The recipe for these Lunch Lady Brownies has been passed down for generations and is the actual recipe used in schools over 50 years ago! These fudgy brownies are soft and thick with the most delicious chocolate frosting.
Growing up, our school cafeteria always served the most amazing food!
Our lunch ladies would wake up at the crack of dawn to make everythingfrom scratch. Ahhh, those were the days.
One of my favorite desserts from school were theLunch Lady Peanut Butter Bars. My friend gave me a recipe for them over 10 years ago and I shared them on our blog. We had so many lunch ladies reach out to us that it was the exact recipe they use!
If you’ve tried theLunch Lady Peanut Butter Bars, you know they are possibly the best dessert of all time. However, these Lunch Lady Brownies (also from the lunch ladies themselves) rival the peanut butter bars for that top spot!
Ingredients needed to make Lunch Lady Brownies:
- unsalted buttermelted
- cocoa
- all-purpose flour
- sugar
- eggs
- vanilla
Frosting
- unsalted buttersoftened
- milk
- cocoa
- powdered sugar
- salt
How to make Lunch Lady Brownies:
These brownies are actually quite simple to make. You could make these brownies in a stand mixer, but I just used a hand held mixer and large glass mixing bowl.
To make the brownie batter, you will beat together butter, cocoa, flour, sugar and eggs. If you like a more cake-like brownie, use all 4 eggs. If you prefer a chewier brownie, use only 3 eggs.
Spread the brownie batter in a 9×13-inch baking pan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Let the brownies cool for a few minutes while you make the frosting, but you’ll spread the frosting on the brownies while they are still warm.
To make the frosting, you simply beat together butter, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla extract and a little milk. The frosting will be really thick, but spreading it on warm brownies helps make it easier to spread.
Let the brownies cool all the way then cut into squares and serve.
Other Brownie Recipes you’ll want to try:
- MOM’S FAMOUS CHOCOLATE MARSHMALLOW BROWNIES RECIPE
- REESE’S BROWNIES RECIPE
- FUDGY NUTELLA BROWNIES RECIPE
- BUCKEYE BROWNIES RECIPE
- HERSHEY’S CREAM CHEESE BROWNIES RECIPE
- CAKE MIX CARAMEL BROWNIES RECIPE
- SHEET PAN FUDGY BROWNIES RECIPE
- LOADED BLONDE BROWNIES RECIPE {BLONDIES}
- SAMOA BROWNIES RECIPE
- CHOCOLATE THIN MINT BROWNIES RECIPE
- CHOCOLATE CARAMEL BROWNIES RECIPE
Serves: 15
Lunch Lady Brownies Recipe
The recipe for these Lunch Lady Brownies has been passed down for generations and is the actual recipe used in schools over 50 years ago! These fudgy brownies are soft and thick with the most delicious chocolate frosting.
Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 20 minutes mins
Total Time 30 minutes mins
PrintPin
Ingredients
Brownies:
- 1 cup unsalted butter melted
- ½ cup cocoa
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- 4 teaspoons vanilla
Frosting:
- ¼ cup unsalted butter softened
- ¼ cup milk
- ¼ cup cocoa
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, use a mixture to mix butter and cocoa together until smooth.
Add flour and sugar; beat together.
Mix in eggs and vanilla until just combined.
Pour batter into a greased 9×13" baking pan.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Let the brownies cool for about 10-20 minutes and then frost while still warm.
Frosting:
Mix all ingredients together and frost as desired.
Notes
We used Hershey’s Cocoa for this recipe.
Nutrition
Calories: 425 kcal · Carbohydrates: 66 g · Protein: 4 g · Fat: 17 g · Saturated Fat: 11 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 5 g · Trans Fat: 1 g · Cholesterol: 85 mg · Sodium: 61 mg · Potassium: 112 mg · Fiber: 2 g · Sugar: 51 g · Vitamin A: 543 IU · Calcium: 24 mg · Iron: 2 mg
Equipment
Large Mixing Bowl
Wooden Spoon
9×13-inch Baking Pan
Small Mixing Bowl
Recipe Details
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
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Join The Discussion
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Starr says:
I'm having a hard time not going straight to the kitchen to make these. Looks like I've lost that battle...off I go.
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Jenn says:
There are some things that school lunches rocked at...these were one. I cannot wait to try these out!!
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Eric Pepple says:
Those look exactly like the brownies we had in high school, but I bet they taste 100x better! Yummy :)
Happy Blogging!
Happy Valley Chow -
Camille says:
Ha ha ha ha! Right?! I was the same exact way!! :)
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Sinea says:
This is exactly the kind of brownies my husband loves. Thanks for the recipe!
Sinea from Ducks ?n a Row
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sweet and lovely crafts says:
Guess I know what I'm baking tomorrow, and only tomorrow because I work today.
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Wood, paper, glue and nails says:
Just wanted to say, that I am a lunch lady! Love my job! And I adore those kids! I began working as a"Lunch Lady" when my kids went to school. I wanted to be home when they were and off when they were. That was almost 24 years ago"! Stange! But true!
I live in Utah, and YES we make alot of things from stracht! We have cinnamon rolls for breakfast every other Thursday. Homemade wheat rolls almost 3 - 4 times a week! You should see the salad bars we put out there for these kids!
I don't remember eating this many fruit and veggies in my life!
Just wanted to pop and say HI!!
From the BEST SCHOOL THERE IS!!!!LeAnn
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Wood, paper, glue and nails says:
Sorry! I misspelled scratch!
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Tina @ Sugar Bean Bakers says:
These look delicious!
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Neesha says:
How funny! I went to Bonneville Jr. High in Idaho! Actually, it was renamed Rocky Mountain Middle School in 1992 when I attended as part of the first 6th grade class. Both of my parents attended the school when it was Bonneville High! I do remember the brownies being pretty darn good!
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David and Leah says:
I taught there for a few years from 03 to 06-don't think I ever tasted the brownies, though! These look amazing!
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Jennifer Davis says:
This looks so yummy and brings back some fun memories.
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Angela Carter says:
our lunch lady also made no bake cookies like no other I've ever had.
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Rikki says:
Just made these for a party tonight. We had so much stuff that my mom ended up putting her dessert on top of mine since mine had a lid. That means I have leftovers! Yum!
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Cindy Abate says:
Wow, I am a lunch lady too, and we can not have any home made sweets. Cinnamon buns sound great! I love anything from scratch. You have lucky kids in Utah. The Lunch Lady brownies are wonderful. Made them twice and they are being requested by my daughter again...
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Sarah says:
The hard part is waiting for it to set at the end! I've been tasting as I go and it is all so yummy!! Have to sit on my hands to keep myself from cutting into them before they've cooled.
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Amos says:
It is not my first time to visit this web site, i am visiting this web page dailly and get nice information from here all the time.
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Sharon O'Reilly says:
Is the cooking time the same if you have a fan assisted oven?
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Cyd says:
So sorry, we are not familiar with fan assisted ovens.
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kristi says:
Do you mind sharing the cinnamon roll and wheat roll recipe you make at school?
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Erin says:
I like my brownies less cake-like so I only used 3 eggs instead of 4 and they were PERFECT! Trying hard not to eat the whole pan right now (they are to DIE for when warm!)
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Alyse Huskinson says:
These are my favorite brownies. I used to be a box mix only person, until this recipe came along. Now this is pretty much the only recipe I use! The only thing I dislike is that my husband doesn't like sweets (WHAT?!?!) and I end up eating way too much! Thanks!
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Ericka says:
I made these for a friends gathering and they were super dry and dense. Did I miss something? Did I over-mix? I stuck a tooth pick in the center at 22 minutes and they were still wet so I left them in there the remaining time. I've never made from scratch brownies so I'm not sure if I overcooked them by putting them back in for the remaining time. Ideas? They aren't as dark and moist looking as your photo.
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Cyd says:
Hi Ericka, sounds like they may have cooked too long. All oven temps vary so much. These are a heavier brownie than a boxed brownie. Hope this helps.
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Ginny says:
So, are you saying that eliminating one egg will make it more chewy? I don't like cake-like brownies either. I like them moist in the center. I also would take them out of the oven when there is still a little bit of crumb clinging onto the toothpick; that way they wouldn't be so dry. Brownies are usually much better when slightly under-baked.
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Meagan says:
What kind of cocoa powder so you use?? There's so many different kinds so I wanted to see what you use!
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Cyd says:
We love Hershey's.
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Carissa Essick says:
Unsweetened I am assuming??
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Cyd says:
Yes, unsweetened Hershey's cocoa powder.
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Stephenie says:
Sorry. I'm disappointed..not fudgy like pic. After 25 min still gooey..cooked until toothpick came out clean like instructed. Probably overcooked and dry
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Denise says:
I’m sorry to say, these were a real disappointment. Even my non-picky husband wouldn’t eat any more after the first one, and usually I have to hide brownies from him! I used high-quality ingredients—this was supposed to be for a friend who’s recuperating from surgery, but now I’ll have to find the time and ingredients to make something else tonight. I think the problem is the unsalted butter, which made the brownies super-bland and flavorless. I would definitely go with salted butter if you are going to try these. I’ve since searched the internet and found other versions of the lunch lady brownies and they use regular salted butter.
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Barb says:
These turned out perfectly! I used my regular Hershey’s cocoa so I’m guessing mine was sweetened? Everyone loved them!
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Barb says:
....and I used salted butter.....
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Lara Burton says:
Could I double this recipe and use a sheet pan?
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Momma Cyd says:
We haven't tried it in a sheet pan. We have Chocolate Marshmallow Brownies that are made in a sheet pan, but a totally different brownie recipe. All are delicious. We often make these Lunch lady brownies and turn them into marshmallow brownies. They are a favorite too.
About The Author:
Camille Beckstrand
Camille Beckstrand is married to Jared and they have 4 kids. She is a certified life coach that loves helping women become "unstuck" in their lives and is the host of the podcast "Moms On The Rise". She also loves a good true crime podcast, a big plate of cheesy loaded nachos, and going on adventures with her family.
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