Gertrude’s Raspberry Jam Brownies
Make a batch of decadent raspberry jam brownies (chocolate brownies with raspberry jam swirled into the batter) for a special treat.
By Yankee Magazine|Jun 02 2022|
Raspberry Brownies
Photo Credit: Aimee TuckerWhen my mother, Nancy Powers Martin, was a child in West Medford, Massachusetts, she loved her mother’s desserts. Her favorite was chocolate brownies with homemade raspberry jam swirled into the batter. My grandmother, Gertrude Powers, served these raspberry jam brownies on hand-painted porcelain plates.
My mother, a retired dietitian, substitutes canola oil and cocoa for her mother’s butter and chocolate. My grandmother never put vanilla extract or salt in her raspberry jam brownies. She said they diminish the intensity of the chocolate flavor. I agree, but recently I stirred a tablespoon of raspberry liqueur into the batter before swirling in the jam. The brownies were delicious. My grandmother would have liked them.
Yield
16 brownies
Ingredients
2 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
1/2 cup unsalted butter,
softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup flour
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam, lightly beaten
Instructions
Melt chocolate. Cream the butter and sugar. Add beaten eggs and blend well. Gradually stir in cooled chocolate. Add flour. Stir to mix. Stir in walnuts. Put batter into a buttered 9-inch pan. Drop teaspoonfuls of jam at random on top of the batter. Then swirl the jam with a fork to incorporate it into the batter. Bake 40-45 minutes at 350° F until toothpick inserted comes out almost clean; do not overbake. Allow to cool completely before cutting. Brownies will be very moist.
I can no longer find chocolate in 2oz squares . Now I have to buy it in a very THIN bar, and if I am figuring right, it takes the entire bar to make the recipe. I guess it is an end around by the company to sell more chocolate. However I find it really frustrating to use an entire package of chocolate for one recipe!!! I wish they still had those 2 oz squares for sale. I would gladly pay more for them. As it is I am making far fewer recipes that call for baking chocolate; it is now a holiday purchase.
Oh well, better for my waistline I suppose.
For many, many years I have used the Hershey Cocoa substitution for baking chocolate because I always have cocoa on hand. It’s an easy substitution, listed on the back of the container.
Ann…the chocolate squares I buy are now marked “1 inch”. Yes, you have to use 2 squares to get just 1 oz but at least it is marked! I prefer the former 2 oz squares too!
Debb, thank you for the cocoa tip. I have cocoa on hand too!
I made these and they were delicious. Will definitely be making them again and again. I am like Debb, I hardly ever have baking chocolate around but always have Hershey Cocoa.
I cannot wait to make these. Not only does my family love brownies and raspberries, but I too am from Medford MA and upon seeing this took me right back to growing up there and the
smell of my Mom’s brownies through out the house. Thank you for sharing and bringing me back home ????
Is the canola oil a one-for-one substitution for butter? Also, how much cocoa do you substitute for the chocolate? Thanks! Can’t wait to make this!
This discussion reminded me of a chocolate cake recipe I found when looking in a cookbook from the 1970s that was used in home economics classrooms and that I had never tried. When reading the recipe it was so easy to make. BUT it used baking chocolate – that I had never used, because my mother never used it, but used cocoa. (That was why I had not even looked at the recipe!) The chocolate was also melted. I thought – well, I have chocolate chips and a little scale – so weighed out the 3 *squares* (3 oz) of chocolate chips, then measured the volume (1/2 cup) and proceeded. I also reduced the sugar from 1 1/2 cups to 1 cup (not related to sugar content of choc chips). It was a great recipe that I then made frequently for some time, and so easy I did not even have to look at the recipe (though had it out handy). I also subbed canola oil for the melted shortening in my recipe. I look forward to trying this brownie recipe!
What size and/or how many ounces are the two squares of unsweetened chocolate, please?
Would I be able to use GF flour for this recipe?