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The Pancake Princess

The Pancake Princess

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Brownie Bake Off, Part II

by erika 18 Comments

Brownie Bake Off, Part II // The Pancake Princess

After our successful brownie bake off a few weeks ago, I felt pretty good about our results–but one gap remained. How would my beloved Ghiradelli boxed mix brownies stand up to the winners?

So, we decided to do a mini postscript bake off. We decided to compare Ghiradelli’s Double Chocolate boxed mix against:

  • The top two winners (King Arthur Flour’s fudge brownies and Sally’s Baking Addiction’s “seriously fudgy homemade brownies“)
  • The Kitchn’s chewy brownies (even though they were ranked at #4 overall in the tasting, they were my personal favorite of the bunch)
  • …as well as re-test Ina’s outrageous brownies (which we had fudged the first time around) while we were at it.

Brownie Bake Off, Part II // The Pancake Princess

So one Sunday afternoon, Jacqueline and I baked all 5 recipes and did an informal tasting with some friends that evening. We did a literal blind tasting–as in, I closed my eyes and had Jacqueline pick a brownie at random for me. We then discussed our thoughts and tried to guess which brownie it was.

Here were our unfiltered thoughts from the tasting:

thekitchn

The Kitchn

  • Erika: Chocolate flavor not as pronounced as KAF. Is this Ghiradelli? I like the chew, great texture. 7/10
  • Jacqueline: Good bittersweet, complex flavor. 8/10

SBA

Sally’s Baking Addiction

  • Erika: This is even chewier than [The Kitchn’s] brownie, but the flavor is meh. Is this Sally’s Baking Addiction? 5/10
  • Jacqueline: Good chips, lighter flavor, chewy. 6/10

inagarten

Ina Garten

  • Erika: Very chocolatey, with a soft, kind of chewy/fudgy consistency. Is this King Arthur Flour?? 9/10
  • Jacqueline: Like the chocolate chips, not too sweet. 8/10

kaf

King Arthur Flour

  • Erika: Tastes like The Kitchn’s brownie–very bittersweet chocolatey, soft and silky, fudgy. 8/10
  • Jacqueline: This is chewy and bland. 5/10. (Jacqueline later retasted and reconsidered this rating)

ghiradelli

Ghiradelli

  • Erika: The flavor tastes off, but it’s a little silky and a little cakey, 5 for flavor, 6.5 for texture. Guessing this is the Ina brownie.
  • Jacqueline: Soft, bland, bleh. 4/10

Discussion:

NONE of us (including our other friends) correctly guessed the Ghiradelli brownie! Although our oil was slightly old and may have thrown off the flavor, I still didn’t hate it–maybe it’s the flavor of nostalgia? And the texture! It was actually very, very cakey (more so than any of the brownies we baked from scratch, except maybe All Recipes), but Ghiradelli somehow still had a beautiful chew to it, especially along the picture-perfect caramelized edges. And, of course, the picture-perfect flaky top.

Jacqueline and I were absolutely STUNNED to realize that we both loved the Ina brownie given how much we mucked it up the first time around. We finally followed the directions correctly (which is no easy task, in our opinion) and ended up with a brownie that is super moist, still a tiny bit porous on top and greasy on the bottom, but really soft and deeply chocolatey. I will note that despite my high informal rating, I did not gravitate towards Ina over the other brownies afterwards–although they’re the type of brownie I could eat a lot of, if I had the choice to eat just ONE perfect brownie, it would probably be a very close tie between King Arthur Flour or The Kitchn.

After an overall debrief with everyone else, we determined that we probably overbaked Sally’s brownie a bit since everyone found it slightly chewier than ideal, and that the majority still loved the King Arthur Flour brownie the best (though the Kitchn’s brownie was well-received).

Brownie Bake Off, Part II // The Pancake Princess

Conclusion:

No significant brownie research advances were made in this project, though I have concluded that:

  1. I have now found several from-scratch recipes that not only stand up to, but outperform Ghiradelli taste-wise!
  2. If I’m feeling lazy, I have very little shame in using Ghiradelli. While it didn’t stand up to the others in terms of flavor, that elusive, addictively cakey texture is currently still inimitable.

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  1. Michelle

    September 16, 2022 at 11:51 am

    So fun! Could you share what chocolates and instant coffee types you used? In this test did you use walnuts? Do you think you would feel the same about Ina’s without?

    Reply
  2. Lauren

    September 1, 2021 at 2:38 pm

    Love this comparison! Ghiradelli brownies are always good although we have been making Half Baked Harvest Crinkle Top Brownies on constant repeat this year. I think they would win all tastings! 🍫

    Reply
  3. Devon

    June 16, 2018 at 8:19 pm

    Your brownie bake off is awesome! And Ghirardelli is my favorite box brownie. Maybe you can do a cinnamon roll bake off next ????

    Reply
    • erika

      June 25, 2018 at 11:23 am

      Thanks, mine too! Hehe Jacqueline has been planting that cinnamon roll idea in my mind for months, but I’m worried that they might all taste the same??

      Reply
  4. Josh

    June 15, 2018 at 12:20 pm

    I’m partial to (OK, obsessed with) the brownies from The Chocolate Room in Brooklyn: https://www.wsj.com/articles/recipe-ultimate-chocolate-brownies-1473351040

    Reply
    • erika

      June 25, 2018 at 11:23 am

      Ooooo I haven’t seen those, will check them out!

      Reply
  5. Will

    June 14, 2018 at 11:48 am

    Not for nothing, but maybe you should make a batch of Ghirardelli brownies with butter instead of oil. And buy some new oil. ????

    Reply
    • erika

      June 14, 2018 at 2:55 pm

      Haha I just forgot to buy more oil in time!! Also…does anyone make boxed brownie mix with butter??

      Reply
      • janequiltsslowly

        June 15, 2018 at 9:46 am

        Yes! Always. So good. I sub melted butter for oil in all baking.

      • erika

        June 25, 2018 at 11:22 am

        Interesting, I’ve never tried that! Do you find the moisture levels are totally fine? I would imagine butter might render some baked goods a tad drier (but with great flavor)!

  6. Jackie

    June 13, 2018 at 1:50 pm

    This is awesome. I love your brownie bakeoff! Did you know that Stella Parks has a new brownie recipe? Much less involved than her original one, and you can keep it in boxed-mix form! Meaning you can make a whole bunch and then use them exactly as you would the Ghiradelli mixes! Amazing.
    https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2018/05/homemade-brownie-mix.html

    Reply
    • erika

      June 14, 2018 at 2:56 pm

      Ahhh!!! This is so genius! Have you tried it?? Now I am very curious to see how this would stack up!!

      Reply
      • Jackie

        June 22, 2018 at 3:05 pm

        I know, it is genius!! I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m very excited to do so! Seems to me this would also make a great gift idea!!

    • Lauren

      December 22, 2020 at 11:09 pm

      I’ve tried this recipe because I wanted something quick and easy and it’s actually my favorite brownie recipe I’ve ever made! The mix makes a great gift.

      Reply
  7. Raeleen Kucera

    June 13, 2018 at 8:03 am

    Im sticking with my Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate Brownies. Only kind i buy & make. Not a complaint yet !

    Reply
    • erika

      June 13, 2018 at 9:33 am

      That’s fair! They are delicious!

      Reply
  8. Nony

    June 13, 2018 at 1:27 am

    You used the wrong Ghiradelli mix. ☺️

    Reply
    • erika

      June 13, 2018 at 9:33 am

      To be honest, I don’t think you can really go wrong with any of the mixes!

      Reply

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