Chocolate! That’s what we’re talking about here. We’ve been making the Trader Joe’s Gluten-Free Brownie Mix for almost a year now and recently it came to my attention that we haven’t ever reviewed it on this site. This mix is really awesome. We don’t make it exactly how the package says you should, though, so I’m going to provide details about what we do.
The brownie mix is free of wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, soy, and corn, which is cool because that takes care of quite a few common allergy foods. Of course, it has chocolate, but that’s the point! Here is a list of ingredients: Organic Evaporated Cane Juice (sugar), Sweet Brown Rice Flour, Cocoa (processed with alkali), Tapioca Flour, Arrowroot Flour, Sea Salt, Xanthan Gum. I always list the amount of sodium in the Trader Joe’s products I review. The package says that it makes 12 servings. Each serving has 125 mg of salt.
The recipe on the package calls for 1 egg, 1/2 cup vegetable oil, and 1/4 cup water.
We always put some of these awesome chips in our brownies. They’re the Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips. Besides being delicious, they’re free of dairy, nuts, gluten, and soy, and are mini-chips. This makes them ideal for brownies.
As an egg substitute, you can add your own favorite (when we replace eggs, we use the Ener-G Food Egg Replacer because it is gluten-free.) We also replace half of the oil with some applesauce. This sounds kind of weird, considering you’re making brownies, but I think it really improves the brownies, and also the brownies are a lot more healthy. In case you’re wondering, it is possible to replace all the oil with applesauce and end up with edible brownies, but they definitely aren’t as delicious, and don’t seem to keep as well.
One of the most important things about making brownies is to not overcook them. When you overcook brownies they end up rock hard when they’ve cooled off. It seems like the Trader Joe’s mix doesn’t suffer from this so much, which is cool. With a little bit of adjustment, this mix can also be used to make cookies. Instructions for these are on the package.
And here’s the reward. We have made these brownies and shared them with friends and family, and nobody has ever suspected that they are gluten-free. They’re awesome!
We want to know: Are there other gluten-free brownie mixes out there? Do you have any tricks or tips to make better brownies? Let us know in the comments.
Times we have visited: 8+ (so we feel confident about our score.)
Overall rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Price compared to “regular”: About the same
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Thanks for the review! Looks like we have similar brownie doctoring techniques :) Here’s a link to my go at the Betty Crocker brownie mix. http://ourpeepshow.wordpress.com/2009/08/23/simple-pleasures/ Betty’s is my personal favorite. Thanks for all you do for us in Portland who are gluten-free!
I vote for Betty Crocker, too. I just cannot seem to get the Trader Joe’s brownies to work. They completely fall apart every time, which drives me nuts (I follow the directions with no deviations).
However, I have to say that I don’t like the other Betty Crocker mixes as much. And really dislike the Betty Crocker cookies (which also fall apart). My 2cents :-)
Oh! And I forgot-try Udi’s bread. It is A-mazing!!! I bake my own bread from scratch, and can’t even get close to this stuff. It’s like the Wonder Bread of gluten free. It’s incredible in that it stays fresh forever without either crumbling or getting gummy (so you can easily make sandwiches that last all day, even days after opening the loaf). However, much like Wonder Bread, I don’t think it has much nutrition. I’ve only tried the sandwich bread (as my local stores were out of multi grain) so I don’t know if that might have more nutrition. Regardless, I will never go without it again, it’s that good.
I love the Babycakes NYC brownie recipe. It’s gluten-free and vegan as well. I add chocolate chips to it (as I do to everything), and I completely fooled family and co-workers. Her cupcakes are awesome as well.
http://www.babycakesnyc.com/books.html
I like the Babycakes brownies too.
If you’re looking for a mix, especially a vegan one, I like the one by The Cravings Place. The company is headquartered in Bend, and you can get the mix at New Seasons Market.
Thanks for letting us know. We’ll keep an eye out for it.
I really like Namaste brownie mix as well. I’m going to have to try Trader Joe’s mix… Thanks!
I doctor the hell out of it–combine it with a from-scratch recipe, so it tastes like from-scratch, makes a double batch, but is a bit cheaper ;)
1 box trader joe’s gluten free brownie mix (which has good flavor and weird texture), plus however much eggs/butter it calls for on the box, and just follow the directions on the back of the box for temp/time, etc (the following ingredients are all at tjs too [;)]
Add to that:
1/2 cup Butter or Margarine, melted
2 eggs
1/2 cup Cocoa, unsweetened
1 cup sugar, (or brown sugar, Evaporated Cane Juice, agave. maple syrup, whatever you like for sweetener)
1 tsp Vanilla
1/2 cup Almond Meal/Flour
It’s a keeper!