Lunch Lady Brownies

As a fun treat, I decided to make a new recipe (new to me) called Lunch Lady Brownies. Why are they called Lunch Lady Brownies? Well, because they are somewhat bland in taste. Don't get wrong, they are delicious! But when you bite into the Lunch Lady Brownies, you taste it, and you think it needs something else, it needs the chocolate, it needs the chocolaty, fudgy taste of a brownie. I took them to a concert with my grandma last night and she was the first to try them, and said they needed a zip of chocolate. I agreed... tasting them and finding that the only chocolaty flavor was the delicious icing. I am going to tinker with this recipe later and I am going to build up the chocolate tasty, maybe add in some chocolate chips, or Hershey's Chocolate Syrup, or melt a Hershey bar into the mix. How yum would that be? I got this recipe from Saltbox House, written by Madeline L. It is a fairly simple recipe, with simple ingredients. That is also why they are called Lunch Lady Brownies, because they are simple. The real story of why they are called Lunch Lady Brownies is because these were originally made in a small town Jr. High cafeteria by a lunch lady in Idaho, later they were entered and won in bake sales. 

Lunch Lady Brownies

Ingredients:

*Brownies*

~1 cup unsalted butter (melted)

~1/2 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)

~2 cups all-purpose flour

~2 cups sugar

~1/4 cup milk

~4 eggs

~4 teaspoons vanilla

~OPTIONAL: chopped nuts

*Frosting*

~1/4 cup softened butter

~1/4 cup milk

~1/4 cup cocoa

~3 cups powdered sugar

~Dash of salt

For the brownies: Melt the butter in the microwave or in a sauce pan over the stove. Pour the butter into a mixing bowl, and add the cocoa. Beat with a hand-held mixer or paddle mixer until combined. Add in the flour and sugar, mix together. Add in the milk while mixing the the flour and sugar in with the butter-cocoa mixture, (the milk gives it more consistency because you might notice that the flour and sugar makes the mixture more powdery. just add in some milk to make it easier). Next, add in the vanilla and eggs, beat together but do not over stir! In a greased and floured 9x13 pan, pour the brownie batter in the pan and spread around with a spatula. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 35 minutes. 

Collage form:

For the frosting: Combine all the ingredients together in a bowl and mix with a hand held mixer or paddle mixer. Frost the brownies ten minutes after the brownies are taken from the oven. Use a spatula to spread the frosting on the brownies. 

And here they are! Beautiful in structure, rich in taste (a wee bit bland), but a really good, frosted, Lunch Lady brownies!

I am going to keep tinkering with this recipe because I want to perfect it! I want equal parts chocolate, I want the brownies to have the perfect chocolaty taste and keep their structure. I am really pleased with this recipe because every time I try to make brownies from scratch, they always end up sinking in the middle due to not being done. I end up burning the edges of the brownies, and having the middle still be gooey, but these brownies were perfect in the baking process.