Thursday, May 3, 2012

Grammy Geddes Brownies

Once upon a time I was married to my high school sweetheart. I grew up with his family as my family and truly loved them like they were my own, especially his grandparents. Grammy Geddes was a tiny woman who did not cook often but she was known for her brownies. At any family gathering it was expected that she make them and there was never a crumb left over. When we got married in our early 20's she gifted the recipe to me and I tucked it in to my recipe box carefully and then promptly forgot I had it. As time passed and we grew up and grew apart we eventually divorced which was difficult because of families were so intertwined. 
When my own beloved grandmother passed 2 years ago now I learned that Grammy Geddes had passed not long after our divorce and I was sad that I never got to properly say goodbye to her. A few days later something told me to look through my old recipe box and her brownie recipe popped out at me. I don't know what possessed me on that 90 plus degree day to fire up the oven and bake a batch of her brownies but I did. As I was mixing I noticed the odd quantity of baking powder, 1/2 cup, and thought to myself "I have never seen a recipe like this".  I didn't want to alter the recipe in any way so I continued on but it bothered me the whole time. 
As my now fiance and I sipped a glass of wine and waited I told him about how much he was going to love the brownies that we were about to enjoy and then he looked at me and said "Is that smoke?". I ran into the kitchen to find smoke POURING out the door of the oven. I threw open the door to what looked like a volcanic explosion from my 5th grade science project and I burst out laughing. My intuition was right! She had written down the recipe incorrectly and it had risen so much it ran over the sides and all over the bottom of my oven. 
A few days later after having cleaned my oven I googled brownie recipes with the suspicion it should be 1/2 tsp and that seemed to be similar to what I found online. When I made it again it turned out just the way I remember. To this day I have not altered the card because whenever I look at it I smile and think of her. She would be happy to have me share it with you. 


Grandma Geddes Chocolate Brownies
Servings: 9 or 16 Squares depending on how you cut them


3/4 C melted unsalted butter
1 1/2 C granulated sugar (I use raw cane sugar)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3 large eggs, room temperature
3/4 C AP flour
1/2 C Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder :)
1/2 tsp salt


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8 inch sq pan. 
2. Blend butter, sugar and vanilla. Add eggs and beat well with spoon. 
3. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt and mix with a whisk.
4. Gradually add to egg mixture until well blended. 
5. Spread in pan and bake for 40-45 mins or until it begins to pull away from the edges of the pan. Cool on a wire rack and cut. 
6. Wrapped tightly in plastic they will last 3 days on the counter or 1 month in the freezer. 


I hope your family enjoys them as well! 

4 comments:

  1. I might have to make these! I just have to pick a day when all 5 kids are being good.;)
    Love you and that I can read your blog on my Kindle. I won't have my computer for another 3 weeks.

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  2. Lol they are really good. It is worth it and I have been making them with all organic ingredients and it works nicely! Hope you get your computer back not damp!

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  3. Sounds delicious! I love the history, too!

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