Buckeye Brownies

Everything's better in brownie form, even Ohio's famous peanut butter and chocolate treat

Ohio has gifted the world with many important inventions.

The Wright Brothers, who owned a bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio developed coaster brakes, which we still use today. Sure, we also still use airplanes.

A mere 66 years after the first human-powered flight by the brothers, Ohio astronaut Neil Armstrong, carried a piece of the Wright’s first propeller to the moon.

The first traffic signals were invented by Garrett Morgan of Cleveland. After seeing a buggy crash into an automobile, he was inspired to bring some order to the chaos in the streets. I suspect he would not approve of right turn on red.

Murray Spangler is a name you don’t know, but he, a janitor with asthma and an irritating cough, invented the upright vacuum cleaner to make his work easier. You are familiar with his more business-savvy relative, who bought the patent from Spangler and manufactured and sold these new-fangled dust suckers. His name? W.H. Hoover.

We also get 7 presidents: Ulysses Grant, Rutherford Hayes, James Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, William Taft, and Warren Harding. Two were assasinated: Mc Kinley and Garfield. Taft was also the first and only Chief Justice of the U.S., and famously had a gigantic tub installed in the White House (The rumors of him getting stuck were untrue.).

I could go on and on with lists of Ohio trivia. They have given much to the world. I would dispute their claim on Thomas Edison. Although he was born there, he did all his major inventing in the great Garden State. His museum in West Orange, New Jersey, is worth a detour off the Garden State Parkway or New Jersey Turnpike. The Edison labs are perfectly preserved. It’s like stepping back in time.

But I digress. Ohio also gave us LifeSavers candy and a patent for chewing gum.

But, perhaps the greatest creation is the Buckeye, a confection that legend has it, dates back to a little shop in Brooklyn. Brooklyn, Ohio, that is. In 1919, or so the story goes, the wives of the owners of a candy store in Brooklyn, decided they wanted a little cash for themselves and whipped up a confection of a peanut butter cream, dipped in chocolate to resemble the nut that the American Buckeye tree—also an Ohio native—produces.

It was an instant hit and soon became the dessert of choice for tailgating Ohio State fans and all Ohioans everywhere. And according to someone, who could never truly have calculated such a number scientifically, 6 million are eaten a year.

Me? Jersey native that I am, I messed with a classic and turned it into a brownie. The result is a dense, fudgey brownie, topped with a near truffle-like creamy layer of peanut butter, all topped with a layer of chocolate ganache. (Ganache is just a fancy way of saying chocolate melted in cream.)

I hope Ohioans will not throw real buckeye nuts at me for my re-invention of their classic.

Buckeye Brownies: A recipe that is printable

112KB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

Buckeye Brownies

Yield: 1 8” x 8” brownie (you may, however, decide to cut it into smaller pieces…)

What You’ll Need:

For the brownies:

4 ounces (113 grams) unsweetened chocolate, chopped

8 tablespoons (113 grams) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1¼ cups (250 grams) granulated sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1⁄2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1⁄2 cup (60 grams) all-purpose flour 

For the buckeye filling:

3/4 cup (180 grams) peanut butter

2 cups (256 grams) confectioner’s sugar

1/2 cup (113 grams) butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons milk

For the chocolate ganache top:

1 1/4 cup (200 grams) semisweet chocolate chips

4 tablespoons heavy or whipping cream

What You’ll Do:

Make the brownies:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Grease an 8” square baking tin and line with parchment or aluminum foil to create a sling. (If using foil, grease the foil as well.)

2. In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate and the butter.

   When melting butter and chocolate in the microwave, use this method: Start with a burst of 1 minute, stir, then give the mixture another blast for 30 seconds, stir, and then only use 10 second bursts afterwards to prevent scorching the chocolate. When the mixture is almost-but-not-entirely melted, it’s time to take it out of the microwave. Let it sit a minute, then stir. The residual heat will continue to melt the chocolate and butter.

3. Stir in the sugar (like with a wooden spoon!) until well-blended, then add the eggs one at a time, stirring until the mixture is no longer splooshy looking. Add the vanilla, give a stir or two, then fold in the flour and salt.

4. Spread the mixture into the prepared pan, smoothing it evenly. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until a toothpick come out clean from the middle, or perhaps with a crumb or two attached.

5. Let the brownies cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the buckeye filling:

1. Using a stand or hand-mixer, in a large bowl, blend together the peanut butter, confectioner’s sugar, melted butter, vanilla and milk until smooth and creamy.

2. Assuming the brownies are now cool, spread the peanut butter mixture evenly on top of the brownie mixture. Cover with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours (you can can do this a day in advance, as well).

Make the chocolate ganache topping:

1. Put the chocolate and heavy cream together in a small bowl. Microwave for 1-minute, then stir. Give the mixture another 30 second blast, then remove from the microwave and let sit for 20 seconds before stirring the mixture until it’s smooth.

2. Spread the chocolate ganache on top of the peanut butter layer. Cover loosely (to avoid condensation, which will make the chocolate look blotchy) and refrigerate until the top has hardened. Remove from the refrigerator about 15 minutes before you need to cut them. Think nice thoughts about Ohio and enjoy.

What nice thoughts are you having these days, about Ohio or otherwise?

Me? I’m glad E. Jean Carroll and Robbie Kaplan are continuing to fight the good fight. I am happy that my dahlias are sprouted and ready to go into the garden beds. I’m also pleased that I finally gave in and bought delphiniums, which are dauntingly beautiful. I do, however, wish I’d been called dauntingly beautiful at least once in my life. I am also looking forward to the incredible tunafish sub, with provolone and hot peppers from Sparo’s that I will be sharing with my brother Paul who’s coming over for lunch to watch the final day of the English Premier League.

A happy, thoughtful Memorial Day to all.

Chop-licking Clyde is also very nice, but only on his terms.

Please tell a friend about this substack, give a subscription and help me boost the readership of this publication. I hate always being a hawker of my substack wares, but it, unfortunately, is part of the territory. Here’s a special offer!