The Easy Trick For Cutting Brownies Without A Sticky Mess

Whether you're using your grandmother's heirloom recipe or upgrading a box mix with fresh ingredients, few can deny that brownies are a near-perfect dessert. Dense and fudgy, they pair perfectly with ice cream in the summer and hot cocoa in the winter. Their only real flaw is the inevitable mess that comes with cutting them into evenly portioned squares. No matter how slow and careful you are with the knife, it always seems to rip them into a crumbly disaster.

Of course, you can easily turn your brownies into cake pops if they fall apart. However, if you have your heart set on a neat square of chocolatey goodness, there are techniques to help you keep your slices clean. The first technique begins before you even bake your brownies, and it involves lining your baking pan with parchment paper rather than using nonstick spray, foil, or flour. The parchment paper not only helps keep brownies from sticking, but also makes it easy to remove them from the pan in one large, neat square.

But the real game-changing hack is choosing the right cutting utensil. Some say plastic knives are perfect because plastic causes less friction and tearing than metal. However, most plastic knives are fairly short, meaning you need to drag them through the brownies and risk damaging the edges. A metal knife long enough to span the width of your brownies is a better choice, as you can simply line it up and push straight down for a clean cut.

Before you even attempt cutting your brownies, it's best to allow them time to cool. While everyone loves a good pastry hot from the oven, warm brownies are also very soft and moist, increasing your risk of making jagged cuts. Cool brownies are more structurally stable and won't emit the steam that causes them to cling to your knife. Additionally, a sharp chef's knife (the type that home cooks should splurge on) is a game-changer. The sharper your blade, the easier it'll be to slice straight down without dragging the top of your brownies into the cut and smushing them.

Of course, no matter how cool your brownies are, a little bit of the crumb will always stick to the knife, disrupting its smooth surface. To combat this, keep a clean dishcloth in plain hot water nearby to wipe down the knife after each cut. Not only does this remove those pesky crumbs, a warm knife glides more easily through this fudgy dessert because it melts the oils inside ever so slightly.

If you don't have a knife long enough or sharp enough to cut your brownies easily, don't worry — dental floss has your back. This may sound like a strange solution, but dental floss is designed to glide easily between your teeth, and it can do the same with pastry. Simply measure out a piece long enough to span the width of your brownies, hold it taut between your hands, and press it firmly downward.