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For months, I’ve been testing brownie recipes, searching for a homemade recipe that doesn’t require a double boiler and $15 worth of chocolate. I mean, if Ghirardelli can create a box brownie mix using cocoa powder that’s so rich, fudgy and chewy it seems divinely inspired, why can’t I make something similar from scratch?! Oh, I don’t possess a lab or dark magic, and that may be my hindrance, you say? Hmm. I refuse to believe it.
So, naively, I’ve tested everything from Fat Witch’s recipes to Alton Brown’s, all to no avail. Until fate—er, Nate—intervened. We ran out of all-purpose flour, and he refilled our flour jar with—*gasp!*—bread flour. Bread flour in brownies?! In a fit of desperation, I tried it—and now I may never bake brownies with all-purpose again.
So, What Happens When You Use Bread Flour in Brownies?
Bread flour has higher protein content—11 to 13 percent, as Bon Appetit informed me—than the 9 to 11 percent found in all-purpose flour. This creates more gluten, creating a stretchier dough, which makes for a chewier brownie. And, when underbaked, a gooier, fudgier-tasting one.
How Do You Substitute Bread Flour for All-Purpose Flour in Brownies?
For brownies, like most dense baked goods, you can use a 1:1 swap, so no math skills needed. It wouldn’t work so well in light, airier treats, like cakes, but for brownies, bread flour is the way to go.
What’s a Good Recipe for Bread Flour Brownies?
Well, well, well. I like to use a modified version of Katie Gets Creative’s recipe, using just 1/2 cup of vegetable oil and warm water, adding 1/2 teaspoon of espresso powder to amp up the cocoa flavor (which is totally optional!) and mixing in 1/2 cup of semisweet chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate chunks to make them as decadent as possible. (I also swear by Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa Powder for a richer chocolate flavor, a hack Baked by Melissa founder Melissa Ben-Ishay introduced me to at a Delish shoot years ago.)
If you try ’em, let us know what you think! And if you have any modifications or recipes we should try, we’re all ears.
