Walnut Brownies

As with "Currant Cookies" we found this recipe on an old newspaper cutting, inside the leaves of "Household Cookery Recipes" by M.A. Rotheram, published in 1908.  The cutting is untitled and undated, but from the photo of french grape-pickers on the reverse we would imagine the period to be the 40's or 50's.  From the titles "Cookies" and "Brownies" it appears to be an American newspaper, since these words did not join general British cooking vocabulary until the 70's or 80's.

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 Ingredients

7oz/240g sugar
2oz/62g butter
1 egg
4oz/125g chocolate
1/4 teaspoonful of vanilla
3oz/90g flour
a gill measure ( I think this means around 1/4pint or 125ml of chopped walnuts.)  

Method

Mix the sugar with the butter (melted), and add the egg with the melted chocolate.  (NB the best way to melt chocolate is in a basin contained within a larger bowl in which there is enough boiling water to surround the sides of the smaller basin without spilling onto the chocolate.  The chocolate should be broken up into pieces and stirred until all the lumps have gone.)  Put the vanilla, flour and chopped walnuts into the mixture.  Line a square tin with waxed paper, spread the mixture evenly in it and bake in a slow oven.  As soon as it comes out of the oven turn it out carefully, remove the (grease-proof) paper, and cut into strips.  

Comment

These sound rather delicious - though I'm not sure how many chopped walnuts are actually needed - perhaps the recipe should read "walnuts to taste"?  

Page Updated: 22nd December 2000