Old Cookbooks and New Brownies

When I was a bride back in the early 1970s, cookbooks from my hometown were my main sources of inspiration and knowledge in the kitchen. Since I discovered online recipes in 2003, I have used the world wide web almost exclusively as a cyber-cookbook, although to this day I covet, collect, and cherish real cookbooks.


One recipe that is found in almost every hometown cookbook is a no-bake cookie made with cocoa, butter (or margarine), sugar, oats, and peanut butter. This concoction was boiled and dropped on waxed paper to create a kind of drop fudge.


Today while I was perusing some of my favorite blogs, I happened upon a recipe for Baked "No-Bakes" by Donalyn, the creator of DessertStalking, (which is, in my opinion, superior to Tastespotting), and writer of the blog dlyn. The taste of the brownies, which is absolutely reminiscent of the old-fashioned no-bake cookies, prompted their name.

Once I started thinking about the chocolatey addictive quality of those no-bakes (also called "Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies" in some of my old cookbooks), I could not wait to make this recipe, and I have to say the flavor is spot-on in similarity to the old recipe. I am powerless to stop eating slivers of these brownies, which are moist, not too dense and not too sweet, with the oats lending a wholesome, chewy component to the mix.

Although you may visit Donalyn's site for the original recipe, I am posting it here with my italicized minor changes. Donalyn states that natural peanut butter is excellent in this recipe, but since I only had Jif Extra Crunchy, and I was dying to make these TODAY, that is what I used. I left out the chopped peanuts, and I used salted butter.

Baked "No-Bakes"
by dlyn

1/2 cup salted butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup natural peanut butter (I used Jif Extra Crunchy)
1/2 cup cocoa
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup coarsely chopped, roasted, salted peanuts (I left these out since I used Jif Extra Crunchy)
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and grease an 8 x 8 pan (I used an 11 x 7 pan). In medium bowl, mix together butter, brown sugar, peanut butter and cocoa. Beat in eggs, one at a time, along with vanilla. Measure remaning ingredients into same bowl and mix to combine completely. Spread evenly in pan, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pan, and cut into squares.

Triple Chocolate Brownies

A few months ago I blogged about a brownie recipe that contained (gasp!) a full pound of chocolate. Although those decadent brownies were excellent, when a recent customer requested birthday brownies for her husband, I decided to try a different recipe, and it was a big success.


Triple Chocolate Brownies

1-1/4 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon instant espresso
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
11 oz semisweet chocolate chips
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 large eggs, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray 9 X 13 pan with nonstick spray; line with parchment paper.

Sift together flour, salt, cocoa powder, and espresso and set aside.

In a large bowl, melt butter in microwave, then add chocolate chips and whisk until smooth. Add sugars and vanilla and stir until smooth. Add 3 eggs into chocolate mixture and very gently whisk until smooth. Add remaining 2 eggs and gently whisk again. Add flour mixture and gently fold with spatula, until just combined. Scrape batter into prepared pan and level batter with spatula.

Bake in center of preheated oven, rotating pan halfway through. Baking time depends on your oven--the recipe states 30 minutes; mine took almost 45. Bake until a toothpick inserted into center of pan comes out with moist crumbs attached. Cool completely before cutting.

Although these brownies are stand-alone delicious, in order to make a nice presentation I sprinkled semisweet chocolate chips over the brownies after they had cooled a few minutes. When the brownies were completely cooled, I drizzled them with white chocolate. After the white chocolate had firmed, I cut into a dozen squares.

Lawsa Mercy

My Granny Mitchell had a quaint way of expressing shock by declaring in a horrified tone, "Lawsa mercy." I loved to tease her and think up some scandalous tale to astonish her just to hear her reaction. If she wasn't sufficiently shocked, she would just shake her head and say "Laws". To express regret or disgust, "Law, Law" or simply "Mercy" fit the bill.

My "lawsa mercy" moment came yesterday when I made brownies and the recipe specified one pound of chocolate.

The result was a deliciously rich chocolatey brownie that almost had a baked-fudge quality. I made them for a customer and they were difficult to cut into those perfect squares with no squish-marks, so I think they would benefit from an overnight rest before cutting.

Brownies Recipe
from "Tartine" by Elisabeth M. Prueitt and Chad Robertson

Kitchen Notes: You can't use a cake tester or toothpick to judge doneness. Because the batter has a high percentage of chocolate, the tester comes out wet even if the brownies are done.

3/4 cup unsalted butter
1 pound bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 large eggs
2 cups light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping (optional) 2 cups nuts such as walnut or pecan halves

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13 inch glass baking dish.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate. If the heat from the butter does not fully melt the chocolate, put the pan back over the heat for 10 seconds and stir until melted. Set aside to cool.

Sift the flour into a small mixing bowl. Set aside. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla. Using a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat on high speed until the mixture thickens and becomes pale in color and falls from the beater in a wide ribbon that folds back on itself and slowly dissolves on the surface, 4 to 5 minutes.

Alternatively, use a mixing bowl and a whisk to beat the ingredients until the mixture falls from the whisk in a wide ribbon. Using a rubber spatula, fold the cooled chocolate into the egg mixture. Add the flour and fold it in quickly but gently with the rubber spatula so that you don't deflate the air that's been incorporated into the eggs.

Pour the batter into the prepared dish and smooth the top with the spatula.

If you are using nuts, evenly distribute them across the batter. Bake until the top looks slightly cracked and feels soft to the touch, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Using a sharp knife, cut into 12 squares. The brownies will keep in an airtight container in a cool place for up to 1 week.