Brownie Mix Review: Rising Star Organic Double Chocolate Fudge

My wife thought it would be fun to try different brownie mixes to see which one we liked best. It's really just an excuse to eat brownies.

Here are the products we have in the queue:

• Betty Crocker Milk Chocolate
• Duncan Hines Chewy Fudge
• Pillsbury Chocolate Fudge
• Rising Star Organic Double Chocolate Fudge Brownie mix
• Whole Foods Brand Brownie Mix

Rising Star was first.

Rising Star Organic Double Chocolate Fudge Brownie mix -- 4.5 of 5 stars

Preparation

The recipe called for 2 tablespoons of cold water, but we substituted approximately the same amount of Organic Half-n-Half.

We scrambled the egg in a separate bowl and then added the half-n-half, scrambling some more. Then we slowly poured in the melted butter while mixing so as to avoid cooking the egg or solidifying the butter too much. We used Cabot brand salted butter.

Into a separate larger bowl, we dumped the mix (dry ingredients) and sprinkled some espresso powder on top. Then we mixed in the liquid ingredients. The batter blended very well even though it was very thick. But it smelled a bit unpleasant due to the espresso powder.

We prepared a 7" by 11" glass baking dish by liberally coating it with melted butter and poured the batter into it, leveling it out as directed.

We set the (electric) oven for 350°F, preheated it and then baked for 30 minutes. There was a slight burnt smell, so we saw that the edges were already done, even at only about 25 minutes. When we checked for doneness, we noticed that the oven thermometer indicated 375°F to 400°F, so we reduced the setting to 335°F. As well, a raised portion of the batter was less well-cooked than the rest, so we rotated the dish slightly to move that part closer to the back.

After another 5 minutes at 335°F (plus some more time ramping up to 335°F), the thickness was uniform, and that thin, smooth, glassy layer formed over the entire surface. It passed the doneness test, so we removed it to the cold three-season porch to cool off for about thirty minutes.

We cut it with a plastic knife into 15 square pieces (/ 7.0 3.0)2.33 (/ 11.0 5.0)2.2 of about 2.25 inches. The pieces were easy to remove.

Taste

These were dense, moist, and fudgy, punctuated with soft chunks of intense chocolate. The edges were crisp and buttery but slightly overdone, with a texture marred by aggressiveness. Thus the center-most pieces were actually preferable. The three center pieces were finished off first.

The overall rating of 4.5 stars includes a deduction for less than ideal preparation.