Oh boy! These things are dangerous! Do not buy these Trader Joe’s Ready to Bake Brownies! You will become quickly addicted to them and how easy they are to make! I have never had the Truffle Brownie Mix that they sell separately. That is a more traditional add eggs and milk kind of mix. This is basically a bag of wet, premixed brownie batter that pour into a pan and bake in the oven. No fuss, no muss!
My wife likes to make brownies from time to time and she makes some kick ass brownies. She uses the same recipe she’s been using for 15 years. It comes from this little cookie cookbook that is all ratty with pages falling out, but it her go to book. Her brownies are a little more on the the cake side of things, less dense like fudge. The Trader Joe’s Brownies definitely lean more toward a rich, dense fudge-like consistency.
OK, check this out. Turn on the oven. Cut open the bag of mix. Pour into baking dish. Wait like 20 minutes. Pull them out of the oven and you have fresh baked brownies! Actually, it’s that simple!
Ok, the cooking time was a little off, but that could’ve been my oven. I left them in a little longer than the recommended cooking time because they didn’t quite look done. I left them in for about 5 minutes longer. (The picture on the left is before they went into the oven so it looks a little wet.)
The whole house smelled like brownies when they were baking and they had a look of a very dark, chocolate heavy type of brownie, which I like, but Becky likes them less dense. The baked perfectly. The texture, as I mentioned earlier, is a bit thick. Not very crumbly. Even though I oiled the glass pan, they stuck like crazy and I had to use a spatula to get them out. They were very chocolaty and getting close to fudge consistency. The kids loved them, so that’s all that counts!
For those of you that are too lazy or don’t have the time to mix the ingredients together for brownies and like a thicker, denser type of brownie, these are for you! If you like a lighter, drier style of brownie, I would stay away from these.
For me, I like them well enough and the kids loved them! I am going to rate these Trader Joe’s Ready To Bake Brownies a solid 7 bells!
My first thought when I saw this product in the store was….Just give me a spoon!! Fortunately for my waistline, I have been able to resist.
Disappointing–don’t buy. The bag is fun and squishy and it sure was simple to bake. Agree the baking time is off. I had to leave them in the oven 10 mins longer. Cooked product had a very fake looking shiny top (from the oil?) and rubbery texture with mild cooked taste–not even a clean chocolate taste to them. Ingredients included pasteurized sweet concentrated eggs and rapeseed oil. Does not compare to boxed brownie mixes or from scratch.
These seemed like such a good idea! I had to add about 15 minutes to baking time. I took one bite when they were warm and spit it out into the garbage. To be fair, I let them cool and tried another piece. Same result. Whole thing went into the trash.
I love just about every TJ’s product I have tried. They seem to discontinue a lot of good products. This is one they should discontinue. Really, though, this is one that should not have even made it onto the New Items shelf, which is where I found it.
I think you had a bad batch. I’ve made those brownies several times and they are always excellent! I would complain to Trader Joe’s and get your money back.
I tried them once myself. They were good, and I’d buy again if I could find them. Ivy is right, though, they came out baked looking like they had a coat of Turtle Wax on them LOL……….