Cake Mix Brownies
Updated Mar 15, 2026
All you need is just 5 pantry staples and just a few minutes to prep these deliciously fudgy Cake Mix Brownies. The easiest brownie recipe!
Cake mix brownies are a quick and yummy dessert!
These rich and chocolatey brownies are a ridiculously simple dessert that you can throw together in minutes. Don’t have brownie mix on hand? Try this recipe instead!
Cake mix are a favorite dessert in our house. It’s such a great time saver for making recipes in much less time! These cake mix brownies are perfect for when you are craving brownies but don’t have any brownie mix or the time to make them from scratch.
This recipe uses dark chocolate fudge cake mix for a rich and super chocolatey brownie that tastes amazing!
⭐️Review⭐️
“This is my favorite “GoTo” brownie recipe! Everyone loves them each and every time I make them.” -Joyce
Ingredients & Notes
- Chocolate cake mix: use your favorite chocolate cake mix. I like using dark chocolate fudge.
- Oil: olive oil, vegetable oil, or any other neutral flavored cooking oil
- Vanilla extract
- Chocolate chips: mix and match chocolate chip types for more flavor combinations!
While I love a good dessert made from scratch, sometimes you need those quick and fast recipes that you can whip up in no time!
How to make brownies from cake mix
Step 1: Add the chocolate fudge cake mix, oil, eggs, vanilla extract, and chocolate chips to a large bowl. Use a rubber spatula to mix the batter until it is completely combined.
For this recipe, I used Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge, but any chocolate cake mix will work.
Step 2: Spray an 8X8 baking dish with cooking spray, then add the brownie batter in.
Smush it down into the edges, and flatten out any lumps using a rubber spatula.
Step 3: Bake the brownies at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Allow them to cool completely before cutting for easiest results. If you’re like me, this is pretty much impossible!
Share these cake mix brownies at a party, with your friends and neighbors, or just make it for yourself when you deserve a treat. You’re going to love them!
More cake mix recipes
These are a reader favorite! Here’s one of the many reader reviews you can find under the recipe!
⭐️Review⭐️
“Everyone really loved these brownies!! Definitely going to be my new go to recipe for some quick and delicious brownies!!!” -Joanne
Cake Mix Brownies
Ingredients
- 15 oz box chocolate cake mix, I used Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge
- 1/2 cup oil , olive oil, vegetable oil, or any neutral cooking oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Add the chocolate cake mix, oil, eggs, vanilla extract, and semi sweet chocolate chips to a bowl and use a rubber spatula to mix until well combined.
- Transfer the cake mix brownie batter to a greased 8X8 baking dish. Flatten down the batter into the pan using the rubber spatula.
- Bake the brownies at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean (mine were perfect right at 25 minutes).
- Allow the cake mix brownies to cool completely before cutting.
so, how many cake mixes are needed to justify turning on the oven? when i bake, i BAKE….like to feed 20 or better.
I made these and used a mix of leftover Halloween candy in place of the chocolate chips! They were delicious!!
i tried this again with another betty crocker mix, this one was butter pecan, but i adjusted the oil from 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup and it turned out perfect.
I found your recipe last week and have made it 4 times since then!!! OMG I love baking from scratch and felt a little guilty taking a short cut but am so glad I did!. Thank you for this recipe. I was wondering if you have ever lightened this recipe up with applesauce or bananas and if so how much? If I am going to make these often I figure I should at least try to see if I can lighten in up LOL
Typically you can replace the oil with an equal amount of applesauce. I have not tried it with brownies though. Keep me posted how it turns out!
@Joy Shull, I used 1/4 cup melted butter plus 1/4 cup applesauce in place of the oil. It was fantastic!
@Patty Shattuck, thank you for this tip! I will definitely try it!
Thank you for this recipe I followed it for making strawberry and lemon bars from box mixes and they came out perfectly! Now I can turn anything into a brownie texture, hooray!
@AnonyBaker, I love those flavors! Did you just follow this recipe exactly and used the different flavor cake mix? Did you omit the chocolate chips? Thank you in advance! I am eager to try it!
Just so happens I have a Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge cake mix, eggs, vanilla, olive oil, and a partially eaten (who did that!?) large bag of chocolate chips, with enough left for the recipe. And most importantly, I also have a hankering for brownies. Sounds like a perfect match, doesn’t it?
Thanks for the recipe!
the perfect match for sure!
This recipe was simple and delicious. I added pecans to the top of it but other than that I followed the recipe. Family raved over them. I’m definitely keeping this one on hand. Thank you for a easy, yummy recipe.
I used Reese’s peanut butter chips melted on top then layered Hershey mini bars on top to make Reese’s cup type topping and they were AMAZING!!!!
I’ve made these several times now, using different “flavors” of chocolate cake mix. They are absolutely delicacies. I add pecans or walnuts sometimes, too. So yummy!
This recipe came in handy today. I would recommend to lightly spray the spatula so it will be able to spread the mixture in the pan. I’m waiting to see how they turn out.