MILLIE COOPER'S
PASSOVER BROWNIES
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
6 large eggs
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 t. salt
1 cup Passover cake meal (during the rest
of the year, 1 cup flour)
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts or other nuts
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray with
nonstick cooking spray or grease a 9- by 13-
inch baking dish. Cream together oil and sugar
in a medium bowl.
Add eggs, one at a time, and mix until
incorporated. Add cocoa, salt and cake meal
(or flour) and mix until just combined.
Stir in the nuts and transfer the brownies to
the prepared pan. Bake for 30 mintues until a
tester inserted into the center of the brownies
comes out clean. Allow to cool before cutting
the brownies into squares. Makes about 24
brownies.
I
n 1965, I was teaching high school in
Ein Karem, right outside of Jerusalem.
At the time, I was living in an old pre-
World War II structure that has long
since been bull-dozed. The dusty little bus-
stop-of-a-town (then boasted a general store,
a church and two boarding schools) has now
been transformed into an elegant upscale
suburb in the valley below the Hadassah
Hospital.
My mother, Mollie Cooper, had sent me
her recipe so I could bake Pesach brownies to
share with my neighbors, students and
colleagues.
The recipe developed over time as I
experimented (after first converting all
measures and temperatures to metric.)
If I had cocoa, they were brownies.
If I ran out of cocoa, it was a white cake.
If I was industrious, the batter was half and
half and mixed together into a marble cake
or decorated as a birthday cake.
Later that summer, Rabbi and Mrs.
Morris Adler were spending the summer in
Jerusalem and I invited them to visit.
I arranged plates of cut fruit and vegetables,
which are the normal efforts of a host in
Israel, but decided to also offer brownies.
Just as the Adlers were about to arrive, the
shelf in the ancient oven decided to collapse!
The pan and batter then spilled onto the
open oven door! No problem. As they
entered, I just scooped it up, slopped it back
into the pan and baked away. They loved it!
They were always gracious hosts and visitors,
but this visit was special.
Mrs. Adler always had a special smile on
her face whenever she saw me and
remembered the image of my chaotic baking
efforts on that wonderful day in Israel. Life
seemed easier and recipes like this could not
be sabotaged back then when times were
simpler (before cholesterol and high sodium
were discovered to be evil).
Mollie Cooper's brownies are still a Pesach
favorite of her kids, grandkids and great-
grandkids and a wonderful way for us to
remember her and have her spirit with us at
our seders.
— Judge Stephen Cooper, Southfield
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