Baba Collins' Brownies

The funny part is that I have no idea who Baba Collins is or was. My mother always made her brownies, and always gave credit where it was due. We never ate just brownies; we only ate Baba Collins' Brownies, using the whole name. I suspect she was a friend of Mom's but that detail is lost. We have been making them since before I had memory.


Baba made a hell of a brownie, however, and her fame lives on. I don't make them often, for all sorts of sensible reasons, but every now and then the urge comes upon me for a rich, decadent dessert. When I do make them, my recipe card warns me, "205 calories per brownie," - some helpful member of my family no doubt did the math and I made the mistake of writing it on the recipe card. Because they are sadly as rich in calories as they are in flavor, I usually take some of each batch over to a neighbor to spread the calories around.


What I love most about these brownies is the variety of textures. The tops get slightly crisp, cracking like lava as it cools. The middle says stubbornly chewy, and the nuts add their own brand of munch. They are richly chocolate, but not so much that they give me a headache, even if I have more than one. Which is entirely probable.


I used my Christmas present to make these and it made short work of beating the eggs to yellow fluffiness, but you can use a hand mixer just as well. That step is important, however, so no shirking is allowed. After that, the recipe is as easy as lust, and the finished brownies will inspire that deadly sin, I promise.


Baba Collins' Brownies


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F


2 eggs
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour
3 heaping Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (I use Hershey's)
Pinch salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (use the good stuff)
1/2 cup oil (I used canola) or 1/2 cup melted butter
smitch of baking powder


1 cup nuts (I like pecans, but walnuts are good, too)


Beat eggs until fluffy, add the rest of the ingredients and stir until well incorporated. Add the nuts and stir again. Pour/scrape into a square 9" baking pan, buttered unless you have a non-stick pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes; a toothpick poked into the middle should come out with a just little brownie stuck to it.


Cool in the pan, cut into squares. Yield 12 large or 16 small brownies.