Actually these may be your great grandma’s brownies.
Recently I have wanted to make brownies.
Not the box kind.
And not the kind where the chocolate comes from cocoa powder.
I wanted to make brownies made with unsweetened baking chocolate.
Right off I need to confess that I am not a fan of cakes.
Brownies are another story though.
When I first got married, I thought I was Martha Stewart, that was before I knew who she was.
I thought I needed to make everything from scratch. I was a real-foods health-nut kind of person.
But, I liked my brownies. And cookies.
One of my favorite wedding gifts was a Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. It was my cooking bible.
And then one day I discovered Duncan Hines.
Is he a famous chef?
Anyways…I started making brownies from a mix, because I thought it was faster, and they tasted almost a good as homemade, and all my friends convinced me I should.
These days I’m returning to my former days. Well, except for the Martha Stewart part.
I’m into real food. Real butter. The good stuff.
So, if my old cookbook hadn’t been in storage, I would have opened it up today to bake brownies from scratch.
Being a modern-day girl…I didn’t let a few hundred miles deter me from sinking my teething into some chocolaty goodness.
Nope. I opened up my laptop and went recipe hunting.
I found a brownie recipe that came from a 1951 Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook that used baking chocolate. Yes!
As I studied it, I realized that it was fairly close to the recipe I had used in a much more modern version of the same cookbook. Mine was undoubtedly tweaked by the test kitchens at BH&G over time. And since I don’t have a perfect memory to remember the recipe exactly, I made two changes to the 1951 recipe which may or may not make it like the recipe book in storage.
The important thing is that when I served it to the hungry guys….as I was putting supper in the oven…it got good reviews.
And then I bit into my brownie, and I agreed with them, it was good.
And then I had a thought. A small scoop of ice cream, would be the perfect accompaniment to my still warm brownie.
Instead, I had a couple swallows of cold milk, not quite the same, because dinner would be served in just a little more than an hour.
I love that I’m not dirtying a bunch of dishes to make a treat. It really could be considered a one pan dessert.
The texture is great. It’s dense like a brownie should be….chocolaty but not overpowering. And it’s not too sweet. Which is why a little ice cream would have been delightful.
I’m even thinking about having another piece before I go to bed.
Of course then I’ll need to hit the roads in my walking boots tomorrow. [wink]
Here’s the recipe with my tweaks….
Grandma’s Brownies
Set your oven to 325 degrees…first thing.
Ingredients:
- 1 and 1/4 stick of Butter
- 2 one ounce squares of Unsweetened Baking Chocolate
- 3/4 cup of Sugar (for a sweeter brownie add 1/4 cup Sugar)
- 2 Eggs
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- 3/4 cup of Flour
- 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
- 1 cup Pecans or Walnuts
Assembly:
- Butter a 9×9 Baking Dish.
- In a small mixing bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and sea salt and set aside.
- In a medium sauce pan over medium/low heat begin heating your butter. As some of the butter melts and covers the bottom of the pan, add in your unsweetened baking chocolate and stir. Keep an eye on the butter and chocolate and stir occasionally until both are melted.
- Remove from heat.
- Add sugar and stir in until well blended with a whisk.
- Whisk in your two eggs and vanilla to the sugary chocolate.
- Gradually add in your dry ingredients which you have prepared, stirring with a wooden spoon until well combined.
- Add in the nuts.
- Pour the mixture in your prepared baking pan.
- Bake at 325 for 30-35 minutes.
- Cool and Enjoy!
It’s super cold tonight….plus we’re expecting to wake up to wind chills of minus 30-35 in the morning.
Maybe I’ll make a cup of hot chocolate and indulge in another brownie, now.
Want to join me?
(If you’re gluten free….come on over anyway…I’ll serve something just right for you.)
Edited: One day later…I decided to experiment again. This time I made a change in the recipe….NO baking powder….which resulted in a “fudgier” brownie. I also added almond extract to the vanilla….1/2 tsp. of each. Yum. If I want to enjoy ice cream with my brownie….I’ll keep the baking powder in the recipe. I’d love to know which way you prefer your brownie.
- Do you have a favorite old recipe you want to try to find again?
- Which do you prefer…cake or brownies or cookies?
Thank you for stopping by today.
I appreciate you and your sweet comments make my day.
Wishing you An Extraordinary Day!
Diane
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Oh, those look good! I like cakes, but prefer brownies. 🙂 I sometimes like to bake them from scratch too. They really do taste better. Your recipe sounds delicious!
Awwww…thanks Lisa!! We polished off the pan. 🙂
Hope your weekend is Extraordinary!
Hi there Diane,
These look so stinkin good and fattening,hehe. My boys are gonna love them. I have a question about the recipe. The top of the recipe has 350 listed and the bottom of the recipe has 325; which one do you use? I’m going to make these tonight and realized it was two different temperatures and I want them to turn out looking just like yours. Thanks so much for the recipe. Have a blessed day!
Haha!! Oh boy! Use 325…it’s one of the changes I made. 😉
Let me know if you enjoy them, too!!
I ADORE brownies and I have an Old Betty Crocker cookbook that has the recipe, which is similar to yours. I don’t often make brownies because I can’t stay away from eating them (one. after. the other:)!! They are delicious and now I have to go stir up a batch. Thanks for sharing and making my day extraordinary.
ClaireLynn
Oh Clairelynn….I know what you mean…they are addicting!! 🙂
Enjoy your treat!!
Wishing you an Extraordinary weekend!
Brownies and my healthier cookies are my favorites! I’m not impressed with most cakes–of course there is my family’s favorite traditional strawberry cake that all 3 kids always want for their birthday–even my pilot son who ordered it for his son’s first birthday! I look forward to making these brownies! thanks!
Glenda Kremer
I think maybe a birthday cake is always in order to celebrate that special day. 😉 Strawberry sounds delicious.
Let me know what you think of the brownies. 😉
While I’m not rushing to get my cookbook, the recipe and instructions read like the recipe I have used since I was a teen – and that is a very long time 🙂 I always loved it since there was so little clean-up to do and the results are great. I have often substituted cocoa and extra butter when I don’t have baking chocolate. More recently, I have been adding instant coffee granules since I learned that coffee can enhance the chocolate taste without adding flavor. I’m not really a chocolate girl but I’ve noticed no one leaves more than a crumb on the plate when these are served. They made an excellent Valentine gift for my guy!
It’s a great share, Diane.
Awww…thanks Elaine! They were a real treat for sure.
Your guy surely was blessed with a delectable delight!!
Thanks for popping by! Hope your weekend is joy-filled!
They look delicious! Just might give that recipe a try!
Liz @ Shortbread & Ginger
Everyone at our house gave them two thumbs up!! Hope you enjoy yours too!
Thanks for popping by! Wishing you An Extraordinary Day!
They sounds wonderful! My favorite are fudgy not cake like brownies. I would love it if you would share this on my Tasty Tuesday linky party.
http://www.thecomfortsofhome.blogspot.com/2014/03/tasty-tuesday-1.html
Thanks Penny! They were a real hit here.
Thanks too for the invite!
Oh, I’m not a fan of cake and I like to indulge in a cookie now and then (hard to find a decent gluten free one, I must say.), but brownies I could do in a heart beat. LOL I love the old cookbooks–I have a set that was passed on to me which is where I get a few recipes from that I actually MAKE now and again. (which is probably why he-who-does-the-cooking loves ’em).
k…..now I want a brownie with my coffee. :-/
I’d love to whip up a GF one for you. 🙂
Lucky you to have some old cookbooks to enjoy. I too have a set (in storage) which I am anxious to browse through again.
Blessings!
These sound delicious Diane. I love a fudgy brownie myself, so I think I would try them without the baking powder. I like cake, cookies and brownies all equally…sweets are my downfall! As long as they have chocolate in them I love them! Thank you for sharing at What We Accomplished Wednesdays. Have a lovely week! ~Deborah
The next time I make them I’m going to use 1/2 of the baking powder…I think that will be perfect. Of course…I’d eat them either way. 😉 A whole pan’s worth. Though I probably would be feeling rather poorly after such an indulgence. 😉
Hope your weekend is Extraordinary!
These look delicious! I must confess, my favorite brownies are the cocoa-based type, but that’s probably just because I’ve only once made them with chocolate. I’d definitely opt for the brownies fudgey sans baking powder and a tall glass of milk to go along. Thank you so much for sharing an old-timey recipe. I love those best! The ingredients are always easy to find and there are no fake chemical-laden shortcuts in sight.
Jelli…you are so right about simple and not fake when it comes to the old recipes. Sometimes I get tired of seeing how to make a multitude of things with a cake mix. And really…is a box mix better? When I think of pure ingredients versus nano ingredients…homemade trumps every time. 🙂
Thanks for popping by…
Hope your week is off to an Extraordinary start!
These brownies look like the real deal – good old fashioned comfort food!
I really like them Sharon because they taste great. Maybe too great…it’s hard to not keep slicing off little slivers. Pretty soon I find myself having eaten a large piece…one sliver at a time. 😉
Thanks for popping over! Hope you week is off to an Extraordinary start!
Brownies are a favorite around here, both the boxed variety and my homemade variety, I haven’t tried a recipe with baking chocolate, these look delicious! I just started a new link-up, Meal Planning Monday Recipe Link-Up and would love to invite you to share your recipe at my linky party. 🙂 http://www.aprilshomemaking.com/2014/03/meal-planning-monday-recipe-link-up.html
April….I don’t think I could ever pass up a brownie. 😉 I like the richness with baking chocolate. If you try the recipe, let me know what you think.
And thank you for the warm invitation.
Hope your week is off to an extraordinary start!
Looks marvelous – I’m giving this a try! I am delighted that you shared with Home and Garden Thursday,
Kathy
So simple and yummy!!
Thank you sweet Kathy!
Thanks so much for sharing this yummy recipe & post at the Say G’Day Saturday linky party. I just pinned it.
Hope to see you again this weekend!
Best wishes,
Natasha in Oz
You are so sweet Natasha!! Thank you!!
Hope your weekend is filled with extraordinary moments. 🙂
I’m so glad to meet someone else who loves a good brownie. I have been on the hunt for the perfect brownie recipe myself and have made brownies now for the past 4 weeks in a row. Ha! My first 2 batches were with regular cocoa. Then I found Ghirardelli cocoa and those were totally yummy! My last batch was the best so far. I love more of a cake brownie, and I’m searching for that rich, homemade, unmistakable gourmet bakery flavor. Ghirardelli definitely upped the bar. But I’ve never tried Baking Chocolate. Must give that a try. Every time I think I’ll give the brownies a rest, I have an idea for a new batch and here we go again. I must say, it is satisfying my chocolate urges. And, I had mine with Sea Salt Caramel ice cream which was simply divine! LOL. Great minds do think alike. 🙂
Thanks for giving me an excellent reason to make another batch of brownies. 😉
Many blessings!
Donna
You must try these then Donna….I love that they don’t have that smooshed texture that a lot of the fudgy brownies have. These are very dense in just the right kind of way. You can always add the baking powder for a lighter brownie. It’s fun to experiment since you don’t have to worry about any left overs. 😉 The Sea Salt Caramel ice cream sounds perfect. My mouth is watering just at the thought!!
Thanks for popping by! Hope your weekend is filled with extraordinary treats!
HA! So, you won’t believe what I did. My first time using Baker’s Chocolate… I used 2 ‘squares’, not realizing that one ‘1 oz square’ is 4 pieces., which means I used 1/2 oz chocolate instead of 2 oz. LOLOL… So, they’re a little ‘light’ on chocolate flavor. It’s been a long week already. I was tired but determined I was makin’ my brownies tonight. They’re still good, but it tastes like a light chocolate cake instead of brownies. I’ll take them to work and they’ll be devoured in spite of it. I was wondering why they tasted kind of carameley… And, I’ll be making more brownies before you know it. I’ll report back when I get the recipe right. Have a great week! 😀
These brownies look amazing! I love to make homemade food but for some reason I tend to default to the box for brownies I am pinning these and will give them a try 🙂
I loved brownies so much and this recipe does sound so good! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe.