Lunch Lady Brownies are the best dessert ever! Moist, chewy and covered in a decadent homemade chocolate frosting.
Do you remember those chocolate brownies from Elementary School? When those were on the menu, everyone was so excited! So far, I’ve never seen them at my kids school, but given the amount of sugar in these, it makes total sense why they may have been removed from the menu.
These fudge brownies with homemade chocolate frosting on top are everyone’s favorite.
I decided to make something really nostalgic and try my hand at lunch lady brownies.
Lunch Lady Brownies
These aren’t just really tasty, they’re pretty easy as well. Yes, they are a from scratch recipe, so they take a bit more time than the box mix, but it’s really worth it. Trust me on this.
Next recipe to try: Strawberry Brownies
Ingredients:
Everything you’ll need is a basic pantry staple. You may even have every one of these ingredients in the kitchen right now. Super simple ingredients for a deliciously scrumptious dessert.
- Butter
- Cocoa Powder
- Flour
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla
- Milk
- Powdered Sugar
Lunch Lady Brownies Recipe
- Prep. Grab your baking dish and line it with aluminum foil. I have Non-Stick foil which is super handy and I highly recommend it. If you’ve got regular foil, spray it with with cooking spray.
- Mix. Melt two sticks of butter over low/medium heat and mix in cocoa powder. Then add the flour and sugar; stir. Lastly, the eggs and vanilla.
- Bake. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 25 minutes on 350 degree heat. Depending on the size of your pan, it may take a little less time or a bit longer.
- Frost. Make the frosting by mixing all the ingredients together and pouring over the warm brownies. Let it set up before slicing and serving.
If you want, you can skip the chocolate frosting on top, but it’s highly recommended. These are SUPER rich and chocolatey so make sure you’ve got some milk on hand to serve with them!
Keep these in the fridge and enjoy them for up to a week… that is if they last that long.
Do you serve brownies hot or cold?
For almost any brownie recipe, I prefer them to be served warm, right out of the oven. Preferably with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. But, for this brownie recipe, I think chilled is the way to go. When we were served these as kids they weren’t fresh from the oven and so that’s how these should be served as well.
Plus, there is one big difference in these brownies and others, and that is the icing. These could get pretty messy quick if the icing were warm.
You are going to love this recipe and find yourself making them over and over. Enjoy!
More Recipes To Try Next:
- Watergate Salad
- Brownie Mix Cookies – these are a cross between brownies and cookies because they are actually made with brownie mix as the main ingredient.
- Cosmic Brownie Donuts
Print The Recipe Here
Lunch Lady Brownies
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 1 cup melted butter
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 eggs
- 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
Chocolate Frosting Ingredients:
- ¼ cup butter
- ¼ cup milk
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
Brownie Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 and line a 9x13 baking dish with aluminum foil. Spray the foil with cooking spray.
- Melt two sticks of butter, and mix with cocoa powder with electric mixer until smooth.
- Add the sugar and flour and mix.
- Add eggs and vanilla and mix again.
- Pour the batter into the baking dish and bake for 25 minutes.
- While the brownies cool, make the frosting.
Frosting Directions:
- Using a mixer, combine all ingredients and beat until smooth.
- Frost the brownies after they have cooled about 75% of the way but are still slightly warm.
- Place the brownies in the fridge to cool completely before cutting.
Liz is a just a mom trying to keep it real about how little she sleeps, how often she gets puked on and how much she loves them. You can find her here every day writing about real-mom moments.
Have you made these? Horrible. We threw the entire batch out. I love chocolate but these were totally bland. YCK!
Of course we’ve made them. I’m wondering if you used a different recipe because you could never call these bland. If anything, they’re too sweet! You may give it another shot with this recipe.
Worst recipe,dry ,hard.just a waste
Does this rcipe tale baking powder or baking soda,if not what makes them raise
I just took this out of the oven and I believe the eggs are what makes it raise. It’s a true brownie, not a cake.
Linda is right, it’s the eggs.
Melt the butter for the frosting? Or cream?
Just made it, it is great, Thank you
Penney
The melted butter is with the brownie recipe and the other butter is for the frosting. I’d say the butter for the frosting should be room tempreture.
Ooooo yes!!!! I was craving these, and I love brownies that aren’t tooo chocolatey and these are PERFECT! I searched and searched for the perfect recipe and decided on yours, I halved it because my pan was smaller and oh my did they turn out perfect!! Thank you!!! Brought my mom back to her childhood.
I followed your recipe exactly and the brownies came out perfect! Thank you for the simple and delicious recipe!
Wanted to love these. Not chocolately enough, too much vanilla and way too cloyingly sweet. Not a repeat for me
Anyone complaining about the taste of the brownies simply don’t understand the nostalgia. If you’re looking for an ooey gooey brownie this isn’t the recipe you need. These brownies are excellent and exactly the recipe I was looking for. A few tips. Wait until the brownies are practically cool before icing (use common sense hot brownies + butter = a big mess)
The batter will be thick! You will have to spread it. These brownies are not going to rise much and that’s what you’re looking for. Thank you for sharing this recipe 😉
These are the best. Thank you very much.
I really had high hopes for this recipe. I followed it to the T. These brownies had the weirdest consistency, hard and dry. They were sweet but not fudgey enough. The frosting was really good though, just didn’t like the brownie part.
Oh my goodness I never done much baking have tried many times and failed but I have learned how to make these brownies and they are so amazing I can’t believe I made something so rich and good thank you
Overall these are pretty good. There is something about the brownie that’s off for me but the frosting is to die for. My son on the other hand absolutely loved these brownies and I have promised to make them again. Thanks for the recipe.
Any adjustments for using a glass pan?
I followed the directions 100% – these brownies even with the icing are not edible – they were beyond dry. There is no main ingredient that would make them “fudgy” at all. Very disappointed that I now don’t have a dessert for the family.
These absolutely did not turn out. Followed the recipe exactly, waited till they were mostly cool to frost, and they were still liquid. Baked for another 20 minutes but that ruined the frosting so the entire pan went in the trash. Hard pass for me.
These were a HUGE hit for my family. They kept saying “Wow” with every bite. A winner for sure!!
The dough is NOT “pourable.” It was so thick and dry I had a hard time spreading dough in pan!! I have a feeling they will bake up flat and dry. Disappointed.
Oh my goodness! These were so so good, super moist and so full of sweet chocolate. Followed the directions and they turned out perfect. Definitely printed it out and my new go to brownie recipe..thank you!
Do you have the receipt for the fudge useing the cocoa powder?
I just frosted my first batch of brownies and put them in the refrigerator to cool completely. Just wasn’t sure if you cover them while in the refrigerator??? Thanks for any input.Lynn
Had to give 1 star so I could comment. Horrible! It must be missing an ingredient or something! Dry, bland and disappointing.
Not understanding the bad reviews, these were delicious and just like the ones we had in school. They were moist and easy to make ! We made pizza burgers just like we had in school for dinner and this was dessert! Thanks for the great recipe.
I added a handful of dried cherries to my batter and it was outstanding.
So good!! Couldn’t wait for them to cool! Tipped with salted caramel ice cream! Heaven!!
Delicious! Couldn’t wait for them to cool, topped with salted caramel ice cream!! Heaven!
Terrible. Wish I had read the reviews. Made exactly by recipe. Worst ever, throwing in the trash.
These brownies are delicious. They were approved 100% by my 5 year old grandson!!
Hi Liz. I cut the sugar to 1 1/2 cups, added a half tsp of salt. They are so easy and delicious! I make half the amount of frosting. Thanks for a great recipe.
I have these in the oven at the moment so I can’t leave a realistic review other than, wow, the batter tastes just like what I need in my life right now 🙂 Death by chocolate, yum.
Very confusing on ingredients on frosting. Directions say melt 2 sticks of butter but it says 1 cup of butter. Does it mean 2 sticks is 1 cup…
Would be nice if more dirrct
Isn’t 2 sticks 2 cups when u only need 1 1/4 total. Her recipe makes no sense
One stick of butter equals 1/2 cup
Two sticks of butter = 1 c.
Great recipe. They taste like a better version of a cosmic fudge brownie. If you did the brownies right they are perfect. I used a glass pan 9×13 it was delicious.
Since the batter was so dry I added boiling water, they came out great with the addition.
I want your Recipe please that look so Good.
The brownie was very dry and the batter was so thick you could hardly spread it out. The frosting was delicious. Will not make again.
I have made this recipe many times, everyone just loves them. Some call them,”Candy bars”
Why two melted sticks of butter when it calls for 1 1/4
I am very impressed with the taste that this cake brings. I tried and succeeded, but I changed the recipe a bit when I reduced the sweetness and increased the bitterness for the cake.
Perfect brownies! Easy recipe and they came out delicious. My whole family fell in love with them and asks for them constantly. No boxed brownies ever again.
There is nothing to pour into the pan. It was like one big lump that needed to be spread out.
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