Things Neniell Made: Ora's Brownies

I can't remember a family get together when I was little that did not include these brownies. I also remember the inevitable disappointment when the brownies had nuts in them. I would have to dissect the brownie to eat around the nuts and probably made faces when I accidentally ate one of those awful, in my opinion, nuts. Now that I have the recipe, nuts are no longer an issue since they are 100% optional. I may try them with chocolate chunks in the future. Feel free to add as many nuts as you like to this recipe of whatever sort you prefer; just don't offer any to me!

I can only infer from the name of the brownies that my grandmother got the recipe from my great aunt Ora. I have no idea if she created the recipe herself or acquired it from some other source. In either case, these brownies are simply amazing. They are very soft, moist, and more cake-like than boxed brownie mix which tend to be heavy and thick. They are perfect plain or covered in a light layer of powder sugar. Each day the brownies taste better and better, so I recommend baking them at least the day before you plan to share them!

Ora's Brownies (Printer-friendly PDF Version)

4 squares of baking chocolate

6 eggs, separated

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons vanilla

1 cup nuts (optional, can be replaced with chocolate chips or chunks)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9x13inch cake pan. (For instructions on how to prepare a pan, click here.)

Cream together the butter, sugar, and egg yolks until smooth. Add the salt, vanilla, and chocolate, mix on low until well blended, occasionally scraping the side of the bowl with a spatula. Mix in the flour until just blended.

In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. Fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture until just blended. This will double the size of the batter. Mix in the nuts or chocolate chips at this point if desired. Do not over mix the batter! Just mix until the nuts seem somewhat evenly distributed. Alternatively, you can place the nuts on top of the batter in the pan or at the bottom of the pan before adding the batter.

If you don't know how to "fold" in the egg whites, just scrape the side of the bowl with a spatula down to the bottom and pull it up the other side and over the top of the mixture. Repeat this several times from different angles. This mixture is hard to fold together at first due to the thickness of the chocolate mixture, so keep at it. Eventually the egg whites will fold in nicely.

Pour the batter into the prepared 9x13inch pan. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out cleanly. Let the brownies cool for at least an hour before cutting.

If you are like me and hate to cut brownies in the pan for fear of scratching the pan, here is how to remove them. Place a few sheets of connected paper towels on a flat surface. With a butter knife, slightly push all edges of the brownie in and up to release it from the pan. If you prepared the pan with shortening and flour and are worried about the brownies sticking to the pan, chill the pan in the freezer for 15 minutes. Quickly flip the pan upside-down on the paper towels and the brownies should release easily. Place another layer of paper towels on top of the brownies, grab the ends of the top and bottom layer of paper towels, and flip the brownies right-side-up. At this point you can frost the brownies or sprinkle them with powder sugar.

Cut the brownies and quickly take a bite of one of them. Savor the chocolate and the light, fluffy feel of the brownie in your mouth. Store the remaining brownies in a sealed container until ready to serve.