A few weeks ago when I asked you to look deep into your soul and tell me about your favorite brownies, there was an undeniable theme. The great majority of you admitted that you only have eyes for box-mix brownies. And really, what’s not to love? The brownies always turn out gooey, chewy and with that wonderful thin crackly crust on top. While I love baking from scratch and have tried countless brownie recipes, you always know what you’re getting with a box-mix brownie, and for most, it’s the best. Just last summer I was at a get together and after eating one of the brownies that was out on a platter, I was pretty darn sure it was the best brownie I had ever eaten. I asked the hostess for the recipe and she said that they were the Ghiradelli triple chocolate box mix from Costco, slightly underbaked. Perfection, indeed. I could have eaten the whole plate myself. And I was convinced that I would never need to bake a brownie from scratch ever again.
You’re probably wondering where I’m going with all of this box-mix brownie talk. Well it so happens that about a week after I asked for your favorite brownie in the giveaway, my new issue of Cook’s Illustrated
For those that aren’t familiar, Cook’s Illustrated
According to the article about the brownies, the key to the texture of the beloved box-mix brownie is the ratio of saturated to unsaturated fat. The box-mix brownies have a 28% to 72% ratio while a classic brownie recipe has a 64% to 36% ratio. Big difference! The major factors in creating this chewy brownie recipe to mimic the box-mix include: using a mix of butter and vegetable oil, a mix of cocoa powder and melted chocolate, and extra egg yolks. I guarantee that if you are in the box-mix brownie camp, this recipe will wow you. Another huge bonus is that this is still a one-bowl recipe with only a whisk and spatula needed.
If you have been torn between your love for box-mix brownies and your love of baking from scratch, you no longer have to choose!
Recipe notes:
♦ For the chewiest texture, it’s important to cool brownies completely before cutting.
♦ If your baking dish is glass, cool the brownies 10 minutes, then remove them from the pan to a wire rack (otherwise, the heat retention of glass can lead to overbaking).
One year ago: Baked Oatmeal
Two years ago: Royal Crown’s Tortano
Three years ago: Mexican Rice
Chewy Brownies
Yield: 24 brownies
1/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa
1½ teaspoons instant espresso (optional)
½ cup plus 2 Tablespoons boiling water
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted
½ cup plus 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2½ cups (17½ ounces) sugar
1¾ cups (8¾ ounces) all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon salt
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into ½-inch pieces1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9×13-inch baking pan with foil, leaving about a one-inch overhang on all sides. Spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Whisk cocoa, espresso powder, and boiling water together in large bowl until smooth. Add unsweetened chocolate and whisk until chocolate is melted. Whisk in melted butter and oil. (Mixture may look curdled.) Add eggs, yolks, and vanilla and continue to whisk until smooth and homogeneous. Whisk in sugar until fully incorporated. Add flour and salt and mix with rubber spatula until combined. Fold in bittersweet chocolate pieces.
3. Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake until toothpick inserted halfway between edge and center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack and cool 1½ hours.
4. Using foil overhang, lift brownies from pan. Return brownies to wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour. Cut into 2-inch squares and serve. Brownies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
(From Cook’s Illustrated
See more: America's Test Kitchen, Brownies, Brownies, Chocolate
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I hope I can wait to cut into these:)
OMG those look so good!! I love that they did a recipe that tries to mimmic the boxed version of something! I want to make this so badly! For once being able to say that I made better-than-the-box brownies!
oh my god those look amazing. I love chewy brownies, those cakey ones just aren’t good if you ask me! I will be making these pronto!
mmm yum!! they look great especially after my brownie fail this weekend… i’m still craving them. fyi – low/no fat brownies = no good
I did a brownie post this week, too! Ha! Great minds. And I love America’s Test Kitchen recipes–they are always so right on and so fascinating to read the notes! Will definitely be trying this one.
Great brownie tips! I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to eat just one of these. I always appreciate the testing and re-testing that America’s Test Kitchen goes through to get the perfect recipe. I have their Family Baking Book and it’s fantastic!
Wow, I am salivating. The cracky top won me over.
I think that homemade is always better than bought. But when it comes to homemade brownies, they’re just not as good as the boxed mix. I’m going to have to try this recipe very soon!
crackly, not cracky. I am going to get coffee now, to wake me up…
I love brownies, LOVE THEM! These look so great! I love a crackly top and soft inside. Yum!
you know last week i totally overindulged in some awesome brownies and swore them off…until now! these look SOOOOOOOO incredible, way better than store-bought mixes!
CI is the best cooking magazine around, imo. The brownies look spectacular. Heh, those Ghiradelli mixes are definitely a step above Betty Crocker.
Agh! That’s the brownie recipe I tested for them. I was hoping it would never get published, and I could use it as my secret brownie recipe forever. No such luck! But I have to say, this really is the very best from-scratch brownie recipe I have ever tried. (And I would definitely use the instant espresso.) Your pictures are beautiful and mouthwatering as always. I’m so glad I made a batch of these not too long ago and froze some of them!
wow, so much science behind a brownie…who knew?!? These look perfect, so I have no choice but to make them!!
You’ve done it again! These look fantastic!
I am so glad you posted this. I just picked up this cooks illustrated and wanted to know how this recipe would turn out. These look so yummy!
You got me…those look unbelieveable! The inside looks so perfectly fundgy. I can’t wait to try them! And how interesting about the fat ratios. I never would’ve thunk!
oh my those look fantastic. I’m totally going to make them stat. Thanks for posting!
I had definitely earmarked that recipe when our Cook’s Illustrated arrived, and now you’ve made me want to move it to the top of the list. YUM!
Brownies are always my favourite, especially those chewy ones. Yours look very mist and chewy….mmmm
I own the book. But, have not made the brownies. Looks great.
I read this article too! I love how they scientifically talk about each component and what it does. I actually love the brownie recipe I’ve made for the last, oh, dozen times I’ve made brownies. But these do look tempting…
Oh, what a dreamy thought…chewy, ooey, gooey, yummy brownies. MMMM My friend make a Chocolate Caramel Brownie to serve with our lunch today. I could have eaten the whole pan!!
those look SO good! the people at cook’s illustrated sure know how to do it right!
I would like a few (pans) of these right now! Yum
Yum, yum and yum! Looks so good and I”m sure it tastes good too! Brownies is my weakness, especially the gooey, oooey type. Thank you for posting this.
If I ever get married, my cake will be brownies – that’s how much I love them. Can’t wait to try out this recipe and fortify it will a little chili powder!
I have to say. The nerd in me loves that this all comes down to science.
Gotta love a fudgy chewy brownie. These look amazing.
Oh my. Those look like *just* the kind of brownies I love….moist and super chocolatey!
It’s a colleague’s birthday friday and I was debating making choc. chip cookies, but I think you may have swayed me. wow, look so so good!
I can’t wait to try this recipe! But, ummm…”For the chewiest texture, it’s important to cool brownies completely before cutting”…is this truly possible? Has it been done?
lol…
I am a HUGE fan of box mix brownies. I will definitely try these!!
These were the one item in the latest issue that I had to try – I need to make them soon! Yours look great!
Amazing! I love an ooey-gooey chewy brownie! I love Cooks Illustrated.
WOW … they look absolutely divine!
Those chewy, fudgey brownies look insanely delicious!!
Those do look like great brownies. Thanks for sharing!
Hi, Michelle. Finally! ATK tackled the chewy brownie conundrum (right texture but little flavour or vice versa).
I’ve bought books on brownies, to no avail. in seeking the perfect chewy version. This looks very promising, and I’ll report in a few days. I have high hopes, as ATK never fails, in my experience.
Thanks so very much,
Dan
in all my brownie making, for the chocolate ingredient its always been either melted or powdered – never thought what a combo of the two would do! same with the butter and veg oil. hmmmmmmmmmmm i think there’s going to be just ONE MORE recipe to add to the repertoire!(i wish LOST wasn’t on tonight – ’cause i’d be heading into the kitchen right now!)
My daughter is in love with the boxed brownies. I just baked the King Arthur brownies and she said they were almost as good at the Ghirardelli. I’ll have to give these a try.
oh those look delicious! I’m drooling…I wish I could have one right now
good, so hungry:) thanks for share their knowledge
Chewy brownies are the best brownies! I can’t stand dry, cakey ones. Ick!
Great recipe and pics thanks for the info.
A great recipe, so easy to bake! absolutely delicious
I made these last night. I only had natural cocoa, not dutch-processed, so I added a dash of baking soda.
I cooked at 325 degrees since I have a convection oven.
I ended up cooking about 38 minutes…though I still felt that they were a little underdone. Are they supposed to be quite soft? Or maybe it’s because I used the wrong type of cocoa?
Yours also came out a tad thicker than mine. I used a 13×9 pyrex dish.
They r so beautiful n tempting!
What gorgeous beauties are these!!! Makes me cry for these, coz I am unable to pick them off from my monitor screen. Absolutely amazing!!!
So glad to have someone openly post about the brownie box mix love so many of us secretly share! But now I’m even happier–I can’t wait to have “box mix brownies” that I can make from scratch!
Just to let you know, my office is RAVING about these today! They all agree I live in a very, dangerous house
Love you!!
I have that recipe bookmarked in the magazine. Now I know I have to try it!
I’m SOOOOOO trying these!
I love the level of detail of America’s Test Kitchen
These brownies look sinfully delicious.
those pictures of yours were sooo good – that I baked them today!
i half the recipe and reduced the sugar to 70% (asians don’t like our stuff too sweet) and while they were nice, not as chewy as i expected….and sure didn’t look as good as yours! mine looked kindda….cakey? maybe it hasn’t cooled down completely.
interesting to fold the bittersweet chips in instead of melting – retains the chocolately-ness in a subtly way. definitely not the richness brownie, but i’m sure some pple like it tt way!:)
why is it absolutly necesary to cool them before cutting into them, does it affect the texture/chewy factor?
Chew brownies are always the best! Thanks for sharing the recipes and some tips on how to come up with this. I will try this sometime and see how it works out for me.
Nailed it, indeed! I had to check out the full article after your delicious looking brownies, and CI sure did their homework! These are definitely the best brownies I’ve ever made…the texture is just perfect and they sure pack a chocolately punch! Thanks for sharing this recipe with everyone!
Even though I have a trusted brownie recipe, I am going to try these, because they look so good! You’re right, box brownies aren’t really that bad, and the best thing is, they are consistent
I have my pan in the oven as I write this! I’ll let you know how they turn out. I didn’t have unsweetened chocolate so I used semi-sweet…
So they turned out pretty good. Not better than the Ghiradelli box mix from Costco though, so I figure I might as well stick with that. They were better than any from scratch recipe I’ve tried
@Deanna
Did you reduce the sugar in the recipe since you used semi-sweet? I’m planning on making this in a few weeks, but I couldn’t find bittersweet or unsweetened in my tiny local grocery store, so I bought only the semi-sweet chocolate….
Brownie Box Mix Do-over by Anne Bryn (Cakemix Doctor and my favorite cookbook “What can I bring?”). Take your brownie mix and add only 2 eggs and 1 stick butter almost melted. Bake 350 for 25-30 min. Let cool and place in fridge. THEY ARE SO GOOD AND FUDGIEEEEEE!
@S
Yes, I did reduce the sugar by almost half a cup! They were still sweet and delicious, especially after sitting for a day. Also, my baking time was closer to 40 minutes, after 30 minutes the middle was still raw. Everyone at work loved them when I brought them in on the weekend. Maybe I will make these instead of the boxed stuff…
These brownies are absolutely fabulous. I made some a couple of days ago with Easter-colored M&M’s for the first day of spring, and they were adorable and SO so delish. Fantastic!
One of my favorite brownie recipes requires a convection oven , but is the very best . It is from Sarah Leah Chase’s Nantucket Open House Cookbook .
Do try it…
I still love the box brownies too and will give this recipe a try !!
@Deanna: Thanks! I’ll post again about it when I make these in a few weeks!
But it’s impossible to wait to cut into the brownies knowing what is awaiting! I’ll have to try really, really hard.
Yes – I agree..I have been a HUGE fan of Barefoot Contessa brownies for years and after making the CI ones I will never go back. These are PERFECT.
These turned out really good! I like the coffee taste. It was definitely chewy and had a nice sheeny top.
i actually did a whole series on this last year on my blog…i was sick of my favorite brownies being from a box so i tried out a whole bunch of everyone’s favorite recipes.
if you do a search on http://serialbaker.com for brownies you will see the feedback ont he contestants. unfortunately i did not have a clear recipe winner, but fortunately we all got to eat a bunch of delicious brownies, so we were all winners!
Do you think this recipe will do well with WWF as I ran out of AP?
I just found your site through Annie’s Eats and am enamored with your photos and recipes! I love to bake and have recently been searching for the perfect homemade brownie recipe that yields a texture like the box mix and have been disappointed thus far. Homemade never seem to have the signature crackly top or the perfect crumb/chew of the box mix. I can’t wait to try this recipe, though there is part of me that hesitates to do one that has so many more steps than the easy box mix. However, my desire to cut back on processed foods wins this fight. Thank you for your work in tracking these down!