I finally admit boxed brownie mix beats my from-scratch recipe after 14 years

So I've been making this fudgy brownie recipe from my aunt since college, swear by it, brought it to every party, got compliments every time. Last month my sister brings a pan of grocery store Ghirardelli mix to our family BBQ and mine was sitting right next to it. People grabbed hers first, ate all of hers, I had half a pan left. Ngl, I was salty about it and did a blind taste test at home with 3 neighbors. Hers won 3-0, hands down. Texture was better, crackly top, took half the time and about $4 less in ingredients. I still think my recipe tastes good but the convenience and consistency is hard to beat. Has anyone else had to surrender to a boxed version of something after years of homemade pride?

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parker_park812h ago

and honestly the real winner here is the whole "crackly top" thing. Ive spent years trying to get that paper thin shiny crust on homemade brownies and it never hits right unless you beat the eggs forever and even then its hit or miss. Box mix just has that science dialed in with the right fat ratio and lecithin or whatever they put in there. Also people sleep on the fact that box mixes are basically idiot proof for texture, you can overmix em and they still come out chewy not tough. I bet your aunt's recipe is still better for like a super dense fudge situation but for everyday crowd pleasing? Yeah the box wins and its not even close.