I was strolling around the local supermarket looking for something to review and was stuck behind a three-cart pile up in the frozen food aisle. Of course the kiddie shopping cart with the plastic police car attachment was conveniently parked in front of the Starbucks stand, so I had to take the law into my own hands and say, “Excuse Me” quite loudly so this geezer would get the hell out of the freezer. It was a Sunday during football season—so what little manners I have are out the window. This is why I do the majority of my grocery shopping online!

Check Out My Package

Once Grandpa Simpson moved out of the way I saw this huge red box. I thought it was a super-sized box of Friday’s Potato Skins, but as I got closer I saw it was…Duncan Hines? In the freezer? My eyes did not deceive me—it was Duncan Hines Oven Ready Brownies. I was drawn to this red box like a bull to a matador’s cape. Not sure if it was the color or the sheer size of this monster, but these brownies made it into my cart quicker than NBC cancelled Trauma.

My Brownies in a Box

I think I found another product that even my sister could not mess up. Just take the tray out of the box, remove the plastic cover, put it on a cookie sheet and place in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. No mess. No fuss. No kidding!

Welcome to Lazy Town

After putting the brownies in the oven I felt guilty. Why the heck should I be rewarded with delicious brownies when I didn’t do anything? Duncan Hines did all the work and is bringing the human existence of Wall-E one step closer to a reality. Can’t we do anything for ourselves anymore? Have we become so desperate for time to play Farmville on Facebook that we can’t even make frigging brownies with our kids?

I got past my guilt as soon as the timer went off on my oven. After putting the cookie sheet on the counter to cool, I noticed that the brownies didn’t rise as high as I thought they would and the tray housing the brownies is much smaller than the box they came in. Who cares? As long as they taste good, right? Wrong. The brownies tasted OK, but were dry and a far cry from the non-frozen variety. Some people would gladly sacrifice taste for convenience, but not me.

The End Result

For double the price ($3.79 for Oven Ready; $1.79 for mix),less brownies and sub-par taste, I would avoid the Oven Ready brownies.Theoretically, you would think that the brownies made by the brownie manufacturer would taste better or at least the same as the brownies that you make by using their mix, but this is not the case.

If you are not particular about taste, really pressed for time, or just simply can’t cook, then the convenience of this product is a godsend. However, if you’re into overpaying for baked goods, just go to a local bakery and get much better tasting brownies—that’s what I do!

For more info, visit the Duncan Hines website.