The Effortless Dessert Recipe From My Vintage Bisquick Cookbook

When I scored the vintage cookbook So Quick with New Bisquick at a thrift store, I was thrilled. The collection of recipes is a goldmine of old-school culinary delights made with the beloved baking mix, from Emergency Chicken Stew and Dumplings to Cherry-Nut Coffee Cake. But the most intriguing dessert recipe in the cookbook—Impossible Brownie Pie—wasn’t on any of the pages. Instead, it was clipped from a magazine or coupon mailer and carefully taped to the inside of the back cover.

What Is Impossible Brownie Pie?

Impossible Pies are typically desserts that magically separate into layers in the oven, creating both its own crust and a filling. The addition of a baking mix like Bisquick gives the pie structure, so you don’t need to make a separate crust. The desserts, often enriched with buttermilk, coconut, or lemon, became popular in the 1970s, when they were featured on the back of Bisquick boxes.

Impossible Brownie Pie is the fudgy cousin of the original. The one-bowl recipe taped inside by Bisquick cookbook calls for eggs, melted semi-sweet chocolate, Bisquick, brown sugar, granulated sugar, softened butter or margarine, and chopped nuts of your choice. The batter bakes in the oven for 30 to 35 minutes to produce a sweet brownie-pie hybrid.

When I made the Impossible Brownie Pie recipe, the resulting dessert didn’t have a crust like other Impossible Pies tend to have. The dense, nut-speckled creation tasted like a cake-brownie hybrid that happened to be baked in a pie pan. But there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that! It was super easy to make and delicious, particularly topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of caramel syrup. 

Impossible Brownie Pie Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 large eggs
• 1 bar (4 ounces) semi-sweet cooking chocolate, melted and cooled
• 1/2 cup cup baking mix (such as Bisquick)
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 margarine or butter, softened
• 3/4 cup chopped nuts

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch pie plate. Beat all ingredients except for nuts until smooth, two minutes in a blender on high, stopping the blender occasionally to stir, or two minutes with a hand beater. Pour into plate; sprinkle with nuts. Bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool for five minutes. Serve with ice cream, if desired.

Tips and Variations

• Up the chocolate factor. If you prefer a richer dessert, I recommend adding four more ounces of melted chocolate. You can also fold four ounces of chocolate chips into the batter for a chunkier treat.
• Use another type of fat. Because I used butter in the recipe, my Impossible Brownie Pie had an airy, cake-y texture. So those who prefer a fudgy brownie should opt to swap in an oil-based fat such as margarine, vegetable oil, or shortening.
• Don’t skip the ice cream. Impossible Brownie Pie and ice cream are a heavenly match. Top it with a scoop of your favorite flavor, a sprinkle of nuts, and some hot fudge or caramel sauce.
• Bake it in something else. A 9-inch cake pan or even a 9×9-inch square pan will also work. If you use an 8-inch pan, your Brownie Pie will be a little thicker, so you might need to bake it for a few more minutes.