THE ORIGINAL ‘RECEIPT’

BROWNIES.

1 cup sugar and 1 cup butter creamed, 2 eggs beaten lightly, 2 squares melted chocolate and ½ cup flour.  Flavour with vanilla and add cup chopped nuts.  Bake in a quick oven for fifteen minutes in a sheet and cut into shapes while warm.

~The Capital Cook Book.  Ottawa, Ontario: Ladies’ Home Missionary Society of St. Andrew’s Church, Ottawa, Canada, 1905.

THE UPDATED RECIPE

• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1 c. butter
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 oz. melted unsweetened baking chocolate
• ½ c. sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 c. chopped walnuts.

Preheat oven to 375F.

Grease a 9 ¾-inch square baking pan with butter.

Sift the flour and measure it. Set it aside.

Chop the nuts and measure them.

In a mixing bowl, cream together the sugar, butter and salt with a wooden spoon, until light and fluffy.

Lightly beat the eggs with a fork, until lemon coloured;  then add them to the creamed mixture, and beat in thoroughly with a wooden spoon.

Add the vanilla, and stir to blend it in.

In a small saucepan, melt the chocolate over very low heat.

Add the melted chocolate to the batter, and beat in thoroughly.

Add the sifted flour, and beat until the batter is smooth and light in texture.

Add the nuts, and stir well to distribute them evenly.

Pour the batter into the buttered baking pan, and smooth the surface with a broad-bladed knife.

Bake in a preheated oven, at 375F for approximately 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester, when inserted in the centre of the pan, comes out clean.

Remove from the oven, and allow to cool on a rack for a few minutes.

While still warm, cut into squares or rectangles with a sharp knife.

Yield:  approximately 25 Brownies. (or 16 – depending on how big or small you cut them)

These are rich, moist and oh-so-very-wicked!

A note from Patricia: I remember these brownies being a part of the Christmas cookie tray that my aunt brought to Christmas dinner, and I remember the brownies being extra delicious (I’ll take brownies over shortcake any day). It’s interesting that these are made with brown sugar, and there’s a whole lotta butter in these, which is why they are so rich and so fantastic. I used 1:1 gluten-free flour in these so that I could eat them (all), and when they were done I sprinkled some icing sugar over the top to make them pretty. My verdict? These are insane. And they couldn’t have been easier to make.

“Chocolate is now regarded as a very high-class food on account of its nutritive qualities. …. A half cake will keep a man’s strength up for a day without any other food. I never strike off from camp by myself without a piece of chocolate in my pocket.”

~Breck, Edward. The Way of the Woods: A Manual for Sportsmen. New York and London: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1908. p. 112.