Lunch Lady Brownies
Lunch Lady Brownies are moist, full of chocolate flavor, and absolutely delicious. The best dessert for potlucks and parties!
Lunch Lady Brownies are the best brownies ever. They’re like the ones the lunch ladies served for school lunch dessert, but this homemade version is better!
I’ve been on a brownie kick lately. I don’t know what’s come over me. Maybe it’s the stress of selling our house (which we finally sold. Yay!) and it could also be the pre-stress of building the new one soon. I’m not quite sure. All I know is that these brownies were sent from heaven above. And that I ate four. For real. 😉
These Lunch Lady Brownies are simply incredible. Cake-like, filled with chocolate flavor, and totally amazing. Apparently, it’s an old recipe from the sweet ladies who served our lunches in Elementary school.
I honestly don’t remember the brownies in Elementary school, but I do remember the dinner rolls and pizza. Do you remember how good those rolls were? After I would eat mine I would go around the lunch table asking everyone else if I could have theirs. Haha.
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs, beaten
- 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
Frosting
- 1/4 cup salted butter, softened
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup milk (I use 2%)
- 3 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a 9×13-inch baking dish with parchment paper. Set aside.
Pour the melted butter and cocoa powder in a large bowl. Using an electric hand-mixer, mix until smooth.
Add the flour and sugar. Beat together, then add eggs and vanilla. Mix until just combined. Don’t over mix. (Batter will be thick.)
Pour batter into the prepared baking dish and spread out evenly. Bake 25 to 28 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out mostly clean. Remove from oven and allow to stand for 15 minutes before frosting. You want the brownies slightly warm when you frost them!
Chocolate Frosting
Beat together all of the frosting ingredients until smooth. Spread over the warm brownies. Let brownies cool completely before cutting and serving. Enjoy!
If you’re a brownie lover then try these other amazing recipes:
Brownie Caramel Coconut Bars
Twix Brownies
Rocky Road Brownies
and Chocolate Fudge Brownies
Lunch Lady Brownies
Ingredients
Brownies
- 1 cup salted butter melted
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
Chocolate Frosting
- 1/4 cup salted butter softened
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup milk (I use 2%)
- 3 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
Brownies
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a 9×13-inch baking dish with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Pour the melted butter and cocoa powder in a large bowl. Using an electric hand-mixer, mix until smooth.
- Add the flour and sugar. Beat together, then add eggs and vanilla. Mix until just combined. Don't over mix. (Batter will be thick.)
- Pour batter into the prepared baking dish and spread out evenly. Bake 25 to 28 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out mostly clean. Remove from oven and allow to stand for 15 minutes before frosting. You want the brownies slightly warm when you frost them!
Chocolate Frosting
- Beat together all the frosting ingredients until smooth. Spread over the warm brownies. Let brownies cool completely before cutting and serving. Enjoy!
Notes
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OMG! I am trying these this weekend, they look like ohey goody goodness!
You will LOVE them! Promise 😀
About the rolls, oh yesssss!! I would trade everything I could on my lunch plate just to get those rolls. They were the best!!!
Totally! 😀
I only had one and half cup powder sugar for frosting, and the brownies still turned out awesome. Yummy, delicious!
I AM an elementary school lunchlady!! Totally gonna make these for my gal pals!! Thank you
What about salt, baking soda, or baking powder? You’re using all purpose flour,
The egss give rise and lift.
Do you have a recipe for the peanut butter logs our lunch ladies made, by any chance? Those were the best!
Peanut butter logs. Do you have a recipe for these?
Look up a receipe for cornflake cookies. They are so easy!
I just made them there cooling now
I have just made these and there yummy x
Holly, lunch lady Reese’s?
Would you bake the same amount of time if making in a 8×8 pan?
You would have to bake them longer. I would set the timer for 5 minutes longer and test them. If the toothpick comes out clean, they are done.
Hi Gena: Do the toothpick test at 30 minutes and if still not done bake another 10 minutes check again..
Can these be put in the freezer?
Yes, these can be frozen. Place the cooled, frosted brownies in a freezer-safe bag, making them as air tight as possible. Freeze up to 2 months. 🙂
Do I need a different temperature for a glass baking pan and a different baking time?
Mia, you still bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for a glass dish
Just finished making these. I couldn’t wait til they cooled all the way down, took me out a little piece was so good thank you!
My oh my! These look positively awesome. (Swallowing lots to get the drool down my throat and not on my chin=). Pinning!
Haha! Thanks, friend 🙂
Yay – congrats on selling the house!! That is such a stressful process. These brownies look amazing 🙂
I can totally see why you ate 4…they look incredible! And congrats on selling the house. I hope the building process of your new one goes smoothly!
I totally wish my lunch lady from back in the day handed these out! We never had anything rich, gooey and delicious like this and I totally wish we did! Looks AMAZING!
real butter or margarine?
Real butter!
Don’t ever use margine. It is not good for you!
FYI–I learned from chemistry, no joke that margarine is only ONE molecule away from being plastic. AND even flies won’t touch the stuff. I’m old enough to remember in the 70’s when margarine was seriously the “in thing”. Blahhhh! Now that I’m a grown up and in charge of my own kitchen, nothing but real butter in my fridge.
That is absolutely false…hahaha… I am a chemist!!
I’ve made this with real butter and again with margarine. The margarine gave a slightly strange taste to the frosting, but other than that, it was fine.
Margarine is NOT good for you
Some people can’t have butter because of allergies, can you give a replacement suggestion?
We have dairy allergies and usually substitute coconut oil in baked goods. 🙂
Oh my I been wanting these for years…these were the best brownies in school..The lunch lady would give me a nice size piece..the icing was to drool for.
Can we bake them in microwave oven any tips for that ?
And also give me some baking tips because I always end up in not satisfying results …tc
And congratulations for ur house sale and good luck for building up one 🙂
Tip #1 Do not microwave baked goods, lol.
im sure this is gona be to die for…
This brings back so many memories! I always loved those brownies!
Made these last night. So good! Almost half the pan is already gone and everyone in my family loves them! Thanks for this recipe!
I am always on the lookout for a great brownie recipe and these are it! My chocolate obsessed 6 year old claimed these to be the “most delicious brownies ever made”! Made them for a party and they were the first to go and everyone was looking for more- yum! Thanks for a great recipe!
would you suggest unsalted butter? or salted?
I pretty much always use salted butter…
How about an artifical sweetner…any suggestions??
So is it just cuz the frosting recipe that you have there came out incredibly thick and difficult to spread is that just how it’s supposed to be?? c
Yes, it is on the thicker side. You can always thin any frosting out with milk for a thinner consistency 🙂
Good with no frosting? Not big on it..
That is what I did…added a little more milk and they were fine!
Found your recipe yesterday and made it right away. They were very delicious. But a few people I shared them with weren’t sure if they were brownies or fudge. What would I add/omit to make them more chewy or cakey. Flavor was great though!
In order to make them more ‘cakey’, you need to add baking powder.
These look absolutely amazing! I always loved frosted brownies made from scratch. Thank you for sharing.
These are delicious. My butter probably wasn’t soft enough, but after 15 minutes it wasn’t quite warm enough to make the frosting smooth and melty like that. Or I went too heavy on the powdered sugar. Despite not being as pretty as yours, I will definitely make again. I’d like to try a dark cocoa powder too. These are lovely and milk chocolatey.
My frosting came out more like a paste and I had to use the microwave to get it runny enough to spread onto the brownies. Other then that it was great. Thanks for the recipe!
Just made these tonight! Followed your recipe perfectly and they turned out extremely delicious!! Amazing and simple brownie recipe!
Yay! Glad they were a hit for you. I agree, they are such an easy brownie recipe.
Made these this weekend, they are delicious! The best brownies I have ever had. They will forever be my go to brownie recipe! Thank you for sharing!
These look fantastic! Is the flavor rich and dark or more like milk chocolate?
Made these tonight and they were so easy to whip up and perfectly delicious…thanks for a great recipe to add to my collection!
I made these & they were a hit. I also LOVE them cold!!! It makes them even more fudgy tasting!
I tried these the other day, but it seems there is too much flour. It was good, but much more like a cake than brownies.
I’m not used to the “cup” system. I’m from Europe and we use grams.
Can you tell me how many grams one cup is supposed to be ?
Thank you very much 🙂
I always google measurements I an bit familiar with – 1 cup is 250 grams
It depends what you are measuring. 1 cup of butter is 250 grams but other things weigh differently. Just put whatever you want to convert into Google and a result will come up. There are sites that specialize in this. I live in Oz but am Canadian and am forever converting.
340 grams are in a cup.
I made these and they were very good. Simple goodness!!!!
I love these. I think I found my go to brownie recipe! So simple, so perfect.