Helen "Brownie" Schrumpf's Brownies

Submitted by quotPink Eyedquot J

"This recipe has the exact same proportions and ingredients as the recipe used by the woman who supposedly "invented" brownies. According to legend, she left the leavening out of her chocolate cake one day, and the cake did not rise, she tried the cake anyway, and thus were brownies born. The best part about this recipe is that you simply use one pot to mix the whole thing, only one dish (aside from your baking dish) gets dirtied."

 

• Ready In: 40mins
• Ingredients: 8
• Serves: 12

ingredients

• 8 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup cocoa powder or 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 3⁄4 cup chopped walnuts or 3/4 cup pecans (optional)
• 1 cup flour

directions

1. In a 1 quart or larger saucepan, over low heat, melt the butter.
2. If you are using chocolate, melt the chocolate with the butter.
3. If you are using cocoa powder, stir it into the melted butter with a wooden spoon.
4. Add the sugar and stir.
5. Using the same wooden spoon, add the eggs, one at a time, stirring until incorporated before adding the next.
6. Stir in the remaining ingredients until a smooth batter forms.
7. Put batter into a 13X9 pan (I use a nonstick metal pan) and bake at 350 Fahrenheit for 30 to 35 mins, or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.
8. Let cool before cutting.

Reviews

[emdowz]

I love a super-fudgy brownie! And I managed to snag some dark cocoa powder at my local coop. By increasing the flour to 1 and 1/2 cups and adding 1/8 tsp of baking powder; these became PERFECTION! I left out the nuts because, well, I had none on hand. I kept the burner on low throughout the mixing process as well. Changed pan size to 9x9 nonstick as well.

 

[thatbobbiegirl]

I was curious about why this received such a low rating, so I looked at the recipe, and noticed there was no flour, so I thought perhaps that was why Kneetah's batch came out so gooey. I used the "ask the chef a question" function and inquired about the lack of flour -- and sure enough, that was the problem. The chef has corrected the recipe to include one cup of flour. I have added this to my cookbook to try later, but I wanted to mention this to keep others from being afraid to try the recipe due to the previous review.

 

[ReeLani]

These were very easy to mix up, and the flavor is decent. I found, however, that the edges were overdone by the time the center was properly cooked.

 

[Kneetah]

I am not an 'experienced' brownie maker, but I felt a bit confused. I wasn't sure what type of pan to use (metal, glass) , to grease or not. Needless to say they were very flat, did not come out of the pan well and were gooey, even though the toothpick came out clean. Perhaps something was missing??? Or maybe its just me :)