Boxed Brownies Taste 10 Times Better With This Simple Swap

Even the best boxed brownie mixes may benefit from one or two ingredient swaps during preparation. One of the most common alternatives for the oil suggested in your boxed recipe is butter. While butter is a key ingredient for bakery-style brownies, browned butter provides an even deeper, more complex flavor.

Once the moisture in butter evaporates over heat, its proteins and sugars chemically react to create a whole new host of flavors and aromas — a process known as the Maillard reaction. Aside from turning a deep caramel color, the flavor of browned butter has a toasty richness. Especially when used in place of plain vegetable oil in boxed brownie batter, your resulting brownies are guaranteed to have a more nuanced pronounced caramel-like flavor.

To make this simple swap, use the same amount of butter as you would oil and melt it over medium heat on your stove. With intermittent stirring, in roughly five to seven minutes, your butter will take on a deep golden hue. Once milk solids start to brown and the butter releases a toasted aroma, remove it from the heat and allow it to cool slightly before adding it to the batter. Lastly, for the best-tasting brownies, incorporate both the melted browned butter as well any toasted bits that accumulated during the browning process.

To make consistently delicious boxed brownies, choose butter with a high fat content, which is easier and quicker to brown because it contains less moisture. European butter has a higher ratio of fat to water and is available in most grocery stores. Also, while you can brown both salted and unsalted butter, unsalted butter may be the safer option. Salted butter foams more significantly and has the propensity to burn quickly, making it a bit trickier to work with. You can easily mimic the savory taste of salted butter in your batter by adding a sprinkle of flaky salt to your brownies upon serving. Once you start to see the benefits of swapping out the suggested oil for browned butter in your go-to brownie mix, you can upgrade these treats even further.

Coffee is another ingredient you can't forget for the best brownies. Simply swap the suggested water for coffee in your boxed mix. Ingredient swaps aside, you can also try some easy upgrades that transform boxed brownies into more delicious desserts. Instead of enjoying a plain boxed brownie (or two) with a cold glass of milk, give your brown butter brownies a ganache topping made of heavy cream and melted chocolate. Or better yet, transform them into a mouthwatering trifle with mixed berries and whipped cream.