Charlie Brown's Brownies - These are the Real Deal!

Charlie Brown's Brownies - These are the Real Deal!

(This is a repost from last year)

I thought I had lost my 1969 Peanuts Cookbook when I couldn't find it to fulfill a baking request from my brother.  A little over a year later, I found it! And discovered that the problem I'd had with the only recipe I could find online, the measurements were way off for some of the items.

My sincere apologies tot he Schultz family and Universal Features Syndicate, Inc. if I'm treading on a copyright issue, this book has been out of print for a long time and it's not available in my county's library system. Not one single copy.

So, in an attempt to be appropriate, I do not have the copyright to this recipe, the recipe belongs to June Dutton and the Schultz estate (I'm assuming). The Peanuts Cook Book was printed in 1969 by Universal Features Syndicate, Inc., with cartoons by Charles M. Schultz and recipes by Determined Productions, Inc. Both my sister and I were given a copy for Christmas that year.

On page 10 of this book was my all-time favorite brownie recipe. Charlie Brown's Brownies.  This is how it is written on page 10 of the Peanuts Cook Book:

(beginning quote, in case you can't see it)
"

CHARLIE BROWN'S BROWNIES

                                                             1 stick butter (1 cube)
                                                             3 squares unsweetened chocolate
                                                             4 eggs, beaten
                                                             2 teaspoons vanilla
                                                             2 cups sugar
                                                             1 cup flour, sifted
                                                             1 cup chopped nuts

In a large bowl (over a pan of boiling water) melt butter and chocolate. Remove from heat and add beaten eggs, vanilla, sugar, sifted flour, and nuts. Stir well. Pour into greased baking pan. Bake at
325^o for about 35 minutes. Center should stay moist. Cool before cutting. If they last an hour, you're lucky.
"
(end quote)

I tried to get the formatting as close to how it looks in the book as I could. Yes, the title in the book is in all caps.

To clarify "1 stick butter" equates to 1/2 cup of butter and "3 squares unsweetened chocolate" is 3 squares of baking chocolate.

Here's my updated ingredient list in today's terms and more detailed instructions for those that may be making these with kids.

1/2 cup butter, straight from refridgerator
3 squares baking chocolate, unsweetened
4 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups sugar
1 cup flour, sifted
1 cup chopped nuts, optinal (walnuts work best)

So here's you do this without burning the chocolate or butter.

1. Grease and lightly flour an 8x8 baking pan (typical brownie pan).
2. Pre-heat oven to 325^o.
3.  Get a big pan (I use a 5-quart pot and a large metal mixing bowl) filled with water and start heating the water to a boil. A very large double boiler is the ideal equipment, but few people I know now have those.
4. Measure out the sugar into a medium sized bowl.
5. Sift a cup of flour into the same bowl.
6. Add the nuts to the bowl with the sugar and sifted flour. This will help with pouring.
7. In a separate medium bowl, break all 4 eggs in and beat them with a whisk or electric mixer until throughly beaten.
8. Add the vanilla to the eggs, no need to stir.
9. Hopefully the water is boiling by now. Using a bowl that fits just inside the pot of boiling water, place the bowl in the water.. Alternatively, if you're really good with melting chocolate in a single pan, you can melt the chocolate and butter in about a 2-quart pot and have enough room for all the ingredients.
10. Place the butter and chocolate in the bowl to melt. Stir continuously until the chocolate and butter are melted. A silicone spatula is best for this  task.
11. Remove the bowl or pan from the heat. Dump in the egg/vanilla mix and stir lightly (less than 30 seconds), then add in the dry ingredients. Mix throughly.
12. Pour the mixture into the greased and floured pan.
13. Place into the pre-heated over and bake for 32-35 minutes (depending on your oven). The middle should remain moist.

I will try to get a picture to post soon. My brother doesn't like walnuts in his brownies so I make them without chopped nuts.

Lemon Blueberry Brownies

Yes, that’s right. Lemon Brownies! I’ll need to experiment with some other flavors as well in the near future, but it’s summertime so Lemon is King.

I saw a posting for Lemon Bars while I was waiting on Lemon Blueberry muffins to come out of the oven and decided to play around a bit with lemon and blueberries. It’s taken me a bit to get this nailed down, I had a few flops, but this recipe has meet with several thumbs up, murmured approvals, and sarcastic statements like “oh yeah, these are just SO bad”, nom, nom, nom.

Using a mixer makes them more “cakey” than I prefer, so I do everything by hand. You all, of course, are free to fiddle with this as you please and come up with whatever works best for you.

The batch I made for yesterday’s vendor show were some of the best I’ve made yet. I put on a bit more glaze than I have in the past and I think that makes a difference. I plan on playing with this recipe a bit more and will post results as I get them.

At this point I do not have a picture of these, I failed to snap a picture before I gave them all away. I will grab a picture of the next batch and add it to this post.

Equipment needed:

     Medium mixing bowl

     Small mixing bowl

     Whisk

     Wooden spoon or stiff spatula

     8”x8” baking pan (9”x9” works too)

     Parchment paper or baking spray

     Spatula for scraping and spreading the glaze

Groceries needed:

Brownies

     ½ cup butter, melted

     ¾ cups sugar, (granulated)

     1 packet TrueLemon^TM or Zest of ½ Lemon

     2 eggs (large or extra large)

     1 tblsp lemon juice

     ¾ cup flour

     ½ tsp baking powder

     2 cups frozen blueberries (or use fresh)

Glaze

     ¾ to 1 cup powered sugar

    1.5 to 2 tblsp lemon juice

    1 packet TrueLemon^TM or Zest of ½ Lemon

The glaze measurements depend on how thick a glaze you want. I used 1 cup powered sugar and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice for a thicker glaze. It’s still a light glaze, not a frosting but it packs a bit more lemon-y punch.

Full disclosure: I do not get any money from the True Lemon^TM folks, but I have found their product to be a really wonderful addition to my baking pantry. The blueberries I use are frozen Wild Maine Blueberries that I pick up at CostCo^TM. They have amazing flavor, and are a bit smaller, but oh-so-yummy! 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350⁰ F
2. Line the baking pan with parchment paper OR spray with baking spray OR butter and flour pan
3. Melt the butter in a sauce pan or in the microwave
4. Place the butter and sugar into the mixing bowl and whisk until well blended
5. Add the True Lemon^TM or lemon zest to the mixing bowl and whisk very lightly
6. Add the 2 eggs, lemon juice, and baking powder and whisk until well blended
7. Lift the whisk from the bowl, letting the liquid drip into the bowl, then set aside
8. Add the flour and using the wooden spoon, mix until fully incorporated
9. Add in the blueberries and gently mix in
10. Pour the mixture into the baking pan
11. Bake for 25-35 minutes (my oven works best at 32 minutes), Let cool completely before making the glaze.

To make the glaze:

1. Using a clean whisk and the small mixing bowl, place the powered sugar, True Lemon^TM or lemon zest, and lemon juice into the bowl.
2. Mix until smooth
3. Pour the glaze on the cool brownies
4. Use the spatula to evenly spread out the glaze
5. Let sit until the glaze firms up a bit; you can “rush” this step a bit by putting the brownies into the fridge to set up

Cut when ready and prepare to get some sticky fingers from the glaze. These don’t last long though, so enjoy while you have them!

Charlie Brown's Brownies - Straight from the Original Book!

In 1960, Charles Schulz and June Dutton collborated on a cookbook. My sister and I each got a copy for Christmas, I was the one who used it most. My all-time favorite recipe was Charlie Brown's Brownies.

I thought I had lost my 1969 Peanuts Cookbook when I couldn't find it to fulfill a baking request from my brother.  A little over a year later, I found it! And discovered that the problem I'd had with the one recipe I could find online, purporting to be "the" recipe, was that the measurements were way off for some of the items.

My sincere apologies to the Schultz family and Universal Features Syndicate, Inc. if I'm treading on a copyright issue, this book has been out of print for a long time and it's not available in my county's library system. Not one single copy.

So, in an attempt to be appropriate, I do not have the copyright to this recipe, the recipe belongs to June Dutton and the Schultz estate (I'm assuming here). The Peanuts Cook Book was printed in 1969 by Universal Features Syndicate, Inc., with cartoons by Charles M. Schultz and recipes by Determined Productions, Inc..

On page 10 of this book is my brother's all-time favorite brownie recipe. Charlie Brown's Brownies.  This is how it is written on page 10 of the Peanuts Cook Book:

(beginning quote, in case you can't see it)
"
                                        CHARLIE BROWN'S BROWNIES

                                              1 stick butter (1 cube)
                                              3 squares unsweetened chocolate
                                              4 eggs, beaten
                                              2 teaspoons vanilla
                                              2 cups sugar
                                              1 cup flour, sifted
                                              1 cup chopped nuts

In a large bowl (over a pan of boiling water) melt butter and chocolate. Remove from heat and add beaten eggs, vanilla, sugar, sifted flour, and nuts. Stir well. Pour into greased baking pan. Bake at
325^o for about 35 minutes. Center should stay moist. Cool before cutting. If they last an hour, you're lucky.
"
(end quote)

I tried to get the formatting as close to how it looks in the book as I could. Yes, the title in the book is in all caps.

To clarify "1 stick butter" equates to 1/2 cup of butter and "3 squares unsweetened chocolate" is 3 squares of baking chocolate.

Here's my updated ingredient list in today's terms and more detailed instructions for those that may be making these with kids.

1/2 cup butter, straight from refridgerator
3 squares baking chocolate, unsweetened
4 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups sugar
1 cup flour, sifted
1 cup chopped nuts, optional (walnuts work best)

So here's how you do this without burning the chocolate or butter.

1. Grease and lightly flour an 8x8 baking pan (typical brownie pan).
2. Pre-heat oven to 325^o.
3. Get a big pan (I use a 5-quart pot and a large metal mixing bowl) filled with water and start heating the water to a boil. A very large double boiler is the ideal equipment, but few people I know now have those.  Alternatively, if - and only IF - you're really good with melting chocolate in a single pan, you can melt the chocolate and butter in about a 2-quart pot and have enough room for all the ingredients. Otherwise, stick with the double-boiler setup.
4. Measure out the sugar into a medium sized bowl.
5. Sift a cup of flour into the same bowl.
6. Add the nuts to the bowl with the sugar and sifted flour. This will help with pouring.
7. In a separate medium bowl, break all 4 eggs in and beat them with a whisk or electric mixer until throughly beaten.
8. Add the vanilla to the eggs, no need to stir.
9. Hopefully the water is boiling by now. Using a bowl that fits just inside the pot of boiling water, place the bowl in the water.
10. Place the butter and chocolate in the bowl to melt. Stir continuously until the chocolate and butter are melted. A silicone spatula is best for this task.
11. Remove the bowl or pan from the heat. Dump in the egg/vanilla mix and stir lightly (less than 30 seconds), then add in the dry ingredients. Mix throughly.
12. Pour the mixture into the greased and floured pan.
13. Place into the pre-heated over and bake for 32-35 minutes (depending on your oven). The middle should remain moist.

I will try to get a picture to post soon. Perhaps when the next batch is made by one of my "borrowed" kids.

Happy Baking!