I Made Ina Garten's Brownie Pudding Recipe and It's Even BETTER Than You Can Imagine (2024)

FAQs

What can I add to brownie mix to make it taste better? ›

Most brownie mixes call for water. While water does the job, you can add some extra flavor and moisture by mixing some of that water with something richer, like milk. If you want to swap it out completely, be prepared for a more chewy and fudge-like brownie from the extra fat.

Adding baking powder or a combination of baking soda and cream of tartar to a brownie recipe makes it much more like chocolate cake, creating a lighter and airier texture.

Boxed Brownies:

Box brownie mixes call for vegetable oil as the shortening, which makes them nice and chewy. The chocolate comes from cocoa powder, which gives box brownies a lighter, less rich chocolate flavor than the homemade variety. Most people say brownies from a mix remind them of childhood.

If you opt to add more eggs, say double the amount, something interesting happens. Even though you are adding more moisture, the air bubbles that you catch in the extra eggs add volume, which decreases the density of your final product. This makes your brownies rise and gives them a much more cake-like texture.

We already know that adding espresso and coffee flavor to chocolate desserts supercharges chocolate flavor, and the same principle applies here. Using coffee in your brownie mix will result in better, more chocolaty brownies.

Oil Brownies: These were chewier with crunchier edges and a crunchier topping. They were more matte on top with a far less crinkly shiny brownie 'skin. ' They tasted more like box mix brownies. Butter Brownies: These were much fudgier, softer, and had a melt-in-your-mouth texture.

Milk is richer than water, so the brownies will be richer, and they'll be denser, like fudge. For the fudgiest brownie possible, swap all of the recommended water for milk — the extra fat will thicken the batter.

Without eggs, baked goods will become a little thinner and not rise as much in the oven. As long as you replace the moisture from the egg with milk, banana or applesauce, you can make brownies without eggs. And yes, this recipe makes thinner brownies than normal.

What happens if you add extra butter to brownies? ›

Whether you use butter, margarine, or vegetable oil, putting too much in your brownie batter causes it to be greasy. Don't worry, you're not alone. Many people fall into this trap when trying to substitute butter with oil.

Many brownie recipes don't contain baking powder or baking soda; these recipes tend to be for the dense, sometimes chewy, kind. Cakelike brownies usually contain a leavening agent, which helps give them their fluffy texture. The technique you use also makes a difference in the texture of the final product.

In addition to keeping your brownie mix fresh, refrigerating brownie batter can also help boost the overall texture and flavor of the treat. Refrigerating helps improve the gloss and crustiness of brownies while simultaneously blending the flavors—the result? — brownie that tastes much richer and chewier.

Ghirardelli's brownies weren't too sweet and had a denser, more fudgelike texture. They had the most intense flavor of the bunch, which I think came from the chocolate chips and the darker chocolate used in the batter. These were also fudgy, which is my personal preference for a brownie.

A clever hybrid between cake and cookie, brownies are a dense, chocolaty bar cookie baked in a rectangular pan; they can be fudge-like, cake-like, or anything in between. It was about three times more expensive to make the brownies from scratch than to use a mix, owing mostly to the cost of chocolate and walnuts.

Add a teaspoon of instant coffee or espresso powder. Throw in a handful of nuts—pecans, walnuts, macadamia, whatever you have on hand. Scoop in a palmful of dried or frozen fruit. Add an extra splash of the top-shelf vanilla extract, or a dab of vanilla paste, or a dash of vanilla powder, to the batter.

You can absolutely substitute butter for the vegetable oil. Use the same quantity specified in the directions (for example, if it calls for 1/3 cup of oil, use 5 1/3 tablespoons of butter). Melt it down, then let it cool a bit. You might not ever go back to oil!

Adding vanilla extract is also one of my favorite brownie mix hacks. This will enhance the flavor and make your brownies taste even better! It doesn't take much either, one teaspoon will do to make a difference in any baked good. Its best to add it to your brownies when you're making the batter.

The trick: Replace the water with coffee. You don't need much, generally ¼ to ⅓ cup. We already know that adding espresso and coffee flavor to chocolate desserts supercharges chocolate flavor, and the same principle applies here. Using coffee in your brownie mix will result in better, more chocolaty brownies.