My Texan Dad's Famous Brownies Use His Signature Boxed Mix Hack
In high school, my friends would rave about my dad’s special brownies. They were so gooey, so packed with chocolate, and so perfect. What they didn’t know was that he was actually using box mix, with his own special mix of added chocolate.
When I reached out for the recipe, I incorrectly thought he used a combination of 2 different box mixes to achieve his perfect batch. Nope. He’s tried all sorts of combinations and concluded the best version starts with 2 boxes of the Ghirardelli supreme brownie mix (the one with a chocolate syrup packet included). “It’s the reason we have so many other versions crowding the pantry because I won’t use them,” he told me over text.
For the base, he mostly follows the box instructions (doubled, for the two boxes obviously), with one exception. Instead of vegetable oil, he uses the same amount of melted butter. I asked him why and he said, “I’ve done it with oil and it’s fine but the butter gives it a richer taste and texture, but what the [expletive] do I know?”
From there, he adds white, milk, and bittersweet chocolate chips in equal measure. They’re about as full of chocolate as they can be without messing up the texture, which is kind of the point. The brownies are so fudgy, with many gooey, chocolaty pockets. When I asked him to send me his recipe, I did hit one snag. It calls for an 11×17 pan, which prompted me to immediately ask him, “What the hell is that?”
Like with any good family recipe, my dad has this one specific, weird pan he’s been using for years that has no label or discerning features — but he always uses it to make his famous brownies. For all our sakes, I tried it in a standard 9×13-inch baking pan and can happily report that, with a few extra minutes in the oven, it works just fine. By my math, that means you can also halve the chocolate chip amounts and make one box in an 8×8-inch baking pan.
Why It Works
The fudgy syrup packet included in the brownie mix makes the batter extra decadent and tender, but the addition of my dad’s custom chocolate chip blend is what takes it over the top. It adds a variety of flavor and tons of gooey melted chocolate pockets you won’t find in any box mix on the grocery store shelves. Because I literally can’t help myself, I added a little extra sprinkle of salt to the batter, which I think balanced the flavor nicely. But that’s just me!
I hadn’t had one in so long that I did something very out of character for a person who works in food: I cut a brownie slice and dug into it immediately without snapping a photo. It was as good as I remembered, and luckily I had plenty more to show y’all.
How to Make My Dad’s Brownies
Follow the box instructions. Line a 9×13-inch baking pan with parchment, then mix the batter from 2 boxes of Ghirardelli supreme brownie mix as directed on the box, substituting an equal amount of melted butter for oil.
Add chocolate chips. Add 1/2 cup each of white chocolate, milk chocolate, and bittersweet chocolate chips. (You can also add 1/2 cup Heath toffee chips, if you like.) It’s not in my dad’s recipe, but I also add a healthy pinch of kosher salt here. Mix in the chocolate until evenly distributed.
Bake the brownies. Bake in a 325ºF oven for 45 to 50 minutes. According to my dad, you really need to watch them after 30 minutes and pull them out when they still feel a little underdone. Because there is so much chocolate (bless), they will seem a little undercooked but will firm up as they cool.
Further Reading
The “Beautiful” $3 Flower Tumblers at Walmart People Are Buying 2 at a Time
The One Cookware Brand That Gordon Ramsay Can’t Stop Talking About
