Chefs Umber Ahmad, Jürgen David, and Rhonda Saltzman are used to thinking outside the box when it comes to cooking; however, today on Epicurious we’ve asked them to give us their unfiltered, honest reviews of some prominent boxed brownie brands found on supermarket shelves. Which brownie packs the most bang for your budget, and which should you avoid at all costs?
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00:00We've gathered three professional chefs to blind taste test every boxed brownie brand
00:05We could get our hands on and see which ones meet their standards
00:11Pillsbury dark chocolate brownie mix not that much of a chocolatey smell. This looks like a nice thick brownie
00:18This is exactly what I would expect from a boxed brownie
00:20What I look for in a brownie is that intense chocolate flavor. There should be a richness in flavor
00:26It shouldn't be flat or empty. It's gotta have a crackly top. It's just the perfect textures
00:30I want my brownie to have a firmer edge and a softer center
00:34It should be either cakey fudgy or dense if that brownie is not one of those things then what is it?
00:39Is it a chocolate chip cookie? I don't think that's what we want
00:43It's a little drier than I would have expected
00:46This is definitely a cakey brownie see a lot of little air pockets air is not your friend when it comes to baked goods air
00:52Is gonna dry out whatever it is that you're trying to make and that's the opposite of what you're trying to achieve with a brownie
00:57The crackling top is very nice
00:58There is a little bit of a drier firmer edge and then the inside is a little bit softer
01:02It's lacking in that intense chocolate flavor that I love
01:06There's cocoa powder in here and not melted chocolate cocoa powder tends to give you a drier a mix
01:12Melted chocolate tends to have a little bit more fat in it. And the fat is what gives you that smooth fudgy texture
01:17I kind of almost feel like this might be a Guillermo Dali one
01:23Oh! I thought this might be it and then I totally doubted myself. Hey, Pillsbury. Whee!
01:28It says that it is a dark chocolate brownie. For me dark chocolate is the way to go because that makes it intense
01:33This definitely wouldn't hit you as dark chocolate. It's a lot sweeter than I expected it to be
01:39Guillermo Dali dark chocolate premium brownie mix. Look at that crackle. It seems to be a little denser
01:45Oh, I like the smell of this one. Like it has a little more vanilla than the last one
01:50Very thick but definitely fudgy. Crunchy, fudgy, pieces of chocolate. I think this has dark chocolate in it
01:57I like it because it's a little more chocolate forward than it was
02:01Sugar forward and the lingering taste in my mouth is definitely chocolate
02:05There are chocolate chips in this one. When you have chocolate chips in a brownie
02:08It disrupts that smooth velvety texture that you get on the palate. Since this is not warm
02:13The chocolate is not melted and it's hard so you get a little bit of extra crunch in that
02:16This is a little bit cookie-like. Where the center is more of that fudginess. If I had to guess the brand
02:23I might say that it's Ghirardelli. I'm gonna say that this is a Ghirardelli triple chunk chocolate. It feels like it's a more
02:29It's a fancier brand. So I'm gonna go back to the Ghirardelli actually. Am I gonna be right?
02:36Yeah, oh my gosh and it's dark chocolate, oh my gosh, I'm gonna play the lottery this is amazing
02:41I'm right
02:41It feels more authentically dark. This dark chocolate compared to the Pillsbury seems a bit more intense
02:47It may be a higher quality of chocolate. Dutch cocoa powder, cocoa butter. This is a higher quality brownie
02:54Dunekenhein's milk chocolate brownie mix. This looks like a blondie. This one isn't a light in color
03:00I for sure a hundred percent know that this is milk chocolate because of the lightness and color here
03:06Hmm this one's a little bit on the sweet side for me
03:09I'm getting more of those caramel notes because it's so sweet and so vanilla forward
03:13This feels like more like a milk chocolate Hershey's situation here. I would consider this a dense brownie
03:18There isn't a lot of crackly top
03:20You can see some parts of it are missing and it's almost
03:22Separating from the rest of the brownie firmness of this brownie has more of a softer center and a firmer edge here
03:28But not too far off
03:29You can see that it's really glistening which shows you that there's a lot of extra fat or liquid in the brownie
03:35Maybe it's Betty Crocker a great value brand. I would like to double down and say that this is Duncan Heinz milk chocolate
03:44I was right Duncan Heinz milk chocolate. Hello. How are you? It says thick and fudgy on the box
03:50I would not call this fudgy
03:52I think this milk chocolate brownie is a great choice for someone who enjoys chocolate, but not something that is intensely chocolatey
04:00I
04:04Smell sugar before I smell chocolate. It's not crackly. That makes me a little sad. That means that the sugar was not dissolved
04:10Maybe it was just mixed together
04:12Mmm, there's some strange crystals going on in here. Oh, that's what this tastes like it has dark chocolate in it
04:19But not enough to make it a really strong brownie overall
04:22It's very soft from edges all the way into the center can't even stand up to me holding it on the edge
04:28This is a cakey brownie when makes a cakey brownie cake here one
04:31It has less chocolate more flour
04:34You can whip a brownie to add more air into it is how you achieve that cakiness
04:38This one's falling flat for me when it comes to richness. I think maybe it's a Betty Crocker brownie
04:44Jiffy makes brownies
04:46Cornbread what I'm looking for in a fudge brownie is one that is fudgy the fudge in this brownie is not coming through
04:52You're adding egg oil and water. So the egg is meant to give you structure, which is good
04:57And because you're adding water, you're not giving the sugar the chance to make a craggly top for a dollar. This is fine
05:04I'm good with that. If that's a dollar then this is fine
05:09Great value fudge brownie mix. This is really nice and high. I like that. It looks like it's almost an inch thick
05:18Hmm it's fairly rich do really like the edge piece on this firm edge and soft center ratio is spot-on
05:25Yeah, it's very fluffy this one so you can see that there's a consistency to the inside of the brownie was mixed
05:30Well, it bakes. Well craggly top wish it was a little more intense with chocolate flavor, but it's definitely fudgy
05:36I would say this is on the cake here side of a fudge brownie
05:40I think this recipe used oil because really gives the brownie that moisture here
05:46Sometimes when brownies are made with butter it tends to dry it out or the crumb is a lot more
05:51Crumbly kind of feel that's maybe one of the fancier ones the fancier brands
05:56Great value, that's Walmart. No. Yes. It is the Walmart brand
06:01This one seems to have more vegetable oil in it
06:03Which is interesting because oil tends to give you a denser brownie than butter and I think it works Walmart. Not a bad job
06:12Trader Joe's brownie truffle baking mix. Where is the crackled top?
06:16It's fairly wet on top you can see chocolate chips in here they look like milk chocolate chips and it looks a little flat
06:25Whoo, this feels very sweet reminds me of fudge that you would get on a summer trip to the beach
06:31I'm getting a lot of richness coming through so I'm thinking possibly there's butter in this recipe. This is interesting
06:37It has almost the same firmness throughout. This is a fudgy brownie. I really like the chocolate intensity here
06:43This tastes like semi-sweet chocolate chips to me a semi-sweet chocolate chip is gonna have a little bit more of a sugar-forward flavor
06:49Than a dark chocolate. I would take another bite of this Oh
06:54Trader Joe's
06:55Brownie truffle baking mix
06:57I'm not sure why they call it truffle unless they think semi-sweet chocolate chips or truffles is
07:02Made with Dutch cocoa and chocolate chips the Dutch cocoa powder and this brownie definitely comes through Dutch processed cocoa powder does three
07:10Wonderful things that we love in pastry making it makes it easier to dissolve
07:13It has a deeper color and not as aggressively bitter as the unprocessed cocoa powder would be. I think this is a great brownie
07:23William Sonoma fudge brownie baking mix has a semi crackled top. It is definitely somewhat shiny here
07:31This brownie is crunchy like a chocolate cookie. It's kind of sweet
07:36I definitely have the salt coming through and it has an odd aftertaste to it
07:39Chemical flavor is not the right word, but there's something off about the chocolateness in this one
07:44You can see that it is very very dense definitely firmer on the outside than it is on the inside
07:49This is a fudgy brownie because it's a lot heavier a lot denser
07:52This looks like it has chunks of chocolate in it
07:54If you are going to use the larger chunks, maybe use a higher quality chocolate that will melt where these I feel like
08:01I'm crunching like an M&M. I wonder if this is a Hershey's situation
08:05I think it's probably Betty Crocker. What the heck? Oh
08:09William Sonoma, I didn't know they made that the William Sonoma fudge brownie mix
08:14This was not a great brownie. You need unsalted butter. You need eggs
08:18You need warm water and you need a brownie mix
08:20I think they use warm water in here because the butter is melted and they might not want the butter to solidify
08:26I get that this brownie is dense in its fudginess
08:30But that isn't what you're looking for in a brownie you want there to be chew that's gonna be dense
08:35You don't need it to sort of feel like a heavy heavy piece
08:39$15 for this box. Does it cook itself? This brownie feels more like an obligation than a treat
08:47Betsy Crocker and Hershey's triple chocolate fudge brownie mix
08:50It smells like the brownies that we used to get with school lunch, which I'm not mad about
08:55This one looks a little bit dry to be honest, the crackly top is missing a little bit here
09:00I am getting a lot of chocolate chips in here. It's almost too many chocolate chips
09:06This is very chewy feels more cakey. It doesn't have like that chocolate intensity. It's probably a semi-sweet mix
09:13I don't think this is milk chocolate
09:14This doesn't feel like it has a super high quality
09:16Chocolate in it when I turn the brownie upside down most of the craggly top came off and see that it's a bunch of holes
09:22That means if you don't eat these brownies today, they're gonna be dry by tomorrow
09:26This is a fudgy brownie firm and soft in the right places. I'm gonna say Betty Crocker for this one
09:33Hershey's and Betty Crocker triple chocolate fudge brownie mix. Why is this box so big a four pack?
09:39That's why chocolate chips chocolate chunks and dark Dutch cocoa. I do not feel that that's happening here. I'm very sorry
09:46I don't think triple chocolate is an accurate name for this brownie. I get that there's
09:50Three types of chocolate in there, but it doesn't triple the flavor or the intensity of the chocolate flavor as this would suggest
09:59Sticky fingers Dutch brownies sort of a blonde chocolate. It looks dense
10:05Kind of sticks to the roof of your mouth like it's peanut butter. I mean, there's no peanut butter
10:09It's not chocolatey at all. The crust is not as crusty as I wanted to be. Well, it's not a crackle top
10:15It lends to some texture variances
10:17This is very wet and dense throughout from edge to center
10:21It's just got so much liquid in the mixture that it just doesn't even have a chance to give itself a little bit of personality
10:28Thank You fingers
10:30Just add water mix and bake. Well, that's disturbing for this one. You don't have to add eggs butter or oil
10:37This is not normal to not add those things to this recipe dried egg in here already
10:43You really need an egg to make a brownie work the egg yolk will give you richness the egg white adds to water and that
10:50Also allows the sugar to dissolve which is giving you the crackly top for a mixture where you just add water
10:56It's better than I would have thought
10:59Simple Mills almond flour brownie baking mix. That's what it looks very brown
11:03This is a very matte colored brownie, which is usually not what you're looking for
11:07Definitely more on the cakey side and on the less sweet side
11:10There's something here that there's a little bit of an off flavor to me that is distracting from our chocolaty
11:14It should be tasting it doesn't taste like there's as much sugar in this brownie as other brownies
11:18Which again tracks because you're not getting the crackly top which comes from the sugar
11:22The texture is very much the same all the way throughout
11:24I find I wonder if that's an artificial sweetener or something or if it's a gluten-free one. Mm-hmm. Are you gluten-free?
11:31Simple Mills almond flour. Ah, so these are all gluten-free
11:35Almond flour is not flour. Almond flour is just what you refer to very finely ground almonds
11:41It's like how almond milk is not really milk. There's no, you know almond that you milk
11:46This uses organic coconut sugar as a sweetener. Yeah, this doesn't taste as sweet as it would with regular sugar
11:51The challenge with coconut sugar is it's not gonna dissolve into your ingredients as a regular sugar would in order to give you the crackly top
11:58And clearly it we didn't get it here. I'm actually allergic to coconut
12:02Betty Crocker supreme frosted brownie mix. Oh, does this have frosting on it? Who does that?
12:08Hmm, this is super dense chewy through and through I like that
12:12I really enjoy that topping on this it kind of melts in your mouth. It has like this velvety smooth texture
12:19I take just a bottom piece of the brownie
12:22There's not enough chocolate in it
12:24So in order to get the chocolate to melt in your mouth, you have to melt it in your mouth
12:29There's not enough chocolate in it
12:30So in order to get the chocolate flavor or level that you're looking for kind of have to add that frosting on top
12:36Which is much sweeter. It's nice and fudgy, but it's not as chocolatey as I want it to be
12:41It does have like a grittier texture on the palate but overall as far as chocolate intensity
12:45I think it pairs well with this brownie because it doesn't overpower the brownies. It actually has a nice moistness
12:50Betty Crocker the supreme frosted brownie mix. So here's where it starts to go south
12:57It's called chocolate flavored frosting which immediately implies that it's not actually chocolate chocolate frosting
13:03So that makes me a little bit sad. This is not a bad brownie. Make it eat it share it
13:09Otto's Naturals grain-free classic brownie mix. Okay, so it looks a little crumbly, bumpier, grittier could possibly be a
13:17gluten alternative brownie
13:20This actually has a crunchy crust to it
13:22Like you were to eat on the outside of a bread or something like that
13:25The edge is definitely firmer than the center very wet texture. That look is breaking. That's a no-no. What are you doing?
13:32I wonder if that's another gluten-free mix. In a way
13:35I feel like and I can almost smell the oil in here
13:37Do you get that richness because it's straight fat?
13:39It just won't fall somewhere in the middle between nuts and fudgy. This tastes like natural chocolate, but it doesn't have a homogeneous
13:46Lush taste to it. It's almost a little woodsy if that makes sense
13:49I don't know another way to put it
13:51But it feels like one of more of a natural brand or natural mix as opposed to one that's more commercially produced
13:58Otto's natural grain-free classic brownie mix. Avocado oil or neutral oil. I see they're trying to be healthy
14:06Cassava flour. It's derived from the cassava root, which is like very popular in either Africa, Jamaica
14:12It's more glutinous than other flours. If you would prefer to have a brownie that is wheat alternative
14:18I don't think it's a bad option
14:22Little Debbie's cosmic brownies. I
14:24Remember these this is my childhood. Wow. This is very dense. It's heavy. So this one's definitely fudgy
14:31I would say I don't even have to try that perfect cuts perfect top
14:35Perfect smell this is definitely meant to be shelf-stable. This can probably sit around for a long time
14:42Pre-packaged brownies typically have oil just for like preservation there feels like there is no moisture in this brownie at all
14:50Wow, that's not very good
14:52And I loved these, you know, it tastes exactly like how it did when I was a kid
14:57I didn't know any better and I didn't know what a great brownie had
15:00I feel like my childhood has been ruined if you want something really really really really really really really really fudgy
15:06That's the one it's not dry. It's just not moist at all
15:10It tastes a little bit like a chocolate protein bar has that sort of aftertaste to it
15:15The color is lovely, but I'm fairly certain that that was not achieved through actual chocolate. It's quite sweet
15:20The glaze is very even texture across the top a nice little distribution of the colored candies
15:27It's almost hard to get through because this brownie is so intense. This is a little Debbie cosmic brownie
15:34Coming to mama
15:35Oh that cosmic brownie this would be different than a box brownie because it has to have a lot more
15:40Preservatives in it anything you're making fresh in your kitchen should be eaten within the first couple of days or frozen
15:45You don't want to keep them on the shelf like you keep these in order to get the shelf stable that we definitely
15:50Sacrifice some flavor and some texture. I know these are aimed for kids, but I would still enjoy it. Even if it's not my favorite
15:58Keto and Co fudge brownies keto baking mix this looks very fudgy
16:02There isn't that craggly top to it that automatically implies is you probably have more moisture in here
16:10That's not a regular brownie there's something else in here it almost tastes like it hasn't been baked
16:15It's not very chocolatey strange aftertaste that right now
16:17I can't figure out what that is you think there's not enough sugar in here to balance out the bitterness of the chocolate it breaks
16:23More than it crumbles
16:25That's one of the things that separates a brownie from a piece of fudge is that it's gonna have crumb like a a cake
16:30crumb to it
16:32Keto and Co. Oh, no fudgy and rich brownies get out of here explains
16:37Why it's so dense because there's nothing flowery or cakey about it. Oh, haha
16:41No sugar added that makes sense and have to balance something that's bitter with something that's sweet something
16:47That's salty with something that's savory and if you only have one of those components, you're gonna get a flavor like this
16:52It also has a sugar replacer with a lot of things that I can't pronounce
16:56I don't think you can have a sugar replacement
16:59All the things the chemical makeup just cannot it just can't be the same this one has coconut flour in it another coconut one
17:06So this one isn't for me. Sorry as much as you want as a keto follower to have a brownie
17:12Probably better off just going with chocolate
17:16Bob's Red Mill gluten-free brownie mix
17:19This one looks like a dirt road. We have a crackly top on this one. It looks to be very dry
17:24Maybe milk chocolate here natural cocoa powder
17:29The sugar is the dominant flavor and not the chocolate. This is a wheat
17:34Alternative brownie. I'm getting some not specifically a grit but not a smooth velvety texture that like melts on my tongue
17:42There's no big distinction between the textures between the crust and the rest of the brownie, but it has a nice balance of
17:50Crumbcake crumb and fudginess to it. This is a crackly top but not something that we've seen before that's shiny
17:56This is more matte, I think the brownie presents better than it tastes
18:01It's Bob's Red Mill gluten-free brownie mix
18:04I was right two different types of rice flour potato starch and some other happiness in there
18:08I like rice flour because it tends to be lighter and it gives a little bit more sort of airiness and
18:15Levity to things it does add some nuttiness to it
18:17And I don't know that's that I can definitely taste the rice flour in this the brown rice flour
18:22Especially is something that sticks out this brownies thirsty
18:25It needs more moisture more eggs more oil more just really throw whatever you got at this brownie. It needs it
18:34King Arthur super fudge brownie. Oh, it's cute. Why is he round?
18:40This came out of a microwave. I say that because the top of it looks boiled
18:44You can see that there's a lot of little holes in the top. So little air bubbles have popped our smells like
18:50Raw cocoa
18:52We're sticking to my their move over my mouth
18:55So this is definitely fudgy doesn't have a balance of flavor to it. And it also has a really really weird texture
19:01It's like spongy on top
19:02I would say the chocolates pretty intense here
19:04But it tastes more like the chocolate that you would squeeze into milk
19:07You would think that it's cakey. But once you bite it, no, this is this is dense all the way
19:12It's just a one little texture on this one. Sadly, that's what happens when you bake things in the microwave
19:17It doesn't brown things just kind of cooks them and like makes them fluffy and then sets them
19:22there is a like a pudding like soft texture inside always the inside is really really hot while the
19:28Exterior is not as hot and that's how it cooks
19:32This is one of the little little packages that you buy for put it in the mug
19:38Or maybe it even comes with the mug. Does it come with the mug? Oh, it comes in a cup King Arthur
19:43Golden free again super fudge brownie. Well, definitely super fudge
19:47They're using a rice flour kind of explains a little bit of the sponginess when you use rice flour and baked goods
19:52What sometimes happens is they get that glutinous texture almost like a mochi brownie, which is like all the rave right now
19:59The rice flour is being better absorbed here because the water molecules are working
20:06Kodiak cakes protein packed fudge brownie mix. There's no scraggly top to it
20:11Everything from inside out is very firm
20:15This is very very dry
20:17It's screaming for milk to dunk. There is no fudgy cake. This is this is dense
20:22This does not taste very chocolatey overall sweet flavor and less of a deep rich chocolate flavor
20:28This really tastes like maple syrup to me. I do not enjoy this texture
20:32I feel that this brownie is trying to be healthy and it's not working
20:35I think it's Kodiak because they make like a protein pack brownie. That is more firm
20:41It's Kodiak
20:44Park City Kodiak
20:46Protein brownie, that's why it's because it's that's for the people that work out the protein in this recipe is coming from the whey protein
20:53Concentrate whole grain oat flour has cane sugar in it because cane sugar has a larger grain size
20:59It'll play in a little bit more into the texture of the brownie
21:02It's not going to dissolve completely in whatever liquid you have. You're not going to get a craggly shiny top on top
21:08You're also going to get more of a gritty texture because you're still gonna crunch into little bits of sugar
21:14I think that the maple syrup flavor is coming from the cane sugar
21:18Cane sugar is gonna have more of the molasses and more of the natural flavoring
21:22There definitely are better ways to get more protein into your diet
21:26Let's see which products our chefs like the most and the least
21:31Overall, I have a lot of sugar in me right now. Oh a lot of brownies
21:35My favorite is the Ghirardelli dark chocolate fudge brownie the level of chocolate intensity that that brownie had
21:41I also loved that it had chocolate chips that I could taste and bite into
21:45Ghirardelli one was definitely my favorite. It has a nice rich flavor. It was nice and fudgy
21:50I thought the Ghirardelli was great, but the Trader Joe's was better felt like I was getting a richer chocolate
21:56I like the chocolate chunks in there. That's my number one
21:59I might not be recommending the microwave brownies or some of the all-natural or high-protein brownies
22:06It takes away from the essence of why you're eating a brownie and got a stick with the brownie the Duncan Hines milk chocolate
22:14I would not call that a brownie. I think that it's more of a blondie and nothing's wrong with blondies
22:19But don't tell me I'm getting a brownie when this is a blondie
22:22Jiffy really was a letdown because I really feel like I can trust them with the cornbread and then the fudge
22:28Brownie that they said that was gonna be that did not work for me
22:31There's still nothing like a fresh baked bakery brownie
22:34But if you're looking for something that you can make at home, you definitely have some options