How is Ghirardelli brownie mix so cheap? Am I missing something?

[Anonymous]

I’ve never had a good homemade brownie

[Anonymous]

I cook mostly from scratch but my 8 year old makes the ghiradelli brownies a couple times a month and we all love them.
A lot of the highly rated scratch brownie recipes like the katherine Hepburn recipe are similar to a low-flour chocolate tort I make—which is delicious but seems to me different than brownies as far as the texture.

I prefer the texture of scratch cakes unless I am using it for an ice cream cake base—the lighter crumb of the box mix freezes better than the dense, moist crumb of a from-scratch cake. (And sponge cakes don’t freeze all that well for ice cream cake purposes).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For people who say they make brownies from scratch, how often do you make brownies that you keep all ingredients in the pantry? For the maybe 3 or 4 times a year we make brownies, the box and using real butter instead of oil seems to work. And I really don’t think from scratch taste any better. If so, negligible and not worth the extra effort.

I used to make brownies from scratch, and they were good. I once had the Ghirardelli ones, though, and I honestly could not tell the difference (perhaps because my brownies also used chocolate chips?). I just didn't think it was worth it. My family isn't huge into baked goods, so it doesn't make sense to keep all the ingredients on hand because I don't go through them before they go bad. I used to bake a lot more, so then I did have everything in the pantry all the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I make brownies from scratch all of the time and the ingredients are unbleached flour, eggs, vanilla, butter, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and unsweetened baking chocolate.

Same, except I use Dutch cocoa powder, no baking power or soda. I melt the butter first in a pot then add in the cocoa powder, then the eggs and vanilla, then stir in the flour and salt. It couldn’t be easier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For people who say they make brownies from scratch, how often do you make brownies that you keep all ingredients in the pantry? For the maybe 3 or 4 times a year we make brownies, the box and using real butter instead of oil seems to work. And I really don’t think from scratch taste any better. If so, negligible and not worth the extra effort.

They is no “all the ingredients.” It is butter, flour, sugar, salt, eggs, Dutch process cocoa powder, vanilla. I always have these ingredients on hand whether I’m making brownies or not. The only thing i sometimes don’t have is the cocoa powder but I buy a couple at a time since I use it for many things

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For people who say they make brownies from scratch, how often do you make brownies that you keep all ingredients in the pantry? For the maybe 3 or 4 times a year we make brownies, the box and using real butter instead of oil seems to work. And I really don’t think from scratch taste any better. If so, negligible and not worth the extra effort.

They is no “all the ingredients.” It is butter, flour, sugar, salt, eggs, Dutch process cocoa powder, vanilla. I always have these ingredients on hand whether I’m making brownies or not. The only thing i sometimes don’t have is the cocoa powder but I buy a couple at a time since I use it for many things

Oh. I don't use cocoa powder for anything. And I rarely use baking powder or soda, to the point they probably go bad before I use it. Much easier to just dump a box into a bowl.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For people who say they make brownies from scratch, how often do you make brownies that you keep all ingredients in the pantry? For the maybe 3 or 4 times a year we make brownies, the box and using real butter instead of oil seems to work. And I really don’t think from scratch taste any better. If so, negligible and not worth the extra effort.

I used to make brownies from scratch, and they were good. I once had the Ghirardelli ones, though, and I honestly could not tell the difference (perhaps because my brownies also used chocolate chips?). I just didn't think it was worth it. My family isn't huge into baked goods, so it doesn't make sense to keep all the ingredients on hand because I don't go through them before they go bad. I used to bake a lot more, so then I did have everything in the pantry all the time.

This is literally incomprehensible to me. I have like a hundred follow-up questions to this, but I'll leave them be. You should do an AMA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve never had a good homemade brownie

Same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I make brownies from scratch all of the time and the ingredients are unbleached flour, eggs, vanilla, butter, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and unsweetened baking chocolate.

Same, except I use Dutch cocoa powder, no baking power or soda. I melt the butter first in a pot then add in the cocoa powder, then the eggs and vanilla, then stir in the flour and salt. It couldn’t be easier.

Ah but it could - just open a box of Ghiradelli, put in one egg, 1/4 cup water, 1/3 cup oil and go. Much easier.

I'm a baker...I have some cakes that are brownie like and are better then Ghiradelli double chocolate but no brownies from scratch that are. But, I haven't tried THAT hard.

On the other hand, I spent a few years trying to find a white cake recipe that was better then a Cake Doctor one based on a mix - and I couldn't. The consistency of Betty Crocker White cake mix is unparalleled lightness. And yes, multiple recipes, multiple flour types, shifting, creaming, etc. No scratch white layer cake can match it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For people who say they make brownies from scratch, how often do you make brownies that you keep all ingredients in the pantry? For the maybe 3 or 4 times a year we make brownies, the box and using real butter instead of oil seems to work. And I really don’t think from scratch taste any better. If so, negligible and not worth the extra effort.

They is no “all the ingredients.” It is butter, flour, sugar, salt, eggs, Dutch process cocoa powder, vanilla. I always have these ingredients on hand whether I’m making brownies or not. The only thing i sometimes don’t have is the cocoa powder but I buy a couple at a time since I use it for many things

Oh. I don't use cocoa powder for anything. And I rarely use baking powder or soda, to the point they probably go bad before I use it. Much easier to just dump a box into a bowl.

You don't need baking powder or soda for brownies. Really. Most brownie recipes do not call for them.

As for cocoa powder, it does not go bad. Really. Don't believe me? https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/11455-dont-toss-expired-cocoa-powder

Unsweetened bar chocolate lasts for years. I often use that in my brownies instead of cocoa powder. Depends on the recipe.

To the PP who asked about do we keep ingredients at hand for baking brownies all the time? Why yes, yes I do. Always have flour in the pantry. Always have sugar. Always have eggs in the fridge. Always have butter. Always have salt (not a necessary ingredient fyi, and most recipes do not call for it). Always have vanilla on hand, and that stuff lasts forever because of the alcohol. I don't use baking soda/powder in my brownies but those are always in my pantry because I bake all the time. You can get small boxes of those that will last in freshness up to a year if stored correctly.

I don't think box brownies are worth the calories myself. But everyone has different taste. To each her own!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I make brownies from scratch all of the time and the ingredients are unbleached flour, eggs, vanilla, butter, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and unsweetened baking chocolate.

Same, except I use Dutch cocoa powder, no baking power or soda. I melt the butter first in a pot then add in the cocoa powder, then the eggs and vanilla, then stir in the flour and salt. It couldn’t be easier.

Ah but it could - just open a box of Ghiradelli, put in one egg, 1/4 cup water, 1/3 cup oil and go. Much easier.

I'm a baker...I have some cakes that are brownie like and are better then Ghiradelli double chocolate but no brownies from scratch that are. But, I haven't tried THAT hard.

On the other hand, I spent a few years trying to find a white cake recipe that was better then a Cake Doctor one based on a mix - and I couldn't. The consistency of Betty Crocker White cake mix is unparalleled lightness. And yes, multiple recipes, multiple flour types, shifting, creaming, etc. No scratch white layer cake can match it.

I don't see much difference in how easy either of the recipes are above. 6 ingredients vs. 3? Both made in one pot/bowl? Meh. Plus you don't need the salt in homemade brownies, so it's really 5 ingredients vs. 3.

The thing I don't like about box brownies or cakes is the flavor. Sorry, but I can always tell something is out of the box because the flavor is off--maybe because of the oil? I grant you that cakes are fussy and getting the perfect rise and crumb is tricky with cakes made from scratch. But the sacrifice of flavor by using a cake mix (or brownie) just isn't worth it to me. Butter always brings out flavor in a way that oil does not -- unless it's an olive oil cake, but that's a whole different thing (try this! https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/olive-oil-cake). I absolutely believe it that you and others can't tell the difference in flavor, but I and others sure can. So, not for me.

My go-to brownie recipes are the Baker's one bowl or the Katherine Hepburn brownies, and when I want to get fancy I use an amazing recipe the Washington Post published many years ago. I don't even know if it's online, I cut it out and transferred it into my recipe book way back when it was published. It's more complicated than most recipes and uses both cocoa and bar chocolate, but man is it worth the extra effort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve never had a good homemade brownie

Same.

Ditto!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here you go, PP:



Other than the details of flour, etc, it's just this:

sugar, flour, vanilla, salt, soybean oil, baking soda, chocolate components (cocoa and bittersweet chocolate chips) and some unspecified artificial flavor, not necessarily in that order

I'm assuming the flour subcomponents are pretty standard, but maybe PP grinds her own wheatberries, or something. The chemicals! Auuagha!

+1

This list is pretty tame, unless you just simply never purchase baked goods.

[Anonymous]

Using oil makes them gross. You have to use melted butter instead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here you go, PP:



Other than the details of flour, etc, it's just this:

sugar, flour, vanilla, salt, soybean oil, baking soda, chocolate components (cocoa and bittersweet chocolate chips) and some unspecified artificial flavor, not necessarily in that order

I'm assuming the flour subcomponents are pretty standard, but maybe PP grinds her own wheatberries, or something. The chemicals! Auuagha!

+1

This list is pretty tame, unless you just simply never purchase baked goods.

Oh, wait a minute. This box is for a mug brownie. They make such a thing?? I only make homemade brownies but I would totally buy boxed mix for a supersize mug brownie!