12 Absolute Best Boxed Brownie Mix Brands, Ranked

There is a lot to love about boxed brownie mix. It's a staple that I always had in my pantry as a kid, and now it's something I keep on hand for when the craving for something ooey gooey and decadent strikes. You can even transform your brownie mix into other things, including plush brownie cookies and crunchy brownie brittle, which extends its utility far beyond just the 8-by-8. 

If you take a stroll down the baking aisle at your grocery store, you'll find that there are tons of different brands of boxed brownie mix to choose from. Not only do you have your standard Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker, but you also have tons of other smaller brands trying to have their up-and-coming moment in your kitchen. That being said, how do you select between the brands — and is it worth sacrificing your personal allegiance to one brand in favor of another? 

In order to decide which boxed brownie mix is the best, I put many different brands up to the test and ranked them from worst to best. I was looking for a decadent brownie with classic fudge flavor, a molten (yet firm) structure, and a level of deliciousness that sent me diving back for "just another piece." 

Betty Crocker is a major player in the baking world. Though, after trying its brownie mix, I can say that the brand may want to stick with the cake and cookie mixes instead. 

Not only does this brownie look like a sponge, but it honestly kind of tastes like one, too. I don't know exactly what happened, but it would appear that the top crisp sunk into the batter, which gave the brownies a very porous appearance. When I bit into the "brownie," I was met with a bread-like texture that almost bounced around in my mouth. Then I thought: Could I have overbaked it? I doubt it since I followed the instructions on the box to a T. I just think that there are some underlying issues with this baking mix that Betty Crocker needs to sort out. 

The texture of this brownie was like a dry, overbeaten sponge rather than a fudgy brownie. There are very few brownies on this list that I would not want to serve to other people, but I can guarantee that this is one mix that found its way to the trash can rather than into any awaiting mouths. 

Halo Top has historically not been my favorite ice cream brand, so I can't say that this fudge brownie mix was particularly enticing to me. It boasts ⅓ less calories than a regular brownie mix. Though, I know all too well that when a brand has to cut back on calories, it also has to cut back on other things — like flavor and texture. 

These brownies look just like cake and bear little resemblance to anything fudgy. Honestly, the lackluster flavor and dense consistency remind me of the Fiber One brownies that were circulating during the mid-2000s diet culture era. And if you remember anything about those high-fiber brownies, it's that they were akin to chocolate-flavored cardboard. These Halo Top brownies, similarly, lack sweetness, and the reduced amount of oil its recipe called for definitely had an impact on its overall fudginess and taste. While there is a little bit of chocolate on the back of the palate, these brownies are more reminiscent of "cake" — and a bad cake at that. 

Duncan Hines couldn't just make a brownie mix; it also had to have Dolly Parton's collaboration. This package, which features an image of what is supposed to be Parton (but really looks nothing like her), comes with a fudge packet that's supposed to be stirred into the dry mix, along with melted butter, milk, and eggs. In true Parton fashion, this mix had to be extra by calling for milk and butter instead of oil and water. 

This brownie mix is not Parton's finest creation, and dare I say that she may want to pick another brand deal instead? I'll start with the positives. This brownie was as molten as all get-out; it was almost like the liminal space where chocolate lava cake filling meets the sponge. While this texture, likely due to the whole stick of melted butter I added to it, made it decadent, it also made it an absolute cesspool of oil. Every piece was as greasy as possible. The butter left a trail, like a slug on a log, on every surface it touched. Plus, the saturated fat royally messed up the flavor. When I bit in, I was met with chocolate and sugar — great — but also butter. I honestly felt like I was taking a shot of melted butter rather than drinking chocolate as a chaser. As you can expect, it's not something that I want from a brownie — or any dessert, for that matter. 

I had to open up the competition to pouched brownie mixes as well as boxed ones just because of this one brand. Miss Jones' gluten-free double chocolate baking mix was priced much higher than the other brands, though it does boast that it's made with "premium ingredients," to which I say: It's a brownie mix. How "premium" can it get?

The crackle on the top of the brownie was just enough to convince me it was a brownie, and there was enough of a fudgy edge to push forward into brownie territory. Again, I think the fact that the mix was gluten-free helped create a natural denseness that gluten-free flours offer, whereas cake mixes and muffins cannot. Moreover, this double chocolate brownie had an adequate sweetness, thanks to the inclusion of chocolates.

The biggest drawback to this brownie, and ultimately the reason why it came in so low on this ranking, was because the lack of gluten meant a lack of structure. When I sliced it, the pieces practically shattered in my fingertips. I got two or three pieces out of it before I had to toss the baked treat on the parchment paper away in the trash. Granted, the one piece I did get was pretty good. 

Duncan Hines has been a trusted cake mix brand in my home for many years, so I wasn't surprised to see that it also carries brownie mix. This chewy fudge mix required a little more oil than the other brands I sampled (⅔ cup rather than the status quo ½). I suspected that this extra fat would make these brownies extra rich. 

And rich these brownies were. The chocolatey flavor was full-bodied and welcoming — like you were getting a big hug — and the sponge stuck to the back of your mouth as you swallowed. That's picture-perfect brownie energy. However, I think calling these brownies "fudgy" is a bit of a reach. On the scale of fudge to cake, they definitely fall somewhere near an underbaked sponge cake rather than a molten brownie. Cake brownies are fine, but I don't think that Duncan Hines should advertise that this is a fudge brownie if it can't deliver on that promise. 

Otherwise, this brownie was slightly less sweet than some of the other brands, which made it a little more palatable for me — as a person who doesn't have a super sweet tooth. I could, however, see someone saying that it's not sweet enough, which is why I pushed it back in my ranking. 

Ghirardelli knows chocolate, but how well does it know brownie mixes? This double chocolate mix contains both chocolate chips and a chocolate base, which, in theory, makes it doubly worth enjoying. 

This brownie had just a little bit of crackle, but it wasn't enough crackle to make it really embody a brownie. If you looked at it, I think you would mistake it for a sponge cake — and that's totally fine, considering that it is a very good sponge cake. The chocolate flavor hits you right at the forefront before you're met with a degree of sweetness that is positively exceptional. Flavor-wise, it achieves a far better balance than Duncan Hines ever could. I think part of this sweetness is due to the chocolate chips — though I didn't find any interspersed in the bites of brownie that I sampled. 

The nail in the coffin for this mix, though, is the texture. It's just not what I want from a brownie. If anything, I would say that it's the most cake-like of all the brownies I sampled. It even puffed up more in the oven than the rest, which really drives home the "cake" label. But again, it's not a bad cake (and I would happily continue to eat it if I didn't have many, many other brownies to sample). 

Great Value makes a lot of baking products that can really be great triumphs or really hard nos. This brownie mix falls right in the middle of that spectrum. Visually, you can tell that it makes a cakey brownie. But, the color of this brownie is far more intense than some of the pale chocolate "brownies" I sampled. I also thought that for a budget brand, its flavors were really well-developed. The cheap chocolate is there, of course, and there is more sweetness than most of the other brands, but overall, it has a far better flavor balance than the other cakey brownies. 

If Great Value remarketed this product as a chocolate cake mix, I would buy this mix again in a heartbeat and follow the same recipe. But, as it stands, it's not a brownie. The only reason it scored lower than Pillsbury on this ranking is because its crackle isn't as pronounced. 

It's hard not to love the Pillsbury Doughboy showing off his brownie confection. Pillsbury is a trusted name in baking mixes, so I had no doubt its chocolate brownie mix would fare well against the competition.

I had a great feeling about this brownie mix the second I pulled it from the oven. What I personally liked about this brownie was that it had the texture of a sponge cake, interspersed with molten pieces of chocolate that pushed it more towards the brownie end of things. It had a rise similar to that of the Ghirardelli brand but with a slightly fudgier texture that made it clear that it was trying to impersonate a brownie. 

However, the big drawback to this brand is that it's cheap — and it makes its cheapness known in terms of its flavor and ingredients. The chocolate notes don't hit you upside the head, which is kind of what you want from a brownie. Rather, they're soft, underdeveloped, and missing the complexity that the chocolate is really there for. It's a bargain-making mix, so I can't fault it too much. But if it had a more pronounced chocolate flavor and a slightly cracklier top, it would have scored just a little bit higher. 

Krusteaz is a trusted name for boxed pancake mix, but how would its brownie mix fare against the competition? I'll admit, I've been surprised by this brand in the past; it made a pretty tasty muffin in my roundup of the best blueberry muffin mixes — and it's gluten-free! 

This Krusteaz mix really surprised me yet again. When I pulled it out of the oven, I immediately knew it was the mix I had been looking for. It had the perfect amount of spread to clearly differentiate it from a thick chocolate sponge, and the crunchy coating on top was just the icing on the cake. It was attractive, and I was even more drawn to it when I split the brownie and noticed it had a perfectly molten texture. 

If you had this brownie in a bakery shop, I would have already bought it — gluten-free or not. But I can't skip over the issues with this product in the structure department. Gluten-free flours, like the one used for this blend, tend to impart a mealy, coarse texture to baked goods. It's probably why people nix the flour in a flourless chocolate cake. There was a sandy, grainy texture to this brownie — and honestly, I think the depth of the chocolate flavors amplified it a little too much. If you're gluten-free, I think this texture is a worthy sacrifice to make. But personally, I'd rather get my brownies sans grit. 

I love a budget-friendly selection, so that may be why I was so impartial to Aldi's Baker's Corner chewy fudge brownie mix. Price-wise, it was cheaper than many of the other brands reviewed here.

The recipe was simple and called for water, oil, and eggs. There were no issues with this mix until it came time to pull it from the oven. This was the brownie mix with the greatest proportion of crackle on the top — by a long shot. I personally love a good crackle, especially in an even sheet like this. However, the top of the brownie crackled before the bottom could set, which made it very tricky to check when the brownie mix was actually done baking. As a result, I prematurely pulled it, then frustratingly had to shove it back in for another 10 minutes. 

When fully baked, this brownie gives off all-American-brownie vibes. The bottom was perfectly set, while the top was crackly (almost crackly enough to scrape the roof of your mouth). Texture-wise, it's perfect. However, I didn't get the sweetness from this brownie that I got from several of the other brands, and you could tell that the chocolate was cheap because it wasn't pronounced enough. I've had worse brownies in my life, and dare I say that I wish this one was a little less crackly for the roof of my mouth's sake?

White Lily is a brand I more often associate with cornbread and biscuits than chocolate fudge brownie mix, but I guess I'll take it. The labeling looks rustic, though the brownies on the box look more delicious than some of the other brands depicted on their packaging. 

And when I pulled these brownies from the oven, I could say that sentiment was still true. The top was crackled — granted, not as crackled as the Aldi brand — but it was distinguished enough to set it apart from a cake. Plus, it also had a darker color than the other mixes, which suggested that it would offer a little more moisture and brownie-ish flavor than some of the cakier brownie brands I sampled. It was soft and fudgy and didn't stick to the roof of my mouth like some of the other lower-ranked brands did. The aftertaste didn't linger either, which made me want to go in for "just another slice." 

This brownie traverses a thin line between being fudgy and cakey — which makes me think that someone in either camp could appreciate it. All in all, it's a fantastic brownie, especially with the extra chocolate chips swirled in. But it still doesn't hold a candle to my top-ranked brand. 

With "ultimate" advertised on the box, you know it has to be good. And generally, King Arthur Baking Company's products are. Even the gluten-free selections are comparable to gluten-based products. 

Interestingly, this recipe calls for a stick of butter rather than oil. I personally am in the oil camp when it comes to brownies because I think it imparts a chewier, denser texture, but I applaud whoever made this brownie mix for the brand. These brownies are dense and fudgy, and I think that being a gluten-free recipe helped in that department. They have the dense, stick-to-your-ribs consistency that truly makes them a brownie — a characteristic that seemingly almost every other mix on this list bypassed. 

The crackle deftly walks the line between being perfectly too thin and too hard against the roof of your mouth. While this mix is far pricier than the other options, I can assure you that these high-quality, chocolatey desserts are well worth any price tag because they are absolutely fantastic.

I purchased these boxed brownie mixes from stores in the southern Rhode Island area. Then, I prepared each according to the box's directions and cooking times in a 9-by-13 glass pan. Once the brownies had been adequately cooled, I sliced them up and tasted a bite of each. 

When assembling this ranking, I looked at several factors, including the overall structure and flavor of a brownie. The product should represent its label, so if it's a "fudgy" brownie, I should be getting something soft, molten, and gooey. I also wanted a strong chocolate flavor and balanced sweetness to differentiate each dessert from a standard chocolate cake. Moreover, I prized mixes that offered the signature crackle on top — as I think its a fundamental of a quality brownie.