If you’re scrambling for a last-minute gift idea, I’ve got you covered. Or, if you’re scrambling for a quick but decadent chocolate fix, I’ve still got you covered. I know I’m scrambling right now (as I’m sure many of you are) because so many of my gifts that I ordered still haven’t arrived. While everyone will get their gifts eventually (hopefully?) instead of showing up empty-handed I’m prettily packaging some of my favorite gift-able desserts. If you need me tomorrow, I’ll be busy preparing dozens of Hot Chocolate Bombs, my Christmas Cookie Gift Jars, homemade Peanut Brittle for my brother-in-law, and this easy but delicious homemade brownie mix. If you’re not in need of a gift, it’s great just to make for yourself, too. Homemade brownie mix is perfect to whip up, toss in a Ziploc bag, and just have on hand for whenever a chocolate craving strikes (and no excuse for store-bought brownie mix ever again!).
What is the Difference in This Recipe and Your Best Brownie Recipe
I’m borderline obsessed with my best brownie recipe. It’s chocolatey, fudgy, and incredible, but I wanted something super quick, fast, and easy for when I needed to satisfy a chocolate craving in a pinch. All while still being absolutely, deliciously, can’t-eat-just-one irresistible. This recipe ticks all the brownie-boxes, but it’s a bit less dark (which my husband prefers as he doesn’t particularly care for dark chocolate) and a bit less fudgy (it’s still fudgy, though!).
What You Need
We have two sets of ingredients we’re working with today. First is the ingredients you need to make the actual brownie mix. You’ll need:
Flour. Use all-purpose (plain) flour. It may seem like a small amount (and it is), but this is critical for chocolatey, fudgy brownies that nearly melt in your mouth.Sugar. While I love using brown sugar in my brownie recipes whenever I can, the moisture makes it difficult to evenly mix all of the ingredients together. Don’t worry, you won’t miss it here!Cocoa powder. I use natural unsweetened cocoa powder.Baking Powder. Just a pinch helps keep the brownies from being so dense that they actually seem like fudge. A tiny bit of baking powder adds a smidge of lightness (just a smidge!) for the perfect consistency.Salt. for flavor of course.Chocolate chips. These are an optional ingredient, and keep in mind if you’re storing the brownie mix in a pint-sized mason jar they won’t fit, so you’ll need to use a larger container. I like semisweet chocolate chips, but use your favorite flavor (or try M&Ms!).
Then, of course, there are the ingredients that you’ll add later when you’re ready to bake your brownies. You need just three things:
Melted butter. I wrote this recipe using salted butter which isn’t my usual preference but when I shared my cookie mix in a jar I received a lot of feedback that most gift recipients of the jars kept salted butter in the fridge only. I wrote this recipe with that in mind (your comments matter, I read them all!). If you want to use unsalted butter, just bump the salt in the mix recipe up to ½ teaspoon instead.Two large eggs. Vanilla extract. If you don’t want the recipient (or yourself!) to have to add vanilla later, you can always whisk 1 teaspoon of vanilla powder into the mix instead.
Write the ingredients above and the (brief) instructions on a tag or print my free printable tags that I linked to in the recipe. For the full instructions please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
More Recipes You Might Like
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Enjoy! Let’s bake together! Make sure to check out the how-to VIDEO in the recipe card!
