Product Review: Tastefully Simple Gluten Free Fudgy Brownie Mix

Product: Tastefully Simple Gluten Free Fudgy Brownie Mix – $11.99

I want to give a quick shout out to my friend, Rebecca Fifield, a Tastefully Simple consultant and friend of mine since middle school.  When Tastefully Simple first put out their new gluten-free products, she sent me a box containing said products and asked me to try them out.  Sometimes, I get distracted, but I always get around to it.  And while I have already reviewed the Tastefully Simple Gluten-Free Gluten-Free Beer Bread Mix and the Tastefully Simple Gluten-Free Vanilla Bean Pound Cake Mix, I had yet to get around to the (honestly) most important one…the Tastefully Simple Gluten-Free Fudgy Brownie Mix.

Why is this one the most important product?  It’s not…I just made that up.  Why?  Because it involves chocolate.  And brownies.  And second only to cookies…brownies are my next favorite treat in life.  Seriously.  And while there are plenty of gluten-free options out there for brownie mixes…let’s face it…they aren’t all great.

Well…I don’t know what convinced me that today was a good day to make brownies.  It was 97°F outside…I had just returned from Detroit (I was seeing Queen in concert!) and the World Cup Final was about to begin.  Of course, brownies seem logical, yes?

Well, the best part about Tastefully Simple is…how simple their products are to make.  So, this took me, literally 5 minutes to get ready to go into the oven.  Anything that doesn’t require me dragging out my Kitchenaid Mixer and a bunch of different bowls and ingredients is a good thing in my book.  And this…required only two additional items to the mix itself – 2 eggs and butter.

That’s it.

Simple.

Tastefully simple.

So, here I was, moments away from kickoff and I’m preheating my oven to 350°F and getting out a large bowl.  I empty the Tastefully Simple Gluten-Free Fudgy Brownie Mix into a large mixing bowl and crack open 2 eggs.  I add the melted 1-1/2 sticks of butter to the bowl, grab a spoon, and simply stir it all together.  The thick, chocolate batter then is poured into a greased 8×8 baking pan…and into the oven it went.  No World Cup missed.  And dessert well on its way to being done in 40 undisturbed minutes.

Near the end of the first half, my timer beeps and I get up and pull the brownies out of the oven.  I had been smelling them all during the match and my mouth was already watering.  They looked amazing…a little crisp on the edges, but crumbly and flaky all throughout the center.  I inserted a toothpick to see if it came out clean…and it did.  The Tastefully Simple Gluten-Free Fudgy Brownie Mix was done baking.  I placed the pan on cooling rack and got to work on dinner while they cooled.

After dinner, it was time to give my dessert a try.  I got out a knife and sliced the Tastefully Simple Gluten Free Fudgy Brownies into 16 squres, as the serving is 1/16th of the package.  Math is my strong subject.  I eased out two squares, one for my roommate and one for myself.  As we are coming off of a mega concert high and World Cup excitement, it was time to doctor these up.  I got out my gluten-free So Delicious Coconut Milk Cookie Dough Ice Cream and placed a scoop on top of the brownies.  Then, topped it off with a drizzle of hot fudge.  Gluten-Free Brownie Sundaes done in time for the second half of the final match.

So…here’s the thing…

The Tastefully Simple Gluten-Free Fudgy Brownie Mix bakes up really rich and fudgy brownies.  Oh…my…GOD!  These were chocolate heaven.  I ended up pushing my scoop of ice cream off the top of the brownie so I could simply enjoy it and all it’s moist, chocolate goodness.  Seriously.  I wasn’t expecting to fall this in love with this dessert, but Tastefully Simple truly nailed it with these.  They have a nice, crisp, outer edge…but the rest of the brownie is ooey, gooey, soft, fudgy goodness.  From one bite to the next, I was already anticipating the next rich burst of chocolate.  I was just…loving each and every bite and had to stop myself from going back to steal another square.  I did, however, pick up all the crumbs from the two pieces I dished up and ate those.  Hey…nothing this good should go to waste.

I know, you’re thinking that $11.99 is a lot of money to spend on a brownie mix…but when Tastefully Simple does something…they do it right.  And with it being so easy to prepare and bake, you’ll never want to go back to any other brownie mix.  Phenomenal flavor…sweet, rich, moist and simply tasty.

Let’s look at ingredients, shall we?  The Tastefully Simple Gluten-Free Fudgy Brownie Mix is made up of sugar, rice flour, cocoa, potato starch, tapioca flour, and less than 2% of natural flavors, salt, xanthan gum, and silicon dioxide (anticaking).  It is gluten-free and can be made vegan by using vegan butter (like Earth Balance) and using an egg substitute.

As for nutrition?  Well…they are brownies.  So…remember that.  A serving of the Tastefully Simple Gluten-Free Fudgy Brownies is 1/16th of the package.  So that’s about a 2-inch square, I think.  This serving will give you 130 calories and 0.5 grams of fat.  It is cholesterol-free.  You will be taking in 60 mg sodium and 20 grams of sugar.  Yep…it is high in sugar, but it’s also the first ingredient on the pouch and…it is BROWNIES!  Dessert.  Hello!  This mix also provides 1 gram of fiber and 1 gram of protein.

Thank you Rebecca for introducing me to Tastefully Simple and their gluten-free line.  I have a few more products to review, but so far, everything I have been able to try has gone above and beyond all expectations.  I think the Fudgy Brownie Mix will never leave my pantry.  Ever.  Simple and delicious.  That’s Tastefully Simple.  And they make some of the best gluten-free products I have ever been able to easily make and try.

Make sure you head over to Rebecca Fifield‘s Tastefully Simple page and order some for yourself!  You will not be disappointed.