• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Barbara Bakes™
  • Home
  • About
  • Info
  • Contact
  • Press
  • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • Breads
  • Breakfast
  • Dessert
    • Cakes
    • Cookies
    • Ice Cream
    • Pastry
    • All Desserts »
  • Main Dishes
    • Beef
    • Chicken
    • Pork
    • Pasta
    • Meatless
    • All Main Dishes »
  • Side Dishes
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Home
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Baking Tips
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • Home
    • About
    • Recipes
    • Baking Tips
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Home » Recipes » How To

    How To Cut Brownies and a Brownie Roundup

    Published by Melissa on October 3, 2016 | Updated July 9, 2018 | 23 Comments

    Pin
    Share
    Tweet

    Featured Image Collage for post How To Cut Brownies and a Brownie Roundup

    My daughter recently saw me cutting brownies and said I should do a post and share with everyone how I cut brownies. So today I’m sharing my best tips on How To Cut Brownies.

    Sometimes you have a brownie craving and you don’t care what the brownies look like after they’re cut. You just want a brownie now. Then there’s other times, when you’re taking brownies to a party or sharing them with the neighbors, and you want them to look like perfect little squares. These tips are for those times you want perfect little squares. 

    Use parchment paper to easily remove the brownies from the pan.

    My first tip is to use a pan with straight sides and square edges. I like baking in my Pyrex pans when I’m making a casserole, but when I want to make pretty brownies for the blog or a party, I use this USA 9 x 13 baking pan.

    My second tip is to line the pan with parchment paper. It’s more difficult to cut brownies in the pan, so lining the pan with parchment paper allows you to easily lift the brownies out of the pan and cut them on a cutting board.

    If you don’t have parchment paper, you can line the pan with tin foil.

    Collage of using a ruler to cut straight rows.

    Next, pull out a ruler. I make a little notch along the edge of the brownies on both sides every 2 inches.  If you want perfect squares put the ruler in the middle and make your first notch at 6 inches.

    Use a long serrated knife and match up the notches on both sides. Then use one long cut to cut each row. I like this bread knife, or I’ll also use my watermelon knife. Clean off the knife with hot water after every cut.

    Since you’re using a 9 x 13 pan, you’ll have larger pieces on the end rows, and you can cut excess off the ends so the end row is 2 inches as well. You’ll end up with  6 rows, 2 inch wide,

    Trim the edges of the brownies.

    Once you have your 2 inch wide rows, you’ll cut the rows into 2 inch squares. Even with my long knives, they aren’t long enough to cut six rows, so I cut the squares three rows at a time.

    Again, if you want perfect squares, you’ll want to start in the middle and trim the excess off the ends.

    Cut brownies into 2 inch squares.

    It’s important to remember that your brownies need to be cooled completely before cutting. Sometimes, if it’s a particularly gooey brownie, I will put the brownies in the freezer for a little while so the brownies hold together better when cutting.

    It does take a little bit longer to cut the brownies this way, but the end result is so much better than if I just try to wing it. I hope you’ll give it a try.

    ————

    Now that I’ve share my tips on How To Cut Brownies, here’s a brownie recipe roundup to get you inspired to start baking.

    These rich, fudgy Shortcut Turtle Brownies start with a brownie mix, then you load them up with chopped caramel filled chocolate candies and crunchy pecans inside and on top.

    Shortcut Turtle Brownies

    These King Arthur Flour Fudge Brownies are the best brownies I have ever made. A perfect balance of fudgy with just a touch of cakey.

    King Arthur Brownies

    Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Brownies

    Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Brownies

    a batch of peppermint candy cane brownies

    Candy Cane Brownies

    fudgy chocolate brownies topped with Halloween themed sprinkles and chocolate chips

    Halloween Pumpkin Brownies

    More Brownie Recipes You Might Like:

    Slutty Brownies, What’s Gaby Cooking
    Nutella Brownies, Sally’s Baking Addiction
    Cookies ‘n Cream Extreme Brownies, Crazy for Crust
    Chocolate Mousse Brownies, The Domestic Rebel
    Salted Caramel Brownies, Something Swanky
    Mounds Brownies, Katrina’s Kitchen
    Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies, Completely Delicious
    Oreo Brownies, Recipe Girl

    Pin It:

    How-To-Cut-Brownies-Collage2-Barbara-Bakes

    Pin
    Share
    Tweet
    « Boyfriend Cookies
    Dutch Caramel Apple Pie Bites »
    about us

    About Melissa & Barbara

    As of June 2022 Melissa Griffiths now is the one adding recipes. So think of it as Barbara Bakes, and Melissa too! Melissa and Barbara have been blogging friends for over 10 years and when Barbara was ready to retire and spend more time with her family, Melissa took over the site. Read more...

      • Facebook
      • Instagram
      • Pinterest
      • Twitter

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      Leave a Reply Cancel reply

      Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

      Recipe Rating




    1. Mary

      June 23, 2021 at 11:54 am

      Thanks for these great tips! Just wanted to ask if you cut with a sawing motion using your serrated knife or if you just press the knife down until it cuts through the brownie.

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        June 23, 2021 at 6:29 pm

        Thanks Mary – I just press the knife down until it cuts through the brownie and then push the brownie row a little bit apart with the knife.

        Reply
    2. Redhead

      January 08, 2021 at 5:40 pm

      A pizza slicer works great. 

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        January 08, 2021 at 7:14 pm

        I’ve used a pizza wheel before too. It works well but I’m not very good at cutting straight lines with it.

        Reply
    3. Sue Sampson

      May 20, 2019 at 9:27 am

      If you don’t want to have to rinse the knife with hot water after every cut, use a plastic knife!

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        May 20, 2019 at 9:30 am

        Thanks for the suggestion Sue! I do like having the long knife to make one nice straight cut though.

        Reply
    4. Jill Spirko

      March 05, 2019 at 8:18 am

      Thank you for posting!! Our first brownie attempt for a bake sale was ruined when I cut them! We’re trying again tonight your way. 

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        March 05, 2019 at 5:01 pm

        Great! Glad you found my post. Good luck with the bake sale.

        Reply
    5. jo

      February 22, 2019 at 11:13 am

      hi I am wondering if this size of brownies is good to sell?

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        February 22, 2019 at 11:33 am

        Yes, I think it would be a good size to sell. Enough to satisfy a sweet tooth, but not so big that you have to charge a lot.

        Reply
    6. Maira

      June 24, 2018 at 4:41 am

      Hey, can you please give out the recipe of this chocolate brownie that you have cut. This results in 24 2*2 inch pieces, exactly the kind of recipe that I am looking for. Please help me out. 🙂

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        June 24, 2018 at 5:57 am

        Hi Maria – they’re the King Arthur brownies https://www.barbarabakes.com/king-arthur-flour-fudge-brownies/ Enjoy!

        Reply
    7. Irish

      February 08, 2018 at 8:35 pm

      Hello i would like to know if you have some brownie recipe enough to 30pcs yield. (30 pcs squares).

      Thank you 🙂

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        February 08, 2018 at 9:13 pm

        I’m sorry I don’t.

        Reply
        • Dawn

          October 12, 2020 at 2:49 am

          @IRISH.
          You can increase the yield from your current recipe. Desired yield 30 ÷ present Yield 9 = _____
          So you increase everything to the new sum.

          Reply
    8. Mary Frances

      November 04, 2016 at 2:47 pm

      Those brownies look very delicious! Would enjoy having a bite of these!

      Reply
    9. Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella

      October 03, 2016 at 9:19 pm

      After watching you cut them all I want to do is sink my teeth into a brownie!! Serious yum! 😀 xxx

      Reply
    10. My Inner Chick

      October 03, 2016 at 7:05 pm

      You
      Rock!!!
      WOW, such a foodie!
      Oh, and the brownies are to “Die For!.”

      Reply
    11. mka

      October 03, 2016 at 2:18 pm

      my best knife to cut brownies is a throw away plastic knife. it works great

      Reply
    12. Debbi

      October 03, 2016 at 12:16 pm

      Very helpful! Thank you!

      Reply
    13. Laurie

      October 03, 2016 at 12:09 pm

      I was hoping you would have some recipes for healthy brownies.

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        October 03, 2016 at 12:25 pm

        Hi Laurie – Cooking Light did a brownie recipe roundup that you may want to check out http://www.cookinglight.com/food/recipe-finder/brownie-recipes

        Reply
    14. Carol

      October 03, 2016 at 11:55 am

      Please thank your daughter for suggesting this post, Barbara. What great information. I too like cutting brownies and bars on a cutting board so I always use parchment paper or foil in the pan. What I WILL be doing the next time instead of eyeballing if the knife is straight when I cut is notching both sides of the brownies/bars BEFORE making the cut. I never thought of doing that…and inevitably one of my rows ends up skewgee.

      I remember telling you one of your brownie posts that I was jealous of your perfectly cut squares-thanks so much for sharing all of your secrets on how to get it done! 🙂

      Reply

    Primary Sidebar

    Welcome!

    Melissa and Barbara smiling

    Baking made easy! Sharing fabulous recipes for cookies, cakes, pies, breads and more. Barbara Bakes (and Melissa too!) Recipes from both of our kitchens to yours.

    Learn More »

    Popular Posts

    Three small loaves of French bread in a basket with a blue and white napkin

    Julia Child’s French Bread

    Featured Image Collage for post Baking Tips for Layer Cakes

    Baking Tips for Layer Cakes

    meat and beans sandwiched between two tacos covered in salsa, cheese, tomatoes, green onions, and a dollop of sour cream

    Mexican Pizza

    collage of Three-Round-Steak-Meals

    Three Easy Round Steak Meals

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    SEEN ON

    as seen on promo graphic

    SEEN ON

    as seen on promo graphic

    About

    • Home
    • About
    • Contact
    • Press

    Browse

    • Recipe Index
    • Popular
    • Baking Tips
    • Travel

    Subscribe

    • Newsletter
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest

    As an Amazon affiliate, and affiliate with other businesses, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2022 barbarabakes.com. All rights reserved. DISCLOSURE - PRIVACY POLICY.