Forget missing out on all those box mix brownies when you make these quick and easy Gluten Free Better Than Box Mix Brownies. Ghirardelli chocolate chips bring these to a whole-nother level!
Oh me, oh my!!! For reals, I have found my favorite brownies.
Long before this gluten free quest, I had my all-time favorite brownies pegged. And no people, they were not homemade. In my honest opinion, Ghirardelli box mix brownies take the cake…or brownie…for the best fudgy bar out there. Like in the whole universe.
Too bad Ghirardelli brownies aren’t gluten free. WAH! WAH!!!!!
So on my quest to find a brownie recipe that resembles the texture and flavor of all those box mixes, rather than a cake-like brownie that most homemade versions tend to be, I turned to Pinterest.
Search: Box Mix Brownies
Check.
Best search I ever made.
I knew that if I could just find a good box mix brownie copycat recipe, I could easily adapt it to being gluten free. And boy was I right!
The very first picture I looked at came from Life Made Simple. As I was reading her description of these brownies, she compared them to my all-time favorite Ghirardelli brownies! What a dream come true! I hurriedly scrolled to the bottom of the page to read reviews on the recipe, and sure enough they were nothing short of stellar.
Time to make brownies.
Gluten Free Better Than Box Mix Brownies to be exact. And yes, they are indeed better than the box mix. Can you believe it???
I followed Life Made Simple’s recipe to a tee except for substituting my own gluten free flour blend, and I did have to increase the bake time by quite a bit. Her recipe only requires baking the brownies for 25 minutes, but I found that mine weren’t done until close to 45 minutes. I thought at first I might have done something wrong, but nope. They just needed more time before reaching perfection.
I even made the recipe a second time to make sure that my bake time was correct. Once again, it took a good 20 minutes extra, but they turned out just as divine as the first attempt.
I love how this recipe calls for a mixture of chocolate chips and chopped up chocolate bar. The chips hold their shape and structure better, so you get those chunks of chocolate when you bite into the brownie. But, the chopped up chocolate bar spreads and melts throughout the batter as it bakes so you end with gooey ribbons of chocolate.
Uh, YUM?!
These brownies are thick, chewy, fudgy, chocolatey, and just downright perfect. I really truly can end my best brownie search right here, right now. Calling it quits baby because I’ve found my match!!!
A sincere thank you to the mastermind baker Natalie over at Life Made Simple. You’re the greatest!
- ½ cup (1 stick) plus 3 tablespoons butter (11 tablespoons total)
- 1¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons high quality gluten free all purpose flour or my preferred blend: ¼ cup white rice flour, 2 tablespoons potato starch, 2 tablespoons coconut flour, and 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ½ plus ⅛ teaspoon xanthan gum (only if your gluten free blend doesn't already contain a gum)
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips
- 1½ oz. semi-sweet baking bar chocolate, chopped
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease an 8X8 baking dish and set aside.
- In a microwave safe bowl, heat butter and sugar on high for one minute, until butter is melted. Stir together to dissolve sugar. Allow to sit five minutes. Add vanilla and cocoa powder and stir until incorporated.
- Using a whisk or beaters on low speed, stir in eggs one at a time until well incorporated.
- In a separate smaller mixing bowl, sift together gluten free flour (or my preferred blend), xanthan gum (only if your blend doesn't already contain a gum), baking soda, and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir or beat on low speed until smooth.
- Chop semi-sweet chocolate and stir into batter along with milk chocolate chips.
- Pour batter into well greased baking dish and bake at 325 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until brownies are barely set and toothpick inserted into middle of brownies comes out clean with few wet crumbs.
- Allow brownies to cool in pan on cooling racks for 30-45 minutes before cutting and serving.
Whaaaaaa? BETTER than the Ghirardelli AND gluten-free. Sign me up!!!! These look incredible. Can’t wait to make them 🙂
Thanks Leah! I’m just grateful to Natalie from Life Made Simple for the great starter recipe. Seriously awesome!
I always appreciate comments when I’m deciding on a recipe so I wanted to get on and say these were delicious. I’ve made a lot of gf brownies and these are some of the best. I set my timer for 30 minutes since 45 seemed long and glad I did because they were done. Next time I will set for 25 because I probably would prefer them a tad gooier, but they were delicious!!!
Thanks for the review Stephanie! I’m glad they worked out for you. I love these brownies! I was surprised the baking time was so long for mine (the original recipe that I converted calls for a bake time of 25 mins), but mine wouldn’t bake through for at least 40-45 minutes. Maybe my oven temp is a bit off. But for gooey, you definitely want to bake for less time. Either way, they are for sure my favorite brownies! And thanks again for the comment. =)