Texas brownies

This is what I ended up making as my birthday cake. I'd been waivering back and forth on a cake because I didn't really feel like making the cake I had initially craved about 3 months ago. Apparently, I stop craving silly things like cake if I wait 3 months before making it. There's a good factoid to remember for the future (if in the future I'm able to hold off on doing any craving-related baking for a whole 3 months again). Anyhoo,  I just rediscovered this recipe and since I haven't made it in about 10 years and Idle Husband had never tried it, I figured I might as well. I was doing dishes anyway (never before has that been a good reason to make a cake).

Well, it tasted just as fantastic as I remembered, thankfully. Sometimes when I'm making old recipes I tend to screw them up because they're tried and true so I never seem to follow the instructions as closely as I would with a new recipe. I also had the idea of baking and icing and stacking the brownie to resemble a more traditional cake form (as seen in the picture), but I don't think that idea really worked out the way I thought it would. I think it's best to just let it be a traditional cake-like brownie and be done with it. This cake is anything but fussy so it shouldn't be presented in a fussy manner.

Texas Brownies (from an old Great American Recipes card pack I found in a thrift store in the '90s)

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 cup butter or margarine

1 cup coffee or water (I usually use water, but I had instant coffee this time)

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 400 F degrees.

Combine flour and sugar in mixing bowl.

In a large saucepan, combine butter/margarine, coffe/water, and cocoa. Whisk to combine and heat to boiling.

Pour boiling mixture over the flour and sugar. Mix a little. Add buttermilk, eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Mix well and combine completely.

Pour into a well buttered 17 1/2 by 11 inch jelly roll pan (back in the '90s I had no idea what that was, so I always used -- and continue to use -- my large casserole pan for this recipe. It's about 9 by 12 inches).

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until they test done in the centre.

While the brownies are baking, make the frosting.

Frosting

1/2 cup margarine or butter

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1/4 cup milk

3 1/2 cups (or less) powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

In a saucepan, combine margarine/butter, cocoa, and milk. Whisk occasionally while heating to boiling. Mix in the sugar a little at a time until smooth. Add vanilla.

Pour the warm frosting over the brownies as soon as you take them out of the oven. It'll fill the pan right up, but as the cake cools, the frosting will melt into the cake and settle down so don't be alarmed!

Try to cool it completely and enjoy! (I think it tastes best the next day.)

OH, I also enjoyed these cookies from T. They came presented in the cutest box with a hand-drawn tag. They taste very peanut-buttery, and I like to imagine they're completely healthy because of the oats.