A Bite To Eat: Childhood Brownies

A few years ago I posted this recipe on my Facebook page, and a sweet reader jumped all over me because she had never heard of frosting on a brownie. I was tempted to bless her heart, but thought better of it.

Here is the original post, written on the day I actually baked these and realized that I had struck nostalgic gold. Enjoy.

“So who among us has spent the last few decades searching for those lost brownies from childhood? Go ahead, it's okay - shout it right out and admit it - today's brownies don't hold a candle to the ones we grew up with.

Looking back, I think our first mistake was to throw in with Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines and Pillsbury. After that, in an attempt to go back, we tried adding chocolate chips and giving them fancy names, but that just made matters worse.

And then, for some reason, bakeries added to the misery. Try finding a good brownie in a commercial bakery today. I dare you.

The result of all this nonsense left me craving something original. It seemed only a distant dream from long ago. Maybe it never even was, I told myself.

And then I ran across this recipe. It looked simple. Something about it rang true. In any event, I wandered into the kitchen over the weekend and tried it.

This recipe is no more difficult than opening a box of mix, and it contains good, honest ingredients. In fact, during the process, I realized that our mamas (and most bakeries years ago) used cocoa - good old Hershey's cocoa - when baking anything chocolate. This recipe is full of it. I felt a glimmer of hope as I ran the pan in the oven.

Confirmation came when I took the first bite. Clouds parted, angels sang, and I was once again tasting the original.

Try for yourself and see. Comments containing words like "yum" are welcome, but don't bother me with your variations on a theme. That's what got us off track in the first place, people.

I have found my long-lost recipe at last. This is my brownie and I'm sticking to it.”

(By the way, in the above recipe, cream together the butter and sugar, add the eggs to combine, sift together the flour and cocoa and salt and add to the mix. Add vanilla at the last and thoroughly combine. And for what it’s worth, I know I am supposed to use unsalted butter, but I never do. Salted butter makes everything taste better.)

Photo and recipe by Beth Yarbrough.