This post has it all. A brand new Krusteaz product, a new brownie for the best brownie hunt, and an article online that suggested scrambling brownies rather than baking them. Buckle in because you are in for a ride today. Krusteaz products always amaze me so I was super excited to learn they have a brand new product and I had to run to my local store to get it right away. They now have premade brownie and cake batters located in the refrigerated section. I am not sure that this counts as a box mix test since it’s really just a product you buy and then bake without any preparation but I hope you’re as curious as I am to see how it compares to other Krusteaz products. This mix was $7 at my local Smith’s grocery store which is pricey but let’s test the quality and see if it’s worth the price.
This product has very few steps. You pour the premade batter into an 8×8 pan and then put it in the oven. Obviously I couldn’t write a whole blog just about that product and coincidentally, I just stumbled upon the strangest baking related article I have seen in a long time “Scrambled Brownies Are The Best For Impatient Chocolate Lovers “. Upon further inspection, this concept is exactly how it sounds. The author of this article discusses the idea of saving time by not baking brownies but instead cooking them in a frying pan as a scramble. Yes, you read that right, just like scrambled eggs. The article is very short and didn’t convince me this was the next best idea, so I brought it here to try. I picked up 2 premade brownie batters from Krusteaz so we can try scrambling brownies as well as baking them.
The Krusteaz premade batter has a disclaimer not to eat it raw that I blissfully ignored and let me tell you, it was a tasty brownie batter. It is the consistency of a hot fudge but tasted like a chocolate syrup, it has really good flavor. I squeezed all the batter into a sprayed 8×8 square pan and put it in the oven. It says to bake for 33-37 minutes and true to Krusteaz’s style, this was accurate. I pulled them out at 33 minutes, and they looked great with a nice crackle crust. After cooling a bit, I cut the pan into 16 pieces.
These brownies are fantastic. They have chocolate chips inside and they consistency is the perfect mix of fudgey and chewy. It’s similar to the consistency of a box mix but slightly improved and a better flavor. As always, Krusteaz provided a fantastic product, and it was really easy to make. What I love about this product is that they say, on the bag, that you can freeze this batter for up to a few months. You can easily keep this in the freezer and have brownies at a moment’s notice. You could possibly even separate it into individual portions before freezing and then thaw an individual cupcake sized amount and have a brownie whenever you want. For a premade product, this is really good and satisfied the brownie cravings.
Now let’s dive in deeper to the concept of “scrambling brownies”. This method is supposed to make brownies quicker. However, as you may have guessed, it wouldn’t be in brownie shape. It would be a crumble which isn’t the most practical thing to eat by itself. The article makes it seem like it is more so designed for topping an ice cream or a mousse. The author also suggests adding other toppings and garnishes to these brownies which makes me think they are eating this in a bowl style with different ingredients mixed in. A dessert bowl has potential to be a fun and unique dessert. You could have a bowl of brownie scrambles, nuts, chocolate chips, and cool whip then eat it with a spoon. But at the same time, brownie scrambles seen more like a topping to me so maybe put all those things on a scoop of vanilla ice cream and enjoy your sundae instead. Alright, I’m getting ahead of myself, we don’t even know if this works! So, let’s put it to the test.
As I got ready to scramble my brownie batter, I realized I had no idea what to do because the article didn’t actually go into any detail whatsoever. I opted to not put butter or oil in the pan, since the batter looked oily enough. With the pan heated up, I scooped a large spoonful of batter onto the pan. As I stared at the round blob of batter, I pondered the possibility of a brownie pancake instead of scrambles. That could work just as well, right? Obviously, I decided we had to try both methods now.
Going off of instincts, I tried using the same method of constant stirring that I would use for scrambling eggs but this batter was sticky and didn’t react like eggs would. It was a much slower cook but it did eventually start cooking and after about 4 minutes it seemed fully cooked through. The mixture clumped together in big chunks so I tried to chop it more into small bits but it didn’t want to separate. It wasn’t much of a crumble like the article made it seem.
Obviously, the brownie scramble has the same flavor as a regular brownie, but the technique dried out the brownie bits and made it all one consistency. Unlike true brownies which have crispy edges, flakey tops, and fudgey middles, it was all just one disappointing consistency. Giving up on that technique, I moved on to pancake style and I scooped another spoonful of batter into the pan. It took much longer than a pancake to cook and I impatiently kept poking the sides to see if the bottom had cooked. After what felt like forever I was able to flip the brownie pancake (not easily or smoothly) and cook the other side. It came out ugly and looked nothing like what I had envisioned but the consistency was interesting. It was similar to a pancake but with more crispy outsides and then a soft inside. However, the ratio was off and there was too much crunchy consistency for a brownie or a pancake.
There really was no benefit to these techniques. I love a time saving short cut but if we’re being honest, you already have to make a brownie batter so this is actually taking more time and effort. With a cake pan, you put it into the oven and don’t return for over half an hour. For the scrambling technique you have to babysit it and stir or flip it for a lower quality outcome. I don’t recommend this as an actual technique for making brownies.
Krusteaz provided us with a new amazing product as always and we should leave good enough alone. The tried-and-true baking method is just that for a reason so let’s stick to what we know. Go pickup this brownie batter at your local store and bake it in the oven if you want a fantastic quick and easy brownie filled dessert.
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