One of my favorite finds from grandma’s recipe box, These little beauties check off all of my boxes for what a great brownie should be: more fudgy than cake like, very chocolatey, and packed with nuts.

Who doesn’t love brownies? Well, I’m sure there are some people that don’t, but they aren’t in my family!

This recipe from my grandma Barbara was a pleasant surprise. I don’t remember her making these when I was little, but I’m sure she did.

I can tell from the note in the upper left corner that this recipe came from the Boston Globe food section. No way of knowing what year, but I’m thinking this was probably from the early 1960s.

When I decided to make these, I made a couple of substitutions from the original recipe. I typically don’t buy margarine, so I used butter. And I didn’t have any baking chocolate on hand, so I substituted 3 Tbsp. Hershey’s Cocoa powder and 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil for each square of chocolate.

My grandmother had a habit of writing recipes over several times as she changed and improved a recipe. On some of the versions of this one, there were nuts. No other changes. I can only assume that my grandfather maybe didn’t like nuts, so she eliminated them. But I go by the rule that if it doesn’t have nuts, it really isn’t a brownie. So I added them back in.

If this is your first time reading my blog, let me tell you a quick story. My grandmother cooked on a wood burning stove until the day she died in 1976. So all of her baking is either in a “moderate” oven, or a “hot” oven. Translation: moderate oven = 350°F, hot oven = 425°F.

Grandma’s Best Fudgy Nut Brownies

Prep Time: 10 min      Cook Time: 25 – 30 min      Total Time: 40 min
Yield: 12

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 4 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Grease an 8″ square cake pan and set aside.
3. Melt chocolate and butter in a small saucepan. Cool slightly.
4. In a large mixing bowl, cream eggs and sugar until mixed. Add vanilla.
5. In separate bowl, combine flour, salt and baking powder.
6. Add flour mixture to egg mixture and beat until combined.
7. Fold in chocolate mixture and nuts until combined.
8. Spread in prepared pan. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top.
9. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. Do not over bake.
10. Cool completely before cutting.