I’ve read suggestions to use:
Milk instead of water
Add an extra egg
Add 2 tablespoons of espresso powder?
Thank you in advance!!!
Also I will let people know I didn’t bake these from scratch! Not trying to pass this recipe as my own. I love to bake but I don’t have time for this event with a one year old lol
by User091822
39 Comments
They actually need zero improving. I bake them 5-7 minutes less and dust with powdered sugar. Perfection.
I’ve made these more than a few times. They are pretty perfect as is.
Controversial opinion, sprinkles
Sorry but that’s about THE BEST box Mix you can buy. No improvements needed
If nuts are allowed, some chopped walnuts in one batch could be good!
my hubs loves putting roughly chopped macadamia nuts
Absolutely best mix on the market.
Milk and extra egg is great for boxed cake but it can actually make chocolate taste less chocolatey.
Add a shot of espresso in place of some of the water to improve the chocolate flavor. These mixes tend to be lumpy and those lumps do not incorporate into the wet ingredients so there can be powdery lumps in the finished product. Break up bigger chunks, whisk the mix or even sift the mix before adding the wet ingredients for a smoother texture.
They truly are perfect on their own! But would be fun to add a cream cheese swirl. You just need a block of cream cheese at room temp, an egg, a little vanilla extract, and sugar (maybe like 1/4 cup?!) beat all those together. After you’ve spread the prepared brownie batter in the pan, plop the cream cheese filling in dollops around the top and swirl it with a knife. Delish
My good friend is a pastry chef. If she’s making brownies at home, this is what she uses. I concur: best mix on the market. And now I need to get to Costco.
These are fabulous but I always substitute the water for coffee! I just think it gives them a little something extra 🤷🏻♀️
I like to use melted butter instead of vegetable oil when I make these
My wife throws Reese’s peanut butter morsels in them. Amazing.
I like to sub melted butter for the oil, and add 1 tsp of espresso powder. But truly they are awesome.as is.
Make per package instructions. Pour half the batter into the pan. Gently press around 16 fun size candy bars or about 20ish Reese’s minis into the batter. Pour on the rest of the batter. Best choice is almond joys followed by Reese’s or snickers.
I call them Brownies of Joy.
I like to use this mix in a mini muffin pan for brownie bites!
Add dried cherries. Spectacular.
If you want a very good regular chocolate brownie, no tweaks needed; these are great. If I’m feeling like I want something a little extra, I like to add some almond extract, or a swirl of peanut butter or nutella. Basically any addition you like in a brownie will be great here.
OMG those so don’t need improvement. Best box mix ever!
These do not need improving, they are the potentially the greatest box mix brownies of all time.
I make brownies with this mix all the time and have gotten really positive feedback from my friends and family! Here’s the changes I usually make:
1. Replace the water with whole milk (or whatever milk you have, I just usually use whole milk) it makes the brownies taste more moist.
2. Add a few shakes of cinnamon, this is the one that I get the most popular feedback on. I just shake my cinnamon shaker into it but if I had to guess it’s probably about 2/3 teaspoons.
3. Add two-ish ounces of concentrated instant coffee, which is just a spoonful of instant coffee that I mix into about 2 ounces of boiling water. I pour that in and it makes the mixture less thick which is perfect for the next thing I do:
4. Add extra chocolate chips. I usually add 1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips because I think it balances the sweetness out more, but really any chocolate chips work! There’s no such thing as too much chocolate in my opinion!
Honestly, I no longer make brownies from scratch. You can add a teaspoon of real vanilla extract, also from Costco, and that will create the platonic ideal of a brownie.
Nobody will know or needs to know you used a mix.
I put sour cream into mine, makes them extra creamy.
As well as a little bit of coffee or espresso mix, makes the chocolate flavor pop more and more complex.
Coffee instead of water, brown butter instead of oil, flaky salt on top.
But honestly, like what everyone else said, they’re pretty perfect as-is.
Add in salted caramel chips!
Melted butter instead of oil; applesauce instead of eggs (this is my go-to); coffee, hot chocolate, or milk instead of water. Sometimes, I also sub sweetened condensed milk for water, and I love those brownies! But, I never do all those subs in the same mix, so I don’t know how that would taste.
Literally went to Costco last night and I’m kicking myself for not getting this.
Only thing I would think is to sub the oil for butter and take it a step farther and do brown butter, then add espresso powder as someone else said.
I add dry espresso powder or use coffee for part of the liquid. And I add toasted walnuts because we like them but you may need to leave them out for work because of allergies.
Honestly, this tastes about as close to homemade as I’ve ever had from a boxed brownie mix.
I always love getting a small zing of flakey salt to cut the sweetness a bit
Im so happy everyone else was here to say the same thing as I was thinking. Super good mix.
I use espresso or coffee instead of water and add a little cinnamon.
I also like to swirl things like biscoff or plop cookie batter on it before baking.
Jeez I remember when this was $8.99
I replace the water with coffee… OMG!!!!!!
Zest an orange. Its amazing and easy!
You don’t. They are perfection. Flake salt on the top
People post their home made brownies and l never understand. Brownies are one of the few things better from a mix than scratch!
when i had my twins, my 11 year old and i decided we would try every single brownie mix in our grocery store. we worked though them over the course of a couple months.
this was, hands down, the best. no question about it.
I use the same mix, but I replace the water with a shot of espresso and the remainder chocolate milk, replace the oil with browned butter. I also use the Alton Brown baking method – 15min @ 300deg, 15min rest outside the oven, then 40-45 more at 300deg. Of all the methods I’ve tried, this one makes the best texture!
If you want, mix in some chopped Andes Mints… I only do this for holiday parties in December