Give Boxed Brownie Mix Some Excitement With An Unexpected Addition From The Baby Food Aisle

Boxed brownies are convenient and can often be just as delicious as the homemade variety, especially with a few clever upgrades. It's common to add an extra egg for more moisture or sprinkle some fleur de sel on top to create the illusion of something more gourmet, but there's a lesser known baby food hack that will make your boxed brownies extra rich and fudgy: pureed prunes. The added bonus?  Prunes are a health boosting fruit full of vitamins, fiber, and prebiotics. 

Though most of us are familiar with using dates in cakes and muffins, prunes tend to get less attention. Though they look alike, there are some key differences between dates and prunes. Prunes are actually dried plums, and when pureed into baby food they make the easiest addition to upgrade your brownie mix while serving multiple functions: their sweet flavor can replace refined sugars, their moisture content can replace oils, and the pectin and sorbitol work together to act as a binding agent, making them the perfect alternative for eggs. 

When it comes to brownies, the texture can be a matter of personal preference. While some prefer a cakey brownie, others prefer fudgy or chewy. Pureed prunes are for the lovers of a fudgy brownie, creating a dense texture and decadent, deep flavor that takes boxed brownies to the next level. 

When adding prune baby food to boxed brownies, simply mix in ¼ cup of prune puree at the end, just before pouring your mix into the pan and putting it in the oven. It's easy to make your own puree if you have prunes in the pantry by combining them with some hot water in a food processor and blending until smooth. 

Prune puree not only adds depth of flavor to your brownie mix, it is an unsung hero when it comes to replacing fat and sugar in baked goods. To cut down on fat in the recipe, replace up to half of your recipe's butter or oil with equal parts prune puree. If you do this, it's important to note that brownies with less fat will bake faster, so use the toothpick test to check if your brownies are done about 10 minutes before the timer goes off. If you decide to replace the eggs with pureed prunes, use ¼ cup of prune puree per egg. Because of the natural sweetness in prunes, you can definitely cut out some of the sugar as well. Cut down the amount of sugar called for by about half if using prunes in your brownie mix.