Growing up, I had a whisk in my hand before I could walk and was making seven-layer cakes before I turned seven. Baking has always been a huge part of my life, and nothing makes me happier than being in the kitchen, music blasting, while trying to hammer out a new recipe for someone I love.
However, sometimes we just don’t have the time to make fresh desserts, which is why there is a wide variety of boxed cake and dessert mixes you can choose from. Quality-wise, some are definitely better than others, and the mix that highlights these differences most? Boxed brownies.
My plan was simple: buy three boxes of brownies and see which one tasted best. The three brands I tested were Ghirardelli, Pillsbury, and Betty Crocker, each mix being the ‘Simple’ or ‘Original’ version, purely to act as my control group. My process was to bake each box by the recommended measurements, wash the bowl and whisk and start again. None of my little touches I usually use when making boxed brownies were allowed, this needed to be the raw, unfiltered recipe for me to get an accurate reading.
First up was the Ghirardelli box, which called for ¼ cup of water, ⅓ a cup of vegetable oil and one egg. I mixed the liquid ingredients together, then added the brownie mix and, strangely, the chocolate syrup it came with. The thing that struck me most about this mix was how thick it was, as it barely moved when I tried to scrape it into the tray. I legitimately thought if I baked it for too long, it would harden and turn into a brick. Even with all my doubts, I shoved it into the oven and started on my next batch.
Next up was the Pillsbury box, which immediately smelled like artificial sweeteners the moment I ripped open the packaging. It contained ⅔ cups of oil, ¼ cups of water and two eggs, by far the most liquid ingredients I needed. It truly showed, as this batter was so runny it felt like stirring water. I had no trouble pouring it into the tray, the only thing that gave me pause was that the box ‘recommended’ a 9×13 baking tray, which would make the brownies very thin. Though I was a bit uneasy about the size of the tray, I took Ghirardelli’s brownies out and the Doughboy’s brownies in, while I made my third and final batch.
Finally, I made the brownies of one of the most famous baking mixes in America; Betty Crocker. This recipe had me use three tablespoons of water, ⅓ cup of oil and one egg. Despite the minimal amount of liquid, the batter felt just the right consistency, like it would if I made it from scratch. I will say, this was my last batch of brownies and I was very tired, but I felt that this was going to yield the best results.
Once that batch was baked and cooled, it was time for testing. I grabbed my family, told them to close their eyes while they ate, and tell me the comments. For Ghirardelli, I received “It looks kind of hard, but it’s really, really moist. It’s definitely milk chocolate though, the cocoa flavor isn’t really there at all.”
My testers immediately started to bash Pillsbury, saying it had “No real chocolate flavor, or any actual flavor at all. It just tastes like sugar and preservatives. Also surprisingly hard?”
For the final plate, my testers immediately remarked how much it tasted like the real deal. As soon as the first bite was taken, I heard, “It’s very nice and not too sweet, the cocoa has more depth than the first and second batches by far.”
In the end, my three testers and I agreed on the same placements for the brownies: Betty Crocker, Ghirardelli and Pillsbury. While they were all easy to make, one clearly rose above the rest. Sorry Pillsbury, but Betty Crocker is taking the crown for best boxed brownie.
The three brownies: Ghirardelli (dark green), Pillsbury (light green) and Betty Crocker (yellow). I gave it to my testers in this order, and told them to tell me their observations as they were trying it, so they wouldn’t forget anything.
