Gladys' (Nanny's) Famous Brownies with Fudge Frosting

Nanny's Original Brownie Recipe with frosting!

I had the pleasure of getting to know Meredith Crandell online for quite a while before meeting her in real life. So, when we finally did meet, I was prepared for her to be pretty (such beautiful skin!) and vivacious and even funny, but I wasn't prepared for her to be as freaking hilarious as she is. It's one thing to read someone's tweets and think they're funny, but it's another thing to witness their perfect comedic timing in action. I came home from her house thinking that she missed her calling as a comedian or comic actress, but at least she works with kids, so I know her hilarity won't go unappreciated.

Meredith is also incredibly nice. So nice, in fact, that when I lamented ever finding a great brownie recipe, she shared her Nanny's famous recipe with me and even gave me permission to post it here. I could not be more grateful. And Shane, the brownie lover in our house, is really grateful. These brownies are awesome, certainly among the finest I've ever had, and definitely better than any recipe I've made at home. Did I mention that there's frosting?

Thank you so much, Meredith. You are one of those bright, shining people who make everything around them just a little more special. I bet you got that from your Nanny. So, we're grateful to her for that, too.

And without further ado:

Gladys’ Original Recipe for Brownies

Melt one stick of real butter with 5 tablespoons cocoa. 

Mix all of the following ingredients together with the butter/cocoa mixture: 

2 eggs,

1 cup sugar,

½ teaspoon of salt,

½ teaspoon of baking powder,

1 teaspoon vanilla, 

and ¾ cups flour 

Add nuts if desired (Meredith uses pecans and breaks them up a bit). 

Gladys didn't specify a pan size, but Meredith uses the original pan, and she said: I compared it to my 8x8 square dish. It's that same width and just two or three inches longer.

To make things even easier, I tried the brownies in my 8X8" square dish, and that worked great.

Cook at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Keep an eye on them though; you don’t want them to get too done. Depending on your stove, you may want to cook them for just a bit longer. 

Frost with fudge frosting made of: 

1 cup sugar,

2 tablespoons cocoa,

1/3 cup milk 

Bring to soft boil. Don’t stop stirring. 

Here’s the tricky part. You know when the icing is done when you can drop some of the icing in a cup of luke-warm water and the drop stays intact.

(Mary's note: Or just insert a candy thermometer and let the mixture reach 235-240 degrees. This is known as the soft ball stage in candy making.)

Once it’s done, add ¼ stick of butter and ½ teaspoon of vanilla. 

Let frosting cool, then beat until creamy.

Meredith says: I let the frosting cook while the brownies bake so everything is ready about the same time. And that’s it!

Gladys Jewel Martin Wiggins

Gladys Jewel Martin Wiggins was born in Cameron, Texas in 1926. Just like her Czech and Polish mother, Gladys was an amazing cook. As a kid, for me, the best part of my birthday was getting to pick which home cooked meal my nanny would bake for me. But nothing compared to her amazing brownies. To this day, I have never tasted another brownie that even comes close to comparison. Her youngest son, my Uncle Mark, said that if she just put her brownie recipe on her tombstone, people would come from all over the world to do a rubbing. After my nanny passed away, I decided to keep her tradition alive. I tackled her tricky brownie recipe, and after a year of practice mastered it. Anytime my family visits me, I'll make nanny brownies, which they claim taste just like hers, and we reminisce about the past. My nanny was one of my very favorite people in the world. She was smart as a whip, hilarious, independent, head strong and stubborn. With every bite of these brownies, I still feel her love. -Meredith Crandell