Brownies are one of the tastiest treats to eat! Especially if you’re a chocolate fanatic like me!
And, while they’re easy to eat, they can be a challenge to make at home if you’re not following a great brownie recipe. Whether you’re making brownies from scratch or you’ve got a prepackaged box of brownie mix, sometimes they just don’t turn out right.
Sometimes brownies are too soft (and mushy) and sometimes they leave you wondering… ‘Why are my brownies bubbling while baking?’
Well, in some cases, brownies can bubble up in the oven, leaving you with a strange batch of brownies (or brownies that simply don’t turn out at all).
However, you can easily avoid brownies that bubble up. You just have to know the right baking tricks!
In this article, I’ll show you 5 quick fixes you can do to avoid a bubbly brownie and ensure they come out just right.
Let’s dive in!
Here’s What to Do If Brownies Are Bubbling:
1. Mix your batter less.
2. Add less fat (butter, oil).
3. Use less leavening (baking powder, baking soda).
4. Upgrade your ingredients (chocolate, cocoa powder).
5. Tap out the bubbles before placing them in the oven.
1. Too Much Air (Mix Your Batter Less)
The most common reason brownies bubble up in the oven too much is due to overmixing.
If your brownies have a bubbly layer on top of the brownie batch, it usually means too much air was added to your brownie batter during the mixing process. Generally speaking, overmixing can result in airier brownies that bubble up too much.
This can be avoided by mixing your brownies up a bit less. However, this can also be fixed by avoiding the use of a whisk for your brownies. While a whisk is fine to use when mixing your dry ingredients, you should stick to a wooden spoon or spatula while mixing your dry and wet ingredients together to form the batter.
If your brownie recipe uses eggs, whatever you do, don’t whisk up your eggs ahead of time as this can add unnecessary amounts of air into the batter.
2. Too Much Fat (Add Less)
The next common reason brownies bubble up in your oven during the baking process is due to the overuse of fats like oil or butter.
If you peer into your oven while your brownies are baking and you notice that your brownies are bubbling up, it may be because there’s simply too much oil or butter (or any other fat) in your brownies.
You can usually if it’s a fat problem if your bubbles are spraying up oil or butter while they’re bubbling. There will also usually be melted oil or butter pooling on top of your brownies when this happens. When too much fat is added, it will want to rise to the top forming unnecessary bubbles and a greasy layer.
The fix for this is to simply add less butter, oil, (or other fat) into your recipe.
3. Too Much Leavening (Use Less)
A leavening agent is a wonderful tool when you’re baking up a storm in the kitchen. However, you must be very careful with how much leaven you add to your baked goods. This is especially true when it comes to brownies.
If you add too much leavening (like baking powder or baking soda) to your brownies, they can create too many air bubbles, leading to a cracked, bubbly brownie.
In order to avoid too many air bubbles, make sure you use the exact amount of baking powder or baking soda your recipe calls for. If you follow the recipe to a T and it’s still overbubbling, then it’s probably time to find a new brownie recipe.
It’s also a good idea to thoroughly mix your dry ingredients before adding them to your wet ingredients. If you don’t mix your leavening agent enough, it may cluster into one area, which can cause certain parts of your brownie batch to be bubbly while others don’t have enough air bubbles to rise evenly.
Just remember: this is fixed by properly mixing your leavening agent with your dry ingredients (BEFORE adding them to your wet ingredients). You don’t want to overmix your wet ingredients.
4. Low Quality Chocolate (Upgrade Your Ingredients)
One less known reason for an over-bubbly brownie batch is using low quality chocolate or cocoa powder. Sometimes using poor quality chocolate, cocoa powder, or other ingredients can leave your brownies too bubbly.
This is also true of any ingredients in your recipe, not just your chocolate. And, it’s just as important to use fresh ingredients as it is to use high quality ingredients. If you have great ingredients, but they’re past their best before date, you could also end up with bubbling brownies.
Always check your ingredients best before or expiry date, and make sure you’re using high quality ingredients to ensure your brownies don’t get bubbly.
5. Remember to Tap Out the Bubbles
If you’ve followed the four tips above, then there’s one more thing you have to remember: always tap out the bubbles.
Once you place your brownie batter into your baking tray, lightly drop it onto your counter to get some excess air bubbles out prior to placing them in the oven.
You can also take a knife or spoon and gently tap the side of your baking pan right before baking them.
Why Are My Vegan Brownies Bubbling?
Are you scratching your head wondering, ‘Why are my vegan brownies bubbling?’
Don’t worry, it’s common for vegan brownies to bubble up a bit too much. This is usually due to using the wrong recipe. Many vegan brownie recipes call for flax which can create unnecessary bubbling. Or, they call for using too much oil which can also create bubbling.
If you’re looking for the right vegan brownie recipe, I have three you can follow that have minor variations (depending on your preference):
- Easy Vegan Brownies (No Flax)
- Easy Vegan Brownies (No Chocolate Chips)
- Easy Vegan Brownies (No Butter)
All three of these vegan brownie recipes are plant based, and taste just as good as “regular” dairy brownies. They’re super tasty, and fudgy, and they’re 100% bubble-free!
Looking for more tips on making the perfect brownies? Make sure to check out our other posts:
- How to Make Brownies Rise
- Why Do Brownies Sink in the Middle
- Why Do Brownies Get Hard
- When Are Brownies Best Eaten
- What to Do If Brownies Are Too Soft
- Should Brownies Be Refrigerated
- Why Do Brownies Need Eggs?
Sources
https://www.seriouseats.com/bread-and-batter-foam-bubble-science-6755222