The Secret To Making Brownies With Perfectly Crackly Tops

Apple pie might be widely considered to be the most "American" dessert, but when it really comes down to it, Americans absolutely love a good brownie. We eat more than a billion of these chocolatey, dense confections every year, and whether they come from a box or from scratch doesn't seem to matter. You might have noticed, however, that not all brownie recipes — or even premade, boxed mixes — get the same results, especially when it comes to getting a shiny, crackling crust on top. 

There aren't a lot of ingredients in a brownie recipe, and yet two bakers can use the exact same recipe and get different results. That's because the secret to getting that signature, glossy look all comes down to technique. If a shiny, crispy top is important to you, always make sure that you whisk your eggs well with the sugar before you mix them into the batter.

Brownies are pretty easy to make, especially from a boxed mix. All you really need to do is stir all the ingredients together and scoop the batter into a pan. However, If you take a minute to whip your eggs together first, your baked results will look extra professional.

While brownie recipes are not complicated, there are definitely some keys to their success. If you mix all your ingredients in the bowl at the same time, you'll still get brownies no matter what, but they'll be dense and thick with a dull sheen on top. They'll taste great; they just won't look like the ones you can get at a bakery. When you take the time to whisk your eggs with sugar, however, you'll add some air into the batter and the sugar will dissolve. When the brownies go into the oven, you'll get a fudgier texture in the center, and the dissolved sugar will form that shiny, crackling surface.

It may seem like a trivial step since brownie batter is very thick, but experts agree that it's all about whisking the eggs, including Jessie Sheehan, the author of the book "Snackable Bakes."

Whisking, by the way, doesn't mean simply stirring the eggs around for a few minutes with an actual whisk. The goal is to get your eggs and sugar mixed until it starts to look like a foamy soup. You can do this either by hand or by using an electric or stand mixer, which will save your arm strength.

Once you have your eggs and sugar whisked and looking good and goopy, add any other wet ingredients, like vanilla, and get ready to combine the dry ingredients. For a batter like brownies, it's important to gently fold all your dry ingredients into your wet ingredients. You don't want to lose any of the air you whipped into the eggs; plus, you don't want your brownies to get too tough, so only mix the wet and dry ingredients enough so that they're just incorporated. Don't, for example, turn the mixer on and walk away. 

If you're mixing your brownies by hand, use a spatula to scrape the bowl from top to bottom. If you're using a mixer, combine everything by using small bursts of power, and be sure to stop and scrape the bottom of the bowl once or twice.

When the batter is together and smoothed out into the pan, all that's left to do is bake. When you see the crispy, shiny crust start to form on top, you'll know that you whisked everything just right. Once you take the brownies out of the oven and let them cool, the glossy surface will collapse a bit and you'll get those beautiful, shattered cracks in the surface.