Sunday, March 21, 2010

Julie’s Chewy Cocoa Brownies



My friend Julie and her family have been making this old fashioned chewy gooey brownie forever. The original recipe comes from an old Grange Cookbook, with a missing cover and blue binding, submitted by a Mrs. Walter Grunhaupt from Grinnell, Iowa. I wonder if she had another identity besides her husband’s? That we’ll never know.

Julie’s whole-wheat flour adaption is even better than Mrs. Grunhaupt’s white flour version, and reducing the sugar didn’t hurt a bit. Then there’s Julie’s chocolate icing, worthy of licking clean off the brownie itself.

You can choose to make your icing shiny and soft, or thick and fudgy with the same recipe. See the icing recipe below for instructions.

Julie’s Chewy Cocoa Brownies
Whole wheat flour holds up better than white flour, making for a nicer chewy brownie texture.

1 ½ cups granulated sugar
½ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
½ teaspoon salt
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup whole wheat flour or white whole wheat flour
1 cup chopped nuts of your choice (I use walnuts), optional

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch pan lightly with butter.

2. In a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, cream together the sugar, butter and salt. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Mix in the cocoa powder and flour just until incorporated, then mix in nuts if using.

3. Spread the mixture into the pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the sides start to pull away from the pan and the brownies are no longer wet looking.

4. Cool brownies to room temperature before icing.

Brownie Icing Two Ways


3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
A small pinch of salt if using unsalted butter

Bring the milk, butter, sugar, and salt if using to a simmer stirring often. Bring to a boil and boil for 2 full minutes stirring often. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the chocolate chips until smooth.

For Matte Fudge Topping: Spread the hot icing over the brownies with a spatula until even. Cool completely to set.

For Shiny Glaze Topping: Pour the hot icing onto the brownies. Roll icing around the brownies by tilting the pan to coat, but do not spread with a spatula. Cool completely to set.

Recipe adapted by Julie Hopper and rewritten and adapted for a one-bowl method by Laura Flowers. Original version comes from an old “Grange Cookbook” with a missing cover and blue binding. Recipe submitted to the book by, “Mrs. Walter Grunhaupt, Master’s Wife. Chester Royal Grange No. 2181, Grinnell, Iowa. Icing recipe adapted from Julie Hopper. Pictures by Laura Flowers


31 comments:

Two fit and fun gals said...

this looks GREAT!

brownies are soo easy to make it really is a fail proof recipe all round

i've never made it with icing though mmmmm love it

Jackie said...

Oh my! I def have to try there, but I must leave to get a towel to wipe the drool off the keyboard! lol
Look great Laura!

L Wilhelm said...

These look soooo yummy, however I'm not seeing any chocolate for the brownie recipe. Just wondering..... thanks!

The Cooking Photographer said...

Sorry about that. I messed up there, but now it's fixed.

Thanks for letting me know.

Laura

Memória said...

Oh, Laura! Why did you do this to me? hahaha These brownies look absolutely unbelievable!! I have been craving brownies and have been resisting the urge to make them. Oh, goodness. These look fantastic.

Ciao Chow Linda said...

A brownie is best with icing and yours look fantastic. Does using whole wheat mean it's healthy and I can have more?

2 Stews said...

What's better than a chocolate brownie? One with chocolate icing...I'll have the shiny one please....and thank you:-)

Veronica M. said...

I noticed you made two batches of brownies so you could eat twice as many, er, I mean show us both types of frosting. :) They look really good! I think the only brownies I ever made from scratch were the dulce de leche brownies you posted a while back. I think it's about time I tried it again. Hey, are you still making cookies every week? You never post the recipes any more!

Sarah said...

Yum!!!!! These look so good that i'm making a batch this weekend!

Sue said...

Mmmmmm, such chocolatey goodness! The icing puts it over the top:) Chewy brownies are the way to go!
Have a great week, Laura:)

notyet100 said...

yummy this looks,..beautiful clicks too,..

Federica Simoni said...

favolosi!!!! una delizia per il palato!! baci!

The Cooking Photographer said...

Hi Everyone!

@Veronica- Yeah, still making cookies the weeks Jesse is at work on Friday. He's been traveling more, so not every week lately. Then, I've just mostly have working on some old recipes, so nothing worth posting.

Parita said...

Brownies look divine! Love the shiny glaze icing on top!

Vrinda said...

Gorgeous brownies and amazing shot...

VegeCooking Club said...

I love brownies, hence why I can't make them, because then I eat them all. Maybe I can get someone I know to bake these for me so I can have one?

bridget {bake at 350} said...

Oh, Laura! These look delicious! I think I'll have one with each kind of frosting, please!

I have one of those old cookbooks where the recipes were submitted by Mrs. so-and-so. It makes me smile every time!

La Table De Nana said...

They look like an ad:) Truly!

Namitha said...

Oh my ! lovely gooey brownies..Got to try this version sometimes

Katrina said...

Those look great, like the perfect brownie. And healthy with the whole wheat flour! ;)

Mimi said...

Deep dark chocolate and whole wheat flour, you just know it's good for you.
Mimi

Veronica M. said...

I also used several already-posted recipes for cookie Mondays, that's why I didn't post a new one every week. I killed Cookie Monday, BTW. I guess I should announce it. Dennis got a new supervisor and moved to a new team and since baking cookies every week was wreaking havov on my waistline, I decided to stop now that no one on his team knows about "Cookie Monday." It's best for me.

chow bella said...

Ever since I saw a picture of these brownies yesterday I couldn't get them off my mind! Today I find out they are made with whole wheat flour and I'm even more compelled to make them!

Chef E said...

Perfection dahling, perfection!

Hope all is well...

Jen @ My Kitchen Addiction said...

Ooh... I adore chewy brownies, and I love that the whole wheat flour actually works well in this recipe!

Diana's Cocina said...

Laura, my husband and son are brownie freaks! This is a must try recipe. Thanks for sharing.

Xiaolu said...

Your post makes me realize that I've been unjustly limiting my brownie exposure to one easy go-to recipe. These look like a fabulous way to mix things up. Love the look and sound of a glaze, which is something I've never made on a brownie.

Jason Phelps said...

These do sound wonderful. I wrote up a short post on chocolate paired with raspberry wine. I found your recipe and reccomend it as a another thing to try with thw wine. Check it out at http://ancientfirewineblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/chocolate-and-raspberry-wine.html

Jason

Shobana said...

Hi laura.

I came here looking for a realistic brownie frosting recipe. Glad I did. Your space is lovely. Your passion seems to be shining thro your blog.

The frosting measurements were perfect. It was just right to be poured on a single batch of brownies. I liked it. Thankyou.

The Cooking Photographer said...

Shobana thank-you for the nice comment. You hit it on the head when you said realistic recipes.

I try to bring recipes to my blog that most of us can cook on a regular basis, but are still mostly from scratch and taste good. I didn't know if it was working even after all this time until you left your comment.

Thank-you again,
Laura

samantha icecreammaker said...

oh, I am in love with brownie, I remember my first time I made it, it was awful, to dry...
now I am using every opp to make it.
like your recipe, will try it for sure!
thanks.
kisses

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