Improving Cost and Quality of Brownie Bars
Brownies or brownie bars are a popular snack and dessert bar here in North America. They are a dense and rich chocolate bakery product with a cake-like texture. It is a popular baked product sold in bakeries, and it is high in chocolate content. Cocoa powder is used at around 10% of the total formulation, at prices of around $5/lb, this is an expensive ingredient. Prova USA has created a new cocoa extract that has the ability to reduce your cocoa powder significantly. In this experiment, It is reduced by 30% using the following formula.
| Control Formula (%) | 30% Less With Cocoa Extract (%) | |
| Butter | 25 | 26 |
| Sugar | 25 | 26 |
| Vanilla Extract | 0.29 | 0.29 |
| Cocoa Extract | – | 0.30 |
| Eggs | 23 | 23 |
| Cocoa Powder | 10 | 7 |
| All-Purpose Flour | 16 | 17 |
| Salt | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Baking Powder | 0.5 | 0.5 |
© BAKERpedia
This formula is successful in replacing the taste of chocolate intensity without affecting the color of the product. To obtain a sample of this, please contact Prova.
A Lighter and Fluffier Product
Have you ever wondered if you could make your brownie bars lighter and more fluffy? Why not try some cake flour? In the next experiment, we substituted 50% of the all-purpose flour with cake flour. The result? An amazing airy brownie!
| Control Formula (%) | 50% Cake Flour | |
| Butter | 25 | 25 |
| Sugar | 25 | 25 |
| Vanilla Extract | 0.29 | 0.29 |
| Cocoa Extract | – | 0.30 |
| Eggs | 23 | 23 |
| Cocoa Powder | 10 | 10 |
| All-Purpose Flour | 16 | 8 |
| Cake Flour | 0 | 8 |
| Salt | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Baking Powder | 0.5 | 0.5 |
© BAKERpedia
Due to the nature of the starch complexes in the cake flour, it is able to provide better support to the sugar, flour, and cocoa in the formulation. Resulting in more volume, and an airy texture! Try this simple and cost-effective trick to make a different kind of brownie!
To learn more about brownie bars and handheld snacks, download the Pastries, Pies, and Handheld Snacks Pocket Guide!
Want to stay up-to-date with BAKERpedia? Sign up for our newsletter today!
