B is for Brown Sugar Brownies AND Blackberry Clafouti

Over the last 30 years, I cannot imagine how many pans of Brown Sugar Brownies I have made. I've made them as gifts. I've made them for the kids to take places. I've made them to take to work. I've made them as a thank you when someone has done something nice for me. I originally blogged about these brownies here. Since that post we have continued to tweak our recipe. I didn't know how to bake a single thing from scratch when I married my husband and his mother taught me to bake these brownies. Actually, this was the first thing she taught me to bake!! Both of our "children" know how to bake these brownies but they usually text me for the recipe. My mother-in-law is now in her mid 90's and she can't remember a lot of things that she used to cook but she remembers this recipe. It is evidently engraved on her brain! This is not a recipe where you list the ingredients and then the instructions. I normally include the ingredients within the instructions. Just for y'all I will list the ingredients!

Brown Sugar Brownies

2 sticks butter

1 box light brown sugar

3 jumbo eggs

2 cups self rising flour

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup butterscotch chips

1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 X 13 brownie pan with Pam.

Melt 2 sticks of Land O' Lakes butter in a mixing bowl in the microwave. You may use another brand but I love Land O' Lakes!

When melted, stir in one box of light brown sugar. Do not use a mixer. Use a wooden spoon or similar utensil.

Add 3 eggs. I use jumbo eggs.  Stir the eggs, sugar, and butter with spoon until incorporated

Add 2 cups self rising flour. I don't know if you can purchase White Lily flour where you live but I prefer it like I prefer Land O' Lakes.

Add 1 tsp vanilla extract. Do not use vanilla flavoring. Yes, I know that extract costs more. It is worth it.

Stir the flour and vanilla into the butter, sugar, egg mixture. Stir gently with a spoon until everything is mixed together.

Add 1 cup butterscotch chips and 1 cup chopped pecans and stir gently.

If you think that I'm wrong about using a spoon versus a mixer . . .please listen to the voice of experience. The brownies will be too tough to eat. Don't do it. Use the spoon.

Your "batter" will be thick. Spread batter into pan and place on middle rack of oven. Bake 25 minutes and check them by inserting a toothpick into center and by jiggling pan a little. If they are runny in the middle/too jiggly return to oven for 5 more minutes. Do not overcook.

At this point, your house will smell divine. These brownies need to cool COMPLETELY in the pan before cutting into squares. The best way to cut them is to use a plastic knife. I know they make brownie knives but I just save a couple of plastic ones from take out. Works perfectly!

If you don't like pecans, you can omit. My husband prefers that I put chocolate chips in his rather than butterscotch. I've made them with a combo of chocolate chips and butterscotch chips. 

This was my original "brown sugar brownie" pan

and I had used it so many times. A few months ago,

the pan had become so thin that there were knife

holes in the bottom from cutting the brownies. I

purchased 2 or 3 new pans before I found one.

Dark pans do not work as well for brown sugar

brownies.

I want to share one more recipe. One night, we were watching TV and right before we went to bed, we watched a "covid" show where Michael Symon and his wife were cooking in their back yard. He made a Cherry Polenta Cake and we were so fascinated by the ingredients that we decided to recreate it by using what we had on hand. I have a hard time following a recipe to the letter so of course, we made a few changes.

We are calling our recipe Blackberry Clafouti (close your eyes and imagine me saying that French word with a heavy southern accent!)

Blackberry Clafouti

3 jumbo eggs

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup cornmeal

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/8 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups milk

1 tsp vanilla flavoring

1 T butter

3 cups blackberries, cherries, or peaches

iron skillet

aluminum foil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Use an 8 or 9 inch cast iron skillet. Line the inside of the skillet with non-stick aluminum foil.

Using hand mixer, mix 3 large (jumbo) eggs and 1/2 cup granulated sugar until pale and fluffy. Michael did it by hand and I do not have that much muscle strength!

Add 1/2 cup cornmeal (I used Quaker Yellow Cornmeal), 1/4 cup all purpose flour (I used White Lily), 1/8 tsp salt. Whisk these 3 ingredients in with your egg, sugar mixture. I did switch to the whisk at this point.

Whisk in 1 1/4 cups milk. I think we had half and half and skim milk in the house so we mixed those together to come up with 1 1/4 cups milk.

Add 1 tsp vanilla flavoring. Michael's recipe calls for 2 tsp of almond flavoring and I think I would prefer the almond.

Melt 1 T butter in the skillet on top of the foil (recipe calls for unsalted and we had salted - that is why we just did 1/8 tsp of salt above). You can sit the iron skillet and butter inside the oven for just a minute or two and the butter will melt.

Pull the hot skillet out of the oven and give the batter one quick whisk and pour batter into skillet. Add 3 cups blackberries - distribute evenly over surface of cake (or you could use cherries like Michael did and I think peaches would be nice!).

Place in oven and bake for 45 minutes. Check to see if done by inserting a toothpick into the center. If done, remove from oven. If not, set timer for 5 more minutes.

You can sprinkle confectioner's sugar on top or eat plain. Mark ate it plain. It is not very sweet and Mark loved it! He actually ate about half of it that afternoon and he finished it for breakfast the next morning.