DIY Gift Idea: Take-Out Homemade Brownie Mix

My dear friend and reader Robyn is allowing me to share her fantastic DIY gift idea with y’all! I mailed her some of my homemade brownie mix as part of her birthday present (the recipe follows). The brownies were a big hit at her house so she decided to make some more mix and give it as a birthday present to a soon-to-be-five-year-old family friend. She packaged the mix in a plain take-out container that doubled as a birthday card – she wrote a message on the back and her family signed it.

Here are four reasons I totally love this gift:

1) It is a consumable gift that will never clutter up the house. This is a big deal to me!

2) It is giving the experience of making food with a friend or family member to a child. In my opinion this is what kids really want – someone to spend time with him or her, instead of more stuff.

3) It is a super frugal gift! The take-our container cost $0.99 and the mix probably costs less than that to make. You don’t have to spend a ton to give a useful and thoughtful gift.

4) These brownies taste amazing. They will definitely bring a smile to the every family members’ face.

Thanks so much for sharing your idea, Robyn! Please feel free to send any other frugal or DIY ideas my way and I will be happy to share them here on the blog.

Best Homemade Brownie Mix

Adapted from The Best Brownies on Food.com

Ingredients

2 cups white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup cocoa powder (high quality works best such as Ghiradelli)
1 cup flour

Directions

Place all ingredients into a Ziploc bag and seal. Add a label to the bag with these instructions:

Grease a 9 x 13 pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl mix together 3 eggs, 1 cup vegetable oil and 2 tsp vanilla. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Pour into the pan and bake approximately 30 minutes or until they test done.