How To Soften Hard Brownies - The Best Ways

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

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

The worst is when a really good brownie goes hard. Brownies are, of course, best when soft and hot.

Our opinion is that you probably won’t eat an entire pan of brownies in one sitting (although we won’t judge you on how many times that happens). Leftover brownies tend to firm up when they sit, even when well coated.

How can you soften hard brownies? Perhaps one of the best and easiest ways to soften hard brownies is to microwave them for 5 seconds. This will warm and soften the brownie without crunching it unnecessarily. You can also reheat the brownies in the oven.

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

Each of these methods is effective and fairly straightforward, although some may take longer than others, so that’s something to keep in mind if time is of the essence.

Read on to find out how to make brownies soft again and much more.

How to make brownies soft again

Getting back to making squishy brownies is pretty easy and here we are going to cover several different processes for you.

Probably the easiest way to soften your brownie is to microwave it for a few seconds. This is quick and easy and works great when you need a warm, fluffy brownie to enjoy.

Below you’ll find the steps for this process, as well as several other processes for re-softening a brownie.

How to soften brownies in the microwave

The microwave was made for quick and convenient heating, and when it comes to brownies, it works like a charm. In fact, now you can even buy those ready-made brownies, cookies, and cakes that you can cook entirely in the microwave.

Microwaving is one of the most effective methods of re-softening a brownie, and best of all, it only takes a few seconds.

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

1. Take your brownie out of the pan it is in and place it on a paper towel. You can slightly dampen the paper towel, but it’s not necessary. This only helps to reintegrate a little moisture in the heating process. 
2. Place the wrapped brownie in the microwave. 
3. Heat for 5 seconds to start. 
4. Try the brownie. If it’s hot and mushy, you can remove it. If you think it’s not soft enough, heat it for another 5 seconds. 
5. Remove the brownie and enjoy.

Once the brownie is hot, you can add a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

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

How to soften brownies in the oven

Another great option that you can use is the oven. The oven will take a bit longer, but if you want to soften several brownies at once, or perhaps several brownies in one pan, this is a good option to do so.

In general, the time in the oven will only need to be about 5-7 minutes, but you will also have to wait for the oven to preheat, and this is what really takes longer in general.

Follow these steps to soften brownies in the oven:

1. Preheat oven to 300°F. 
2. Make sure your brownies are in an ovenproof dish that is uncovered. 
3. When the oven is hot, place your brownie pan in the oven. 
4. Let them heat up for about 5-7 minutes or until they are hot and soft. We recommend checking them after 4-5 minutes as you want to make sure they don’t overcook. 
5. Get out of the oven and enjoy. 

This works great to get the brownies soft again and once again really hot and fresh, which is the best way to enjoy a brownie.

This requires several minutes between the heating time and the preheat time, but it is not excessively long to use. Your brownies can go from hard to soft in about 20 minutes using this process. 

How to soften brownies with bread

This next method is quite time consuming, but can be useful for re-softening your brownies if you don’t want to heat them up.

The concept is that you can use slices of bread to return the moisture to your brownies and soften them slightly again. This will take several hours to be effective, but it works.

Here are the steps to soften brownies using bread:

1. Grab a loaf (or a few slices) of white bread. 
2. Place your brownies between the bread. Start by placing the bread in the bottom of a skillet. Next, add the brownies on top of the bread. Cover the top of the brownies with a slice of bread. 
3. Once you have placed the layers, you have to cover the source very well. 
4. Leave it on overnight or at least for more than 8 hours for the best results. 

We know this sounds a bit strange, but it really works if you want to get your hard brownies soft again but don’t need them right away and don’t want to mess with reheating.

You will be pleasantly surprised when you check the brownies again and see how much they have softened.

Tips to Avoid Hard Brownies

Ideally, we do our best to keep our brownies soft, but sometimes they get hard and there’s nothing you can do.

The thing is, brownies harden over time, so if you have a brownie pan that you don’t want to harden, try some of these tips to see if they help!

Avoid the fridge

Putting the brownies in the fridge is a sure way to keep them firm. The air is cold and dry and wreaks havoc on the tenderness of your brownies.

You probably think that putting them in the fridge will preserve them and make them last longer, but that’s not really the case.

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

Avoid overcooking

Sometimes brownies are hard because they are overcooked. It’s very hard to know exactly when to take the brownies out of the oven so they don’t overcook, but if you pay attention, you can get there.

If you overcook, the brownies will inevitably be hard . They may not look hard while hot, but as soon as they cool, they will be hard.

Start checking your brownies a few minutes before the recommended time for them to be done. When you put a toothpick into the center to check it, you don’t want it to be completely clean, but you also don’t want it to be sticky.

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

Related questions

We hope you find this guide to making hard brownies soft again a useful resource. There are several things you can do to soften your brownies or prevent them from going hard.

Take a look at these Common Questions for a few more details that may be helpful.

How should I store my brownies?

Always make sure to store your brownies in an airtight container.

The less air they have, the better, so it can also be helpful to individually wrap each of your brownies for storage so you can grab one when you need it.

What can I do with an overcooked brownie?

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