Well, bless my heart. The work I have to do around here for you people is sometimes just too much, you know?  I mean, after I labored over the mac and cheese experiment, spending thirty whole seconds of extra time in my kitchen to make the good, homemade, whole grain, Creamy Mac and Cheese, several of you got on your knees and begged asked me to experiment next with brownies to see which took longer – brownies from a box, or homemade brownies.  Really. Asking me to bake two pans of rich, gooey, chocolatey brownies?  I seriously had to muscle up on this request, you know?  Sometimes you all can be soooo demanding.

It’s okay though – {she says, with the back of her weary hand placed pitifully on her forehead} - I love you all enough that I was able to find the strength to serve you in this way.  If someone must make two pans of brownies to help prove a point, I will rise to the challenge.

What?  I suppose next you’ll ask me to make chocolate cake, or pudding, or fudge or something?  Who do you think I am anyway?

Okay.  I’m all done pretending to whine now. Seriously, anytime you want to ask me to make brownies, I am alllll over it.  I’m happy to “take one for the team” anytime chocolate is involved.

So here’s a little something that hasn’t been in my kitchen for several years now…

Why yes, it did feel a little funny pouring that into a bowl.  And then, because I haven’t made brownies from a box for such a long time – I actually had to take the time to read the directions.  I felt a little silly and was glad no one was in there watching me struggle to remember and figure out how to make brownies from a box.  Except now I just told you about it, so I guess you get to make fun of me anyway.

From box to pan, before going into the oven, it took me right at 4.5 minutes to mix up these brownies.  Quick and convenient?  Yep, they sure were.  (I used Olive Oil in case you were wondering.)

Next, I started to mix up my Homemade Fudge Brownies that I have been making for several years now.  I already had some whole wheat flour ground and in the freezer, but I totally don’t feel like that was cheating in this experiment because I almost always have flour ground and in the freezer for brownie emergencies baking.  It’s a little something I call “kitchen efficiency” and it totally works for me.

How long did it take for me to mix up the homemade brownies and get them into the pan?  5.5 minutes.  Why did it take me an entire minute longer to mix up homemade brownies than it took to mix up the boxed brownies?  Because I had to wait for my butter to melt on the stovetop.  Yes, the butter was taking its sweet time to liquify.  But never fear.  While my butter was melting, I got out my other brownie ingredients, washed a few dishes, and talked to my children.  All was not lost in that extra minute of brownie preparation time.

Can you tell which pan is homemade and which pan is from a box?

The blue dish holds the homemade brownies, in case you were wondering which pan to dig into first.
Not that you can, however, because they are sort of gone now.

So, did making brownies from a box save me any time?  Yes.  One whole minute.  Score one for boxed brownies.

Did I feel better about using an extra minute of my life to melt some butter and mix up brownies with sucanat and whole wheat flour?  Well, of course I did.  Plus I got some dishes done while my butter melted.

By the way, do you know why it only took me one extra minute to mix up the homemade brownies?  Because I have made homemade brownies so many times that I don’t even have to think about it anymore.  Truly, the more you cook from scratch, the easier and faster it becomes. If you’re new to baking and cooking outside of the box, don’t lose heart!  It gets easier the more you do it!

And then, it won’t be long until you’re like me and have to cock your confused head to one side while you try to read the directions on the back of a box.

Crazy but true.  ;)

I’ve got more experimenting to do, so stay tuned for more fun updates.  I think muffins are the next on my list.

So tell me – do you make homemade brownies or boxed brownies? If you haven’t attempted to make them homemade, I encourage you to give them a try.  Yes.  That’s an order.  Hey, it’s chocolate.  Who’s going to argue with that?  :)