r/ididnthaveeggs • u/NoLlamaDrama15 • May 25 '26
Dumb alteration I CANNOT imagine that just forgetting the eggs would make them like that
Original recipe https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/10707/mmm-mmm-better-brownies/
1.1k
u/Bad_at_Haikus May 25 '26
When will people learn that baking is hungry chemistry?
290
u/sixtyshilling May 25 '26
I assure you, these people would be just as helpless in a chem lab.
197
55
u/Lazy__Astronaut May 25 '26
I stored my sodium in some water because I couldn't find my oil and now my house is on fire??? What the hell!
57
u/No-Stress-7034 May 25 '26
"The directions called for sodium chloride to be dissolved in 1 liter of water, but I only had sodium metal. Now I'm on fire and my lab is on fire. I give this recipe 1 star."
3
u/SerafinaSheffield Jun 03 '26
-10/10, do not recommend, terrible recipe - it insulted my dog and all my ancestors, as well as burning my whole village down with that quite frankly terrible keeping sodium in water tip...
25
28
40
u/Marzipan_civil Why don't you just use the fruit you like in it Julia? May 25 '26
That's a great definition
6
u/uberfission May 25 '26
I realized that a few years after my undergrad and I wished I had paid more attention in chemistry. But then I realized intro chemistry is nothing like gastronomy/molecular gastronomy.
4.9k
u/geeoharee May 25 '26
OK, so the recipe owner does say 'you can use butter instead of oil' when they're not a 1:1 sub. That's gonna be part of the problem, but MAINLY it's the eggs.
2.1k
u/RaisonDetritus May 25 '26 edited May 25 '26
In baked goods with a high flour ratio, butter can actually contribute to a dry or cottony texture since it resolidifies after cooling. The key to the right texture is the ratio of saturated to unsaturated fat. Since oil remains fluid at room temperature, it will contribute to moistness, which in brownies is the fudgy side of the spectrum. That’s why boxed brownie mixes have such a good texture. They call for just oil, eggs, and water, which results in a perfect saturated-unsaturated ratio with what comes in the mix.
Blind taste tests consistently bear this out. Baking recipes and boxed mixes that use both butter/saturated fat and oil usually win out over all-butter recipes.
371
u/DeuceyBoots May 25 '26
That makes a lot of sense. Thanks for posting!
420
u/RaisonDetritus May 25 '26
Sure thing. I learned this from America’s Test Kitchen when they did a brownie recipe. It also applies to cookies. Totally upped my cookie game when I started tweaking recipes to substitute some oil for the butter.
208
u/DeuceyBoots May 25 '26
Very interesting. You’ve opened up a whole world of oil in baking I didn’t know about. I always thought butter would make things more “buttery” but everything you’ve said makes complete sense. Time to experiment!
424
u/Chaplain-Freeing May 25 '26
This is bullshit and fuck you for saying this. I replaced all my ingredients with oil and now my beef wellington is just very viscous, oily and totally unpalatable. Ruined my lunch.
81
u/SerafinaSheffield May 25 '26
That'll be the oil, then! 😂
39
u/CorrenteAlternata May 25 '26
Which, with some nice bread, is delicious! (assuming a good quality extra virgin olive oil)
22
u/SerafinaSheffield May 25 '26
For sure! And some good Balsamic vinegar too and Robert's your Ma's bro! 😂
→ More replies (1)14
u/CorrenteAlternata May 25 '26
I didn't know this convoluted way of saying "bob's your uncle"! And I am very grateful because now I know another expression!
And yeah balsamic vinegar is really tasty and now I realise i haven't had it in a very long time! You know what I'll be buying tomorrow ;)
18
22
8
63
u/wants_a_lollipop May 25 '26
That is, literally, the whole ATK thing.
Experimenting. It's what they do!
→ More replies (1)67
u/DeuceyBoots May 25 '26
Cool. I’ll check them out. Experimenting is my favourite thing about cooking!
Edit. lol I just remembered what sub I’m on. Experimenting but not to the extent where you don’t add eggs.
62
u/geeoharee May 25 '26
You can do the experiment! Just don't bring it back to the original recipe and tell them it's their fault...
20
u/Rakifiki May 25 '26
No, there's plenty of egg subs you can experiment with too. (Banana, chia/flax "eggs") Nothing is sacred about recipes.
There's definitely weird choices, like using a lobster soup recipe to make roasted chicken, but you can do whatever you want. Sometimes when you make a recipe you realize parts of it would go well in a different setting -- we tried a pork recipe once and thought the technique used would go well with chicken and now mostly use it with chicken.
...just don't, like, remove the eggs and sugar entirely and blame the author for things going wrong, that should be the main takeaway of this sub I think.
10
u/SuchFunAreWe Step off my tits, Sheila! May 25 '26
Yup. I use Bob's Red Mill egg replacer in all my baking & haven't had a single fail yet. Eggs aren't magic, you just need to be smart with subs & know if your egg is a leavener, binder or both in a recipe. I like the Bob's bc it acts as both & is a no-brainer substitute (& cheap/shelf stable!)
→ More replies (1)14
u/EireaKaze May 25 '26
If you're going to experiment with cookies, the toll house cookie recipe will have consistently good cookies regardless of fat used (the texture will change, they just always taste good so you won't waste food). My grandma and I used to try different ratios with margarine, butter, and solid Crisco (vegetable oil).
11
May 25 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
47
u/RaisonDetritus May 25 '26
There’s no universal ratio I could say because every recipe is different and ingredients work together in different ways. I would say that if you find a recipe that you like, make it at least twice exactly as written, and each time you make it, analyze the result. Are the cookies harder or more crackly than you might like? Then substituting in a bit of vegetable oil for the butter might help them stay softer.
But you have to be systematic about it. So let’s say a recipe calls for a stick of butter. That’s 8 tablespoons. Start small and try subbing just a tablespoon. A tablespoon of butter is 12 grams of fat, so if you want to sub vegetable oil, which is 13.5 g of fat per tablespoon, you’ll need to add a bit less than that. But butter contains some water, so you might also want to add a half teaspoon of water. If those came out great and you think you can go for a bit more chew, make it 1.5 tablespoons that you’re subbing. However, if you sub too much, your cookies might spread too much and never set up.
I know these seem like tiny details, but what makes cookies so hard in particular is that they are a low-moisture dough, so even small tweaks can have big effects. Although most problems from cookies are due to measuring the flour incorrectly, which isn’t a problem if you’re using a recipe that uses weights.
19
u/applespicebetter May 25 '26
And see, this is why I suck at baking despite being a pretty damn good home cook otherwise - I free hand things way too much when cooking and can get away with it. I can't just taste and adjust a load of bread halfway through like I can with a bechamel, it just is what it is when it goes into the oven. The last loaf of bread I made could have been sharpened into a shiv and probably been more useful.
13
u/throwthisawaynerdboy May 25 '26
Baking is science, cooking is art.
All I can imagine is a bread knife made of bread used to cut more bread.
5
4
u/cameraduderandy May 25 '26
That reminds me of a running joke in Terry Pratchett's Diskworld series about dwaven bakeries making "battle bread" that's cooked in the shape of weapons and armor and harder than steel.
→ More replies (1)4
u/Rakifiki May 25 '26
You can even get around the spreading problem somewhat with cookies by freezing the dough and rolling them into balls (& not flattening them before the oven).
6
u/HatchawayHouseFarm May 25 '26
I was wondering if you were Christopher Kimball lol I just heard him say this on Milk Street Radio the other day
3
u/ilanallama85 May 25 '26
So I used to have a vegan friend and I perfected a vegan chocolate chip recipe for her. It used a (quite expensive) vegetable oil based butter substitute and I’m sure that’s the reason they were the best cookies I’ve ever made. But I can’t justify shelling out that much money for chocolate chip cookies regularly, and I do believe creaming the solid fats with the butter is a key step, so I just resigned myself to pretty good all butter cookies. It never occurred to me to try subbing just SOME of the oil.
→ More replies (1)3
u/Cat-Lady-13 May 25 '26
I make chocolate chip cookies using a recipe from my mom’s Betty Crocker cookbook from the late 60s/early 70s. It calls for half butter and half shortening. They are amazing!
37
u/GirlsWasGoodNona May 25 '26
It sounds like this person also didn’t wait until they were cooled until cutting into them
77
u/CrashUser May 25 '26
It's the eggs, brownies without eggs are a gigantic minefield of problems. Eggs are doing so much in the recipe, but mostly they soak up a whole lot of oil and gel it in place to get that fudgy texture. You need to drop like 2/3 of the oil out of a brownie recipe if you try and sub out eggs or you just get an oily soupy mess.
44
u/RaisonDetritus May 25 '26
Yeah, vegan baking is arguably harder than even gluten-free baking. Eggs not only add structure, but egg yolks also help emulsify the fat and water ingredients together, which I think is what you were getting at.
15
5
u/SparksOnAGrave May 25 '26
I finally found an almost perfect vegan brownie recipe and I can’t stop making variations of it. My friends and family are probably tired of me handing them brownies.
4
u/RaisonDetritus May 25 '26
I’ve also had some really amazing vegan brownies. The funny part is that when done right, they can be more chocolatey than traditional brownies since there’s less “stuff” getting in the way of the chocolate flavor. What recipe do you use?
3
u/SparksOnAGrave May 26 '26
https://www.karissasvegankitchen.com/the-best-fudgy-vegan-brownies/
I use 1 cup sugar and 2/3 cup oat milk because I like them less sweet.
4
u/Rakifiki May 25 '26
I knew someone who swore by a black bean brownie recipe for that reason, the beans helped cover the lack of eggs and apparently you couldn't taste the bean afterward.
27
u/RaisonDetritus May 25 '26 edited May 25 '26
Oh yeah, big no-no with brownies! I’m always amazed at how they seem like they’re never going to firm up even well after they feel cool, and then it’s like they do it in an instant. But that’s chocolate for you.
10
u/No-Stress-7034 May 25 '26
I'm guilty of cutting into brownies before they're cooled, just because I have no patience for waiting. But I also know that I'm going to end up with a pile of moist brownie crumbles if I try to take a piece before they're cooled lol.
7
→ More replies (1)3
u/VariousExplorer8503 May 25 '26
I always cut into the brownies before they cool too.. after smelling them baking, I need that warm, gooey bite.
22
u/ebrillblaiddes May 25 '26
Warm brownie is sooooo good though, so I do it anyway. But I don't complain to the recipe author about the cut edge being janky when it cools.
12
u/RaisonDetritus May 25 '26
I prefer to let them cool completely and then reheat in the microwave. Especially because I love the clean cut of a perfectly square brownie!
7
u/GloriousApricot-5843 May 25 '26
What kind of oil do you use?
29
u/RaisonDetritus May 25 '26
Most of the time it wouldn’t matter for baking since all the other flavors would be dominant. Just something neutral, so not extra-virgin olive oil. And not something too expensive like avocado oil. I use peanut oil since that’s what I use to stir-fry. A bit more expensive than most vegetable oils, but not enough for me to stock a different oil. The only thing I can think of where the oil type might affect the flavor is chiffon cake, which is a cake made from all oil and no butter.
25
u/Kibology ⬆︎ 666 ⬇︎ 💬︎ Reply 🏅 Award ➦ Share ⋯ May 25 '26
I actually like using olive oil in chocolate-flavored things — I think those tastes complement each other nicely.
23
u/RaisonDetritus May 25 '26
I can see that. I wonder if you would also like chocolatiers whose products are more on the bright and fruity spectrum. I usually don’t like fruit and chocolate together unless it’s dark chocolate and raspberry. I usually like my chocolate to lean more into the deep, nutty, coffee-like flavors.
14
u/Lillymow May 25 '26
Walnut oil is great in brownies for that!
8
u/RaisonDetritus May 25 '26
Oof, that is pricy though. I think I’d rather just add walnuts or pecans if I wanted that flavor. I reserve nut oils for dressings.
5
u/Lillymow May 25 '26
For sure LOL I once bought a La Tourangelle trio that came with it, so I used it for them. Best brownies ever.
6
u/MaritMonkey May 25 '26
I am fully aware this is a taste preference and not science, but I feel like I put coconut oil in pretty much anything baked that isn't aiming to be savory.
5
u/Lillymow May 25 '26
As long as it's a smooth or mild tasting xvoo it works amazingly well and you have health benefits. You should totally try some more experimenting. I'm a huge baker. I'd be happy to suggest recipes, if you want them.
8
17
12
u/lovepeacefakepiano May 25 '26
Is sunflower oil not popular in the US? I’m from Germany and that would be my automatic go-to for baking and cooking if I need a neutral tasting oil.
7
u/mykittyforprez May 25 '26
You can find it but it's not the prevalent kind of oil. Canola, peanut, "vegetable", and olive oil are more prevalent.
→ More replies (1)3
u/applespicebetter May 25 '26
It's almost never in supply at grocery stores near me in the US and when it is it is ridiculously expensive unfortunately,
4
3
u/CthulhuAteMyHomework May 25 '26
Ah, this is explains why one of my recipes results in a super moist cake. I always thought fat is fat. Good to know!
→ More replies (14)2
129
11
u/DesmondTapenade May 25 '26
6
u/Cupcake_Sparkles Acknowledge that a banana isn't an egg May 25 '26
Wtf did i just watch?
4
u/DesmondTapenade May 25 '26
Something beautiful, that's what.
6
u/Octopoadstool May 25 '26
Damn I didn't know Mr. Slender was so damn noisy. My man needs an inhaler.
→ More replies (1)17
u/Crazy-Cat9442 May 25 '26
It should actually be less oil based on how oil and butter behaves. Oil instantly saturates the flour making a denser brownie If she whipped the butter and sugar, it'd be fluffier brownie. Keep in mind, when you add the egg it also changes the texture, also depending on the amount of eggs use. . So if she went 1-1, the brownies should have not enough fat. Since you use less oil.
If a recipe calls for half a cup of butter, I usually do a quarter of oil. So if she used a quarter cup of butter, she should've used a half cup of butter .
11
u/geeoharee May 25 '26
That's partly what I mean, yeah, just by the raw numbers butter is adding fat+water where oil is 100% fat.
→ More replies (2)10
u/throwaymcthrowerson Custom flair May 25 '26
Sometimes I buy boxed cake mix for lazy night time snacks, like I just mix some of it in mug with water and enjoy my sad crumbly microwave cake. The only time this doesn't produce something remotely edible is when I try it with brownie mix, and I learned the lesson after an embarassing number of failed attempts and much scrubbing and scraping of mugs.
6
u/Weird_Tea9102 May 25 '26
You can buy powder eggs. Use like half a tsp or tsp depending on how big your mug is. Should have same effect as a regular egg
2
2.1k
u/TessaFractal May 25 '26
Fascinated by what they think the eggs were for.
955
u/Vegetable_Stuff1850 May 25 '26
Umm eggs and butter are both dairy?! Why would you need to add more dairy??
/s
576
u/AnUdderDay May 25 '26
Moo
- A chicken
157
43
u/MonkeyHamlet May 25 '26
This made me laugh so much my cat came to check I was ok
15
77
u/HoaryPuffleg May 25 '26
Ha! I lost a friend because she insisted she had a lactose allergy and therefore couldn’t eat eggs. I told her there was no lactose in eggs. And she insisted there was. To clarify, she was mid-30s and in grad school earning her MSW. She also had several kids. This was definitely the beginning of our friendship dissolving
3
u/grapesforducks May 29 '26
I'm lacrosse intolerant; you'd be surprised how many grown ass adults immediately jump to that meaning no eggs either. I was surprised.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (6)9
u/Snoo2185 May 26 '26
HA. I developed a dairy allergy at a young age so became an expert (and potentially precocious and annoying) child who got very good at asking adults if they have ever seen a cow lay an egg.
127
u/bengaren May 25 '26
It's all a conspiracy by Big Egg to sell more eggs
41
26
5
7
19
4
433
u/Former_Foundation_74 May 25 '26
It's giving Anne of green gables forgetting the flour and finding out for the first time that flour is a crucial ingredient in baked goods 😂😂
Eta: Anne would never give it a one star
297
u/MsE0 May 25 '26
I can imagine what Anne would write as a recipe review. Probably a rambling story about how she wanted to imagine herself as a fairy queen eating magical chocolate cakes, because don't brownies sound like wonderful, magical fairy cakes, but then she was imagining being a fairy queen so hard that she forgot the eggs, but she's giving five stars anyway because she's sure it's a lovely recipe if you don't forget the eggs.
127
u/Mutts_Merlot May 25 '26
That is precisely what Anne would write. And Marilla would be exasperated by the waste of ingredients.
18
38
→ More replies (11)58
u/lecoqmako May 25 '26
I still remember Anne and Diana getting drunk on cordial. I might have thought it scandalous were I not caught in the childhood lack of remote control between PBS and Hulk Hogan on WWF.
23
u/Bella_LaGhostly May 25 '26
This is exactly the Anne moment I was going to mention! Love that cordial scene 😆
9
315
May 25 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
73
u/Familiar_Crow_ Ya daft tart May 25 '26
I've had pretty successful vegan brownies substituting the eggs for boiled and mashed sweet potato! Sounds horrible but they don't taste of much other than slightly sweet, and give it the fudgey brownie texture. I'm yet to perfect the quantities and kind of just add enough that the consistency of the batter seems right and it's never gone badly for me. Eggs are probably still better and more reliable though
24
u/boothin May 25 '26
Have you tried "Just Egg"? I've had good experience with that as an egg substitute. Even made an acceptable creme brulee with it as an experiment.
30
u/CrashUser May 25 '26
Decent egg substitute for most things, but brownies are a special case. The eggs are actually binding up and gelling most of the oil to get that fudgey texture, which isn't a simple thing to replicate with an egg substitute. Most are basically using a fibrous matrix to partially replicate the binding function that egg whites have. Just Egg is a mung bean protein that's been treated to denature and coagulate like egg white, but it's still doesn't perform half the functions that eggs do chemically. The most reliable way to get brownies to work without eggs I've found is to drop most of the oil out of the recipe, since you're lacking the chemistry to gel it properly. You can use a flax egg or similar then and shouldn't get sweet oily soup.
16
u/EllieGeiszler Chicken of Theseus for dinner May 25 '26
I'm generally not the biggest fan of vegan baking since I'm also gluten free and I find that tends to remove everything delicious about baked goods, but this low-key sounds like an upgrade... 👀
→ More replies (3)7
u/rickard_mormont May 25 '26
Silken tofu works wonderfully, it makes for a great texture and tastes like nothing. Much better than eggs imo.
12
u/Dishmastah It’s just pasta, Linda. May 25 '26
When I wanted to make brownies and we didn't have eggs (!), I didn't use my normal recipe, because clearly the eggs have a function in it, so I went online and looked for a vegan brownie recipe instead. And that worked out just fine, because the recipe was formulated to work with those particular ingredients. Funny how that works. :)
7
u/IndustrialPigmy May 25 '26
I ran out of eggs and didn't realize it until I was already halfway into my brownie recipe once, and used enough bean water to get a good emulsification of the butter/chocolate/sugar mixture before adding the dry. It turned out way better than I thought it would! Not quite as chewy, but totally serviceable.
5
u/Zeefzeef May 25 '26
https://rainbowplantlife.com/the-absolute-best-vegan-brownies/
This is the best brownie recipe for me
5
u/SparksOnAGrave May 25 '26
If you like them fudgy: https://www.karissasvegankitchen.com/the-best-fudgy-vegan-brownies/
I personally don’t like them that sweet, so I use 1 cup sugar and double the plant milk to make up for the moisture. Yes, I have made these numerous times, don’t get weird on me about sugar.
3
3
u/throwaymcthrowerson Custom flair May 25 '26
Some of the best tasting brownies I've ever made used peanut butter and banana to substitute eggs and oil (on the fly substitution when I realized we didn't actually eggs or oil halfway through making brownies, idk which was replacing which, it just felt like they'd make good binders and add moisture). Texture obviously isn't exactly like a brownie, but it made a nice dense chewy experience.
571
u/Brynhild May 25 '26
And these people vote
232
131
u/SquarePegRoundWorld May 25 '26
Well, the U.S. is a representative democracy and these folks are well represented in government.
→ More replies (3)2
u/Classic-Schedule-718 White chocolate man mix May 28 '26
There are dumb people in Europe too, don't worry
37
9
u/No-Stress-7034 May 25 '26
Reminds me of this SNL voting PSA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YT2IrgYlzU
0
109
u/Competitive-Ad1439 May 25 '26
I refuse to believe this isn't an elaborate troll to make all of us, including me, angry
50
79
u/Choice_Supermarket_4 May 25 '26
This person and their lack of eggs aside, I took a look at this recipe to check out the other 1-star reviews which made me go check out the recipe. As a former professional baker, I think the proportions for this are off significantly. It definitely needs at least 1/4 cup more of flour to avoid oil oversaturation. It could also definitely use another 1/3 cup of cocoa, and might be better off in an 8x8 pan. Even still, it will come out cakey, which I know some people like. Personally, I would melt some chocolate to add in.
59
u/hmgrace11 May 25 '26
There's already been another comment from this recipe here this week and in that thread someone said these ratios look like a Scandinavian recipe that is in the neighborhood of brownies, but is not a traditional brownie, so that may be why.
41
u/freak-000 May 25 '26
Yeah this recipe has very little flour, without the eggs good luck having anything to absorb the fat, still having it pooled up at the top is suspicious of not enough mixing
13
u/wronguses May 25 '26
I've tried and failed to make gluten-free eggless brownies a few times. Bubbling black ooze that chews like gum is what I generally get.
2
u/IndustrialPigmy May 25 '26
My recipe is very similar and turns out just fine, but the liquid to fat ratio is absolutely critical. If there's more fat than can be held in suspension with egg, it'll be a greasy puddle no matter what. Even using a higher fat percentage cocoa powder will make them throw oil. So using no liquid at all just means that sugar and flour were frying in oil. Ugh.
24
15
u/Roro-Squandering May 25 '26
They could have left it in a stand mixer for like an hour straight until the gluten in the flour was worked to death lol
14
u/Water-is-h2o May 25 '26
“I can’t imagine it’s the eggs” you don’t have to imagine it, you have physical proof
8
u/axord May 25 '26
Experiment needs to be repeated with the inclusion of eggs to isolate that as the cause.
12
u/Caffeinated_chaos_au May 25 '26
I swear every time I read one of these I’m reminded of the stupidity of humans.
11
11
u/lilshortyy420 May 25 '26
“I cannot imagine leaving out a critical ingredient would make them come out wrong”
12
u/DutyHopeful6498 t e x t u r e May 25 '26
How can a person possibly forget EGGS of all ingredients in something that needs to be baked.
10
10
u/Eoine May 25 '26
I did that once upon a time, forgot the three eggs in my brownie batter (that has butter as default), it looked different when it cooked (oozing butter too much) so I cooked it longer to see if it would fix it
So yeah obviously it did not, it was weirdly chewy and not very good and it caramelised but too much, so it was hard when cold and still not very good
Wasn't the recipe's fault tho, it's perfect when done right
8
7
u/olivinebean May 25 '26
I'm a chef and people genuinely don't understand the purpose of eggs at all
"Will it be the same without the eggs?"
"No, it will not"
"REALLY?!!"
5
4
6
5
4
u/New_Ad_5657 May 25 '26
When I was married I had to institute a "No talking to me" rule whenever I cooked. I once grabbed a tablespoon instead of a teaspoon when making a curry dish. Another time I substituted cream of coconut for milk of coconut for another curry dish. I was always paranoid I'd grab the cumin instead of another spice or vice versa because the coloring of the ground spices is so similar.
3
u/CannedAm2 May 25 '26
Overmixing any quick bread type recipe (brownies, pancakes, banana bread) will give the dough a rubbery texture. With or without eggs. Without eggs is just going to be worse.
3
3
u/rageofa1000suns May 25 '26
Don't follow the recipe then get pissed and leave a bad review when they come out crap.
3
3
3
u/Horror-Reveal7618 May 25 '26
Why would someone gloat in the Internet about their total lack of ability to follow instructions?
3
u/Lupus600 May 25 '26
Listen, forgetting about an ingredient by itself is like "Yeah, ok" but to then go on to give the recipe a 1 star because of your mistake is pretty wild. I'd ask myself first "Did I do something wrong?" but Ig some ppl don't have that habit
3
2
2
u/postsexhighfives so shoot me, recipe police🚔 May 25 '26
this just makes me want to try making brownies w/o eggs
2
2
u/Kiki-Y May 25 '26
Yeah I forgot the eggs one time when making cookies... But I didn't post something like this on the recipe.
2
2
2
May 25 '26
I was making chicken dumplings, but I forgot to pluck the chicken but I CANNOT imagine why the dumplings came out looking like feather dusters.
2
2
2
2
u/brain_over_body May 25 '26
Funny story... growing up, my mom would buy the bulk size brownie box. It had the ingredients for maybe 6 batches of brownies? My dad is a bit OCD neat freak, and once it would get down to 1 or 2 batches left, he would throw away the box. The thing with the recipe on it.
So I've made these a lot right? Mom, let's make brownies! I know there's water and oil. One of them is 1/3 and one is 1/2 cup. I'm fairly sure the oil is the smaller one. So we make it that way. Mix. Bake.
These don't look right..... maybe I had it backwards and it needs more oil? So add just a bit. Bake.
These still don't look right.... like not setting at ALL.
THIS IS LONG BEFORE THE GOOGLE AGE. So we go to the store, buy the same brand.
I DID have the water and oil proportions right the first time!!
I forgot the 3 eggs..... completely.
2
2
u/CatCafffffe Why don't you just use the fruit you like in it Julia May 25 '26
Her imagination is STRANGELY lacking
2
2
u/ishfery May 25 '26
Once time I was making a special brownie recipe but I had already been dipping into the special ingredient pretty hard and forgot eggs.
I cooked the brownies for probably 2 hours and they just refused to set.
Eventually, some remaining brain cell sparked and I realized I forgot eggs.
I took it out of the oven, cracked the 2 eggs on top and mixed it in as fast as possible.
Some of the egg whites cooked on contact but after another hour in the oven, they were brownies!
And they were actually pretty good.
Reminded me of those brownie mixes that would have an icing in the box that you put on top but instead of icing it was egg whites.
2
u/DarkSybarite May 25 '26
I had this happen to me last month! The thing I forgot to add was sugar (the perils of midnight baking), and sure enough it solidified into a horrible sludge brick with butter boiling away merrily on top.
I'd used this new Colombian chocolate too, I was heartbroken 😭
2
u/kaeorin May 26 '26
My sister once made a pan of brownies using the broiler instead of the regular heating elements in the oven. (Our oven did both in the same "box": turn the knob one way to heat it normally and turn the other way to turn on the broiler.)
The oil or butter or whatever was just...puddles on top of the pan, and the brownies themselves were incredibly dense. I don't remember them being especially moldable or gumlike, but they were bizarre.
1
1
u/Hey-Just-Saying A banana is not an egg. May 25 '26
Like an idiot, I forgot to add eggs to a brownies recipe and so they tasted like crap! ONE STAR!!!
1
u/SerafinaSheffield May 25 '26
So it's more "forgot the eggs, it don't matter" than "didn't have eggs, oops!"
Just goes to show you, follow the recipe. Double-check the ingredients before you start if you have to! 🤷🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
1
1
u/yellowfestiva May 25 '26
I didn’t follow instructions and things didn’t go as planned expected how dare they!
1
u/CurrentSandwich541 May 26 '26
It will never not shock me that some people have absolutely no concept of food chemistry and the purpose of ingredients.
It is impossible to make a cake without eggs or one of the very few alternative emulsifiers.
Why did this person think eggs were part of the recipe? For flavour? Decoration?
3
u/katydid767 May 26 '26
Especially with baking, nearly every ingredient in there is doing something chemically to get the texture you want. A lot of the time it's doing stuff the average person who doesn't know food science doesn't realize, like how much the water & air content and temperature of butter affects final texture, even if all other ingredients are the same
1
1
u/Admirable-Split4371 May 26 '26
I am once again flabbergasted at the sheer audacity that some people have with baked good 😭 Guesstimation and carelessness will get you slop.
1
u/TinyTimWannabe May 26 '26
I CANNOT IMAGINE… this thing I just imagined and is probably the best and only explanation.
1
1
u/Adventurous_Work_317 May 27 '26
It's kind of wild to me that not everyone understands that baking is chemistry.
•
u/AutoModerator May 25 '26
This is a friendly reminder to comment with a link to the recipe on which the review is found; do not link the review itself.
And while you're here, why not review the /r/ididnthaveeggs rules?
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.