nancys-photos-0722 

These are brownies that I made especially for my non vegan husband Harry.  I don’t think that he can tell that I used all natural and non processed ingredients in them either.  

These brownies also really remind me of something that my grandmother would make.  My mother’s mother, Ruth Hendricks Schoenberger was a great cook but was a phenomonal baker.  Her hands could turn out flaky pie dough effortlessly, yeasted cinnamon rolls, and an apple cake to die for.   Her kitchen in Cincinnati, OH was the kitchen that my mother and her siblings grew up in and had lots of relics of the past like a  stove top coffee maker and weathered baking implements.  I used to love to stand on the step stool and help her while she made her confections.  The whole house would then take on the perfumed scent of whatever she happened to have in the oven.  These brownies are made and dedicated to her because she hands down loved chocolate (she would have loved them with a cup of tea) and because they remind me of her decadent but sensible approach to baking.  It also reminds me of a dessert that she may have been able to afford to make (with some scrimping and saving) during the Depression and when trying to woo my grandfather in their dating days!  Preheat the oven to 350F and grease and flour an 8×8 baking pan (I used a glass Pyrex one)

1/2 c. butter/1 stick butter (I used organic butter from grass fed cows)
1 c. sucanet
2 eggs (cage free from free roaming chickens)
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 c. cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. sea salt
2 handfuls grain sweetened chocolate chips (I used the Sunspire brand)

In a large saucepan over low heat slowly melt a stick of butter.  Remove the pan from the heat and stir in sucanet, eggs, and vanilla.  Place a sifter over the saucepan and sift in the whole wheat pastry flous, cocoa, baking soda and salt into the saucepan (I always add back into the mix the pieces of whole wheat pastry flour that remain in the sifter) and stir until well combined.  Pour into prepared pan, sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top,  and bake for 25 min.  Check and if it seems not to be set, pop it back into the oven for 3-5 more minutes.  It’s done when a knife or toothpick comes out almost clean.  Cool completely (If you can wait that long) and cut into pieces.  Not too big!  Oh, I always cut off the harder edges and save them to crumble over ice cream.