Brownies

I forgot to take a picture but this will give me an excuse to make the brownies again, so I can get a picture. This is my mother-in-laws recipe and it is more of a cake brownie (like the ones you buy at the store). The mint frosting was a hit but they are both really good.

Brownies

3 c. Sugar
3 squares of butter or margarine
6 egg YOLKS (save the whites for later)
3 c. flour
1 c. cocoa
1 1/2 c. milk
3 tsp. vanilla
6 egg whites (beaten until stiff)
1 c. nuts (chopped, optional)

cram sugar and margarine, add egg yolks. Combine flour and cocoa. Combine milk and vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with milk mixture to creamed mixture. Fold in egg whites. Add nuts, if desired (my MIL usually adds nuts to half and leaves the other half plain. Bake in a greased and floured 12x17 cookie sheet or 2 9x13 greased and floured cake pans at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Cool and frost.

Frosting

With the frosting recipe, some of the measurements are guesstimates
because my MIL does this by heart and the little bit of this and that method.

1 c. shortening
1 sq. butter or margarine
2 lb powdered sugar
2 TBL milk (add more for desired consistancy)
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at this point, if you are making chocolate frosting
you would add:
1/2 heaping c. cocoa (the more cocoa the more chocolatey)
1 tsp. vanilla
if you do the chocolate version I would definately add more milk
because of the extra dry ingredient.
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if you want to make mint frosting instead add:
1 tsp. or more peppermint extract to taste

If you make the mint frosting, you can melt chocolate chips and drizzle over
the mint frosting or even chocolate syrup. I then took a knife and ran it through the drizzle in both directions. (presentation)

When I made my brownies I did the main frosting recipe and then split it in half and halfed my two versions so that I could frost half in chocolate and the other in mint (clear as mud?)