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Kelly the Kitchen Kop

Homemade Brownies as Good as Boxed Brownies!

41 Comments

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Homemade Brownies as Good as Boxed

I wanted some homemade brownies as good as boxed, but I know, it's pretty sad to have that as my comparison point, huh? But I used to love those dumb boxed chocolate fudge brownies and haven’t had them in years. Do you know that besides the preservatives and other nasty ingredients, they all still have trans fats in them?! (I just checked again recently!)

Homemade Brownies as Good as Boxed… Finally!

These homemade chocolate brownies really do taste as good as boxed and it's a super easy recipe — here's a picture of our youngest son making them:

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Homemade Brownies as Good as Boxed!

We don't do a lot of sweets around here, but sometimes you just need a brownie!  You'll love this recipe because it doesn't have all the icky stuff like the boxed brownies, but has all the same taste -- with good-for-you ingredients. Try these homemade sundae toppings on your brownies!
Author: Kelly the Kitchen Kop

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350*.  Butter and dust with flour around a 9×13 glass or stainless steel baking pan.  (Or halve this recipe for an 8×8.)  In a heavy large saucepan, melt chocolate and butter over low heat, stirring as it gets smooth.  Remove from heat and cool.  Stir in sugar, vanilla and eggs and mix well.  Add in flour, salt and baking powder and mix well.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Pour batter evenly into the pan and bake for 25-40 minutes (depends on how much oven temps might vary), until the middle is set but not too firm or they’ll be dry.  (Less time for an 8×8.)
  • See more notes below for variation ideas!

Let me know what you think when you try them!

More:

Another idea that our son wanted to try and it was so good:  Get more natural marshmallows like these, cut them into halves or quarters if you want smaller hunks, and put on top the last 10 minutes to get toasty and golden.

If you want a chocolatey top for your brownies, don't stir the chocolate chips into the dough, and instead wait until the brownies come out of the oven and sprinkle them on the top.  Wait a few minutes and spread them around like frosting.

Here's where we sprinkled some sea salt on top for an extra burst of YUM.

Or for another yummy idea:  use the peanut butter frosting from this recipe!

More you might like:

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Comments

  1. kim says

    Hello I made these for my son’s birthday..his request for brownies instead of cake. I am very disappointed. I wanted them to be good but healthy. I thought the recipe was odd but went with it. I used stevia…i’ve used it for yrs..however tho it says its equal to sugar in measurements ive felt it was a little stronger..but i use it for tea mostly. I used it and strongly cacao dk choc and well not only did it NOT come close to filling a 9×13-i thought the 4 eggs and 1tsp of salt was odd but went with it. they filled to a barely covering the bottom of half the pan. they rose and cooked thru but they are salty and bitter and the choc chips didnt even melt in them. They would NEVER pass for fudgy brownies. They took forever to make on the stove top half my butter was frozen and i ususally nuke but as i mentioned i went for it. I am very disappointed. Guess i should of stuck w reg unhealthy stuff i mean a birthday comes once a yr. This is not what i want to give him.

    Reply

    • KitchenKop says

      I wish you would’ve ran it by me first about substituting with Stevia because I would’ve let you know that that just does not work in a recipe like this — I’ve never had good luck with it in anything but beverages.

      As for the other ingredients, if you make it like the recipe says they’re very good & fit perfectly in a 9×13, my daughter just made them again last week.

      Kelly

      Reply

  3. natasha says

    Made these today! Yum! @ a little over 300 calories apiece they should be! Lol. Loved them so much that i ate 2! They were moist & fudgy & the edges were just right. I baked for 25 minutes. Better than a box! I’ve been wanting a good homemade brownie recipe & this is it! I used 2/3 cup KA white whole wheat flour & the rest was KA unbleached all purpose. I also used a 10oz bag of ghiradelli bittersweet chips in place of the semi-sweet bars. These turned out great & I am tickled pink woth how they turned out!

    Reply

  4. Stephie Wright says

    Hmmm…perplexing to me that anyone would ever consider box brownies better than home made. Have I stumbled into upside down world? Here is the problem with palm shortening: The palm oil producers are clearing swaths as big as 5 football fields of the most diverse tropical forest in our world every single day to plant the monoculture palm forests. These forests contain many many varieties of plants, insects and animals that can be found nowhere else. Once they have been destroyed, they are gone forever, and our world is greatly diminished. Among the wondrous creatures that are being murdered so that we can eat our “healthy” brownies, are Orangutans, the species closest to Human beings. If they are in the way, they are simply run over by the big machines. A photo of the battered body of a young orangutan, skin scraped and bloody, with its arms up in defense, trying to protect its face, is forever burned into my memory. Can you imagine the terror of this innocent creature as its home came crashing down around it and it was relentlessly run down by a giant,noisy, unstoppable machine? Please, please do not contribute to this horror by purchasing palm oil or palm oil products. There are numerous other healthy alternatives.

    Reply

    • KitchenKop says

      Yes, butter tastes just as good in these!

      And regarding homemade vs. boxed, as I said, I KNOW! That’s how warped my taste buds were!!!

      Do you know if what you described is this the case with ALL palm shortening?

      Kelly

      Reply

  6. Commenter via Facebook says

    I’ve been on the hunt too! It’s crazy that the box has some special magic or something, but I can’t get the same consistency and have tried a variety of recipes. Are these gooey soft inside and flaky/crispy outside?

    Reply

  8. Commenter via Facebook says

    I’ve been making mine with sprouted rye and a little sprouted amaranth. I seriously believe it is the Best chewy brownie ever!

    Reply

  12. Tina S. says

    I made these yesterday and I’m sorry to report they turned out very dry. I checked them at 30 minutes and they were definitely fully baked. I let them cool a few minutes before trying a small piece and was surprised at how dry and airy and crumbly they were. 30 minutes was way too long, so I’m attributing that as at least one factor. I’m disappointed, but trial and error is how I’ve learned to bake and cook thus far. The next step is to figure out what else I did wrong. This would have been my first attempt and baking with coconut sugar, and I won’t stop trying. I’m on a mission to find that perfect chewy brownie made without processed sugar. Unfortunately this recipe wasn’t it 🙁

    Reply

    • KitchenKop says

      Thank you for telling me! I’ll adjust the recipe in case oven temps vary even more than I thought they might!

      Kelly

      Reply

  13. Amanda says

    I just made these to take to our church’s ladies meeting tonight and they were a HUGE hit! Everyone raved about them! What a great recipe! I’m going to try them with sprouted flour next!

    Reply

  14. Lisa @ Happy in Dole Valley says

    Thanks for sharing! I’ve been using whole wheat pastry flour for all my non-bread baking with excellent results…just thought I’d share. 🙂 A blessed Easter to all! ~Lisa

    Reply

  15. Lenetta says

    BIG SIGH, Kel! I have been doing well giving up refined sugar for Lent and am hoping to keep it going afterwards. Considering my deep, abiding love for boxed brownies (that is completely blind to the ingredient list), you’re killin’ me here! :>) My birthday is Saturday, though, so I might whip these up and stick a candle in them…

    [and I gotta admit, this has been the best Lent yet, even though I had lots of doubts about my ability to give up my treats. I knew I’d need help from above!]

    Reply

  16. [email protected] Ponderings says

    I hate how chocolate chips have soy lecithin in them! I have found soy free chips before, but can we just chop up chocolate bars to use? Though would need a GF recipe anyway.

    My chocolate bar of choice is Equal Exchange 71% dark chocolate. One of the best bars out there.

    Reply

    • KitchenKop says

      I can’t remember exactly why it’s bad, I only know that Jane from the Feingold Association said to avoid it (other options aren’t too tricky to find) because it’s a fake additive/ingredient that causes issues in a lot of kids.

      Reply

  19. Melissa @ Dyno-mom says

    Are your brownies Kal approved? I still LOVE that video, he is so familiar, like one of my kids! But your brownies really do look delish, really delish. I just might have to show my oldest daughter. She wants to bake something for Easter. Have a happy Easter, Kelly!

    Reply

  21. ValerieH says

    My favorite fudge brownie recipe comes from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. It calls for 2 oz unsweetened chocolate, which I have always substituted with cocoa. Here is the recipe as I make it. It could be improved by WAPF standards, I’m sure!
    These brownies really are the best I’ve tasted. They have the right amount of moisture. I once gave a china platter as a wedding present, topped with a double batch of these covered with fudge as a frosting. The guests preferred them to the wedding cake.

    1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
    6 T cocoa powder
    1 cup sugar
    2 eggs
    1 tsp vanilla
    3/4 cup all purpose flour
    1/2 cup chopped nuts and or choc chips – optional
    dash salt – my addition

    Whisk flour, cocoa and salt together. Heat up butter until liquid. Mix butter with sugar to cool it off. Mix eggs and vanilla into butter-sugar mixture. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Mix well. Pour into 8×8 pan. Bake @ 350F for 30 minutes. Let cool in pan. Invert onto plate and cut into 16 squares.

    Reply

    • LiveLaughLove says

      great! I would love to give these a try and you say the brownies dont come out too wet because of the substitution of chocolate rather than cocoa?

      Reply

  22. Carolyn says

    These sound too good!!! I am going to try it using gluten free sourdough. Our family does so much better on sourdough than conventional flours.

    Carolyn

    Reply

  23. karen says

    Wow, kelly…these are sooo pretty.
    I was going to ask you…no worries, no hurry….how about macarooms?? I saw some in a magazine and for the life of me couldn’t figure out “how do I translate this into a WP recipe?” Can one use Stevia, too?

    You make it look easier than I thought.
    Hugs.
    Karen

    Reply

  24. jenna Food WIth Kid Appeal says

    i recently made a brownie recipe with coconut flour so it was gluten free. it had that typical coconut flour texture to it, but they were good. i’d eat them daily if they were around. not as good as regular brownies, but i don’t complain about moist chocolate treats.

    did i miss the post where you explain why you’re down with palm oil products? what’s the big fuss over palm oil and ruining animal habitats and how do you justify your use of these products the rest of the “green” world is having a tantrum about?

    Reply

    • KitchenKop says

      Jenna,
      I’m not very ‘green’, to tell you the truth. The only stuff I’m “greenish” on are those things that relate to nutrition, although I did finally start recycling a few years ago! Pretty sad, huh? If you’d like to point me to a post to educate me on this, feel free. 🙂
      Kel

      Reply

        • KitchenKop says

          Yes, I used butter, so I prob wouldn’t switch unless I was out!

          I’m down to my last flour and have to sprout and grind more this week. The problem is, I think I’m drying my grains too long after sprouting or something, because the flour gives my baked goods an ‘off’ taste, sort of like burned but not that strong. I’m going to order sprouted flour from our sponsor and try that next! (OR dry them in my dehydrator that my friend gave me!)

          Reply

  25. Barb @ A Life in Balance says

    Yum! My kids will be so happy to have their beloved brownies back!

    Since I don’t have palm sugar on hand, is it okay to substitute organic sugar?

    Reply

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