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Carole Merrill's Famous Frosted Brownies

Carole Merrell"s Famous Frosted Brownies, tray of brownies and a glass of milk with brownie.
Author: Si Foster
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 24
A classic, easy-to-make brownie with a rich, delicious frosting!

Ingredients 

Brownies

  • ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 ½ cups unsalted butter
  • 2 ½ cups sugar
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 ¼ teaspoons salt
  • 5 eggs
  • 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 ½ cups walnuts, chopped

Chocolate Frosting

  • ½ cup unsalted butter
  • ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ⅓ cup milk
  • 4 ¼ cups powdered sugar, divided
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

Brownies:

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place rack in the center of the oven. Grease a 9x13-inch pan.
  • In a medium saucepan, melt butter with cocoa and stir with a wooden spoon or spatula. Pour into a medium bowl, add sugar, and stir again.
  • Add flour, baking powder, salt, eggs, and vanilla. Stir just until ingredients are incorporated. Fold in chopped nuts.
  • Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20-30 minutes. Do not overbake. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out with a few moist crumbs.
  • While the brownies are baking, make the frosting.

Chocolate Frosting:

  • In a medium saucepan, melt butter with cocoa and milk. Bring to a boil while stirring. Remove from heat.
  • Pour melted mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add 2 cups powdered sugar and vanilla. Mix to combine.
  • While mixing, add up to 2 1/4 cups additional powdered sugar, until the frosting is smooth and creamy. Continue mixing until frosting is cool.
  • Spread frosting on cooled brownies and top with chopped walnuts.

Notes

We've made these brownies without nuts and they are delicious. No need to adjust the recipe, just leave out the nuts if desired. 
We also made this recipe with King Arthur's Gluten Free flour and they turned out beautifully. After some research, we reduced the temperature to 330 degrees and let the batter sit for 20 minutes before baking. Baking time was about 30 minutes.