Today is the first day of February, the time to (hopefully) start enjoying the outside more by cleaning off the swing set, taking out bicycles, and ignoring that little thing called Valentine’s Day. What better way to celebrate a new month than with brownies?
When I ran yearbook bake sales in high school, the one food that went without exception were brownies made from a box. People just like them. Once you get to a certain level of cooking/baking, serving a box mix feels like a stab through the heart. Instead, we make recipes that rival boxed brownies. These are just as sugary and fudgy as the ones you get from a Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker mix. They’re also the same that I used in my grasshopper brownies but the recipe is good enough that it needs its own post. I mean, don’t they just look that good?
Better-Than-Boxed Brownies
Ingredients(Makes 16 2’-inch brownies):
- 1 1/4 cup flour(I used gluten-free all-purpose flour)
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4oz(1/2 cup) semi-sweet chocolate or chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup cooking oil
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 egg
Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Melt the chocolate and mixing it with the cooking oil. Next mix in the water, sugar, extract, salt, and cocoa powder. Sift in the flour and baking powder and mix until just combined.
Grease an 8×8 baking pan and pour in the batter. Cook for 25 minutes until the center is just cooked. Wait until they have cooled to cut.
Giveaway
The people at CSN Stores have offered one US/Canadian reader a $35 gift certificate to any of their online stores. There are 3 simple ways to enter; please leave a separate comment for each one.
1. What’s your favorite childhood dessert? or what dessert are you looking forward to eating this month?
2. Follow me on Twitter(or just say if you already do)
3. Like me on Facebook(or just say if you already do)
This giveaway ended February 5th
These look delicious! I’m one of those people who thinks no brownie is better than Giradelli’s boxed mix. So I never make them from scratch. I just might have to try these 🙂
Favorite childhood dessert = my mom’s English toffee bars! The recipe came from some old school Hershey’s cookbook. She makes them every time I come home 🙂
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I LOVE boxed brownies, but I can’t bring myself to make them anymore. I will try this recipe soon! On top of brownies, my favorite childhood dessert were my Grandma’s Chocolate Chip cookies. I liked the dough/cookie part so much she often made a plate with only a few chips in each cookie for me.
Yum! I’ve been looking for a good brownie recipe. Going to bake these as a special Valentine’s treat for the hubby. As for favorite childhood desserts, it would have to be my grandmother’s sour cream chocolate cake with better than sex chocolate icing…with a scoop of vanilla frozen yogurt (although we just had plain ice cream growing up…not knowing anything about nutrition during those days). Yum!
Already a follower on twitter! 😀 @chocandcarrots
And already liked on facebook! 🙂 Thanks for the giveaway!
My mom made an amazing cheesecake. So, that is definitely a favorite childhood dessert!!
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my fave childhood dessert were those tassies with the resees mini plunked into the middle. so rich and tasty! after 5 you feel sick but hey that never stopped anyone lol.
Cocoa powder makes the BEST brownies! Love these.
My favorite childhood dessert was definitely my mom’s cocoa cookies. They were really cakey and fudgey. At the same time. Miraculous, really.
Favorite childhood dessert: tollhouse cookies over ice cream. Mmmm….
I already follow you on twitter.
My fave childhood dessert is sticky toffee pudding. YUM!
I just made marshmallows for the first time, so i’m excited to have them in some hot chocolate tonight!
Evan you are the brownie king! My favorite childhood dessert was ice cream and my mom’s chocolate chip cookies – I like to keep things simple 🙂
And I already follow you on Twitter!
Already follow you on twitter…
…and like you on FB!
My favorite dessert as a kid was homemade chocolate chip cookies!
These brownies look great!
I loved and actually still do love the original rice krispie treats.
My favorite childhood dessert was my mom’s Rice Krispie Treats! We would always make them together – simple and delicious!
This is so not gourmet- but my favorite dessert as a kid was 4 marshmallows (the big ones), each with a single M&M on top, microwaved for about 10 seconds. Pure sugary deliciousness
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My fav childhood dessert are my dad’s mini cheesecake bites..Oh man they are sinful, delicious, and I can eat them by the handful 😉
Rice Krispie Treats. They were the first dessert I was allowed to make on my own before I was permitted to light the oven without supervision.
My favorite dessert(s) (I can’t pick one!) were chocolate chip cookies and brownies!
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I am looking forward to eating a NEW, as-of-yes-undetermined dessert that I will make for a Valentine’s get-together!
My favorite childhood dessert was (and still is) canolis. Its not a usual one, but the first time I had it my world was changed! 😉 And I follow you on twitter 🙂
My favorite childhood dessert funfetti cake! Not very creative, but fun!
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I love Neiman Marcus cookies! I have been meaning to veganize them for some time now.
And I follow you on Twitter.
Favorite childhood dessert – my grandmother’s strawberry pie. She made it for my birthday each year with an almond crust so it’d be GF and it’s out of this world!!
My favorite childhood dessert was ice cream and still is!
I love dark chocolate, and always look forward to eating it (every month!)
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I love plain old fashioned chocolate chunk cookies. A lot……my hips demonstrate this.
YUM! You and brownies, man…killer combo! They always look so rich and moist! Someone brought in brownies today to the break room and I had my hands in one…at 7am. Oops. So worth it.
I am looking forward to the red velvet cake I am going to make for Valentine’s Day 🙂
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S’mores are my favorite childhood dessert! Love the simplicity of them!
I already follow you – and your tweets are just too darn funny!
No question, icecream!!! Loved it as a kid, and still love it… It has calcium right? Kind of good for you? 😉
i loved rice crispy treats as a kid!!! i now know how to make pb ones which are even BETTER!
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I loved my mom’s noodle kugel as my favorite dessert (and still do!)
favorite dessert? how could i pick just one?
homemade: smore brownies
not homemade: frozen yogurt loaded with toppings
already a follower on twitter and a liker on fb!
My mom’s caramel brownies are my favorite childhood dessert! Yum!
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I totally agree with your sentiments on serving boxed baked goods! Someday my family will understand me…Maybe 😉
Those brownies sound really great. I think my fave childhood dessert was a peach cobbler. Maybe because it was a super rare treat.
I follow you on twitter (@hriacobacci)
As much as I prefer homemade everything, there are a couple of brownie mixes that are really excellent (ex. the super expensive william sonoma mix!). I am looking forward to making and eating a vegan cupcake I tried in Boston this past weekend.
I already follow you on twitter:-)
I loved my Gram’s date bars 🙂
I follow on Twitter as fink_girl
I loved when my dad made bubble bread on snowy days on the coal stove. Wish I could do it now that it’s snowing!
I always requested yellow cake with chocolate frosting for my birthday growing up. My tastes have changed a little… now everything I make has beans or veggies in it haha but I love it!
I’m looking forward to requesting a shipment of coconut flour banana bread from the momma.
i always loved apple that my mother cut into little pieces!
I always got an ice cream cake for my birthday. Mint chocolate chip + chocolate cake.
my favorite childhood dessert? omg that is hard! I would say my favorite was my mom’s homemade banana nut cake with homemade icing 🙂 so amazing!
This month I am looking forward to eating Birthday Cake!
I already like you on FB (and I am still lol about getting out the bikes! Only if I put a snow plow on the front of it!)
I already stalk, oops follow you on Twitter
I LOVE sugar cookies. No mess, no frills. Easy and simple. 😀
I already follow you on twitter. 🙂
And I just liked you on Facebook (Why I didn’t before, I have no idea!)
my favorite childhood dessert was chocolate croissants!
My mother in law makes the best (literally THE BEST) New York cheese cake in the world. I am a lac-tard, so have to settle for my own version of “cheese” cake, which is made with soy (and pumpkin puree), but it’s pretty awesome. Still, nothing measures up to the original.
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My favorite dessert from child was peanut butter pie. Cracker Barrell used to have the best PB pie and whenever we went there we always got a piece, even if it was 7:00 in the morning.
Looking forward to making my own girl scout cookies this year! Starting out with thin mints and then progressing from there!
my favorite childhood dessert was Dairy Queen ice cream cake! i used to always request that for my birthday, and attempt to get a nearly horizontal slice so as to maximize the chocolate/fudge/cookie-to-vanilla ratio haha
MM my favorite was always cookie cake. We had those on our birthdays instead of regular cake!
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fave dessert lately is my special k bars w/ choc frosting. how can peanut butter, butter, sugar and chocolate be wrong?
Brownies are great, but blondies are my favorite!
My favorite childhood dessert were those chips ahoy chocolate chip cookies crushed up in milk! haha Thinking about that grosses me out now :/
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I am SO excited to recreate an avocado-based chocolate mousse I had on Sunday! It was to. die.
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My favorite childhood dessert were these no-bake marshmallow chocolate chip bars my grandma made. Ridiculous. I’m looking forward to sampling some of Averie’s PB cups that I am going to make for one of my tattoo artists to give to his girlfriend on Valentine’s in exchange for a tattoo. 🙂
my mom’s red velvet cake all the way!
followin’ on twitter (peasontoast)!
I follow you on FB now. 🙂
i follow you on twitter (ellen1214)
Favorite childhood desert was (okay, IS) chocolate chip cookies. Yum.
Always and forever, cookies <3
Heh!
My favorite childhood dessert is so plain — Angel Food Cake! But somehow I’ve never made it, all of the whipping egg whites is a bit daunting, perhaps I’ll try it out this month!
My favorite childhood dessert- my mom’s chocolate chip bundt cake!
And I’m following you on Twitter 🙂
My favorite childhood dessert would have to be cupcakes. With lots of frosting.
I’m already a fan on facebook!
I’m looking forward to eating girl scout cookies this month!
For some reason, I think people are intimidated by making brownies from scratch… I know that I certainly am! It’s probably totally unfounded… now that I’ve finally gotten a good mixer I need to be more adventurous.
Jessica
Oh my favorite dessert would be coconut cake or pecan pie and yum yum. I can’t wait to have some.
As someone who was a chunky little kid, I had a lot of favorite desserts. But, one that stands out (and is still a favorite to this day!) are those layered bars with graham cracker crusts, coconut, butterscotch and chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk, walnuts, and whatever else I’m forgetting… we’d have them at Christmas, and they were one of my favorite things about the holidays!
Pound cake and custard!! Are your brownies floating??
I can’t see a plate!
my favorite childhood dessert was….i can’t pick one, but my favorite high school dessert was fresh raspberries in a hot caramel sauce…i look forward to eating (and making) vegan pretzel and peanut butter truffles!
i already follow you on twitter (@LaraZain)
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Have to say, one of the most shocking things I discovered when I went on exchange in America a few years ago was the ubiquity of boxed mixes. I’ve never known anyone in my life in Australia to sue a boxed mix for anything. honestly blew my mind!
My mother makes these awesome shortbread cookies with sliced almonds and cinnamon on top. I love them so much, I requested she make them for my baby shower.
fave dessert… how did you read my mind? i’m actually doing homework on buying an ice cream maker because i want to put your vegan ice cream recipes to use. cookie dough ice cream!!
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aaaaaaaaand following you on twitter @nutellacube
These brownies are next on my list!
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My mom’s sweet noodle kugel! Yum!!
My favorite childhood dessert was BROWNIES. I love brownies. and i agree with you that once you get to a certain level of culinary experience (it’s not much, by the way) the box stuff just tastes well…like it came out of a box. i can no longer eat boxed cake. it tastes like splenda to me!!
My favorite dessert as a child was devil’s food cake with cream cheese icing. Hands. Down. 😀
i really loved chocolate pudding – the heat and stir kind – when i was a kid.
When I was a kid I LOVED chocolate chip bars! My mom made them pretty rarely but I remember getting them at bake sales! YUM! I loved the doughy cookie part best, the chocolate chips were secondary to me.
I follow you on twitter (corgipants)
I love strawberry shortcake.
My grandmother made the best oatmeal raisin cookies..she’d plump the raisins in hot water and her cookies were always perfectly formed and fantastic.
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Facebook fan: Michelle Hudak
One of my favorite childhood desserts was upside-down pineapple cake!
I follow you on Twitter @FunFearlessBean
My fave childhood dessert was Angel Food Cake. Hoping to find a successful vegan version someday!
I’ve never made brownies as good as the boxed ones, I’ve given up! Brownies are my all time favorite and I think I may try again with this recipe!
Brownies were always my favorite growing up. I think they were the first thing I ever baked! This V-day I’m looking forward to an over-the-top restaurant dessert though.
Oh, and consider yourself liked. Facebook-style. 🙂
Brownies have always been a favorite of mine, I would have to say that pecan pie was #1 growing up. Anything with nuts/chocolate is a plus in my book.
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My favorite childhood dessert was rice krispie! My mom used to make it and I was obsessed with them!
Favorite childhood dessert = ice cream! Actually that’s still my favorite dessert.
I follow you on Twitter.
I just love a banana split!
My fav childhood dessert is Mississippi Mud Brownies.. they are amazing!
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Oh my gosh, so hard to pick my favorite childhood dessert…. I guess I’ll go with chocolate chip cookies since they were the first thing I learned how to make! 🙂
I already follow you on Twitter! 🙂
Picking a favorite dessert’s tough–I used to love Key Lime pie and pumpkin ice cream (never tried them together, probably never will). On the less sweet side, homemade apple cake is great.
All time favorite dessert is s’mores! I have been known to eat a lot….they are so delicious!
I always loved Special K bars as a kid!
I follow you on twitter.
I can’t wait to eat chocolate chip cookies this month. I just need to make them first. 🙂
My favorite childhood dessert is chocolate chip cheesecake!
Favorite childhood dessert by far was my mom’s banana bread!
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My favorite childhood dessert is cheesecake, or carrot cake yum!
I made Jenna’s heath blondies the other day soooo yeah, that pretty much made treat of the month even though we’re only four days in.
I’m already a twitter follower! And dare I say you’re easily one of my favorite tweeters? Twitterers? Good lord. whatever.
Just liked you on fb!
brownies and ice cream! i still have it all the time when i go home to mama + daddy e’s house!
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My favorite childhood dessert was my grandma’s red velvet cake with seven minute frosting. I have yet to try a red velvet cake that tastes as good! I think it still ranks among my top favorites. Mmm…
My favorite childhood dessert was French silk pie!
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I follow you on Twitter! @FakeGradSchool
I have always loved a good chocolate chip cookie fresh from the oven.
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Liked you on fb – suburbsanity.
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I follow you on Twitter!
Just “liked” you on FB!
My mom was never much of a baker when I was growing up but one of the best memories I have was breaking out the Easy Bake Oven and creating all sorts of treats (even if they did sometimes taste a little weird…hey, it’s cooked by a lightbulb, not exactly gourmet!)
My favorite is date nut loaf that my grandma made every Christmas.
I’m following on twitter @rusthawk.
Liked your facebook page. Thanks for the entries!
absolutely loved worms in dirt!! mmmm soo good, although I can’t remember too much except chocolate pudding, oreos, and gummy worms!!
[…] also a big chocolate fan with vanilla ice cream. I started with Evan’s Better Than Box Mix Brownies and then tweaked them to […]
I just made these and I got some issues:
1- they are crumbly… as in I can’t even cut them they just turn to crumbs
2- very dry… as in drier than cake
3- no real chocolate taste…
I followed your recipe to a T… so no idea why they came out like this and I have been baking and creating my own recipes for years… I have never had anything like this happen before