I was skeptical about this but it sounded too good to pass up. A whole pan of brownies in half an hour, including “prep” time? That’s right, Trader Joe’s has these Ready To Bake Brownies ($3.99) in the frozen food section of its crowded store for those folks too busy (read: lazy) like me to make delicious chocolatey goodness from scratch.
These brownies come in their own ovenproof pan 
and everything. All you have to do is pull it out of the box, take off the plastic wrapper, throw it on a baking sheet, place it in the pre-heated oven and then wait for freshly baked BROWNIES!
Like ’em with a gooey center? or a fudgy center? or are you the crispy type? The instructions on the back of the box tell you how long to leave it in the oven for whatever tickles your fancy. I opted for the fudgy center (30 minutes).
The only other thing I really had to do was turn the pan around in the oven at the halfway point and then I went back to watching my stories.
When the brownies were done and I let them cool off for a bit, I dug in. The side was kinda burnt because I hadn’t stored the brownies on a leveled surface in my packed freezer causing them to sorta slide to one side. That and my oven sucks. But the brownies still look and smelled good.
I split the pan with my bf and after the first bite of 
the still warm brownie we agreed that, first impression, they weren’t as chocolatey or rich as we had imagined they were going to be.
But then when we went back for the second, third and fourth brownies we realized that these tasted pretty darn good for what they are. The brownies are moist and the crust was a touch crisp but not too much. They weren’t ubersweet and that’s why it was easy to stuff our faces.
These little goodies really hit the spot and I could see just throwing these in the oven after a hard day or if I just want a quick sugar fix. It’s only $4 for a whole pan!
I also wondered what they would be like if I topped them with cream cheese. Hmmm, maybe next time!
Calories: 170 for serving size 1/9 pan
Ingredients: sugar, wheat flour, salted butter, pasteurized eggs, cocoa powder (processed with alkali) and pure vanilla extract.