Lunch Lady Brownies

This is a re-post of a fantastic recipe I posted back in 2008. I felt I needed to add some pictures to show the deliciousness! So, here we have it folks, a great American treat, the brownie!

The brownie has ranked number one for "sweetest baked invention yet", at least to me. According to History, there really isn't enough evidence to say who really discovered this brown treasure. The brownie has been around for a long time and developed a lot of variation as well. Everything from peanut butter to pistachios have been added to this already rich dessert. There are usually two kinds of brownies, a cake brownie and a fudge brownie. Furthermore, the Blondie also derives from the brownie.

The Lunch Lady Story:
This brownie recipe is no ordinary recipe, today I'd like to give you a brownie recipe that was made in a Jr. high school cafeteria. In a small town in Idaho, a lunch lady made these brownie so perfect that they were entered in local bake sales and fund raisers.

This recipe has been around for more than 50 years and still attracts so many children each year. I was given this recipe by my aunt who worked in the school cafeteria and knew this wonderful women. These brownies are the best of both worlds. They are cake-like with the chewy density of a cookie.

They really are a delicious piece of history!

Recipe for Bonneville Jr. High school Brownies:

For a gluten free version of these brownies (click here)

Ingredients:

1 cup of Butter (I use unsalted)

1/2 cup of Cocoa (I used unsweetened)
2 cups of All Purpose Flour
2 cups of Sugar
4 Eggs

4 teaspoons of Vanilla

1 cup of Chopped Nuts (optional)

According to comments, people have tried these with ingredients changes like sweetened cocoa powder and adding salt to the batter. Not a bad idea. I should try them myself and see the difference.

Directions:

I melt the Butter in the microwave and put into my mixing bowl, then I add cocoa and mix together until smooth.

Add flour, and sugar. Beat together and then add eggs, vanilla, and nuts. Mix until combined. Do not over stir!

Pour into greased, floured  9x13 baking pan*. 

* An additional part of this recipe said that if you want to double the recipe, use a large baking sheet.

Additional Note * This batter will not be runny like a cake mix. You might have to spread it out over your pan with a rubber spatula.

Bake 20-25 minutes @350 F or until done. I would check at it at 20 minutes. As per comments, some have had to cook as long as 35 minutes depending on oven and altitude. 

Wait only about 10 minutes to frost brownies.

Frost them while they are warm (not hot).
This frosting it what makes these brownies so great in my opinion because these brownies are not very sweet on their own. The warm frosting sinks into brownies a little bit which is why you frost them while warm.

The Chocolate Icing Recipe:

To make while the brownies bake

1/4 cup of softened Butter

1/4 cup of Evaporated canned Milk (regular milk is fine)

1/4 cup of unsweetened Cocoa

3 cups of Powdered Sugar

Dash of Salt

Mix all together and frost as desired.