How To Soften Hard Brownies – The Best Ways

Brownies are, like, the best dessert really, and you can enjoy them any time of day! They are the perfect combination of chocolate and cake without really being cake.

You can take your warm brownies and add ice cream to them or perhaps nuts or caramel.

The worst thing is when a really great brownie gets hard. Brownies are of course the best when they are soft and warm.

Our guess is you probably won’t eat a whole pan of brownies in one sitting (although no judgment for those times it does happen)! Leftover brownies tend to get hard when they sit, even when they are properly covered. 

How can you soften hard brownies? Perhaps one of the best and easiest ways to soften hard brownies is to place your brownie in the microwave for 5-second increments. This will warm and soften the brownie without crisping it up unnecessarily. You can also alternatively rewarm brownies in the oven as well.

In this guide, we will share with you how to soften hard brownies. We have several different methods you can try for softening your brownie so go ahead and choose what works for you.

Each of these methods is effective and pretty simple, although some might take longer than others so that’s something to watch for if time is of the essence. 

Keep reading to learn how to make brownies soft again and more! 

How To Make Brownies Soft Again

Making brownies soft again really is pretty easy and we’re going to cover several different processes for you here. 

Probably the easiest way to make your brownie soft again is to just toss it in the microwave for a few seconds. This is quick and it’s easy and it works really well when it comes to needing a soft, warm brownie to enjoy. 

Below, you will find steps for this process as well as several other processes to make a brownie soft again. 

How To Soften Brownies In The Microwave

The microwave was built for quick and convenient heating and when it comes to a brownie, it works wonders. In fact, now you can even buy those pre-made brownies, cookies, and cakes that you can completely cook in the microwave!

The microwave is one of the most effective methods for making a brownie soft again and the best part is that it only takes a few seconds. 

Follow these steps to warm and soften your brownie in the microwave: 

1. Remove your brownie from the pan that it is in and place it on a paper towel. You can slightly dampen the paper towel but it is not required. This just helps to reintegrate a little bit of moisture in the heating process. 
2. Place the wrapped brownie in the microwave. 
3. Heat for 5 seconds to start. 
4. Test the brownie. If it is warm and soft, you can remove it. If you feel like it’s not quite soft enough heat for another 5 seconds. 
5. Remove the brownie and enjoy!

Once your brownie is warm, you just might want to add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to the top.

This will soften it even more and there is just something about that warm, gooey brownie mixed with the cold, melting ice cream that is absolutely delicious! 

How To Soften Brownies In The Oven

Another great option you can use is the oven. The oven will take a little bit longer but if you’re trying to soften several brownies at once or perhaps multiple brownies in a pan, this is a good choice to do so. 

Overall, the time in the oven will only need to be about 5-7 minutes but you will have to wait for your oven to preheat as well, and this is what really tends to make it take the longest overall. 

Follow these steps to soften brownies in the oven: 

1. Preheat your oven to 300°F. 
2. Make sure your brownies are in an oven-safe dish that is uncovered. 
3. When the oven is warm, place your brownie pan in the oven. 
4. Let them heat for about 5-7 minutes or until they are warm and soft. We recommend checking them at the 4-5-minute mark as you want to be sure you don’t overcook them here. 
5. Remove from the oven and enjoy. 

This works really well to make brownies soft again and once again, they will be really warm and fresh, which is the best way to enjoy a brownie. 

This does take several minutes between heating time and pre-heat time but it’s still not overly lengthy to use. Your brownies can go from hard to soft in about 20 minutes using this process. 

How To Soften Brownies Using Bread

This next method takes quite a bit of time but it can be helpful in making your brownies soft again if you don’t want to heat them up. 

The concept is that you can use slices of bread to bring moisture back into your brownies and soften them slightly again. This will need several hours to be effective but it does work. 

Here are the steps to soften brownies using bread:

1. Grab a loaf (or a few slices) of white bread. 
2. Sandwich your brownies in between the bread. Start by placing bread on the bottom of a pan. Then add your brownies on top of the bread. Cover the top of the brownies with a slice of bread. 
3. Once you’ve got your layers set up, you need to cover the dish really well. 
4. Leave this to work overnight or at least for 8+ hours for the best results. 

We know this seems a little bit odd but it really does work if you just want to make your hard brownies soft again but don’t need them right away and don’t want to mess with heating them.

You will be pleasantly surprised when you go back to check out the brownies and see just how much they have softened. 

Tips To Prevent Hard Brownies

Ideally, we will do everything we can to keep our brownies soft but sometimes they just harden up and there’s nothing you can do. 

The thing is brownies do harden over time so if you have a pan of brownies that you don’t want to get hard, try checking out some of these tips to see if it might help you out! 

Avoid The Fridge

Putting brownies in the refrigerator is a sure-fire way to make them hard. The air is cold and dry and it wreaks havoc on the tenderness of your brownies. 

You’re probably thinking that putting them in the fridge will preserve them and make them last longer but it really doesn’t. 

Your brownies will stay good for a while stored at room temperature. Using the fridge will harden them so just avoid using the fridge and they will stay soft for longer. 

Avoid Overbaking

Sometimes brownies are hard because they are overcooked. It’s very challenging to know exactly when to remove your brownies from the oven so that they won’t be overcooked but if you pay attention, you can make it happen. 

Overbaking your brownies will inevitably lead to hard brownies. They may not feel hard while they are warm but as soon as they cool down, they will be hard. 

Start checking your brownies a few minutes before the recommended time for them to be done. When you put a pick in the center to test, you don’t want it to be completely clean but you also don’t want it to be gooey. 

If it’s completely clean, your brownies are already overcooked. 

Related Questions

We hope this guide to making hard brownies soft again is a helpful resource for you. There are several things you can do to soften your brownies or keep them from getting hard. 

Check out these common questions for a few more details that might be useful! 

How should I store my brownies?

Always make sure your brownies are stored in an airtight container.

The less air they are subjected to the better so it might also be helpful to individually wrap each of your brownies to store them so you can just grab one when you need it. 

What can I do with an overcooked brownie?

The best thing you can do is heat it slightly to soften it. You can cut off any hard edges that you have to help as well. Try adding toppings like caramel or ice cream as this can make a difference too. 

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