Mini Barrel Cake

I've always wanted to make a barrel cake.  They just look so fun.  You can usually pretty much any cake, cookie, glaze, frosting, ice cream combination to put it together too...nice flexibility there.  The candy on the sides and top do take this cake over the top for richness though.  A little piece goes a very long way.

I dubbed this a mini cake since I could only find snack sized Kit Kats at the store.  ;)

Sadly no sliced pictures of this cake....I couldn't preslice this one before it left the house.

My vanilla filling layer was very, very thick.  Instead of a chocolate glaze on the outside of the cake I could have done a thin middle layer and used the remaining filling to frost the top and sides of the cake.


Dark Chocolate Stout Brownies

1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup butter
4 eggs, beaten lightly
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
1/2 cup warm stout
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 tsp salt

In a small bowl, whisk together the warm stout and the cocoa powder.  Set aside.  Combine butter and dark chocolate chips in a bowl and melt in the microwave, stirring often.  Stir stout mixture into butter mixture.  Stir in sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla.  Mix in eggs.  Fold in salt and flour.  Pour into two greased 8in rounds.  Bake at 350 for 18 to 20 mins.  Remove from pans and cool.

Vanilla Cream Frosting/Filling:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
2 cups marshmallow cream
1 tbls vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar

Cream together butter and shortening.  Add in marshmallow cream and vanilla.  Slowly mix in powdered sugar.  Place one brownie round down on a serving plate.  Spread filling on top of round.  Top with remaining brownie round.

Chocolate Glaze:
1 14oz can non fat sweetened condensed milk
12oz dark chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbls to 1/4 cup milk

Mix together sweetened condensed milk, dark chocolate chips, and vanilla.  Microwave, stirring frequently, until mixture is smooth.  Add in milk to thin chocolate.  Pour over top and sides of brownie cake.  Place a ring of snack sized kit kats around the sides of the cake with the kit kat name facing inwards.  Top cake with M&M's, spreading any extras around the base if you like.  Chill.

Dark Chocolate Stout Brownies

Ages ago I ran across the recipe for the "Baked" Brownie over at Fake Ginger.  Super yummy brownies?  I had to test this out for myself since I managed to get in some kitchen time over the weekend.  Ahhhh baking.....how I've missed you.

Not being a fan of coffee I always substitute in stout....which took some tinkering in this recipe given the original contained espresso powder.  The brownies turned out nicely though.  Rich, dark and tasty.....oh yes.  The texture is more of a cross between cake and a brownie, but I didn't mind that too much.



Dark Chocolate Stout Brownies

1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup butter
4 eggs, beaten lightly
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
1/2 cup warm stout
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 tsp salt

In a small bowl, whisk together the warm stout and the cocoa powder.  Set aside.  Combine butter and dark chocolate chips in a bowl and melt in the microwave, stirring often.  Stir stout mixture into butter mixture.  Stir in sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla.  Mix in eggs.  Fold in salt and flour.  Pour into a greased 9x9 pan and bake at 350 for 30 mins or until brownies are set.  Cool before slicing.

Snickerdoodle Streusel Blondies

These blondies are the combination of two recipes.....both awesome on their own, but insanely good melded together.  The Kitchenarian posted a fabulous New York Style Crumb Cake, which I'm still drooling over.  Browneyedbaker posted some really appealing Snickerdoodle Blondies.

It's a cinnaplosion!  Seriously, I will be making this again....over and over again.  Hardest part.....waiting for the bars to cool enough to have a slice.


Snickerdoodle Streusel Blondies

Streusel Topping: 
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

Stir together both sugars, salt, and cinnamon, and butter in a medium bowl. Fold in the flour until well combined.  Set aside.

Blondies:
1 1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1/2 tbls vanilla
2 tbls sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Beat together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla. Mix in the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg until just combined. Spread half the batter in the bottom of an 8 inch greased pan.  Combine sugar and cinnamon.  Sprinkle mixture over batter.  Drop small spoonfuls of remaining batter on top of sugar mixture.  Spread dollops of batter gently to form a relatively even top layer.

Take the streusel topping you set aside and scoop up a handful, clench it in your fist until it holds together. Then break it off in chunks, sprinkling over the top of the blondies. Repeat with remaining streusel.

Bake for 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Caramel Brownie Pie

This dessert is insanely rich so slice accordingly.  Chocolate caramel glory...oh yes.  I'm pretty sure this treat will destroy any cravings with one bite.  ;)

I used this caramel recipe for my dessert.  Packaged caramels thinned with some milk work just fine.  Caramel ice cream topping would work great as well.

This recipe is loosely based on one I ran across in a Southern Living cookbook.


Caramel Brownie Pie

Brownie Base:
1 1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbls dark cocoa powder
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup thinned caramel

Melt chocolate chips and butter in the microwave, stirring often. Be careful that you don't overheat the chocolate. Stir in vanilla, sugar, salt, and cocoa powder. Beat the eggs lightly in a small bowl before adding them to the chocolate mixture. Mix in the flour. Pour batter into greased 9 inch pie pan.  Pour caramel on top of batter and swirl to mix the two together.  Bake at 350 for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Topping:
1 cup dark chocolate chips, melted
1 cup thinned caramel

Spread caramel and chocolate on top of slightly cooled brownie base.  Use a butter knife to swirl the two together to create a pattern on the top.  Cool and then chill before slicing.

Coconut Streusel Brownies

Streusel topping on brownies.....brilliant!  Plus I can slip this under the coffee cake heading in a pinch and have them for breakfast.  Brownies for breakfast!  It makes me giddy just thinking about it.  ;)  Can a day go wrong if you start it off with these treats?


Coconut Streusel Brownies

Streusel Topping:
1 1/4 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp cinnamon

Mix together flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon.  Cut in butter until mixture resembles crumbs.  Set aside.

Coconut Brownies:
1 cup butter
4 oz unsweetened chocolate
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs, beaten lightly
1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
1 tsp baking powder

Melt together butter and chocolate in the microwave, stirring often, until mixture is smooth. Stir in sugar.  Slowly beat in eggs and vanilla.  Fold in flour, baking powder, and coconut.  Pour half of the batter into a greased 8x8 pan.  Sprinkle half of the streusel mixture over the batter.  Pour the other half of the brownie batter into the pan.  Top with remaining half of the streusel.  Bake at 350 for 40 to 45 minutes, or until brownies are done.  Cool before slicing.

The streusel in the middle of the brownie blended in....so it's not really noticeable.  Next time I think I'll skip putting it in the middle.  These brownies are incredibly thick.  The recipe would lend itself to a 9x13 pan for smaller servings.

Peanut Butter Bar Treats

I used the Fat Witch Bakery peanut butter bars that Plain Chicken posted a while back as a base for these treats.  Sweet, salty, and chocolatey....it's all in here.  I've been fond of the peanut butter, pretzel, chocolate mix lately.  These treats zip together very quickly and easily.  Not the most attractive looking dessert, but darn yummy.

I was really tickled with the Fat Witch bar recipe.  They were dense, chewy and quite delicious.  A surprisingly low amount of butter. 


Peanut Butter Bar Treats

Peanut Butter Bars:
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup natural creamy peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp melted butter
1 1/4 cups unbleached flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
.
Beat the eggs and both sugars until smooth. Add the peanut butter, melted butter, and vanilla and mix until well combined.  Stir in flour, baking powder and salt. Fold in the chocolate chips. Spread the dough into a greased 8x8.  Bake at 350 for 18 to 20 or until done.

Middle and top layer:
2 cups natural creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
2 cups salted pretzels, crushed
1/2 cup skim milk
1 cup milk chocolate chips

Melt peanut butter and butter together in the microwave, stirring often until smooth.  Stir in milk to thin the mixture.  Fold in powdered sugar and pretzels.  Spread mixture across the top of the peanut butter bars.

Melt milk chocolate chips in the microwave until melted smooth.  Spread across the top of the peanut butter layer.  Chill to set the chocolate before slicing into bars.

Chocolate Gingerbread Brownies

This is the second pass I took at these gingerbread brownies....originally blondies, but at this point they really are brownies.  The cocoa powder blended the chocolate flavor in nicely...but it did mute the gingerbread a bit.  The texture does lean more towards cake rather than brownies.

Oh gingerbread....how I love you.


Chocolate Gingerbread Brownies

1 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup dark cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
3/4 cup tub margarine, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup molasses

Mix together the melted margarine, brown sugar, cocoa powder, sugar, vanilla, and molasses.  Beat in eggs.  Add in flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. 

Pour batter into a greased 9x9 pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until it tests as done.  Cool before slicing.

Cherry Nutella Brownie Cake

Sometimes you just want to make a cake with brownies.  This was so incredibly rich and good....it just wasn't natural I tell you.  This cake was also insanely full of chocolate.  I actually ended up double glazing this puppy.  I hated the look of the first glaze so I added a dark chocolate glaze on top.....when your cake won't do you what you want....glaze it into submission!

I intended to garnish this cake with chocolate covered tart cherries and small cherry clusters.  One cup of tart cherries, however, is almost the entire 6oz bag and I only had one. Solution...glaze mania.  ;)


Cherry Nutella Brownie Cake

1 cup Smart Balance 50/50 butter blend
4 oz (squares) unsweetened chocolate
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups all purpose unbleached flour
Filling:
8 oz reduced fat cream cheese
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup Nutella
1 cup dried tart cherries, chopped fine

Melt butter and chocolate together in the microwave. Stir often and be careful not to overheat. Add in sugar and vanilla. Beat the eggs lightly in a small bowl before adding them to the chocolate mixture. Stir in flour and baking soda. Pour batter into three greased 9 inch rounds.  Bake at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes.  Remove from pans and cool.

Mix together cream cheese and nutella until creamy.  Beat in powdered sugar. Add in cherries.  Put one brownie round on a plate and top with half of the cream cheese mixture.  Add another brownie round and top with remaining cream cheese.  Top with final brownie round.

First Chocolate Glaze:
14 oz non fat sweetened condensed milk
6oz milk chocolate chips
6oz semi sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
 
Mix together sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, and vanilla. Heat on high in the microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval until mixture is melted and smooth.  Pour glaze over top of the brownie cake, spooning it down the sides.  Chill until chocolate sets.

Second Chocolate Glaze:
14 oz non fat sweetened condensed milk
12oz dark chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbls milk
 
Mix together sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, and vanilla. Heat on high in the microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval until mixture is melted and smooth.  Stir in milk to thin the glaze a bit.  Using a spoon, spread chocolate along the top edge and sides of the cake.

Spoon some of the glaze into a ziplock back with one tip cut off and drizzle lines across the top of the cake.  Chill cake until chocolate sets.  (You will only use about half of this chocolate batch, but the remainder will freeze nicely if you don't find an immediate use for it.)

A couple more pics....

Put this wedge on my plate and just walk away...just....walk...away.  ;)

Just another interior view.  I am wondering how this cake would turn out with some super, fudgy brownies.  I added some baking soda to this version to give the brownies a little poof.  I'm not sure it's possible to make this cake richer...ehehehe.

Cookie Dough Truffle Brownies

I've been wanting to experiment with a layered brownie that was topped with unbaked (no eggs of course) honey oatmeal cookie dough and chocolate....a truffle type topping.  Not a bad little brownie with an interesting combination of textures.  Next time instead of fudge sauce I might try a plain chocolate top just for a change of pace.

Brownies:
1/2 cup tub margarine
2 squares (2 oz) unsweetened chocolate
1 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla

Melt margarine and chocolate together in the microwave. Stir often and be careful not to overheat. Add in sugar and vanilla Beat the eggs lightly in a small bowl before adding them to the chocolate mixture. Stir in flour.  Set aside.

Cookie Dough:
1/4 cup tub margarine
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup raw honey
1 cup old fashioned oats (grind 1/2 cup into a coarse meal)
1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut
3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1 egg
1/4 tsp soda
1/4 tsp salt

Mix together margarine and sugar.  Add in honey, oats, coconut, and flour.  Divide mixture in half.  Add egg, soda, and salt to one half.

Pour half brownie mixture in the bottom of a greased 8x8 pan.  Spread the cookie dough mixture with the egg on top of the brownie layer.  Top with remaining brownie batter.  Bake at 350 to 15 to 20 mins or until done.  Cool.

Top cooled brownies with remaining cookie dough mixture.

Chocolate Topping:
14oz non fat sweetened condensed milk
6oz semi sweet chocolate chips
6oz milk chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.  Microwave, stirring often, until mixture is melted and smooth. Spread half of mixture on top of cookie dough.  If you want a very thick fudge topping you can use the whole batch.  Chill until set.

Ginger Nutella Brownies

This brownie recipe was guest posted by Cake Duchess over on Gingerbread Bagels.   Both of these ladies create some awesome treats and I so enjoy reading their blogs.

Amazing recipe.....amaaaaazingly good!  Plus it contained Nutella....which is pretty much insta win for me.  ;)  The brownies are rich and moist.  It was really hard not to dive face first in the pan after my first bite.  They had a very interesting texture....not as dense as the usual round of brownies....somewhere between cake and brownie.

I did skip the whipped cream topping....honestly I didn't think they needed anything extra.


Ginger Nutella Brownies

1 cup tub margarine, melted
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup dark cocoa powder
2/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tbls non fat plain yogurt
1/4 cup Nutella

Combine the melted butter, sugar, vanilla, and both cocoa powders.  Beat in the eggs.  Add in flour, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. Fold in the Nutella and yogurt.

Pour into greased 9x9 pan and bake at 350 for about 35-40 minutes, or until done.

Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker  has started a wonderful Monday feature....Your Recipe, My Kitchen..  I know I have a ton of fabulous recipes bookmarked that I want to make...so this was a great incentive to dig into my pile.  :)

Caramel Fudge Brownies

The only thing better than chocolate glazed brownies would be chocolate glazed brownies with a fudge and caramel center.  Caramel, I just can't resist it.  These brownies are wonderful chilled, but you can go for a molten effect and heat it for a few seconds in the microwave.  You will end up with a tiny lake of heated caramel and fudge spreading around your brownie.

I made the caramel that went into these brownies, but in a pinch you can use caramel ice cream topping or melt down some packaged caramels and thin them with some milk.


Brownies:
1/2 cup tub margarine
2 squares (2 oz) unsweetened chocolate
1 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla

Melt margarine and chocolate together in the microwave. Stir often and be careful not to overheat. Add in sugar and vanilla Beat the eggs lightly in a small bowl before adding them to the chocolate mixture. Stir in flour. Pour into a greased 8x8 pan and bake at 350 for 12 to 15 minutes. Be careful not to overbake. Cool.  Cut into 16 squares.  Divide each square into two layers.

Chocolate Fudge Sauce/Caramel Center:
14 oz non fat sweetened condensed milk
6oz milk chocolate chips
6oz semi sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup non fat evaporated milk
Thinned caramel

Mix together sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, and vanilla. Heat on high in the microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval.  The mixture is done when it's smooth.  Let cool a bit.  Spoon about 1/3 of the chocolate mixture into a pastry bag or a ziplock with the corner cut off.  Pipe a rim of fudge around the bottom brownie layer edge to create a well for the caramel.  Spoon the caramel into the center.  Put the top layer of the brownie in place.  Repeat with remaining brownies.

Stir in evaporated milk into the remaining chocolate to make a thin glaze.  (You can add or reduce milk to make your glaze thicker or thinner.)  Spoon glaze over top of the brownies, make sure to drizzle down over the sides.  Chill until glaze is set.


Another picture of the goodies...

I should have let my fudge cool a little more before I piped it around the edges of the brownie.  Even if I had I wouldn't win any neatness awards on this one....ehehehe.  Of course if I had let my fudge cool a bit more I could have made the center layer a bit thicker and thus worked in a larger pool of caramel.  Next time!  ;) Nothing like a little pool of caramel waiting for you in the center of your brownie....soooo yummy.

I've been very into the stuffed brownie thing lately...which is neat but time consuming to make.  ;)  A quicker version of this recipe might be to leave the brownies unsliced and do the fudge border and caramel center effect across the top....something like a checkerboard.  Maybe a little fudge glaze drizzled over the top to finish it off.  I may to have to try this...it would be quite pretty I think.

Nutella Caramel Stuffed Brownies

These brownies are incredibly rich so a little bit really does go a long way.  The Nutella mixture melts in your mouth.  It does, however, need some graham cracker crumbs next time...about 1/3 cup should do it.  If you find graham cracker crumbs boring you could use some Oreo crumbs instead, but that is going to crank the richness factor even higher.  Why would you take it to that next level?  It's in the name of science!

A note about the caramel...if you don't feel like whipping up a batch of your own, you can use take a package of caramels and melt them down, thinning them with some milk.  You could also use a jar of caramel ice cream topping.


Nutella Caramel Stuffed Brownies

Brownies:
1/2 cup tub margarine
2 squares (2 oz) unsweetened chocolate
1 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla

Melt margarine and chocolate together in the microwave. Stir often and be careful not to overheat. Add in sugar and vanilla Beat the eggs lightly in a small bowl before adding them to the chocolate mixture. Stir in flour. Pour into a greased 8x8 pan and bake at 350 for 12 to 15 minutes. Be careful not to overbake. Cool.  Cut into 16 squares.  Cut each square in half to form two layers.

Nutella/Caramel Center:
1/2 cup Nutella
2 tbls tub margarine
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
Thinned Caramel

Mix together Nutella and margarine in a bowl and heat in the microwave until the mixture is smooth and melted together.  Stir in powdered sugar.  (If you decided to add graham cracker or cookie crumbs stir them in here.)

Take a spoonful of the Nutella mixture and shape it into a rope.  Place it along the edges of the bottom layer of a brownie to form a center well for the thinned caramel.  Spoon or pipe the thinned caramel into the well you just made.  Put the top layer of brownie in place and tap it down gently.  Repeat with all the other brownies.

Chocolate Glaze:
14 oz non fat sweetened condensed milk
6oz milk chocolate chips
6oz semi sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbls non fat evaporated milk

Mix together sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, and vanilla. Heat on high in the microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval.  The mixture is done when it's smooth.  Stir in evaporated milk to make a thin glaze.  (You can add or reduce milk to make your glaze thicker or thinner.)  Spoon glaze over top of the brownies be sure to drizzle it down the sides.  Chill to set the glaze.


A couple more pics of the process...

The brownie layers all nice and assembled before glazing.  It cries out for the chocolate bath...cries out I say!

I hand formed the Nutella edge, but you can use a pastry bag and pipe it on as well.  I don't recommend trying a ziplock bag though....the mixture is fairly thick and you can blow the seam out of a ziplock super easy.  ;)  Spooning the caramel into the center works great, but can be a tiny bit messy.  Pipe it in if you want to be neat.

Two Layer Peanut Butter Brownies

 I combined a variation of this recipe for no-bake cookies with my brownie recipe to create some oh so yummy treats.  They taste amazing!  Must have more....peanut butter.....chocolate.....gimmie gimmie!


Two Layer Peanut Butter Brownies

Bottom Layer:
1/2 cup tub margarine
2 squares (2 oz) unsweetened chocolate
1 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cups flour
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup peanut butter chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Melt margarine and chocolate together in the microwave. Stir often and be careful not to overheat. Add in sugar and vanilla Beat the eggs lightly in a small bowl before adding them to the chocolate mixture. Stir in flour. Fold in peanut butter and milk chocolate chips.  Pour into a greased 8x8 pan and bake at 350 for 12 to 15 minutes. Be careful not to overbake.

Top Layer:
1/2 cup tub margarine
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup skim milk
2 tbls cocoa powder
2 tbls dark cocoa powder
1/2 cup creamy natural peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups old fashioned oats (1 cup of which ground fine)

Mix together margarine, sugar, milk, cocoa powder, and dark cocoa powder in a saucepan.  Bring to a rolling boil over medium high heat and let boil for 1 minute.  Remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter and vanilla until smooth, then stir in the oats.  Spread over the brownie layer.  Cool and then chill before cutting into squares.


Another pic of the yummies....

My version of the no-bake cookies came out really gooey and soft set.....which makes a fabulous topping/icing for other things.  I was torn between a cookie base or a brownie base, but sometimes a woman just needs chocolate piled with chocolate.  ;)

Cupcake Sandwiches

I started out with the intention to create a Halloween themed treat, but things didn't work out as I expected.  I'm still feeling mehish about that.  ;)  By the time I realized it wasn't going to work out the way I wanted, I had gone too far.  I could have tinkered a bit more and done some simple spider webs and what not in the glaze, but I wasn't feeling it at that point....ehehehe.  A tasty treat, but insanely rich.  I'm tickled with the middle layer though, it will make a fabulous icing.

At least now I know the brownie fudge mixture lends itself nicely to molding into different shapes like tentacles and the the upper torso of a body trying to claw itself out of a grave....ahem.  ;) Will I take another run at producing a Halloween themed treat with this mixture again?  Mmmm....a firm maybe....ehehehe. At the moment I am thinking of future tentacle snowmen as the next brownie fudge project.  It's festive I tell you!


Cupcake Sandwiches

Brownie/Fudge Sandwiches:
Favorite brownie recipe (8inch size)
14oz non fat sweetened condensed milk
6oz semi sweet chocolate chips
6oz milk chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup evaporated milk

Take your baked and cooled brownie and crumble it into a bowl.  In another bowl combine the sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, and vanilla.  Microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring after each one until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.  Pour 3/4 of the fudge mixture over the brownies and mix together.  Set both mixtures aside.

Middle layer:
8 oz reduced fat cream cheese
3/4 cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips
14 oz shredded coconut
7 oz non fat sweetened condensed milk
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup dried tart cherries, chopped fine

Mix together the cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, cherries, and salt.  Fold in coconut, powdered sugar, and mini chocolate chips.

Set out about 20 foil cupcake liners.  Take your brownie/fudge mixture and scoop out a spoonful and roll it into a ball.  Press into the bottom of a cupcake liner to make the bottom crust.  Repeat with the other liners.  Spoon some of the coconut mixture over the crusts, filling the liners to the top.  Scoop out a larger spoonful of brownie fudge mixture and roll into a ball.  Press out into a circle large enough to cover the top of the cupcake liner.  Press it gently down over the coconut middle layer.  Repeat with the other liners.  (This is the point you could mold other shapes like tombstones, scary faces, bats, ect.)

Take the 1/4 fudge mixture leftover from earlier and reheat it slightly in the microwave.  Add in the evaporated milk to thin it into a glaze for the top of the cupcakes.  If you need to stretch this mixture further add in some additional milk chocolate chips.  Spoon over the tops of the cupcakes, spreading the glaze around.  Chill until ready to serve.  Nom!


Another pic of the process...

All the cupcake sandwiches glazed and looking all pretty and shiny.  I did do a few generic tombstones, but that was about it for the any kind of Halloween touches. I just didn't have enough room to work with on top of the cupcakes.  I should have gone with my original thought to do a 9x13 pan, but I was swayed by the thought of individual servings.

Molten S'more Brownies

Heaven.....absolute....drenched in melted fudge and marshmallow....heaven. You don't have to heat the brownie to get the delightful pool of melted fudge and marshmallow, but then I would have to give you the hairy eyeball if you don't. ;) Honestly you have to love a dessert that tempts you to lick the plate....only when no one else is in the room of course....and then deny you would ever do such a thing. Never you mind how that smudge of chocolate got on my forehead!

This dessert makes me think a MoonPie, brownie, and s'more had a rumble and this was the end result. I so will be making this again. I wants it!


Molten S'more Brownies

Brownie Layer:
1/2 cup tub margarine
2 squares (2 oz) unsweetened chocolate
1 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cups flour
1 tsp vanilla

Melt margarine and chocolate together in the microwave. Stir often and be careful not to overheat. Add in sugar and vanilla Beat the eggs lightly in a small bowl before adding them to the chocolate mixture. Stir in flour. Pour into a greased 8x8 pan and bake at 350 for 12 to 15 minutes. Be careful not to overbake. Cool.

Fudge Filling/Sauce:
14oz non fat sweetened condensed milk
6 oz milk chocolate chips
6 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
8 large marshmallows
1/4 cup non fat evaporated milk

Mix together the sweetened condensed milk, milk chocolate chips, semi sweet chocolate chips, and vanilla. Microwave mixture at 30 second intervals, stirring after each one until the chocolate is smooth. Let the mixture cool. You can pop the fudge into the fridge if you are in a hurry.

Meanwhile, cut your cooled brownies into 16 squares. Cut each square in half, making two layers. Cut the marshmallows in half and flatten them. Put a flattened marshmallow in the center of each bottom brownie layer.

Spoon some cooled fudge into a ziplock bag (a pastry bag would be fine) and cut off a corner to make a good sized opening. Squeeze fudge around the crushed marshmallows...you want a fairly even center layer flush to the edge of the brownie. Put the top layer of the brownie over the marshmallow/fudge layer and press lightly.

Take the remaining fudge...you may need to reheat it slightly if it's become too thick....and stir in the evaporated milk to thin it to more of a glaze. (You can also use regular milk.) Add extra milk if needed. Pour the thinned fudge over the brownies, making sure to drizzle the chocolate down the sides. You can scoop up the extra chocolate that pools around the brownies and spread it along the sides. Chill brownies until ready to serve.

To get the lovely molten effect....microwave your brownie for 10 to 20 seconds before noshing.


A few more pics of the glory...
A look at a finished brownie before I popped it into the microwave to heat. You could eat it now of course......but how can you resist melted, gooey chocolate and marshmallow?

Taste testing in the name of quality control! That's my story and I'm sticking to it. ;) It was tough to get a good picture of the marshmallow oozing out....probably due to the fact I was busy noshing at the time ehehehe.

Brownie Fudge Truffles

I had some little chunks of brownie in the freezer I had intended to use for another purpose when these truffles occurred to me. (Yes, my freezer is filled with an endless horde of goodies...ehehehe.) So I zipped together the one minute fudge with a few modifications and made some chocolate covered magic.

I wouldn't recommend you use a really fudgy brownie recipe for this....because honestly you probably wouldn't need the added fudge. You could just roll a really fudgy brownie into a ball and have a truffle center without any additions. Though I bet that would be a tasty experiment. ;)


Brownie Fudge Truffles

Favorite brownie recipe (a 9x9 sized batch)
14 oz non fat sweetened condensed milk
6 oz milk chocolate chips
6 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup mini marshmallows
12 oz milk chocolate chips
1.5 tbls shortening

Crumble brownies into a bowl. In another bowl, stir together sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, and vanilla. Heat in the microwave, stirring at 30 second intervals. You should only need about a minute or so for your chocolate to melt. Stir in marshmallows and mix until they melt into your chocolate. You may need to heat just a bit more in the microwave to get the marshmallows fully melted...be careful not to overheat.

Stir about a third of the fudge into the brownie crumbs and mix. Add another third and mix again. Add as much remaining fudge as you need. You should use almost the entire batch of fudge, but mixing it together in thirds will make sure you get the texture you are looking for. The brownie crumbs and fudge will form one large fairly solid ball of chocolate. Form into balls by spoonfuls and put on waxed paper. Chill for at least an hour.

Melt milk chocolate chips and shortening in the microwave, stirring often. Be careful that you don't overheat your chocolate. You want the chocolate thin enough to coat the back of a spoon smoothly. If it isn't thin enough add additional shortening and heat a bit longer. Dip brownie centers into chocolate and place on waxed paper. When you have dipped all the centers, use a fork to drizzle stripes across the tops of the truffles. Put them in the fridge to finish setting up.



A pic of the truffles all bare....hehehehe....
Unruly little buggers to dip I tell you! ;) They kept rolling off the fork I was using to dip them into the chocolate. Though it just hit me they held their shape really really well so they probably had less of a flat bottom than most truffles do.

Caramel Macadamia Cheesecake Squares

These squares are sooooo amazingly decadent. Worth every calorie laden bite I assure you. I will definitely be making them again.

I used this recipe for the brownie base.....I call this the ridiculously fudgy brownie recipe. ;) Oh so tasty....but man that is a gooey brownie eheheheheh. I've made so many brownies lately I thought I'd give a different recipe a whirl....plus it suited this cheesecake. The cheesecake recipe is based on one I found in a Taste of Home Cookbook.

I used my very own caramel for this recipe which I automatically thin when I cook it up. If you don't feel like making your own caramel sauce (wussie! ehehehehe) just use a package of caramels from the store and thin them with 1/4 cup evaporated milk.


Caramel Macadamia Cheesecake Squares

Brownie Base:
1 1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup tub margarine
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbls cocoa powder
1/3 cup flour

Melt chocolate chips and margarine in the microwave, stirring often. Be careful that you don't overheat the chocolate. Stir in vanilla, sugar, salt, and cocoa powder. Beat the eggs lightly in a small bowl before adding them to the chocolate mixture. Mix in the flour. Pour batter into greased 9x9 pan and bake at 350 for about 12 to 15 minutes. Do not overbake.

Middle layer:
18 oz salted caramel sauce
6 oz macadamia nuts
1/4 cup milk chocolate chips

Reserve 4oz of the caramel sauce for drizzle over the finished cheesecake squares. Pour the other 14oz of the caramel sauce over the brownie layer. Chop about 4oz of the macadamia nuts roughly. Sprinkle them over top of the caramel and press them down lightly.

Melt the milk chocolate chips in the microwave, stirring often to prevent overheating. Line a plate with waxed paper. Pour the remaining 2oz of the whole nuts into the melted chocolate and mix together. Using a spoon, fish out each chocolate covered nut and put it on the waxed paper to set up. You can do small clusters if you like. Put the plate into the fridge to chill. You will use these to garnish the finished squares later.

Cheesecake layer:
2 packages (8oz each) reduced fat cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
2 squares (2oz) unsweetened chocolate

Melt the chocolate in the microwave, being careful not to overheat. Set aside. Beat the cream cheese and the sugar together. Beat in eggs until just combined. Fold in the melted chocolate. Pour the cheesecake batter over top of the macadamia nuts. Spread out evenly. Bake 15 to 18 minutes at 350. Be careful not to over bake. Run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen cheesecake when it comes out of the oven. Cool and then chill before cutting into squares.

Put reserved caramel into a ziplock bag with a corner cut off. Drizzle caramel across the cheesecake squares. Take the chocolate covered macadamia nuts and arrange them on each square. Chill until ready to serve.


Another picture of the glory.....
I was on a sugar high for a quite a while after eating one of these....ehehehe. It was worth it....except for that whole babbling thing I had going on....seriously talked a mile a minute for line an hour. ;)

Cherry Nutella Brownies

This brownie recipe won during dessert week in the Real Women of Philadelphia cream cheese contest. Cue the happy dance! Stoked? Why yes, I am....ehehehehe. ;) These brownies have a lovely combination of flavors. Honesty, you just can't go wrong when Nutella is involved.

It does take a bit of time to spread the filling between the brownies. If you are in a bind for time you can cheat and use the filling like icing, spreading it across the top of the brownies. Drizzle some chocolate across the top of iced brownies and you are good to go.


Cherry Nutella Brownies

1 cup tub margarine
4 oz (squares) unsweetened chocolate
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups all purpose unbleached flour
8 oz reduced fat cream cheese
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup Nutella
1 cup dried tart cherries, chopped fine

Melt margarine and chocolate together in the microwave. Stir often and be careful not to overheat. Add in sugar and vanilla. Beat the eggs lightly in a small bowl before adding them to the chocolate mixture. Stir in flour. Pour batter into a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes. You want a fudge like texture for these brownies so you don't want to bake them for too long. Pull them out before they test fully as done. Cool brownies.

Mix together cream cheese, nutella, and powdered sugar. Add in cherries. Cut brownies into squares. Cut each brownie in half creating two layers. Spread a spoonful or so of the nutella filling on the bottom half of each brownie. Press the top brownie layer down lightly over the filling to set it it place. Chill until ready to serve.

Chocolate Explosion Brownies

I might have crossed the too much chocolate line with this brownie. I actually started out wanting to play around with my peanut butter ball filling recipe and it kind of snowballed as so many of my projects tend to do. ;)

I adore the baby peanut butter balls/shapes. They will definitely be showing up on some other things I do believe.


Chocolate Explosion Brownies:

Brownie layer:
1/2 cup tub margarine
1 square (1 oz) unsweetened chocolate
1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cups flour
1 tsp vanilla

Melt margarine and chocolate together in the microwave. Stir often and be careful not to overheat. Add in sugar and vanilla Beat the eggs lightly in a small bowl before adding them to the chocolate mixture. Stir in flour. Pour batter into a greased 8x8 pan and bake at 350 for 15 to 18 minutes. Allow brownie to cool and then chill. Slice the brownie in half, creating two layers. Set the bottom later on a serving plate with sides.

Fudge layer:
14 oz non fat sweetened condensed milk
12 oz milk chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla

Mix everything together in a bowl. Heat on high in the microwave for one minute, stirring at 30 seconds. (Heat longer if your chocolate still needs to melt.) Take one cup of the fudge (roughly about half) and spread on top of the bottom brownie layer. Take the second brownie layer and put it down on top of the fudge.

Fudge sauce layer:
With the remaining fudge mixture.....add 3 tbls or so of milk and blend. Blend in 2 cups of powdered sugar. Pour/spread mixture over top of the brownie making sure to cover the sides. You will have a a bit of extra sauce. Chill. When fudge sauce sets up clean up the serving plate a bit as you will have an overflow of sauce at the bottom sides of the brownie. Chilling makes it easy to scrape the extra away.

Peanut butter layer:
1 cup creamy natural peanut butter
1/3 cup tub margarine
2 cups powdered sugar

Melt the peanut butter and the margarine in the microwave. Stir often to prevent overheating. Stir in the powdered sugar. Take about half the peanut butter mixture (or more depending on how thick you actually want this layer) and roll it out into a 1/4 inch sheet wide enough to cover the brownie. I used wax paper to transfer this layer onto the top of the brownie. Nip off any excess around the bottom edges and tuck the layer in snug to the brownie. Pinch any cracks together.

Use the remaining peanut butter mixture (and you will probably have some leftover) to make garnish shapes....balls, tubes, ect.

Milk Chocolate Topping:
Melt 12 oz milk chocolate chips with 2 tbls shortening in the microwave. Stir often. The chocolate should flow nicely and coat the back of a spoon with a thin layer of chocolate when it's the right texture. You can add more shortening as needed to thin further. Spread chocolate across the top of the peanut butter layer making sure to cover the sides.

Use the remaining thinned chocolate to dip your garnish pieces in. Set them on a piece of waxed paper to set up. Drizzle chocolate over the top of the garnish pieces with a fork.

Chill everything in the fridge to set up. Arrange the garnish pieces across the top of the brownie. You can use a small dollop of melted chocolate to secure your garnish pieces on the top if you don't want to chance them moving around. Chill until ready to serve.



A few pics of the process...
I hated to cut into this pretty brownie but it had to be done.....sob. A nice view of the different layers though. From the bottom up....brownie, fudge, brownie, fudge sauce, peanut butter, milk chocolate, and garnished with chocolate covered peanut butter.

I rolled out my peanut butter ball filling to see how it held up. It will roll out fine but will crack the second you bend it. ;) Very amusing experimentation though. Cracking really didn't matter since it was covered in milk chocolate in the end.

Peanut Butter Lover Brownies

The original title for these brownies was "better than crack brownies" which I ran across here. Honestly though with a name like that I couldn't resist baking these up. They are yummy mind you and incredibly rich....but I wasn't compelled to snarfle my piece like a woman crazed. ;) Personal preference there I expect....the crazed snarfle reaction usually involves caramel ehehehe. I went with a more descriptive title for convenience.

The only thing missing was peanut butter in the brownie mix. The brownie batter needed to be studded with peanut butter chips I think. Of course that will make the brownies even richer.....and this would be.....bad? Not! Sacrifices must be made and all that.


Peanut Butter Lover Brownies

Brownie Layer:
1 cup tub margarine
4 squares (4 oz) unsweetened chocolate
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 cups flour
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup peanut butter chips or peanut butter/milk chocolate mix (optional)

Melt margarine and chocolate together in the microwave. Stir often and be careful not to overheat. Add in sugar and vanilla Beat the eggs lightly in a small bowl before adding them to the chocolate mixture. Stir in flour. Mix in peanut butter chips. Pour batter into a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for 25 to 35 minutes.

Middle layer:
1 cup creamy natural peanut butter
1/3 cup tub margarine
2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk chocolate
3/4 cup lightly salted dry roasted peanuts

While the brownies are baking, melt together peanut butter and margarine on the stove top. (I think this could easily be done in the microwave as well.) Remove from heat and stir in the powdered sugar. The dough should form into a nice ball. Pinch off small portions to form little peanut butter balls and place on a plate. Chill until ready to use. When brownies finish baking sprinkle the peanuts across the surface of the brownie. Take one cup of mini peanut butter balls and sprinkle across the top of the brownies. Spread the milk chocolate chips across the top next. Return to the oven and bake for another 5 minutes.

Topping:
12 oz milk chocolate chips
1 cup creamy natural peanut butter
1 1/2 cups rice crispy cereal

While the middle layer is baking, stir together milk chocolate chips and peanut butter. Melt in the microwave until smooth. Stir often to make sure you don't overheat. Stir in cereal. Pour over top of the brownies when they come out of the oven. Cool and then chill.


A few more pics.
After I tasted these I cut most of the squares I had in half. I didn't want anyone to go into sugar shock. ;) Mmmm....nothing prettier than a tray full of goodies.


Aren't these little peanut butter balls just cuter patuters? Ok a note here....if you don't feel like making these you can substitute in a cup of chopped Reese's peanut butter cups for the mini peanut butter balls and 1/3 cup milk chocolate chips. The original recipe calls for the Reese's but never have those on hand so I just made a version of my own. ;) I confess I'd rather use my own version anywho...I know what went in them.

These whip together super fast and you really don't even need to form them into any shapes....frankly you could just do dollops across the top of the brownie. One cup only used up about half the mini's though and I knew I'd be storing the rest in the freezer so I wanted actual shapes to be able to toss into cookies and what not down the road.

A little warning....it is tough to resist nibbling on the candy as you are shaping it.