The 8 Best Dessert Tips We Learned From Alton Brown

Alton Brown, the writer, host, and producer of the Food Network's "Good Eats", has long been praised for his food science creativity in the kitchen. Over the years, he has shared countless game-changing dessert tips that make baking more efficient and fun. From practiced cooking methods to favorite tools and secret ingredients, Brown has spent his career perfecting masterpieces in the kitchen and sharing his insights with the rest of us through his Food Network shows, his recipe website, and his best-selling cookbooks. Whether you're looking to upgrade your desserts with secret recipes or streamline the baking process with useful cooking hacks, Brown has covered it all.

In this article, we'll explore some of Alton Brown's best dessert tips, including the impact of sugar types on cookie texture, clever baking shortcuts, and creative upgrades on classic recipes. Each tip showcases his signature approach: practical, innovative, and (most importantly) delicious. So, whether you're a beginner or a seasoned baking pro, these insights from Brown are sure to elevate your next batch of desserts.

On Season 3 of "Good Eats" on the Food Network, Alton Brown shared his best tip for achieving the perfect cookie consistency, whether you prefer a soft and chewy cookie or a thin and crispy one. The good news for cookie lovers is that the secret to baking your ideal cookie has everything to do with the type of sugar you use.

According to the expert, the more brown sugar you use, the chewier the cookie will be, whereas the more white sugar you use, the crispier it will be. Brown sugar adds more moisture to the dough, which results in a chewy, moist cookie. White sugar tends to absorb more moisture from the environment around it, which makes cookies become crisper as they cook. Brown notes that the level of chewiness in a cookie can be changed by simply altering the ratio of brown to white sugar — so don't be afraid to make changes to a cookie recipe based on your personal preferences.

For those of us who have baked before, we are familiar with the old "dust your rolling pin in flour" trick. This helps to make sure that the dough doesn't stick to the pin while you're trying to roll out an even sheet to cut cookies from. However, Alton Brown shared a simple swap that actually helps save scraps and adds extra flavor to the dough.

Brown recommends sprinkling your rolling pin with powdered sugar instead of flour. Flour can make the dough brittle, making it more difficult to re-roll scraps and make the most out of all your cookie dough. Redditors explained that this strategy was a "total game changer" for re-rolling scraps since the dough remains much more flexible and easier to work with. As an added bonus, the powdered sugar adds a touch of sweetness to the dough as well.

Alton Brown's ultimate tips for upgrading your average cup of hot cocoa come all the way back from Season 1 of "Good Eats" on the Food Network. The key is milk powder, which is essentially milk without the water content, giving it a much longer shelf life than liquid milk and making it a great ingredient for any baker to have on hand. Brown's recipe calls for nonfat milk powder, but you can also consider using whole milk powder as the additional fats contribute to a creamier cup of cocoa. He recommends toasting the milk powder before adding it to the hot cocoa mix. This method adds depth to the nutty, sweet flavors that are naturally present in milk powder.

There are various ways you can go about toasting your milk powder. Brown suggests toasting the powder in a thin layer in the oven until golden brown. You can also toast the powder on the stovetop, stirring to ensure the powder does not get clumpy, although this method will take longer than the oven. If the milk powder clumps together during the toasting process, you can use a food processor or blender to remove the lumps. To top it all off, he recommends adding a pinch of cayenne pepper to add warmth and complete your perfect cup of cocoa.

Brown is a huge advocate of using a food scale when measuring dry ingredients like flour and sugar (or even fruit and nuts). In fact, the chef explains in his "Helpful Hints" video on the Food Network that using the exact right amount of these ingredients can be "the difference between success and failure of a recipe". After all, baking is a science that involves a lot of chemistry, so the more accurate your measurements are, the more likely it is that your final product will come out correctly.

Brown explains that measuring dry ingredients by volume leaves far too much room for inconsistency, so using a food scale to measure by weight is the best option for getting your recipes right. He recommends looking for a digital scale that has a glass or stainless steel platform and buttons sealed in plastic so that they are not easily damaged by food spills. Additionally, you should check that the scale has an option to toggle between metrics and avoid these common kitchen scale mistakes.

Alton Brown stands out for his holiday recipes and one fabulous Thanksgiving Day dessert is his impressive pumpkin cheesecake that puts a new spin on the classic pumpkin pie. The recipe only takes 35 minutes to prepare, can be stored in the fridge for up to a week, and features all of the classic nutmeg, ginger, and brown sugar flavors that make pumpkin pie so delicious. It is made complete with a mouthwatering gingerbread crust that your guests are sure to love.

The ultimate tip for serving this delicious dessert with perfect presentation is to soak a thin, sharp knife in a hot water bath before cutting the cake. This step will ensure that the slices are cut with clean precision and make for an excellent presentation (and photo op). Alternatively, you can hold the knife above a stovetop flame to save yourself some time. Not only will you be the host with the most, but you'll have an upgraded seasonal dessert to enjoy instead of the same old pumpkin pie.

Following the conclusion of Alton Brown's show Good Eats, the host and chef returned in 2018 with "Good Eats: Reloaded," where he revisited and renovated some of his favorite recipes using new tricks and tools that he gathered over the years. In Season 1 of "Good Eats: Reloaded," he explored his cocoa brownies recipe and shared his best tips on how to improve on the classic recipe.

Brown explains that the secret to achieving the ultimate ooey, gooey, chocolatey brownie is to double-bake them. Bake your brownie mix for 15 minutes and then remove the pan from the oven to cool for 15 minutes. Then, pop it back in the oven for another 30 minutes or until the middle of the brownie is 195°F. Allowing the brownies to cool in between baking retains the thick fudgy center while creating a thin, crispy crust on top.

Alton Brown has shared several cookie recipes over the years, but "The Chewy" stands out as a fan favorite from Season 3 of "Good Eats." Brown has several excellent recommendations on how to achieve the chewiest, most tender chocolate chip cookie. One of the secret ingredients that helps make the cookie so chewy is bread flour. Brown uses bread flour instead of all-purpose flour for his chewy cookies because it has higher protein content.

Bread flour typically contains between 12% and 14% protein content compared to all-purpose flour's 8-11%. This small distinction can actually make a world of difference in your baked goods and you can actually make bread flour from all-purpose flour. The higher protein content in the bread flour allows for it to develop more gluten, which contributes to a chewier consistency in baked goods. The gluten also makes the dough stretchier and more flexible, which allows the dough to rise in the oven, instead of falling flat and becoming crispy. You can make this simple swap in your own bread or dessert recipes with a 1:1 substitution – that is, use the same amount of bread flour as the recipe calls for all-purpose flour.

Baking can be a messy business, and some of the most practical tips Brown has shared have more to do with the prep work than the actual ingredients themselves. After all, it is a combination of methodology, tools, and ingredients that creates his unique spin on recipes. In his 2016 book "EverydayCook", he shared his best tip for making parchment paper actually stick to the pan.

In the New York Times Bestseller, Brown recommends spraying your pan with water before laying the parchment paper down so that the paper sticks and stays in place when you add your baking mixture. This is particularly useful for baked goods like brownies or cakes, which will be lifted from the pan in one piece. Using a spray bottle for a light misting over the pan should do the trick. No messy grease or flour necessary.