Texas Brownies

It’s been a cold snowy week here and nothing is more comforting than a nice glass of milk or cup of tea and an ooey gooey brownie, so that’s what we are making this week, brownies. We’re not making just any brownie, we are making Texas brownies. Don’t ask me how they go their name, maybe it’s because “everything is bigger in Texas” and these brownies are bigger and better than most or maybe it’s the buttermilk, I don’t really know.  I do know that this one recipe makes a lot of brownies, so you’ll have brownies to last you a long time!

This receipt was at the bottom of my mom’s recipe box and we never thought to try them before. They were from a co-worker of my dad who used to make them for luncheons and parties, so that’s why it makes so much (feel free to cut down this recipe if you’re not feeding dozens of people).

Texas Brownies

You will need...

2 cups of flour

2 cups of sugar

1 cup butter or margarine

1 cup of strong brewed coffee

¼ cup of unsweetened cocoa

2 tsp. vinegar

½ cup of milk (if you have actual buttermilk then use that instead, but if you don’t you can make your own with the vinegar listed above)

2 eggs

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla

How to...

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Butter a 17 ½ inch x 11 inch jelly roll pan. You can line the pan with tin foil like we did if you have an older pan that might stick or if you want less cleanup.

Mix the flour, baking soda, and sugar in a large bowl. Set aside.

If you don’t have buttermilk on hand and need to make some, add the vinegar to the milk and let sit for about 5 minutes. If you have buttermilk skip this step and ignore the milk and vinegar ingredients. 

In a heavy saucepan, combine butter, coffee, and cocoa. Stir and mix well. Heat until boiling.

Once the mixture boils, pour over the dry ingredients.

 Add the buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla. Mix well, making sure to get rid of as many lumps as you can and make sure the flour mixture is thoroughly incorporated. 

Pour into the prepared jelly roll pan and spread evenly. 

Bake the brownies for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

While the brownies are baking...you can make the icing.

For the icing you will need, ½ cup of butter or margarine, 2 tbsp. of cocoa, ¼ cup of milk, and 3 ½ cups of icing sugar.

In another heavy saucepan, combine the butter or margarine, cocoa, and milk. Heat until boiling, stirring constantly. Once it comes to a boil, take it off the stove.

Mix in the icing sugar and vanilla and stir until smooth.

Pour the warm frosting over the fresh from the oven brownies and let sit. You can put them in the fridge if you want to speed the process along or you can let them sit out until they get firm and the icing hardens.

Finally, cut them into bars and enjoy.