I Tried And Ranked 11 Ghirardelli Brownie Mixes

I'm pretty sure brownies are a go-to comfort food of at least 90% of the U.S. population. They have everything you could ask for in a cozy, sweet treat. And when you hit that perfect balance of being just cooked and still having a fudgy interior? There's nothing like it. I'm sure we all have our go-to gooey brownie recipe, but when your need for the dessert is urgent, it's always handy to have a mix in the cupboard to whip up on a moment's notice. That's where Ghirardelli comes in.

I'll admit, I have some bias toward the brand. About a decade ago, my roommates and I used to keep a Costco-sized box on hand for movie nights — we'd make a batch of Triple Chocolate Ghirardelli brownies at least once a week. However, I've never taken the time to try the brand's entire lineup, which is far more extensive than I knew. I contacted the company and asked if it'd be willing to send one of each box of brownie mix over so I could conduct an official taste test and ranking of the brownies, based on how chocolatey and fudgy they are; fortunately, Ghirardelli obliged! Keep reading for my official ranking of every Ghirardelli brownie mix. 

Some recommendations are based on firsthand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer.

Coming squarely in last place is Ghirardelli's Milk Chocolate Chip brownie mix, which I really couldn't merit giving a higher spot on this list. I can make a case for the box — if you prefer the flavor of milk chocolate or are averse to super dark, fudgy brownies, this may very well be the box for you. But I'm a dark chocolate girl (in fact, I'm pretty averse to milk chocolate), and I just couldn't find these very palatable. 

In the grand scheme of things, I thought these were relatively bland, and though I appreciated the addition of chocolate chips, they didn't do nearly enough to lift the brownies out of boring territory. Why make brownies if you're not going to go all the way with them? Maybe they're just not my thing, but regardless, I preferred every other boxed brownie mix to this one, and there's a pretty wide chasm between this mix and my next choice. 

This is a hot take that I'm sure many readers will disagree with me on, but I beg you to hear me out. First, the visual appeal is nothing — the salted caramel sauce sank into the batter while baking, leaving no notable pattern on top. You'd never know they were caramel brownies without biting into them. Whether that would come as a pleasant or unpleasant surprise depends on the consumer. 

I'm a fan of salted caramel in general, but I didn't love it in these brownies. Because it was thick and hard to drizzle, it tended to clump in patches throughout the brownies, so some pieces had big pockets of caramel in them. Biting into those pockets was pretty overwhelmingly sweet. If you don't have a problem with being hit by a sudden sugar bomb, this may not be an issue for you; however, I simply couldn't find it very endearing. 

I know, I know — "brookies" (a combination of a brownie and a cookie) are all the rage nowadays, and it's tantamount to heresy for me to even consider putting such a concoction in the bottom half of this list. Rest assured that I have my reasons, and once I make my case, you'll at least be able to understand where I'm coming from.

Per the instructions on the box, you're supposed to slightly flatten nine tablespoon-sized balls of cookie dough before placing them on top of the brownie mixture, as pictured above. The result did not yield what the front of the box promises — an even cookie-to-brownie ratio in every bite. Rather, the flattened cookie dough sank into the brownie mixture, and I found myself getting alternate bites of cookie and brownie as I was eating this. Moreover, the cookie dough tasted like a boxed cookie dough, and given the general I-could-believe-this-was-homemade quality of Ghirardelli's brownies, I expected better from its cookie dough. All in all, I just found this mix to be pretty underwhelming. 

Now we're getting somewhere! Double chocolate promises to be more flavorful than milk chocolate, and because it doesn't add anything extra into the mix, the chocolate has room to shine in all its glory. Were I only presented with this brownie mix, I'd be perfectly satisfied — the chocolate chips added something a little extra to every bite, and the flavor was there in droves. 

Texturally, though, I found these to be a little more cake-y than I prefer. I could chalk that up to user error, but I was careful not to overwork any of the brownie mixes. It lacked the fudgy depth and mouthfeel that I associate with a really good brownie, and because of that, I could only give it the seventh-place spot on this list. Still, it's not a bad mix in the slightest, and if it's the only one available on store shelves, you won't be disappointed.

Up next, we have Ghirardelli's Chocolate Supreme brownies, which include a little packet of chocolate syrup that you stir into the batter before baking. It's a fun addition, to be sure, but I thought it made very little difference in the grand scheme of things. It did make enough difference to rank these one spot higher than the brand's Double Chocolate brownies, though. 

Texturally, these were a little superior to the previous brownies. I think the chocolate syrup in this mix and the chocolate chips in the prior mix had about the same effect on the flavor of each batch, but the chocolate syrup made a difference in the consistency of these brownies — they definitely had more of a gooey chew to them. I gave them some brownie points (pardon the pun) for feeling more decadent than the previous, but they still couldn't rank higher than my following choices. 

I'll always go for the darkest chocolate available, so Ghirardelli's Dark Chocolate brownie mix was pretty much guaranteed to get at least a middling spot on this list. As you can tell just from the picture, it is indeed darker than most of the others pictured on this list — visually, I thought it was pretty promising. Still, I found myself wanting more.

Maybe I just need to alter my own taste buds, because I'm pretty sure these would be plenty dark to most of the populace. But I really didn't think they tasted much darker than the other variations of "super chocolate" brownies Ghirardelli offers. Though they were perfectly fine, they underwhelmed in terms of what I expected from this batch, which is the ultimate reason I couldn't rank them higher than spot six. Would I gladly eat a couple if you placed the tray in front of me? Easily. 

Here's a shocker — I actually really enjoyed Ghirardelli's Gluten Free Double Chocolate brownie mix. In fact, I liked it so much that it ranked three whole spots above the brand's regular Double Chocolate brownie mix. First, these gluten-free brownies both looked and tasted darker than their counterparts (seriously, compare the two photos and you'll see what I mean), and secondly, they had an enviable texture. 

These were some of the most moist brownies of the bunch. I'm not sure whether I should credit that to the brown rice flour used in the mix, but whatever the reason, the texture here was to die for. And, unless you were trying them alongside the brand's non-gluten-free brownies, you really would never guess they're gluten-free — I could barely tell a difference in taste even when eating these in the midst of all the other mixes. I usually don't like it when gluten-free foods rely on brown rice flour, but I couldn't taste it at all here. I'd easily pick this brownie mix over many of the other mixes on this list. 

Whereas Ghirardelli's Salted Caramel brownies ranked relatively low on this list, I couldn't help but give the brand's Caramel Walnut Turtle brownies the No. 4 spot here. For starters, the visual appeal is totally there, while it was fully absent in the other caramel brownie mix. I think this caramel was different from the previous — it drizzled out of the package more easily and didn't sink into the batter as the other variety did.

The walnuts were another important addition, but then again, I'm one who loves walnuts in brownies. Still, I couldn't rank this mix higher, mostly because of the caramel — it made the whole batch verge on being too sweet for me. I could only have a small piece of these at a time before I'd feel a sugar rush coming on. If you don't suffer from that particular ailment, you could probably eat these to your heart's content; alas, my palate prefers more savory fare than sweet. 

Walnuts are one of the best brownie add-ins, in my opinion. I'd like to offer my most sincere apologies to those who are allergic to nuts — unfortunately, you're missing out on something pretty spectacular. I was pretty primed to like Ghirardelli's Walnut brownie mix from the start, and indeed, it didn't disappoint in the slightest. 

In addition to being moist, dark, and passably rich (even if not as rich or gooey as I'd prefer), the walnuts that studded these brownies gave the perfect intermittent texture when I came across one, and their sweet, nutty flavor complemented the chocolate to no end. I'll never understand why some people don't like walnuts in their brownies (again, allergies aside) — I think they made the treat effortlessly sophisticated, easily leveling up a childhood favorite into glamorous territory. Had the company included more walnuts to sprinkle on top, these may have been my perfect brownie; as they are, third place certainly isn't a bad spot to rank. 

Ah, Ghirardelli Triple Chocolate brownies — I've missed you. I hadn't had the mix in years prior to trying it for this taste test, so digging in felt like reuniting with an old friend. While I do have an inherent bias toward this mix, I can also ardently defend its second-place ranking on this list. Plus, the fact that it didn't win the crowning glory of first place should let you know that I had at least some objectivity. 

These brownies are rich, dense, and moist, just as a good brownie should be, and they owe at least part of their appeal to the three kinds of chocolate chips used in the mix. I think that largely contributes to the texture of these — you hit little melty pockets in every bite that give the brownies that feeling of being gooey without any fear that you've underbaked them. It also makes them plenty dark and decadent, and while you'll be satisfied after just one, it'll be hard to keep from polishing off one after another. Truly superb. 

The only thing that could top my beloved Triple Chocolate brownies is, apparently, Ghirardelli's Ultimate Chocolate brownie mix. How could one go wrong including a combination of chocolate chips and chocolate syrup? The chocolate chips really gave this batch the textural boost that the Chocolate Supreme brownies (the other mix that included chocolate syrup) lacked.

They're incredibly chocolatey, and thanks to the chocolate chips, they also have that melty density that I so love about the Triple Chocolate brownies. Still, though, I have to point out that the difference between this mix and the previous was very slight. I could probably switch between the two based on what's available and hardly notice a difference. But when tasting them side-by-side, you will find that the chocolate here is just a touch more decadent, with just a bit of a richer mouthfeel. So, grab the Ultimate Brownie mix if it's available near you; if it isn't, many others on this list will do the trick just fine. 

When ranking the brownies on this list, I focused on the flavor and texture of each, as well as whether any additional components were a positive contribution to the brownies or took away from their overall appeal. That's why I was able to rank the walnut brownies so high, while the salted caramel brownies got a lower ranking — while the walnuts acted as an ideal accent to the confection, the salted caramel was overwhelming. 

The differences between each of the plain chocolate brownies were more slight and mostly had to do with texture. I noticed that mixes that included chocolate chips tended to be richer and more moist, which I prefer in brownies; however, if you like your brownie on the cakier side, you may prefer to go a different route.