
A brownie is a dessert that doesn’t require a lot of advance planning. Cakes, breads, cinnamon buns—these are all things you spend your week daydreaming about, ordering special ingredients for, and organizing your weekend around. Brownies, on the other hand, usually get made when someone says, “You know, I could really go for a brownie right now.” I’m a professional baker, and you’ll still find a box or two of brownie mix somewhere in my cupboard, just for emergencies. While they are certainly convenient, all boxed mixes are not created equal. Which is most worthy of your time, effort, and appetite? To find out, I devoured six pans of brownies made from mixes commonly found at most supermarkets.