Baking brownies

Non-regional discussions Home Cooking
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Hi there, I need some advice. I bought a large pan to bake individual mini bundt cakes instead of one large one. I am using one of my mother’s recipes that I have never made before. She used a 8 or 9" pan and baked the brownies at 325 degrees for 30-35 EDIT: minutes, not degrees. Since I’m making small individual ones instead of the large one, should I use the same oven temp (I assume I can) but how long should I bake them? I can use the “set a toothpick in the middle and see if it comes out dry)” method but I’d appreciate any estimate of the expected time frame.

Also, her recipe calls for “1/3 cup shortening” (yeah, she became a “housewife” in the late '40s) so she probably used Crisco, which I’ll never use. Assuming I use butter, would the amount change or stay the same?

I have another of her brownie recipes but it calls for sour cream but no shortening or butter. I don’t recall her ever making it (nor the one above) but (a) I’m being sentimental with the holidays coming up and (b) she died 8 years ago, so I can’t call her for advice. I have 2 of her cake recipes that I could possibly use instead but they don’t have chocolate and I MUST have chocolate. I’m also making one of her cookie recipes that I’ve made so many times I don’t have to read her recipe.

Any and all thoughts, suggestions are greatly appreciated. Many thanks in advance and Happy Holidays, whatever you celebrate!

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Several Smaller cakes tend to bake longer than a larger one - use the same temp and time, add five minutes and test with toothpick
The problem with shortening to butter conversion is that shortening is 100% fat whereas butter is about 80% fat and 20% water. So you will need a bit more (~25%) butter but you should also try to cut out some liquid to get comparable results

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Instead of butter you could use one of the more refined coconut shortenings (or just stick with the crisco!)

It gets more tricky teething to switch to butter. If you want to try it maybe do a small batch bit for company first just to see how it works out

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I don’t understand why smaller cakes (in one pan that has 12 molds) would take longer to bake than the regular brownie pan that is one sheet. Is it density/surface area? The molds aren’t that large.

Thanks for explaining the fat contents of shortening vs. butter. This is getting too complicated and I don’t want to miscalculate portions and baking time. I may have to rethink this concept and stick to a simpler dessert.

Thanks very much for your quick response and answers.

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Thanks for your suggestion of coconut shortening and Crisco, both of which I really don’t want to use. I am going to find another recipe that I don’t have to modify. I really want to use the small molds so I can make mini cakes.

Thanks for your rapid response and suggestions.

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Brownies Cockaigne from Joy of Cooking is a great recipe. Comes out chewy or cakey depending on which size pan you use.

I don’t know how you’d adjust it for mini bundt molds, or why. I figure it might take three tries to get it right.

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Yes to what Robert said. I have a couple great brownie recipes. But I don’t think I’d ever attempt to bake them in mini bundt pans. Seems unlikely that they’ll come out of the molds cleanly.

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Thanks for the recipe, it looks good but I might switch to something else at this point that does have chocolate. I’ll keep this for another time when I have time to test the concept.

I have a recipe of my mother’s that is like a bar but not a brownie, tho it does have chocolate. I might have someone make those for me. I’m ditching the bundt mold idea and returned them to the store where I bought them. Turns out I had a bundt pan that is slightly bigger than the one I bought, and had it stashed away in a cabinet out of sight.

Thanks again and Happy Holidays!

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Thanks for the reply. I thought about spraying the bundt pans with PAM or another cooking spray actually for baking…if I could find it. I’ve given up on bundt pans and may have my future DIL make the recipe as directed.

Thanks again and Happy Holidays!

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