I Made Ina Garten's Brownie Pudding Recipe and It's Even BETTER Than You Can Imagine (2024)

FAQs

What happens if you add pudding mix to brownie mix? ›

The pudding mix makes the brownies extra chocolatey, a little cakey and super moist.

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.

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.

Swap Fats. For a subtle upgrade, swap out the called-for vegetable oil with an equivalent amount of melted butter or coconut oil. The results are so incredibly rich and fudgy, they'll fool even the most die-hard of brownie snobs into thinking these are scratch-made.

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.

Vanilla extract – Pure vanilla extract adds rich flavor to brownies. Eggs – Most brownie mixes call for one whole egg. Adding one large egg plus an extra egg yolk gives brownies an ultra fudgy texture. Chocolate Chips – Even if your brownie mix contains chocolate, plan to add chocolate chips.

Below is a simple brownie recipe that uses almond milk. If you use cake mix kits, you can simply replace the amount of water specified with almond milk for tastier results.

Add more chocolate.

It's easy to bring even more chocolatey goodness to brownies when you throw in a handful of chocolate chips. Choose from semi-sweet, dark chocolate, white chocolate, or a combination of all three. You can even find morsels in different flavors, like peanut butter, mint, or cinnamon.

Most brownie recipes call for some kind of oil — usually vegetable oil or canola oil. This oil acts as the primary fat in brownie batter, giving it that delicious, fudgy texture we all know and love.

Add an extra egg to your brownie batter to make more cake-like brownies. There are directions on the back of the box. You can also make brownies from a cake mix with our Loaded Chocolate Cake Mix Brownies recipe.

What happens if you add extra butter to brownies? ›

Whether you use butter, margarine, or vegetable oil, putting too much in your brownie batter causes it to be greasy.

When the back-of-box instructions call for water, try some instant espresso or strong-brewed coffee for roasty, toasty notes that pair impeccably with chocolate. Or use milk or half-and-half for even more richness. And for cakey instead of fudgy brownies, add an extra egg for more lift and spring.

Switch up the liquid for something more flavorful—boxed brownie mixes typically call for water. Skip the water and swap it with coffee, milk, coconut milk, or even red wine to add flavor and dimension to your standard boxed brownies.

Replacing Oil with Butter

It couldn't be easier to substitute butter for oil using a 1:1 ratio. This should work with olive, canola, vegetable, and coconut oils. Simply melt and cool the butter to room temperature, then continue with your recipe. (If the recipe calls for ½ cup oil, use ½ cup melted and cooled butter.)

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.

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.

Put some pudding in the mix: Add a small box of pudding mix in with the cake mix. (Don't make the pudding.) The mix adds additional flavor, moistness, and a denser texture.

When added to a baked good, pudding mix can also improve the texture. The sugar helps desserts retain moisture, while the cornstarch makes for a taller rise in the oven, Ms. Parks said.

Add Instant Pudding

For example, use chocolate pudding for a chocolate cake mix. Then, add the wet ingredients and bake the cake as directed. It'll be so moist and the pudding will give it a big flavor boost.