Editor’s Note: This article first appeared in the Arizona Republic. Article used with permission.
By Jan D’Atri (JanDAtri.com)
Your family will go nuts over these moist and chewy brownies from Jan D'Atri! Photo Credit: Jan D'Atri
Let me get right to the delicious point. I went nuts over these brownies and so did everyone else I made them for! First, you have to be a nut lover to really appreciate the uber-nutty topping this brownie offers. Second, you have to think brownies are heavenly. That takes care of most of us!
The name Nuts Over Brownies couldn’t be more appropriate. It not only explains how you’ll flip over these treats, but also how the sweet and buttery nut topping gets poured directly over the brownie mixture. There is sits, bubbling, caramelizing away and blending perfectly with the homemade brownie mixture below. (I’ve just talked myself into making another batch this weekend!)
The recipe comes from one of my oldest recipe rescues– The Hershey’s 1934 Cookbook. When this cookbook was first published, there were no such things as electric hand mixers and non-stick pans. The Sunbeam Mixmaster, which would help to revolutionize baking, was only 4 years old, and electric ovens were just beginning to compete with gas stoves. At the Hershey Company, successes and failures were in the making. Candy bars, syrup and chips hit it out of the ballpark, while Hershey’s mint flavored chewing gum and the Not So Sweet Bar met their unpopular bitter end, according to the company’s history.
Hershey’s trademark cocoa powder however, manufactured since 1894, was and has always been a runaway success for Hershey’s, which leads me back to Nuts Over Brownies. It’s an absolute “cocoa-loco” recipe that someone you know will surely go nuts over!
Rescued Recipe #228
Nuts Over Brownies
Ingredients for Nut Topping:
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 egg, slightly beaten
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
- 2 cups chopped walnuts or cashews
- 2 cups chopped pecans
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium saucepan combine 1cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup butter. Stir over low heat until butter mixture has a creamy consistency. Remove from heat and in beaten egg, 2 tablespoons flour, 2 teaspoons vanilla and salt. Mix well. Add nuts, stirring well. Set aside.
Ingredients for Brownie
- 2 sticks (1cup) butter
- 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 4 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 ¼ cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
Directions:
In a medium saucepan, combine 1cup butter with cocoa powder. Cook over low heat until butter melts, stirring frequently. Add 1 cup brown sugar and 1 cup granulated sugar, mixing well. Add 4 eggs and 2 teaspoons vanilla and beat to combine. Stir in 1 ¼ cups flour and baking powder.
Pour chocolate mixture into a greased and floured 13 x 9 inch baking pan.
Spoon the nut topping evenly over chocolate mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until toothpick comes up clean. Do not over bake. (When strong aroma of brownies is emitted from oven, check for doneness.) Cool and cut into bars. Makes approximately 24 brownies.
Editor’s note: Why not make these brownies with some Arizona-grown pecans or walnuts? Find some Arizona nut growers on FillYourPlate.org by searching for “walnuts” or “pecans.”
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