The Number One Brownie Mistake You're Making, According To Eloise Head - Exclusive

Move over, apple pie — if you're looking for a truly American dessert, brownies are where it's at. These ooey-gooey, fudgy, chocolatey confections made their debut at the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago during the 1893 Columbian Exposition (via U.S. History Scene).

Given brownies' All-American heritage, you might not expect good, classic advice on how to make them from overseas, but that depends on which person you're asking. U.K.-based food influencer and professional baker Eloise Head, aka Fitwaffle, knows more than a thing or two about how to make a mean pan of brownies. Her social media accounts and her new book, "Baking It Easy," both contain loads of brownie wisdom.

If your version of making brownies means cracking open a box of brownie mix, there's no shame in that, but making brownies from scratch is easier than you think. That doesn't mean you can't screw it up, however. In an exclusive interview with Mashed, Head shared the most common brownie mistake she sees home bakers make.

Along with microwave fudge, Eloise Head recommends brownies as a great dessert for novice home bakers to start with. As she said, "Even without any baking experience, brownies are quite foolproof." But they're only foolproof if you pay attention to the instructions. "As long as you follow the recipe properly and let it cool afterward and put it in the fridge, it's hard to go wrong with a brownie."

It's that last part that sometimes gets people into trouble. We get it — the hot pan of brownies smells incredible right when it comes out of the oven, and all you want to do is grab a knife and start cutting portions. However, if you don't have the patience to let the brownies cook through and then cool down fully, you're just going to make a mess. Per Head, "The biggest mistake people make with brownies is they don't cook it for long enough, and they cut it warm and wonder why it all falls apart."

Make sure to cook the brownies for the full time the recipe calls for and then wait for them to cool to room temperature before slicing — even if it can be hard to restrain yourself from digging into a freshly-baked tray of brownies as it cools. If you stick it in the fridge, it'll be out of sight, and maybe you can resist temptation long enough to cut nice, solid brownies that don't disintegrate.

Eloise Head's book, "Baking It Easy," is out now. You can buy it here.