Mothers and Grandmothers: Grandma's Buttermilk Brownies AKA Lazy Cake

This recipe was brought to me by Nick's mother JoAnne. It is actually Nick's great grandma Cole's recipe.

The best thing about this recipe: I hope I am not sacrilegious when I call it "lazy cake" but it has the same ingredients as cake, without all of the hassle. It is moist, chocolaty buttery goodness. It may not be good for the waistline, but it is good for the soul. I make these for Nick's Birthday every year.
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup Oleo (must be an Iowa thing...I use butter)
1 cup water
3 TBS Cocoa
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk*
2 tsp Vanilla

This makes 2 13X9 pans, so feel free to halve it.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar and salt. Meanwhile, in a small pan, heat together the Oleo, water and cocoa until the oleo melts. Stir occasionally. While still hot, pour over first mixture and mix well.

 

In a small bowl mix eggs, soda, vanilla, and buttermilk. Beat well and pour into first mixture.

 

 

Pour into buttered pans and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Let cool and frost with the recipe on the back.

Buttermilk*: 3 Tblsp dry buttermilk and 1/2 cup water.

Frosting
1/2 cup Oleo (butter)
3 Tablespoons Cocoa
6 Tbs milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 box of powdered sugar

Mix oleo, cocoa, milk in sauce pan over medium heat. Stir constantly and do not boil, until butter melts. Take from heat and add vanilla and powdered sugar. Beat until smooth and then frost.

 

Yum!



 



I love Nick's mother because I see a lot of similarities between the two. Quite the introvert, you can see that she observing a lot and is very clever, but she reveals very little. She never shies away from doing the hard thing, or the right thing, and is very independent. She doesn't put much stock in status symbols, or fancy things used to impress other people. She is who she is and is honest and authentic. She has a huge heart for animals; you can find her feeding kittens in her yard or adopting blind puppies in her spare time. My favorite memory was a trip we took before her wedding. We did a lot of fun things getting ready for the wedding, and we all came together like a family. I think this recipe is a lot like her. You don't need to make a fancy cake with chocolate on a double boiler and an electric mixer. You can use the same ingredients in a simpler way and get the same delicious result.