Testing a Reddit hack to improve a Ghirardelli brownie mix

I found a post on Reddit in the r/baking thread where someone had asked for the best fudgey brownie recipe and it had many responses. I took a screenshot of this response included below that mentioned using a Ghirardelli box mix but swapping out some of the ingredients. This sounds like it has the ease of a box mix and the quality of homemade, count me in!

Essentially you swap the oil for browned butter, the water for buttermilk, and add vanilla. There were a few other modifications mentioned such as espresso powder and chopped chocolate but I did not use these. There were many variations of the Ghirardelli brownie mix at my store and I settled on the dark chocolate that includes chocolate chips.

I started by browning the butter on the stove and got everything else ready. As for the buttermilk, there are not small containers sold near me so I had to purchase one quart of buttermilk while only needing ¼ cup for the recipe. This is not an ingredient I keep on hand or use often so I am unsure if the remainder will be used. That is definitely a downside for me.

I mixed up the batter and it was pretty thick. It tasted like chocolate, buttermilk, and the nutty-ness of the browned butter. It was tasty but I felt like I was tasting one flavor at a time and it wasn’t cohesive. I put them in the oven and kept an eye on them as I expected the cook time to be different. At 35 minutes they were cooked and I pulled them out. This was less time than the boxes recommended 40-45 minutes.

Once cooled I cut the pan into 16 pieces. They were very soft and the knife went through them easily. I pulled one out to eat and it was falling apart. The consistency was almost too fudgey and moist that it wouldn’t hold its shape. Taking a bite was a fantastic experience. The flavors came together as a cohesive unit and you could no longer tell there was buttermilk or browned butter in them. This brownie was so insanely fudgey. I would absolutely make this recipe again.

I do however want to dock points for the need of the buttermilk which was mentioned by the second commenter. If I was to make this again I would opt for milk to see if it still turned out as well. I always have milk on hand but buttermilk is not a common ingredient in my household and the container is typically never finished so it feels wasteful. Perhaps I will need to bake many more brownie recipes to use up the rest of it and see if the second reddit user is right about buttermilk making brownies fudgey. The first reddit commenter is absolutely correct, this was a fantastic way to spice up a box mix and make it better with little additional effort. Next time you go to make a box mix brownie, consider giving this a try!

This recipe as prepared with the hack was a total of 3415 calories. If sliced into 16 as I did each brownie is 214 calories.

Here are the links to products used today:
Rubber Spatulas – https://amzn.to/3JWDtAA
Oven Mitts – https://amzn.to/3JYq5Mg
Vanilla Bean Paste – https://amzn.to/3QGEsZB
8×8 baking pan – https://amzn.to/4dyO2Yb
Plastic Measuring Cup – https://amzn.to/4bDJIoV
Glass Measuring Cup – https://amzn.to/44IuX1B
KitchenAid Scraper Attachment – https://amzn.to/3WCPm67
*These are affiliate links meaning if you click on the link and buy the product, I will earn a small commission, but you will not be charged a penny more.