Brownies

I was planning on telling you all about the most wonderful, magnificent, incredible brownie in the world quite some time ago, but I was afraid you wouldn't believe me. It's my one real cheat, I guess. They're from a box. This box:


The amazing thing about them is that while they're dense and moist, they have an unmatched depth of chocolate flavor. I've tried to replicate it. I can't. The texture is just incredible, since they're very thick but not at all cakey. (I don't like cakey brownies.) And when I make them, it takes less than a day for the pan to look like this:


I've always purchased them at Costco, and on this last trip I noticed, to my horror, that they'd been replaced.

When I say, "to my horror," I'm not exaggerating. My heart sunk. Instead of the beloved Hershey's box, I saw a Betty Crocker box with mini-kisses and some other chocolate.

Mark and I had just been talking recently about how we should stock up on these, so we could always have them around. You know, in case of a brownie emergency. (By the way, they're also amazing with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge sauce.) Unfortunately, we hadn't done that yet.

So I'm terribly concerned, but there is one little ray of hope. The Hershey's brownies are made by Betty Crocker, so Mark suggested maybe they're just changing the branding of the box. I'm a bit concerned because the previous brownies were deleted by Costco and these now placed on permanent order (I asked). I think I'll call Betty Crocker or Hershey's tomorrow and see if I can sort it out. Unless any of you already know.

Just in case, I better work on my own brownie recipe.

Oh, and by the way (in case you happen to have one of these boxes, which I'd buy off of you), they should be made with softened butter, not oil. I'm sure it's just a misprint on the box when it calls for oil, because they work wonderfully with softened butter and the taste difference is very noticeable.

Update on Oct.10: I called Betty Crocker (well, General Mills) and they told me the old brownies haven't been discontinued, and they may just be on a rotation at Costco. More importantly, they're also called Betty Crocker Supreme brownies Triple Chocolate Chunk and available at most grocery stores. I have to say, though, as I've been thinking about it, I wonder how they'd be at sea level. They're so dense and fudgy here at 2500 feet and in Utah at 4000 feet, and I don't know if they're the same in Indiana or Florida or wherever else. Let me know. But make them with butter, or it won't be a fair comparison.