turn out really fudgy and chewy? No problem. Maybe they came out really moist and cake-like? That's fine. As long as you pair them with a glass of ice-cold milk, they can still make for a perfect dessert. You could even follow Budget Bites' advice and make brownies that are just one big chewy edge. Regardless of how they turn out, brownies are a versatile dessert that can be enjoyed in a wide variety of ways.
Like any dessert, it's very common to make a mistake while making brownies. If your batch of brownies comes out oily and greasy, it could be that you didn't mix the ingredients in your batter well enough, letting the butter "pool out" in your brownies rather than combine with everything else (via Reddit). If your brownies come out a crumbling mess rather than moist and chewy, it could be that you over-baked them until they were dried out (via Baking Kneads).
Perhaps the biggest mistake you're making isn't when you bake the brownies, but after you do so. While the idea of cutting into oven-fresh brownies while they're still warm is a tempting one, you usually wind up making a mess, since the brownies never cut evenly or they're still too hot. Instead of a single square, you're scraping up the warm chunks of brownie off of the pan, the stove, and the floor. So how exactly can you get the perfect cut of brownie each time?
Grease your knife
As the old saying goes: It just needs a little elbow grease. In this case, we don't need elbow grease so much as we need cooking grease (but a little elbow grease wouldn't hurt anyone). According to Southern Living, one of the most important things you should do before you cut into those warm, gooey brownies is grease up your knife. You can use butter or cooking spray, but make sure that knife is nice and slick.
Why does this help? Southern Living explains that a well-oiled knife can cut through the brownies much more easily, ensuring that you don't have to "chisel" or "chop" your way through any particularly firm or gooey spots. The only problem is that you must clean and regrease the knife in between cuts, as the brownie may stick to the knife with each cut and thus make it harder to cut.
Food Network also offers some advice on how to get clean, even cuts in your tray of brownies. You can run your knife under hot water and use long, unbroken strokes when cutting. Sawing back and forth when cutting brownies gives uneven cuts. It's recommended that you let your brownies cool down a bit as well, since digging into the hot brownies before they set would only make it harder to get a full, cohesive piece instead of hot fudgy crumbles.
How can you cut brownies in a round pan?
Chances are that when you're cutting brownies, you're using a rectangular pan. This means that it's not exactly rocket science to figure out how to cut the brownies into squares. But what would happen if you're using a round pan?
As Three Snackateers explains, if you want six to 12 pieces of brownies, simply cut a line down through the pan, splitting the brownies into two halves. From there, cut an "X" shape across the brownies as you would cut a pizza, segmenting the two halves into six triangles. You can serve the triangles as they are or cut the triangles into smaller cube-like shapes. If you need 16 servings, things get a bit more complicated. You should cut down the pan as you did the first time, but then turn the pan 1/4 of the way and cut again. This should leave you with four sections. Repeat this process of turning the pan 1/4 of the way and slicing until you have eight even sections. Cut these eight sections individually until you have 16 pieces.
With all this cutting, it's still important to remember to grease or heat your knife with hot water and use long clean cuts to ensure that you're getting even pieces. No matter what sort of pan or knife you use, there's really nothing like a fresh square, or triangle, of a warm fudgy brownie.