Cutting Up: Tips on How to Cut Bar Cookies
Wednesday, July 28, 2010 
Recently, New West Knife Works sent me a product sample of their most excellent Fusionwood Petty Knife. Now, the first thing I noticed is that it's really a beautiful knife--and they had kindly sent me the "Jessica" style, you know, since that's my name. I knew this was going to be the knife for cutting bar cookies.
But having a great knife in hand isn't worth much if you don't actually know the correct method--and this raises the question--wha is the correct method for cutting bar cookies?
With fancy knife in hand, I set out to find out. Here are some of the valuable tips I have found:
One tip, which I have found through trial and error, is that bar cookies are always easier to remove from the pan if you line it with parchment paper and leave a bit extra trailing up the side of the pan so that you have a "tab" to pull up after baking. No matter how well you may grease the pan, it's always easier to pull up the parchment from the sides, especially for the first few slices, which are notoriously hard to remove.
A tip I found on What's Cooking America is that to make cutting easier once brownies have cooled, score the bars right out of the oven--I recently tried this with a batch of the Baked brownie recipe, and it worked like a charm.
However, you want to wait until the bars have cooled entirely to cut them all the way through. Sometimes I will even let bars chill in the fridge for a half hour or so to get more firm so they don't come apart when cut.
When it comes to actually cutting, make long cuts the length of the pan with your knife--don't make a sawing motion, but rather move the knife in a line until it has made a clean cut. Between cuts, clean knife by dipping it in hot water and wiping with a clean, dry kitchen towel.
For easier serving, remove a corner piece first--this will give you an in to the rest of the goodness in the pan.
As for the knife? Some suggest serrated, but I always like a smooth finish, and think that investing in a nice knife is a good investment--and the New West one has become my go-to knife for cutting bars.
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Reader Comments (6)
I just baked some brownies today, these are some great tips!
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That is a beautiful knife! A tip I have is for when you MUST cut brownies when they are still warm (I know we've all had those emergencies ;) ). I read somewhere that you should use a plastic knife on warm brownies, and it WORKS! They don't look as beautiful as nicely cut, fully cooled brownies, but you can actually cut them without extreme crumbling and raggedy edges. Magic. Also, if the cookies are firm enough to take it, I prefer to use the parchment to lift the whole uncut batch out of the pan and cut them directly on a cutting board. No more corner drama. (Only *remember the parchment* drama).
Great tips! I always line my pan with foil instead and let it hang over the edge. I let the bars cool for a while then I lift it out... It's usually quite a heartwrenching few moments as I watch it bend and crack ever so slightly...
Wei Wei
Great suggestions and tips. I heart the pan cookie almost as much as I love...well... nothing really compares to the pan cookie really, unless were talking nanimo bars. hehehe.