The Viral Freezer Hack That Makes Layered Brownies A Breeze
Your freezer is already a secret weapon to prevent food waste and make the perfect summer martini. But now, as a viral TikTok hack shows, you can use the freezer to make perfectly fudgy, gooey layered brownies more easily than ever.
Boxed brownie mixes are the ultimate blank canvas for kitchen creativity, and there are plenty of hacks for making them taste homemade. You can experiment with different types of candy chips, for example, or add in a nutty oil to really boost things. In the latest viral craze, one TikToker and cook showcases how you can create a thick layer of a filling — peanut butter, Nutella, or Biscoff cookie butter, for example — and freeze it before sandwiching it inside your batter.
This TikTok hack could be a game-changer for pulling off layered brownies. As the TikToker explains in the video, "By freezing the layers, it means it goes nice and gooey, instead of going burnt and caramelized like when you add it at room temp."
Why does the viral brownie freezer hack work so well?
To make the perfect layered brownies, you should spread your filling of choice onto parchment paper and freeze it. Pour half your brownie batter into your baking pan, and lay the frozen sheet of filling on top. Then, top with the remaining batter before tossing it in the oven.
The hack works because spreads like peanut butter are foods you can freeze. Basically, they are stable emulsions, which allows them to freeze and thaw quickly without sacrificing quality. Sugars and fats in peanut butter make it easier for it to freeze without any quality issues because sugar helps prevent ice crystals from forming, which can affect food textures.
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Other foods with a similar texture and enough sugar, like overripe bananas, make excellent frozen brownie fillings, too. However, don't use fruits that are too watery, like berries for a similar reason as mentioned above. When frozen, the moisture forms ice crystals that'll slice up the structure of the berry. Likewise, as fruit thaws in the oven, all that water will release into your brownie batter and make things a little soupy.