egg-stra egg?

Recipe: ​The Perfect Brownie 

# of servings:​ 12

Ingredients:
- Betty Crocker Fudge Brownie Box Mix
- Sugar, Enriched Flour Bleached(Wheat Flour, Niacin, Iron, Thiamin Mononitrate,
Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Cocoa Processed with Alkali, Palm Oil, Corn Syrup, Corn
Starch. Contains 2% or Less of: Carob Powder, Salt, Canola Oil, Artificial Flavor
- 3 tablespoons of water
- ½ cup of vegetable oil
- 2 eggs

Equipment:
- one medium bowl
- spoon/whisk
- 13 x 9 inch pan
- tablespoon measuring cup
- ½ cup measuring cup

Instructions:
- preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
- combine all ingredients in a medium sized bowl
- grease a 13 x 9 pan
- HINT: use a stick of soft butter and rub it on the bottom and sides of the pan for easy non stick 
brownies 
- pour brownie batter into pan
- cook for 22 minutes (add additional time, if needed)

My experiment: ​During my experiment, I observed what happens to brownies when you

change the amount of eggs added. I used a box brownie mix to make sure all of the ingredients
stayed the EXACT same for each batch, this way I could really isolate the effect of the eggs. I
conducted my experiment by making a control batch of brownies (which contained 2 eggs), a
batch with no eggs, and one last batch with 3 eggs. In the picture below, you can see the no
egg dough on the left and the dough with 3 eggs on the right.
They look very different and had very different textures as well. The brownies without eggs
turned into a chewy brownie chip-like dessert, and the dough with 3 eggs turned out like a cake,
very fluffy but also moist and tasty. When I asked people which brownie they preferred, the
extra egg brownie was the crowd favorite! The taste was the same as the other two but the
texture was completely different and people seemed to enjoy it.

HINT: since the brownie batter without eggs is very dry and hard to get into the pan, use a spoon to spread it 
evenly on the bottom (you can see the spoon prints in the picture on the left)​.

But, why?
The main purpose for eggs in baking is to add structure. This is evident in my experiment
because the brownies without eggs were flat and basic but when an extra egg was added the
texture flipped completely making the brownies have a lot of structure. Eggs also help the
brownies you are making have a brown-ish/burnt shade on the top (you know your dish is done
when you see this :) ). This reaction is called the Maillard reaction and eggs help this take place
because the proteins from the yolk are being heated and reacting with sugars.

Passion for Baking:

I have always loved to bake. Since a young age my family knew that I had sprouted a passion
for mixing ingredients and looking forward to the outcome. My sister on the other hand, was the
exact opposite. A couple years ago, my sister tried to make brownies from a box with one of her
friends and they completely botched them. They were too oily, and didn’t even taste good; so
me, being the baker I am, decided to make a new batch from scratch and prove that I was a
better baker than her (I mean obviously…). My brownies turned out perfect, not to mention that
they were finished before hers were. After this incident, I have always been interested in what
she did wrong and how each component of a recipe affects the outcome. This time around I
played with eggs and their relation to texture, but maybe next time I’ll learn more about oil and
the role it plays.