Easy Peppermint Brownies Recipe {with box mix} | The Food Cafe (2024)

FAQs

How to make a boxed brownie mix better? ›

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.

If you already have a favorite brownie recipe, try adding one to two tablespoons of instant espresso in with the wet ingredients. If you're making brownies from a boxed mix, you can substitute brewed coffee for the water, or simply add espresso powder in with the dry ingredients.

If you want to get a little more creative with your brownie mix hacks, add an extra egg to the batter. The extra protein will help thicken up the batter and make it fluffier, creating a more decadent, fudgy texture. You can also add the yolk by itself in addition to the 2 eggs a box brownie mix typically calls for.

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.

You can absolutely substitute butter for the vegetable oil. Use the same quantity specified in the directions (for example, if it calls for 1/3 cup of oil, use 5 1/3 tablespoons of butter). Melt it down, then let it cool a bit. You might not ever go back to oil!

The trick: Replace the water with coffee. You don't need much, generally ¼ to ⅓ cup.

You can use natural cocoa powder in a pinch though! Flour: I've only tested these brownies with all purpose flour. Espresso Powder: you can either use instant espresso or regular espresso powder! You can also use instant coffee powder if that's all you have.

A simple combination of water, baking powder, and vegetable oil mimics eggs almost to a T. It's a great option for cookies, quick breads, and brownies.

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.

Is brown sugar good in brownies? ›

Getting the perfect crust for you means choosing a recipe with just the right proportions of granulated and brown sugars. More brown sugar leads to dense brownies with incredible depth of flavor, but the additional moisture can cause their upper crust to be more solid than delicate as a result.

Baking Powder and Oil: 1 teaspoon vegetable oil + 2 tablespoons water + 2 teaspoons baking powder = 1 large egg. This works great as a substitute in a recipe that uses the egg as a leavening agent and it is made from simple and easy pantry staples.

Add nuts – Add a handful of finely chopped pecans or walnuts if you love brownies with nuts. Add mix ins – Jazz up a basic brownie mix with chopped mini peanut butter cups, white chocolate chunks, or your favorite chopped up candy bar. Add a swirl – Swirl in spoonfuls of peanut butter or Nutella before baking.

Most recipes call for baking brownies at 350°. If a fudgy inside and crackly top is your goal, stick with that temperature. Brownies baked at 325° will take longer to bake and will become chewier in texture.

Swirl in Some Good Stuff

Dollop cream cheese, fruit jam, pumpkin puree, peanut butter or caramel over brownie batter. Spoon it into the pan, then cut through the batter to create this wow-worthy effect. Your dessert will be prettier and tastier than every other treat on the table.

Adding baking powder or a combination of baking soda and cream of tartar to a brownie recipe makes it much more like chocolate cake, creating a lighter and airier texture.

Milk is the key

Adjusting these ingredients to make fudgier brownies is as easy as swapping out the water for milk. You can either sub half of the water for milk, or replace it completely with milk for the fudgiest results.

You don't want to whisk them until they look moussey as this will incorporate too much air and could make the brownies more cake-like, rather than dense and moist.

Yes, you can use olive oil in brownies!

Olive oil has been gaining popularity in recent years as a substitute for butter and other vegetable oils in baked goods. Not only is it delicious but a healthy alternative cooking fat that can be used in most traditional baking recipes.