Brownie help needed

[pacanis]

I can follow directions for recipes, or so I thought.
I tried making brownies for the first time just now. Measured everything exactly. Realized that the "forty strokes" called for on the box was not near enough to mix the water/oil and egg (that I already mixed up) with the box's contents, so kept stirring by hand until it was thoroughly mixed.
Put it in the preheated and oiled pan as called for. 8" x 8" metal like suggested. Baked for exactly 38 minutes in the 325 F preheated oven. They had called for 38 - 42 minutes, but I remembered a trick (or so I thought) and at 38 minutes inserted a toothpick and had it cleanly go in and come out.
I took the pan out and let it cool.
I cut them into 16 brownies and immediately noticed they were not 2" high. They seemed about the same height as when I spooned the mixture in.
They taste OK.
Where the brownies touched the sides of the pan were hard to press my metal spachula through. Not burned, but crusty. The bottom third of the brownies seem to be a darker color and a denser texture.

Something aint right

Any ideas what could have happened?

[jpmcgrew]

Originally Posted by pacanis

I can follow directions for recipes, or so I thought.
I tried making brownies for the first time just now. Measured everything exactly. Realized that the "forty strokes" called for on the box was not near enough to mix the water/oil and egg (that I already mixed up) with the box's contents, so kept stirring by hand until it was thoroughly mixed.
Put it in the preheated and oiled pan as called for. 8" x 8" metal like suggested. Baked for exactly 38 minutes in the 325 F preheated oven. They had called for 38 - 42 minutes, but I remembered a trick (or so I thought) and at 38 minutes inserted a toothpick and had it cleanly go in and come out.
I took the pan out and let it cool.
I cut them into 16 brownies and immediately noticed they were not 2" high. They seemed about the same height as when I spooned the mixture in.
They taste OK.
Where the brownies touched the sides of the pan were hard to press my metal spachula through. Not burned, but crusty. The bottom third of the brownies seem to be a darker color and a denser texture.

Something aint right

Any ideas what could have happened?

brownies tend to harden on the sides no big deal I trim them off and put them on a plate to snack on.Check oven temp with a oven thermometer and see if its not running hot.Also there are all kinds of brownies some like a chewy cake like texture and some more of a fudge texture.What mix did you use Im sure someone knows something about that brand

[college_cook]

Every time I make brownie's from a box they turn out differently. Sometimes perfectly soft and chewy, sometimes very cakey, sometimes a little crusty. Once after nearly 1.5 times the baking time they still were not done in the very middle.

I doubt its anything you did wrong. I have a recipe that I've never tried before but comes from a very reliable source for brownies from scratch. PM me if you'd like it.

[mikki]

Believe it or not I have never been able to make brownies from a box. They never turn out right. I've made them from scratch twice and they came out perfect both times. It was a very easy recipe so I will never make brownies from a box again.

[Katie E]

I've never made brownies from a box. Always from scratch, which is - to me - just as easy. If I read your post correctly, you said the pan was preheated. I'm curious about that.

[pacanis]

They are: Ghirardelli. Something that was on sale 2 boxes for 5 bucks in the flour aisle when I was looking for breadmaking stuff. Really nice pic on the box, which of course looks nothing like how mine turned out. I figured if the girl that works for me now and then can bring me brownies that she makes.... and she says she does not cook anything and I believe her with her generation... how hard could it be? Apparently harder than I think.
I cannot believe that she makes them from scratch, but maybe she does.

The directions read:
Preheat oven to 325F (glass or metal pan).
Prepare 8 x 8 inch pan by lightly greasing or spraying with non-stick spray. (I sprayed with some mazzola stuff I had)

Maybe I shouldn't have pre-heated the pan? Because it was on the same line, I did.

[Katie E]

Originally Posted by pacanis

The directions read:
Preheat oven to 325F (glass or metal pan).

Ah, ha. Now I see. The instructions are telling you to use the same temp for glass and metal pans. Glass bakes at a different temp than metal, so these instructions are telling you that, for this method, the choice of baking pan doesn't matter. You didn't have to preheat the pan, pacanis. That might have been a contributing factor to your brownie outcome.

[pacanis]

Shoot
I was rather disappointed with the results.
I guess I can't follow directions ....

Still one box left to try again Thank you for clearing that up!

[VaporTrail]

Kinda makes me wonder that preheating a glass pan results in crunchy edges... if a slightly cooler (not frozen... dear lord no. Wouldn't want to thermally stress the Pyrex too much, but cooler than room temperature) might result in chewier edges...

Just random thoughts.

And I've had Ghirardelli brownies... they're pretty good.

[college_cook]

Those ghiradelli brownies are the same ones I use. They've given me different results every time.