I Tried the TikTok Brownie Mix Hack and I’ll Never Make Brownies Any Other Way (2024)

FAQs

I Tried the TikTok Brownie Mix Hack and I’ll Never Make Brownies Any Other Way? ›

The premise here couldn't be easier: Simply replace the water called for on the back of the box instructions with an equal amount of brewed coffee. Follow the rest of the recipe as written and bake as instructed. Easy-peasy.

Store–bought brownie mix easily comes together with water, oil, and an egg. What exactly does the egg do? It binds, emulsifies, and adds richness and density.

One change is to use milk or heavy cream instead of water. This change will make brownies more moist and gooey since milk is more fatty and flavorful than water. A second change is to use butter instead of oil. For similar reasons to using milk, butter adds a rich and more decadent quality to 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.

You can use 4 tablespoons of milk, ¼ cup of mashed banana or ¼ cup of unsweetened apple sauce in place of each egg required in a box brownie mix.

Mayo is essentially eggs and oil, so using it in place of eggs for box brownies will make them chewy, gooey, rich, and moist. All the things a brownie should be! You'll need 3 tablespoons of mayonnaise for each egg, but I also found recipes that use 1/4 cup of mayo to replace the egg and oil in a boxed brownie mix.

Brownies work in sixes that are groups of about six girls led by a Sixer, who is supported by a Second. Sixes are named after magical creatures such as elves and pixies, or animals & flowers. Girls work together in their sixes for different activities and games and love mixing with others and making new friends.

To test for doneness with a toothpick, insert a toothpick into the center of the brownies and pull it back out. For fudgy brownies, you'll want to see some moist crumbs attached to the toothpick when you pull it back out. If it looks like it's covered in brownie batter, the brownies will need to bake a bit longer.

The plastic knife glides smoothly through the brownies because it's nonstick without dragging or catching. If you do get crumbs on the plastic knife, just wipe them away before making your next cut. Apparently, this tip may already be known to some box brownie bakers.

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.

What to add to brownie mix? ›

You're free to add any extras you'd like to the batter. Perhaps a few handfuls or nuts – my favorite being pecans, almond, or walnuts. A teaspoon of instant espresso powder will deepen the chocolate flavor of the batter. A splash of vanilla extract extract is always nice, too!

Love coffee, chocolate and baking, but hate waste? These brownies are perfect for you. Although you can add some fresh grounds for even more of that speciality-coffee influence, used grounds do an excellent job alone. Just store them in the fridge in an airtight container before you get baking.

Fudgy brownies have a higher fat-to-flour ratio than cakey ones. So add more fat—in this case, butter and chocolate. A cakey batch has more flour and relies on baking powder for leavening. The amount of sugar and eggs does not change whether you're going fudgy or cakey.

Add an Extra Egg

Most cake mixes call for two to three eggs. Just one more egg will add extra moisture, fat, and a little protein, which means the cake will be softer and less likely to overbake and dry out in the oven.

Instead of two large eggs and one large egg yolk (what you'll find in chewy and fudgy brownies), cakey brownies require two eggs and one white. That's because the egg white, when mixed with the sugar, creates the delicious, flaky crust on top of these brownies.