How to Make Brownies from Cake Mix
We have all had that unmistakable craving where you just need a chewy, chocolatey brownie and nothing else will do. You must satisfy that craving!
Then comes the big problem- you don’t have the ingredients needed to make brownies. What now?!
Don’t panic- you can still reach your chocolate goal as long as you have a simple box of cake mix. We will help you turn that cake into brownies and all of your brownie dreams will come true!
Once you understand the differences between brownie mix and cake mix, making brownies from cake mix isn’t that hard.
In short, it’s as simple as skipping the liquid, reducing the eggs, and using oil in place of butter. You will also want to reduce the baking time significantly.
For even more of a brownie fix, see what you can do with leftover brownies!
Brownies vs. Cake
Before we magically change cake mix into brownies, what actually is the difference between a brownie batter and a cake batter? While they both have a lot of the same ingredients, (eggs, flour, oil, sugar etc) the quantities are very different.
Cake recipes have almost double the amount of flour as brownies which is one reason cakes have a spongy texture while brownies are much more dense. If you are making a chocolate cake, there will be cocoa powder for sure but not nearly as much cocoa powder as if you were whipping up some brownies.
You will also notice that a very important cake ingredient is missing in a brownie recipe- baking powder or baking soda! Brownies don’t need a leavener. In fact, they are better when they stay dense and thick- you don’t want light fluffy brownies…
So, there are some clear differences between cake and brownies that we will need to combat when using a pre measured cake mix to make brownies. Not a problem! These tricks will fight that cake mix until it succumbs to being the brownies you crave.
Skip The Water
No matter what brand of cake mix you buy, the directions are almost always the same with all of them asking you to add around a cup of water or milk to the recipe. Skip this; you don’t want to add any liquid to your mix.
Adding water to the cake batter loosens up the mixture and makes it easier for the cake to rise while it is baking. Of course, you don’t want your “cake” to rise; you want dense brownies!
Many box cake mixes also ask for you to add hot water which helps activate the baking powder or baking soda that is in the mix. Once again, you don’t want to activate that leavener any more- in fact, you want to dull it as much as possible.
Bottom line, goodbye water. Nobody needs you to make brownies.
Cut the Eggs
The average cake mix calls for the addition of three eggs (although these can easily be substituted). Eggs have two purposes in a cake: Number one is to help emulsify and stabilize the air bubbles in the cake and second, to act as a leavening agent.
While stabilizing the batter is a good idea in brownies, there is that pesky problem of leaveners again! While you don’t want to eliminate eggs completely from the recipe (they do add a lot of flavor and tasty, healthy fats…aren’t you looking for healthy brownies?!?), you can reduce the amount of eggs that is suggested.
Drop the egg quantity down to two rather than three and your cake mix will be more dense like a nice, yummy brownie. Fewer eggs will also make a more fudge like brownie so definitely follow this guideline if you are looking for a chewy brownie creation.
Out of eggs? Here are some ways to make brownies without eggs.
All About The Fat
Some cake mix recipes say to use butter however, butter has milk solids in it and also lactic acid which can react with the leavener in the cake mix (aka baking powder) and help it to rise.
Replacing the butter with oil will prevent this from happening. Oil is typically used in recipes for fudgey brownies for just this reason! Oil is also a more neutral flavor than butter which allows the chocolate in the brownies to shine though.
One third of a cup of oil is the perfect quantity to make a regular sized box of cake mix into brownies. While the recipe on the back (for the cake) may say more or less, go with the 1/3 cup. This is just enough to make your brownies chewy and rich while not being too greasy.
Vegetable oil is the number one choice but melted coconut oil will also work great (and give your brownies a subtle and tasty coconut flavor!). You can even use olive oil if you want.
Baking Time
Cakes made from box mixes usually take around 40 to 45 minutes to bake depending on the size pan you use. After you make the box mix into brownie batter, you are going to want to cook it significantly less.
When baking a cake, you really want it to be completely cooked through to ensure the center isn’t dense and raw. But in brownies, undercooked is a good thing!
When the brownies are slightly underdone (but still baked enough to be safe to eat), they will be ooey and gooey and oh so chewy!
Pour the brownie batter into a square eight or nine inch pan and bake for just 25 to 30 minutes. Keep the same 350 degree F baking temperature that the box suggests- this is a perfect universal temperature for cakes, brownies and cookies (when in doubt, cook at 350!).
To Summarize…
Now that you know how to make brownies from cake mix and also know why each change is made, I’m going to make it even clearer:
- 1 box of cake mix
- 1/3 cup oil
- 2 eggs
- 25-30 minutes baking time
- Easy enough!
Creative Creations
While brownies typically constitute chocolate and therefore chocolate cake mix is needed, did you know that this general recipe will work for any flavor cake mix?
That’s right- you can make brownies from funfetti cake mix or toss in a bag of red velvet cake mix to create some beautiful red rich brownies.
You can even mix in some chocolate chips or candy bar pieces to make your brownies even more decadent. The possibilities are endless!
Making brownies has never been easier than when you just use a box of cake mix to make the batter. Why even go through the trouble of making brownies from scratch when it is just so simple to use this method.
So grab that box of cake mix (any kind!) from the store and make brownies, not cake. Ignore the package directions, brownies are better than cake anyway- you’re such a rebel!
If you give this a shot, let us know how it goes in the comments below!
Sarah is the founder of Baking Kneads, LLC, a blog sharing guides, tips, and recipes for those learning how to bake. Growing up as the daughter of a baker, she spent much of her childhood learning the basics in a local bakery.
Terrible waste of a cake mix. I am a very experienced baker and thought I would give this a try since I was out of brownie mix. Yuk.
Hi, Marilu!
I’m so sorry this didn’t work out for you!
@Marilu,
If you are so experienced why don’t you make your own from scratch, instead of being disrespectful of someone else’s recipe?
@Marnee,
Right?
Take that comment to Yelp. And go look at the definition of yelp while your at it Marilu.
I did say it was a tough one, but when I get a craving for anything, a box of cake is perfect! And I’m so glad there’s is post to feed my craving!
Great taste and oh sooo brownie-like! Had a late night craving for some chocolaty brownie goodness, but only had a chocolate fudge cake mix….so I tried what you suggested and they came out amazing….maybe even better than the box brownie mixes I’ve made before. (Oh, by the way,- I am NOT an experienced baker, lol) This was such an easy changeover! Thanks for sharing this!!
Hi, Stephanie!
I’m so glad they turned out so well!! Great job!
@Sarah | Baking Kneads, there is always someone who won’t like your recipe. Ignore her! I am 73 and in a pinch this worked out GREAT!!!!!
My mixer el heated up I just had to add milk. Also way to gooey couldn’t get the mix off my spatula or my fingers.
Hi, Gaby!!
I hope it worked out after you added the milk! It’s great that you were able to adjust the ingredients to work in your favor, if so!
Thanks for explaining the details. I was gonna try this regardless but now I’ll understand what I’m trying to do. And I’m an experienced Baker that’s why I’m googling how to’s 😀 thanks
Hi, Josh!!
I’m so glad I could help! I hope it turns out well for you!
I made mine with a Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge mix in a 9” pan with about a half cup of marshmallows added, just because. I pulled it out at the 20-minute mark, 350F, and it was already over-risen and fully cooked—not very fudgy. Would definitely recommend 15-18 min.
Also, I did not realize how much sodium was in a boxed cake mix! I was surprised with my first bite at just how salty it was…!
The steps outlined above make perfect sense and are good in a pinch, but I think that an actual brownie mix (or a home-made recipe) is the best way to go.
Thanks for guiding me through this experiment, though!
Hi, PH!
Glad you were able to try it out! I agree that an actual brownie mix or a home-made recipe is always better, but it definitely doesn’t hurt to have a workaround!
I am an experienced baker, but I often work 70-80 hours a week, and when I get home and get a brownie craving, the last thing I want to do is a lot of measuring, which is why I love brownie mixes… 5 minutes, no mixer required, pop in the oven, voila (I should mention that I never follow the directions on the brownie box anyway, and mix it up my way to make it even fudgier and chewier). Besides, I love a good blondie too, and it is next to impossible to find blondie mic. These tweaks make perfect sense and explain why my previous attempts to make blondies from cake mix failed so badly. Thanks for the advice!
Hi, JerryD!
Box mixes can really be a lifesaver! They are so easy to use. I’m glad I could help out with the blondies! I, too, love a good blondie! Good luck with your next blondie adventure!
Hi,
Really helpful recipe. But I dont eat eggs. And my cake mix needs only water and oil, so how do I make brownies out of it. Kindly help.
Hi, Disha!!
I would go ahead and try to do the other additions and just omit the eggs. I haven’t tried an eggless version, so I hope this works for you. Good luck!
Oh, I forgot ANOTHER reason I love box mixes so much! If they’re on sale, they can be SO CHEAP it just doesn’t make economic sense to make them from scratch (I’m single, live alone, and don’t bake often enough to make it worthwhile to buy flour and sugar in bulk). It’s rare that both cake mix and brownie mix are on sale at the same time, so I usually have a couple of boxes of one or the other, but rarely both. This way I know how to convert either mix into the other very easily.
As far as frosting, that can easily be the most expensive part of the cake, and IMHO is only for people who don’t know how to make a moist cake.
Hello again, JerryD!
They definitely can be cheap. It’s a great move to keep a few in your pantry, and I agree on the frosting! My husband and I are polar opposites – he loves frosting, and I could totally go for just a moist cake. Thanks for commenting!
OMG these were awful. Used a good quality mix I’ve used before. I’m an experienced baker. Prepared as you instructed here. Tasted like vaguely sweet cardboard. Eew.
If all of you are experienced bakers, then why are you looking up recipes for how to make brownies?
I don’t know why there are so many complaints about this recipe. I made the recipe and baked for about 17 minutes, since my oven likes to overcook. I thought this was really good. The mix was a little gooey , which I thought was perfect.
I made these today. They are cooling.
I am an experienced baker. I followed the recipe except for doubling the ingredients and using a 9×13 glass pan. It was very difficult to mix and had to remove the beaters from the mixer even though I started to add half and half cream and 1% milk by the tablespoon. I only added enough of this liquid to get it mixed by hand, then I added a cup of chopped pecans. Just for the mixing difficulty, I will not make the recipe again, unless it is modified to include additional wet ingredients right from the start. PS: I did not see in the recipe that one should grease the baking pan and I did so with soft butter.
The best brownies I make from scratch are on the back of the FRY’S Premium Cocoa Can – Fry’s Fudgey Brownies. There is a cup of melted butter in it , same amount of vanilla and eggs and it also makes a 9×13 pan.
They were amazing! I am having a bad day and these brownies hit the spot.
Not bad in a pinch. Should have taken out exactly at 25 minutes. But center was rather soft, so I left for another five. Not a chewy as a brownie, but they taste fine.
Made these today using Simple Mills Almond Flour Chocolate Muffin and Cake baking mix. Only had one egg on hand so I used it along with a 1/4 cup applesauce (as per one of the egg substitutes your site noted) and used the oil (I used olive oil) and vanilla quantities noted on the mix box. Also added 1 cup dark chocolate chips. I mixed this using only a hand spatula, just till all things were mixed and wet (like you do with muffins/pancakes). Mix tasted great before baking. Baked in a 9″ round cake pan in a Cuisinart air fryer/oven at 325* for 20 mins. Turned out great. Even hubby approved.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
I don’t know why this recipe doesn’t work for others. It turned out great! I can make great brownies from scratch, but sometimes it’s just too much of an effort! This definitely meets my brownie cravings 🙂
I made these tonight with my daughter. We used dark chocolate fudge cake mix. They turned out delicious. Very easy recipe with no troubles mixing them.
I’ve looked extensively for an easy change from cake to brownies.You have done well what others have left out.My cake mix was purchased by accident. I love brownies but don’t care much for cake.
Thank you for this hack! I didn’t think it was really bad or really good, it did cure my chocolate craving though. The main problem for me is the baking soda taste from being concentrated more than it would be for a cake. Otherwise is was like a dense cake, mine wasn’t chewy at all. Glad I tried it!
First off, to all of the “experienced bakers” I would like to say that just because you have experience doesn’t mean you’re good at it. There are many people with years of driving experience and I still don’t want to share the road with them. If you’re that experienced and people aren’t asking you to bake their birthday cakes, you’re probably not as good at this as you think you are.
That having been said, when your attempt at baking the brownies failed an intelligent person would have asked where it went wrong. Every box mix is different. Oils are different. Eggs are different. Types of pans, types of ovens, how long the batter was mixed, all of these will make a difference. What you should have done was start out by asking Sarah which mix she used. Which oil did she use, etc. Instead you attacked her because she successfully made a cake mix into brownies and you failed.
So, let me help you. I used a 15.25 oz box of Betty Crocker Super Moist Chocolate Fudge cake mix. To this I added 1/4 cup of Hershey’s cocoa powder (because I wanted it even more chocolaty). I then added 2 eggs and 1/3 cup of oil. The eggs were large and the oil was Iberia, Mediterranean Style Sunflower Oil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil & Grape Seed Oil. It’s probably not what most people would use but it’s what I had on hand and I was in a hurry.
I mixed it using a KitchenAid hand mixer on the number 2 speed and it didn’t mix very well. I then added milk, one tablespoon at a time. After three tablespoons I poured it into the pan. “Poured” is not the correct term as it would not pour. I could have used a few more spoons of milk, but I enjoy a challenge, so I scraped it out of the bowl and into the pan. The pan is an 8 x 8 Pyrex glass baking pan that I had greased with Crisco (because I’m old school).
I baked it for 18 minutes in a 350 degree electric oven. At that time I took it out and inserted a toothpick one inch from the edge and it was way undercooked. I returned it for another 5 minutes and tested it again. Then another 5. Then another. Then it was done. 33 minutes total baking time.
I let it cool and then cut it into 16 pieces. It is rather dense, but not as dense as a brownie would normally be. I think it was still more cake-like than brownie-like, but I was making them for Gus and he loved them. I expect he’ll eat the entire pan between now and tomorrow and then blame me for being fat. In all fairness, he was fat before I made the brownies, but that’s another issue.
All-in-all, yes you can take a box of cake mix and make brownies out of it, but they won’t be exactly the same as brownies from a mix or from scratch. They will do in a pinch and if you have someone in your life like Gus, they are just fine.
@Patt Gavin, Thanks for the constructive advice. I’m sure Sarah appreciates helpful comments, both for her and her readers, instead of somewhat snarky complaints before even asking Sarah what might have gone wrong.
@Patt Gavin,
I don’t know if you’ll ever read this comment, but I thoroughly loved your comment. I wanted to post that before I went and turned my cake mix into brownies. I know it can be done because I’ve done it a few times. I just usually forget what I need to do. I hope you and Gus are doing well!
@Patt Gavin, There need to be awards for best recipe comments, and this one of yours ought to win one first, as the Poster Child of Great Recipe Comments.
I tried this recipe with a boxed sugarfree chocolate cake mix because thats all i had and i want to say although it was difficult to “pour” into the pan it was delicious. Thank you for the recipe.
I read all the comments. Enlightening. Was going to bake tonight, but kept dozing off as I read through the entire post. Only got 1 hour of sleep last night, will try again tomorrow. Wondering what I can do to turn them into boozy cake mix brownies. Any suggestions?
I wouldn’t try this. It just tasted like baking soda.
I am trying to fix a failed experiment lol. I’m going to try to salvage it with your recipe. I already have added cream cheese for my fat. Cross your fingers this works! I’ll post results later!
Easy enough….. lmao! Oh man oh man I had a hard time .. my blender almost zapped out. Had to mix the remaining by hand and it was messing and tough.
Is there anything I can do to help the batter thin out so that I can blend it without breaking a wooden spoon?? 😆😞😜
Try this next time:
1 box of cake mix: Choose your favorite flavor (chocolate, funfetti, red velvet, etc.).
1/2 cup vegetable oil: This replaces the butter.
2 med eggs: Fewer eggs than a typical cake mix to achieve a denser texture.
1 teaspoon vanilla extract: For flavor enhancement.
Optional add-ins: Chocolate chips, candy bar pieces, or nuts for extra decadence.
Bake 350 for 15-25 mins. Check it at 15 and every couples minutes until it is done in the middle.
Best if cooled before cutting
How about neutralizing the leaveners with acetic acid (vinegar) the acetate created is a flavonoid as acetate adds stimulant to the taste buds. Stops the rise that makes cakes fluffly and will for this recipe too! 3 times I used this method and got high rise cake not brownies even with extra peanut oil.
You might want to add a couple of tablespoons of dried coffee or brew a cup of espresso as this flavonoid is synergistic with chocolate giving a stronger taste to chocolate with a much richer flavor.
I followed the recipe, and it took 30 minutes at our house. It was just as promised. It is other than regular cake, leaning towards brownie. We will be making this again. Thank you.
Dude… you are a genius
Thank you
i have tried it twice- once with a white cake mix (used whole eggs instead of whites) and added chocolate chips. second time i made it with a strawberry cake mix. both times the batter was more like a dough
I made German chocolate cake mix I to brownies. They turned out great! Thank you!
Love this!! I used this exact recipe except I had no eggs so I used 4 ounces of applesauce and also added about a half cup of chocolate chips.. It was so yummy!
Thank you Sarah, Merry Christmas to you. My cookie recipe is a crisp chocolate cookie, I am going to try.
Thank you! I had a weird thought of carrot cake brownies. This worked! I did do a few add-ins; shredded carrots & raisin/dried berries. 20 minutes was all it took to bake. I was a bit worried because the batter was so thick, but they came out just fine. The family and I enjoyed.