Brownies come in different shapes and sizes in the food industry. While technically a cake, they have quite a fan following due to their small size and ease of preparation in smaller quantities. The texture of a brownie closely resembles that of a cake, but there are denser and crunchy too. However, it’s classified as a quick snack and a finger food item. Despite this, it is always prepared in larger batches and stored for extended periods due to its longer shelf life. Therefore, let’s understand a few quick facts that you must know about handling brownies and keeping them nice and healthy.
How Long Are Brownies Good For?
While they taste best when readily prepared and have that freshly baked, smelly, and wonderfully delicious taste, they can be stored outside at room temperature for up to 3 – 5 days at a time, depending on the room temperature.
Also, brownies can be ordered online, from the brownie bakery, or homemade. These online ones have the highest shelf life owing to added preservatives to last the shipping and delivery times. Homemade ones are without preservatives and get spoilt the earliest of the 3.
Bakery-bought ones last less than online ones even though they add preservatives as bakers make in batches every few days. So the shelf life is designed to match their replacement cycle.
How Long Do Brownies Last?
When you taste the brownie, you want the same chewy, dense, and fudgy experience every time. This degrades quickly over time. So while brownies can last the whiles we have mentioned below, always ensure that you do not keep them for longer than 50% of the recommended times we have mentioned. Because, while they still will be healthy and consumable, they won’t feel and taste the same.
How Long Do Brownies Last At Room Temperature?
While we did mean 3 – 5 days, it’s all also dependent on the ambient temperature in the room where you keep them. Kitchens typically have a hotter temperature than the rest of the house. So if it’s hot summer, they won’t last beyond three days. And in cold weather, they will be good for at least five days easily.
How Long Do Brownies Last In The Fridge?
Homemade brownies will easily last seven days on average in the fridge, while it’s 3 – 4 days for bakery-bought ones and 5 – 14 days for online-ordered ones. This assumes that you sent the brownies to the fridge as soon as you got them. This is because all food items will start deteriorating when they are cooked. The only way to slow down this process is to send them to the fridge as soon as they cool down. Follow this as a ritual, and you will have good-tasting brownies every time.
When in the freezer, they will easily last up to six months when stored in an air-tight container.
How Many Calories Are In Brownies?
Typically a brownie is available in a 2-inch square, weighs approximately 24 grams, and has 130 calories. Though contents can vary, the ingredients are mostly the same, so we shared the nutritional information chart below.
- Net Carbs – 12.1 grams
- Protein 1.6 grams
- Fats – 4.8 grams
- Saturated Fat 0.977g 5%
- Trans Fat – Polyunsaturated Fat 1.677g
- Monounsaturated Fat 1.774g
- Cholesterol 11mg 4%
- Sodium 50mg 2%
- Total Carbohydrate 21.11g 8%
- Dietary Fiber 0.7g 3%
- Sugars 11.5g
- Protein 1.61g
- Vitamin D – 0
- Calcium 12mg 1%
- Iron 1.27mg 6%
- Potassium 62mg 1%
- Vitamin A 2mcg 0%
- Vitamin C 0mg 0%
- Magnesium 12.7 mg
- Phosphorus 31.7 mg
- Zinc 0.2 mg
- Copper 0.1 mg
- Selenium 2.8 mcg
- Vitamin B1 (Thiamin) 0 mg
- Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) 0.1 mg
- Vitamin B3 (Niacin) 0.2 mg
- Vitamin B6 0 mg
- Vitamin B12 0 mcg
- Vitamin C 0.1 mg
How To Cool Brownies Fast?
Keep them on a wire rack to cool down faster to room temperature to cool them naturally. You can also use a fan to circulate the air around it and dissipate heat more quickly. Slicing the preparation into 2-inch squares will help cool it down faster.
Once at room temperature, send to the fridge for at least 1 hour. You can also do that right after the brownies are out of the oven. However, remember that the brownies can elevate the temperature inside the fridge, so you may need to set the fridge for the coolest setting to compensate.
How To Keep Brownies Fresh?
Brownies must be stored in an air-tight container at all times to prevent them from getting spoilt wherever you keep them. Else wrap them in foil or plastic wrap. This will preserve them and their taste for longer. Cut the brownies into pieces only when you want to eat them. Place a few slices of bread when storing them in the fridge. This will ensure the moisture from the bread will keep the brownies from becoming hard. Plan your storage for the amount you have made. So if you have a lot, prepare to freeze. If you have just enough, place them in the fridge the moment you can.
Read more:
How To Soften Hard Brownies?
Softening them is all about replacing their lost moisture, due to which they become problematic. We have listed a few ways to solve this problem.
- The easiest way is to place bread slices between them and keep them overnight. It works like magic.
- The quicker method will involve sending them to the oven set to 300 degrees Fahrenheit for just a minute or two.
- Wrap them in damp paper or cloth towels and send them to the microwave for 30 seconds on medium heat.
Please note that the above information in several days is only indicative and not an accurate estimate as the preparation and storage will vary in every case. However, the information shared will act as an excellent benchmark to set your own thumb rule.
I hope the information in the article has been helpful.