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Cake Mix Brownies are an easy, fudgy dessert made with a boxed cake mix and a few simple ingredients. Perfect for quick baking and customizable with your favorite mix-ins.
Cake Mix Brownies are the ultimate shortcut dessert when you want something rich, chocolatey, and homemade without the extra effort. With just a few simple ingredients, a boxed cake mix transforms into fudgy, chewy brownies that taste like you spent way more time in the kitchen than you actually did.
I’ve never met someone who doesn’t love brownies. What’s not to love? Normally I scream from the rooftops that my Easy Homemade Brownies are the way to go, just a few ingredients, and completely homemade. But these cake mix brownies are the perfect shortcut when you need it.
Using a cake mix to make your brownies is like a perfect shortcut. Cake mix is so delicious, and it makes it that much simpler and easier to make brownies. This is a fool-proof recipe that everyone will love. You’ve got to try it!
Ingredients You’ll Need
Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the post for the FULL PRINTABLE recipe card.
- Chocolate cake mix
- Butter
- Large eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
Cake Mix Brownies
Ingredients
- 1 15.25 ounce chocolate cake mix
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 2 whole large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F. Line an 8-inch baking dish with parchment paper, or grease the dish well.
- Add the cake mix, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla to a mixing bowl. Stir until well combined.1 15.25 ounce chocolate cake mix, 1/2 cup unsalted butter, 2 whole large eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add the chocolate chips and stir until they are evenly distributed. The batter. will be quite thick.1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Spread the brownie batter into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 22-25 minutes, until the top is dry, the edges appear done, and a cake tester comes out mostly clean.
- Remove the brownies from the oven and let cool completely before slicing.
Notes
- Store leftovers in an airtight container on the counter for 3 days, or in the fridge for 1 week.
- You can freeze these brownies for 3 months in a double layer of airtight plastic bags.
- For best results, use room-temperature eggs.
- Make sure there's still a few crumbs on the cake tester when you remove the brownies. If the tester comes out perfectly clean, the brownies are overdone.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
How to Make Cake Mix Brownies
- Prep. Preheat your oven to 350F, then grease an 8-inch baking dish or line it with parchment paper.
- Make the brownie mix. Add the cake mix, butter, eggs, and vanilla extract to a bowl, and mix until well combined.
- Add the chocolate chips. Pour in the chocolate chips and stir until they’re well distributed.
- Pour in the baking dish. Add the brownie batter to the prepared baking dish, and make sure it’s spread evenly across the dish.
- Bake. Place the baking dish in the oven and bake until the top is dry, the edges look done, and a cake tester comes out mostly clean. This should take 22-25 minutes.
- Cool. Remove the brownies from the oven and let them cool before slicing.
Recipe Tips and Variations
- Use room-temperature eggs. Anytime you’re baking, it’s best to use eggs that are at room temperature. Cold eggs don’t mix as well with the other ingredients, so the brownies won’t be as smooth and soft if you use eggs straight from the fridge. Take the eggs out 30 minutes before making this recipe and the brownies will have a perfect texture.
- Don’t over-bake. The brownies will continue to cook after you remove them from the oven, so you want to take them out when they’re not quite finished baking. To check the doneness, insert a cake tester or a toothpick into the middle of the brownies. It should come out with some crumbs on it, but no raw batter. If it comes out fully clean, the brownies are over-baked.
- Let them cool completely. It’s so tempting to eat these cake mix brownies as soon as they come out of the oven because they smell amazing. But give them time to cool completely before you cut into them. This will allow the brownies to firm up, and the texture will be much better.
- Add nuts. A lot of people love to put nuts in their brownies, and that works great in this recipe. Just add some walnuts or pecans when you add the chocolate chips and you’re good to go. Or you can add peanut butter chips along with the chocolate chips!
- Use dried fruit. Fruit isn’t as common in brownies as nuts are, but a lot of people love dried fruit in their brownies. You can add the dried fruit of your choice at the same time that you add the chocolate chips. I recommend dried cherries!
Storage
You can keep leftover brownies in an airtight container on the counter for up to 3 days. Or you can place the container in the fridge and the brownies will last for a week. The brownies will get a little bit dry as the week goes on, so for best results eat them sooner rather than later.
Freezing
You can absolutely freeze cake mix brownies. I recommend storing them in double-bagged airtight plastic bags. They’ll last in the freezer for up to 3 months.
More Easy Brownie Recipes
If you love brownies as much as I do, then you’ve got to try some of my other favorite recipes. They’re all easy, delicious, and super chocolatey.
These look so good! Can you believe I’ve never made brownies with cake mix before? I can’t wait to try it.
These brownies are really amazing! So easy to make and so delish!