We recently hosted a playoff hockey party with a few
extended family members coming over to watch the game and indulge in munchies.
The food planning was easy as 1-2-3 as I ordered some carry
out pizzas and broke out a salad to go along with dinner.
Dessert? I had brownies on my mind. Brownies are so easy to
prepare as one can simply mix a few ingredients, bake in the oven in less than
one hour and viola, brownies are ready! I headed up to Aldi food store for a box
of their brand of mix known as Baker’s Corner Brownie mix. Baker’s Corner is
apparently the only brownie mix brand carried by Aldi, so by default I chose
this box. I am accustomed to Betty Crocker and Ghirardelli from other stores,
so I was expecting an average to below average result with this mix. Bakers Corner, please don’t fail me!
Preparation
Like all quick prepared brownie mixes, this one was pretty
easy to assemble. Besides the mix, I only needed two eggs, some vegetable oil
and water. I mixed those items together in a large bowl before putting the
brownie batter in a greased nine by nine baking pan. The brownies cooked at 350
degrees F for approximately thirty eight minutes. The baking process made the
entire upper level of my house smell like a bakery. The yield was about twenty
brownies.
Taste
After knocking out a very large pizza with very little
salad, we were ready for the dessert taste test. I tried a corner square of the
brownies. (I always like the corner pieces). The chewiness and fudge flavor
were there, and I found these brownies to be as equally as satisfying as the Betty
Crocker Triple Chunk mix with Hershey’s chocolate. A blind taste test would
never reveal this was a “generic” brownie at all. One possible alteration full
blown chocolate lovers would consider, would be to add a small handful of
chocolate chips to the batter prior to placing in oven. Personally, I don’t
think the extra chocolate was needed. My wife thinks otherwise as she puts
chips in brownie mixes regardless of brands.
Price
One box of Baker’s Corner Fudge brownie mix only set me back
$1.29 compared to a similar sized box of the Betty Crocker Triple Chunk Premium
Mix at $2.29, a dollar savings.
Overall Result
There is no second guessing the value and satisfaction of the
Baker’s Corner Mix. The brownies are enough to get my family through at least
three desserts; assuming no one sneaks a square when I am not looking. This is
a very strong buy.