Who doesn’t like a good brownie? A treat that is so good it has its own holiday, the 8th of December if you’re wondering. It is also considered one of the best “comfort foods” out there.
Brownies have come a long way – in their early stages, they were pretty simple to make with only a handful of ingredients. Nowadays, we have dozens of different brownie recipes depending on an individual’s preferences and diet.
But enough talking about them, what about eating them?
We’ve all been there; you made a batch of brownies and now you’re wondering whether you’ll have enough time to eat the whole thing before they dry out and lose their fudginess.
Or, maybe you’ve bought some from the store and decided to stash some in the pantry. So, now, you’ve stumbled upon a few unopened packages and don’t know whether they’re safe for consumption.
So the question here is – how long do brownies last?
Well, it depends on several factors and we’ll try to clarify the answer in this article as much as possible.
How Long Do Brownies Last?
Now, there’s no cut and dried answer to this question. Brownies can be made from a whole range of ingredients, or they can be store-bought. For the store-bought brownies, things are fairly simple – just read the label on the packaging. For the homemade ones, there are a few variables one should pay attention to when looking for signs of spoilage.
The First Type Of Brownies, Classic Brownies:
If your brownies contain eggs, butter, or any dairy product whatsoever or any type of ingredient that is prone to going bad fairly quickly they can last you for about 5 days. But, they’ll keep their original taste for about two days before their taste starts deteriorating.
If you want to find out how long does chocolate last, check out our article right here.
The second Type Of Brownies Are Vegan Brownies. All The Usual Ingredients Are Replaced With Vegan Alternatives:
The vegan brownies will provide you with that chocolate high you are looking for but with the notion that no animal product was used in the process.
Which means they should be able to last longer, right?
Well, sort of. They might keep their freshness a bit longer than the classic ones, 3 to 4 days instead of 2, but they still won’t last you for more than a week.
If you opted for a no-hassle version and bought your brownies in a store, unsurprisingly, they can last you a very long time. Store-bought treats usually have a large amount of sugar and preservatives keeping them from spoiling for a long period of time.
Adding to that, there’s probably an expiry date and instructions on how long does the product actually last after opening it and how to properly store it, printed on the packaging.
How To Store Brownies?
Classic brownies can potentially last you for a week in the fridge. However, I don’t think you’ll like the taste of them very much after 7 days.
When someone tells you the brownies can hold out for more than a day or two, they’re not wrong, but you are losing quite a bit of fudginess and moisture at that point.
Your second option is to freeze them, but make sure to either put them in an aluminum foil, plastic foil, or baking paper and then in a freezer bag. They can stay in the freezer for weeks or even months, but after a while, they will inevitably dry out.
When thawing, I suggest you let them sit out a night in the fridge first. They won’t taste the same as they did the day you made them, but it saves you the hassle of preparing an entirely new batch.
There’s a comprehensive guide on how to properly freeze brownies on our site, right here. I recommend you check it out if you pick the option to freeze them.
When it comes to vegan brownies It’s still recommended you store them in a fridge so they keep their fudginess and they will last longer.
I wouldn’t let them sit there for more than 4 or 5 days as they will inevitably dry out and won’t taste nearly as good.
If for some reason you don’t own a fridge, a pantry is a viable option, but you should definitely eat them in the first couple of days.
Like the common brownies, you can use the freezer method to store them for a longer period of time.
They won’t taste the same as when they were fresh because the cold air preserves the food from spoiling but it also has a tendency to dry the brownies out depending on their type.
For the store bought brownies there’s no need for the fridge. You can put them in the pantry and they shouldn’t spoil.
Do check the expiry date before buying them and even if you’ve put them away for a while just to make sure you’re not ingesting something that’s spoiled.
A quick recap for spoilage and storage:
Home-made brownies:
- Can hold out for a day or two
- Should be stored in the fridge
- Can be stored in the freezer, with a proper method, for longer periods of time
Vegan brownies:
- Can hold for about 4 days
- Can be stored in the pantry, but the fridge, again, is the better option
- The freezerFreezer method is also applicable
Store-bought brownies:
- Check the expiry date and storage instructions on the packaging
How To Tell If Brownies Have Gone Bad?
Visual Appearance
Brownies can often go bad from the inside so you can’t visually spot any signs of spoilage, even if you properly stored them and they haven’t sat around for too long.
On the outside, they can get moldy if you let them sit for too long, if that’s the case, definitely throw them away
Taste it
If your brownie tastes funny and not as it should (meaning delicious), don’t hesitate to throw it away since you can potentially mess up your stomach, especially if you used dairy products to make it.
Also, if they smell ify, don’t even taste them, just get rid of them right away to avoid an unpleasant situation.
Types Of Brownies
To clarify, there is an obscene amount of brownie recipes on the internet today, so to try and cover all of them in one article would be pretty impossible. However, at the end of the day, brownies are made out of a handful of ingredients which most of those countless recipes share.
The difference between them is not in the foundation but in adding extra ingredients to make the brownie taste unique. We can, however, pick two of the most common brownies that we usually come across.
If you’re looking for a healthier alternative to brownies, check out our recipe for chocolate chip cranberry n’oatmeal cookies.
The First And Most Common Type Of Brownie Contains Butter And Eggs:
Sure, you can put in loads of other ingredients alongside them like chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, crushed nuts, dried fruits, or anything your heart desires. However, butter and eggs are going to be the base of your brownie.
The Second Type Are The Vegan Brownies:
Naturally, they don’t contain butter and eggs and serve as a completely viable alternative to the classical brownie. When it comes to taste, they are surprisingly similar to classic brownies, so at the end of the day, it all depends on your personal preference.
To summarize, there are 2 types of brownies:
- Classic brownies
- Vegan brownies
Let’s look at the calorie chart for these, just so you know where you stand with nutrition for them:
| Classic Brownie (22 Grams Or 0.8 Oz) | Vegan Brownie | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 112 calories | 90 calories |
| Protein | 1.5 g | 1.2 g |
| Sodium | 82 mg | 84.5 mg |
| Fat (Unsaturated,Saturated) | 7 g (5,2 g, 1,8 g) | 2.6 g (1.7 g, 0.9 g) |
| Cholesterol | 18 mg | 0 |
| Total Carbohydrate | 12 g | 11.2 g |
How Long Do Brownies Last? – Final Word
In this article, we’ve covered the 3 most common types of brownies. The classical one, the vegan one, and the store-bought.
Remember, homemade brownies taste best for the first two days; after that, they might not spoil immediately but they won’t be as delicious.
We’ve concluded that the classical brownies are the ones that last the least and for good reasons as well. Dairy products and eggs are not well known for their longevity. Two days period is the ballpark time before they start losing out in the taste and quality.
Vegan brownies, although not made with any dairy products, are still not going to preserve their taste that much longer than the classical ones. Three or four days at the most in the fridge, or a day two in the pantry.
Finally, store-bought brownies are fairly simple. Just look at the expiry date and instructions on the packaging and you should be golden.