Few treats celebrate the taste of chocolate quite like a good ‘ol brownie.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a better snack for scratching a serious chocolate itch.
There are countlessbrownie recipesout there nowadays for those who prefer to make them from scratch.
Photos: Aldi, Pillsbury, Zoe Strozewski for Eat This, Not That!, Betty Crocker, Walmart. Design: Eat This, Not That!
But is one brownie mix better than all the rest?
The packaging touts that these brownies have one-third fewer calories than the “leading prepared brownie mix.”
The 12.1-ounce box cost me $4.99, making it one of the pricier options I tried.
Zoe Strozewski for Eat This, Not That!
The taste:Lacking in chocolate flavor.
I also had a pretty big issue with the texture.
An 18-ounce box cost me $1.95.
Zoe Strozewski for Eat This, Not That!
The look:Like pretty much every other box brownie I’ve seen in my life.
The top was super glossy and crackly, while the interior was moist and fudgy.
The taste:Surprisingly bland.
Zoe Strozewski for Eat This, Not That!
Sugar, rather than chocolate, was the dominant flavor in these brownies.
They were crazy sweet and in desperate need of more cocoa and salt.
I ranked Specially Selected over Halo Top because the texture was much betterfudgy with a slight chew.
Zoe Strozewski for Eat This, Not That!
The box yielded a significantly smaller batch of brownies as a result.
The look:Not particularly exciting, but definitely more enticing than the dry-looking brownies pictured on the box.
These lacked the glossy, crackly effect I’ve come to expect in box brownies.
Zoe Strozewski for Eat This, Not That!
However, the color was dark and rich and the texture looked moist and dense.
The taste:Tasty enough but sort of forgettable.
An 18.4-ounce box was very affordable at just $1.79.
Zoe Strozewski for Eat This, Not That!
Pillsbury was yet another brand that suffered from this issue.
They were tasty enough, but the chocolate flavor was once again pretty humdrum and monotonous.
The 16-ounce box cost me $3.49.
Zoe Strozewski for Eat This, Not That!
The look:Almost exactly like the brownies pictured on the box.
But as an adult, my feelings are more mixed.
It’s a very middle-of-the-pack brownie, not particularly great or bad.
Zoe Strozewski for Eat This, Not That!
The 18.3-ounce boxcost me $1.69, making it one of the most affordable options in the taste test.
However, the color wasn’t quite as deep and rich as some of the other options.
Overall, Duncan Hines sells a very classic brownie mix at a ridiculously affordable price point.
The deep color and gooey texture of these brownies absolutely screamed “indulgence.”
The taste:Ghirardelli’s brownies had a quality that most of the other brownies lackedbalance.
I also detected a little bitterness that added some much-needed complexity to the flavor.
There was only one brownie mix that topped Ghirardelli in my ranking…
The 16-ounce box cost me $3.49.
The look:Trader Joe’s brownie mix produced an extremely thick batter that baked up super evenly.
The color was dark and rich, while the chocolate chips created melty, gooey pockets throughout the brownies.
These looked more like homemade brownies than box brownies.
The texture was fudgy and chewy without being too dense or rich.
The big chocolate chips added some delectable bursts of chocolate throughout the already delicious brownies.
And best of all, they weren’t overly sweet!
