Do you want an easy holiday treat that everybody loves? Rosella’s brownies are the treat for you. My mom makes these every Christmas or if we’re looking for an easy and delicious treat.
This is a recipe that came from my great-grandmother. My mom said, “My grandmother lived in Long Island, New York, and I grew up in Montana, so really far away from my grandma. She used to make different holiday cookies, some of them were more traditional from her culture. She was Italian. This particular recipe came from one of her neighbors, named Rosella.”
“I remember it vividly. She would send them in a large cookie tin with wax paper cut in the shape of the tin. Then the brownies would be in layers with the wax paper separating them. She would cut them into huge squares. I would look forward to receiving these packages around Christmas time. I always had a sweet tooth!”
My mom said it’s an easy recipe because it’s not completely homemade. You actually use store-bought brownie mix.
“The thing that makes it unique is that you add a couple of ingredients to the mix, and the bottom layer of the brownie is just a mixture of oatmeal, brown sugar, and butter. It’s such a simple recipe, but everybody seems to love it. It tastes like you worked harder than you actually did, which is the best kind of recipe,” she said.
This is a must-try recipe and it is provided below.
Rosella’s Brownies
Bottom Layer:
¾ C regular flour
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 ½ C quick cooking rolled oats (my mom uses regular old-fashioned oats, Bob’s Red Mill)
¾ C brown sugar
¾ C melted butter or margarine (my mom uses butter)
Combine flour, soda, and salt. Stir in oats and brown sugar. Add the butter or margarine and pat the mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes, take the brownies from the oven, and let them stand for five minutes before putting the brownie mix on top.
Brownie mix:
1 box Duncan Hines Double Fudge FAMILY SIZE brownie, mixed with one egg and ½ cup water. Add to this 6 ounces of chocolate chips, ¼ pound of melted butter or margarine, and 1 cup of nuts (my mom doesn’t do the nuts). Also, add 1 tsp vanilla extract and ½ teaspoon of almond extract.
Bake as directed for 30 to 35 minutes at 350. Do not cut until completely cooled.