I Tested Famous Celebrity Brownie Recipes And Found The Best One (2024)

Posted on Jun 26, 2018

Spoiler: Guy Fieri's recipe is WAY better than Gordon's. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

by Jesse SzewczykBuzzFeed Staff

I Tested Famous Celebrity Brownie Recipes And Found The Best One (2)

Brownies are the ultimate dessert.

Fox

They're fudgy, decadent, and the go-to treat for everything from kids' sleepovers to neighborhood bake sales to office parties. But not all brownie recipes are created equal.

So, in an attempt to find the absolute best, I decided to test four popular recipes:

I Tested Famous Celebrity Brownie Recipes And Found The Best One (3)

Here are their methods and how they stacked up:

First up was Gordon Ramsay. He starts by beating sugar and butter together until fluffy.

Ethan Miller / Getty Images, Jesse Szewczyk / BuzzFeed

While it's whipping, you'll melt some chocolate.

Add melted chocolate to that — along with flour, salt, vanilla extract, cocoa powder, and eggs. Fold in a ton of dried cherries and pop it in the oven.

Ade Mangum / BuzzFeed

Once cooled, sprinkle with "popping candy and edible glitter or sprinkles." (Gordon's words, not mine!)

So, were these over-the-top brownies any good?

I Tested Famous Celebrity Brownie Recipes And Found The Best One (4)

Up next, I took a trip to Flavor Town with Guy Fieri's Mexican rhubarb chocolate chunk brownies.

Jesse Szewczyk/BuzzFeed, Scott Gries / Getty Images

He starts by making a homemade compote with rhubarb, water, and sugar. You basically just combine them all in a pot and let them cook down.

Let that cool, then cream butter and sugar together along with some eggs.

Ade Mangum / BuzzFeed

Add the rhubarb compote, melted chocolate, and your dry ingredients (including an aggressive amount of chili powder). Mix in some chunks of chocolate and walnuts, then let it bake.

So, was this a pleasant experience, or just a bad trip?

I Tested Famous Celebrity Brownie Recipes And Found The Best One (5)

Up next was Ayesha Curry with her horchata brownies. She starts by melting down chocolate and butter.

Monica Schipper, Jesse Szewczyk/BuzzFeed

Add eggs and vanilla extract — then flour, cinnamon, and salt.

Fold in slivered almonds, then pop it in the oven.

Ade Mangum/BuzzFeed

As it bakes, make a simple glaze with rice milk, cinnamon, rum, and powdered sugar. Once the brownies are cooled, pour it over and let it set.

So, are horchata and brownies the perfect fusion of flavors — or was it more confusion?

I Tested Famous Celebrity Brownie Recipes And Found The Best One (6)

And last but not least it was time for me to ~bake it like Beckham~. She starts by stirring together melted butter, sugar, and cocoa powder.

Andrew H. Walker / Getty Images, Jesse Szewczyk/BuzzFeed

Then add eggs and vanilla.

Add flour, baking powder, and salt, then stir until it's completely smooth.

Ade Mangum/BuzzFeed, Ade Mangum / BuzzFeed

Transfer to a pan and bake — it's that easy!

So, were these some posh brownies or what?

I Tested Famous Celebrity Brownie Recipes And Found The Best One (7)

SO WHO WON?

I Tested Famous Celebrity Brownie Recipes And Found The Best One (8)

TL;DR: If you want super fudgy brownies (and love horchata), go with Ayesha Curry's cinnamon-spiced recipe. If you're feeling wild (and want to take a trip to ~Flavor Town~), go with Guy Fieri's unexpected rhubarb-chili creation.

Check out the entire taste test below:

I Tested Famous Celebrity Brownie Recipes And Found The Best One (9)

I Tested Famous Celebrity Brownie Recipes And Found The Best One (10)

Previous recipe showdowns:

• The Ultimate Mashed Potato Recipe
• The Ultimate Scrambled Egg Recipe
• The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
• The Ultimate Stuffing Recipe
• The Ultimate Pancake Recipe
• The Ultimate Guacamole Recipe
• The Ultimate Omelet Recipe
• The Ultimate Mac 'N' Cheese Showdown

What ultimate recipes should we test next? Let us know in the comments below!

FAQs

The slightly crispy, chewier edge is the best part, of course, as all right thinking people know. Only ignorants and politicians think otherwise. That said, I won't decline a middle brownie if offered.

Brownies are thought to be of US origin, the name derived from their color (brown) and from the mythical pixie-like characters common in children's stories from the same time period. One story suggests that brownies were invented at the Palmer House in Chicago in 1892.

Given my personal baking criteria, Pillsbury's mix is my top pick because it yielded thick, fluffy brownies that were moist and had a nice chocolate flavor. They baked off evenly, weren't overly sweet, and had a shiny crackled crust and tender edges that didn't dry out.

Fudgy brownies have a higher fat-to-flour ratio than cakey ones. So add more fat—in this case, butter and chocolate. A cakey batch has more flour and relies on baking powder for leavening. The amount of sugar and eggs does not change whether you're going fudgy or cakey.

11, the organization announced Brownies will now be called Embers. Embers is the program for seven and eight-year-old girls.

Did you know that Brownies were originally called 'Rosebuds'? Rosebuds was established in 1914 for girls to join before they became Guides. Just one year later, the name was changed to Brownies. Brownies are the second-youngest members of the Girlguiding family, for girls aged between 7 and 10.

Brownies were originally called Rosebuds and were founded by Lord Baden-Powell after the younger sisters of the Guides and Scouts showed an interest in joining the Guide Association. The Girl Guides Gazette said that Rosebuds wore a dark blue skirt, knitted jersey, cap or tam and the Rosebud Brooch.

To test for doneness with a toothpick, insert a toothpick into the center of the brownies and pull it back out. For fudgy brownies, you'll want to see some moist crumbs attached to the toothpick when you pull it back out. If it looks like it's covered in brownie batter, the brownies will need to bake a bit longer.

Corner pieces have the perfect ratio of two hard edges to two soft edges.

Fudgy brownies benefit from less cocoa powder and the addition of chopped chocolate, which gets melted with the butter to create a thick, molten base. Pulling them out of the oven before a toothpick comes out clean also ensures the center stays fudge-like and gooey.

Cakey brownies are light, airy and moist and have a slight fluff with cake like interiors. Fudgy brownies are dense, gooey and moist. They have a fudge-like texture while chewy brownies are dense and have an elastic texture that makes them easy to chew. Brownies are always more likeable than cakes and even cookies.