Tag Archives: Brownies

Easy Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

03 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by in Cookies

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snowball cookies 3

I told you I wouldn’t be making Christmas cookies until it was actually Christmas. And naturally, a week or two later, I’m getting to posting them ;)

I love chocolate crinkle cookies. I love how seasonal they are, how pretty they are, and how delicious they are. However, I think the traditional ones are a huge pain. The dough is usually really sticky and hard to work with, so you have to chill it between batches, and in the end, it’s a big mess (but my hands are usually nicely moisturized).

So I thought, hey, maybe a brownie-mix-cookie-dough could potentially work as a chocolate crinkle cookie recipe. And sure enough, one little Google search later dropped me on the jackpot from Taste of Home — Brownie Crackle Cookies. Easy, easy, easy, and tasty. The four most important criteria for any cookie.

snowball cookies

Easy Chocolate Crinkle Cookies (From Taste of Home)
Makes 3 1/2 – 4 dozen
>> Click Here for Printable Recipe <<

Ingredients:

  • 1 package fudge brownie mix (13-in. x 9-inch pan size)
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • 1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
  • Confectioners’ sugar

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, mix the brownie mix, flour, egg, water and oil with a wooden spoon until well blended. Fold in chocolate chips.
  3. Place about 1 cup of confectioners’ sugar in a shallow dish. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls into sugar; roll to coat. Place 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until set. Let cool in pans to firm up a bit for 2 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

snowball cookies 2

My Two Cents: I think these cookies are great any time during the winter, especially when it’s snowing outside :) If it’s not winter, you can actually just omit the confectioners’ sugar completely and bake these without the sugar coating. These brownie cookies are fabulous either way — and always a crowd pleaser!

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Brownie Bites

14 Friday Dec 2012

Posted by in Brownies

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pumpkin brownie bites

Sometimes you need to take shortcuts.

Healthy ones! ;)

I’ve seen this recipe circulating around lots of blogs and Pinterest for a while now, and decided to give it a whirl. What is it? Simply a brownie mix and a can of pumpkin (egg is even optional). Mix them together, bake them according to the box directions, and what do you have?

brownie bites

A super moist and fudgy brownie.

Easier and healthier than a regular boxed brownie.

And equally scrumptious.

What’s not to love?

Pumpkin Brownie Bites
Makes one 13 x 9 pan or 30 mini brownies
>> Click Here for Printable Recipe <<

Ingredients:

  • One (13×9 family size) brownie mix
  • One (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
  • One egg (optional)

Directions:

  1. Mix brownie mix, pumpkin, and egg with a wooden spoon. Spoon into greased 13 x 9 pan or mini muffin tins.
  2. Bake for about 30 minutes for the pan, and 15-20  for the mini muffin tins (they’re done when they spring back slightly when you touch them).
  3. Devour!

brownie pumpkin bites

My Two Cents: As is the case with a lot of pumpkin/chocolate desserts, you can’t even tell that pumpkin was the secret ingredient in this recipe. These came out extremely fudgy for me, so if you’re a fan of cake-like brownies, stick to the regular recipe on the back of the box ;)

So, essentially, if you keep a brownie mix and can of pumpkin in your house at all times, a handy treat is always at your fingertips!

Easy Fudgy Brownies – Guest Post from The Live-in-Kitchen

17 Tuesday Jul 2012

Posted by in Brownies, Dessert, Guest Post

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Hi all! At this point I’ve been a married woman for three whole days now, and am on a plane on the way to San Francisco for our honeymoon!!! :D :D :D I won’t be around for the next two weeks (but rest assured, I will be stuffing my face, no doubt). So luckily I’ve got some wonderful blogging friends that have volunteered to fill the gap when I’m gone. And dang, the things they’ve made look great! Today’s post is from Lindsay from The Live-in-Kitchen. Lindsay is a midwestern gal, has been married for 6 years, has two adorable kids (and one on the way!)

Hi I’m Lindsay from The Live-In Kitchen. I’m thrilled to be doing a guest post for Megan while she’s on her honeymoon. Hopefully she’s eating some amazing food and having the time of her life!

If there’s one thing you should know about me its that I have an obsession with making different recipes for the same thing in an effort to find my absolute favorite. Brownies are one of these things. Fudgy, cakey, with caramel, with chocolate chips. You would think I had done it all. The readers of my blog might be a little tired of hearing all the ways that I enjoy brownies.

When I found out I would be guest posting for Megan while she was away I knew I would have to make brownies. It was the perfect excuse to indulge in one of my favorite treats.

These brownies totally live up to the name. They couldn’t be easier (you probably have everything you need in your cupboard) and they’re fudgy without being too gooey and falling apart. They even have that perfect crinkly top that I thought you could only find from my favorite box brownie mix. I happened to have some bittersweet chocolate chips lying around so I threw those in for depth of flavor, but you could definitely use all semisweet if that’s your preference or convenience.

Give these easy brownies a try and I think you’ll be coming back to them again and again!

Easy Fudgy Brownies (Adapted from Food Network Magazine)
By Lindsay from The Live-in-Kitchen
Makes one 9×13 inch pan

Ingredients:

  • 1 stick butter
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 325ºF. Line a 9×13 inch pan with foil.
  2. In a large microwave safe bowl, place butter and chocolate chips. Microwave on high in 30 second intervals, stirring each time, until melted. Whisk in sugars. Whisk in eggs one at a time, then vanilla. Stir in flour and salt. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with moist crumbs attached. Let cool before cutting.

Super Fudge Brownies

03 Friday Feb 2012

Posted by in Bars, Brownies, Dessert

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I should not tell you what’s in these brownies.

My jaw dropped when I saw the ingredients.

But I reversed it into a sinister, giddy little grin when I started melting the butter, stirring in the cocoa powder, beating in the eggs, and measuring out the sugar.

Homemade brownies are so simple to make, yet so rich and decadent.

And these are absolutely Paula Deen approved. (But don’t worry, you won’t get Type 2 diabetes unless you eat 5 of these a day, sandwiched between a bacon and doughnut sandwich.)

Super Fudge Brownies (From Fine Cooking)

Ingredients:

  • 3 sticks unsalted butter (1 1/2 cups)
  • 1 1/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 3/4 cups sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 5 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 2/3 cups flour

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a 9 x 13 pan with aluminum foil, leaving 2 inches hanging on each side. Spray with cooking spray. Set aside.
  2. Put the butter in a large 4-quart saucepan over medium-low heat and stir until melted. Take the pan off the heat and whisk in the cocoa powder until smooth. Add the sugar and salt and whisk until well blended.
  3. Check the temperature of the batter with your finger. It should be warm, not hot when you whisk in the eggs.
  4. Whisk in 2 of the eggs, then the other 3 until blended. Then whisk in the vanilla. Sprinkle the flour over the batter and fold gently until just incorporated.
  5. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs clinging to it.
  6. Let cool on a rack for 2-3 hours. (Or. Eat it hot out of the pan — but they’re easier to cut when they’re cool.)
  7. Try to forget the ingredients you put in here while you eat these and/or share them with people who compliment you and ask you what’s in these — then say it’s a secret family recipe and you can’t reveal your secret :)

My Two Cents: I’ve said all I can say about these mischievous little bundles of butter and chocolate.

;)

Banana Chocolate Chip Bars with a Nutella Swirl

15 Sunday Jan 2012

Posted by in Bars, Brownies, Dessert

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Long weekends always almost call for delicious desserts.

My mom invited my whole family over for a turkey dinner last night (Thanksgiving Part 2!) because she snagged an extra $5.00 13 lb turkey the week before Thanksgiving. So I thought I’d bring something for dessert.

I wanted to go beyond the standard cake or brownie. And I’ve been cookie-ed out since Christmas. I had 3 bananas on the counter and thought, “hmmm something with bananas.” Then I remembered I had Nutella. And bananas and Nutella are always a good pairing. “hmmm….I wonder if there’s a brownie recipe out there for this.”

Of. Course. There. Is.

And it exists here on this gigantic INDEX OF AMAZING NUTELLA RECIPES:


http://www.nutelladay.com/nutella-recipes/

If you have never seen this index, bookmark it now. There is literally every single kind of sweet decadence that exists with Nutella in it on this page. Brownies, cakes, cookies, pancakes, candy, pizza, you name it. So sure enough, they had my banana and Nutella combo in bar form. And you bet I made it.

And you bet that it was a hit!

Banana Chocolate Chip Bars with a Nutella Swirl (Adapted from The Onyx Plate)

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted (1 1/2 sticks)
  • 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2/3 cup white sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 3 ripe bananas, mashed
  • 1 egg
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 cup chocolate chips (semi-sweet or milk chocolate)
  • 3/4 – 1 cup Nutella

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13 x 9 inch baking pan with cooking spray, or line with parchment paper.
  2. In large bowl, mix together the melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar.
  3. Mix in the vanilla, egg, and bananas.
  4. In a separate bowl, sift together the baking powder and flour, then gradually add the flour mixture to the banana batter until just incorporated. The batter will be lumpy because of the bananas — do not over mix.
  5. Fold in the chocolate chips and spread the batter out onto prepared pan. Melt the Nutella in the microwave for 30 seconds to make it easy to spread. Then drop it onto the batter in dollops. Take a knife and cut through the Nutella to make the swirls.
  6. Bake for 35 minutes or until the center springs back when you touch it. (The toothpick test might not work so well here since the Nutella may mess you up.)
  7. Let cool for 30 minutes to 1 hour in the pan before cutting and serving —- if you can wait that long!

My Two Cents: Between 11 people, there were only 3 small pieces left in this pan by the end of the night. These bars were like banana bread, but better. You didn’t have to slice the bread and have it crumble in front of your face. You didn’t have to deal with a gooey dense center (even though those are good on occasion). Instead, this turned into a banana-y, Nutella-ness, cakey, beautiful, blond (not quite brownie), Bar.

In essence, an oodle of yummness.

Try it and taste for yourself! :)

 

Peanut Butter Nutella Brownies

04 Sunday Sep 2011

Posted by in Bars, Brownies

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I’m a little late in the game to the Nutella obsession.

I actually bought my first jar of Nutella only a few weeks ago.

It’s shameful, I know. But probably for the better. Because more than once this week I found myself in front of the television with a spoon and the Nutella jar….eating far beyond the serving size…..

So I was planning an evening with one of my friends and asked her what she was in the mood to bake. She said “something with peanut butter and chocolate”. And I happened to get that message about 10 minutes after shoveling several tablespoons of Nutella in my face. So I thought “hmm. Something with Nutella. Something with peanut butter and Nutella. Something easy. But something with Nutella.”

Brownies are easy.

So I typed “Peanut butter Nutella brownies” into Google, and instantly came up with about 8 recipes to choose from. I was beaming with excitement.

I was even happier when I ate them.

Peanut Butter Nutella Brownies (Adapted from Noble Pig)

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup cocoa
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 cup Nutella
  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

2. Over low heat, melt the butter. Stir in sugar and vanilla until well combined. Let cool for 5 minutes.

3. Add the eggs to the butter-sugar mixture one at a time, beating vigorously after each addition until all the eggs are incorporated. (It is important to let the butter and sugar cool slightly before adding the eggs, otherwise the eggs might scramble.) Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix well.

4. Mix together the Nutella and peanut butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 20 second intervals until it reaches a runny consistency. Stir that into the prepared brownie batter.

5. Pour the batter into a 13×9 inch baking pan (either greased or lined with parchment paper). Bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick in center comes out clean. Try to let cool before eating. You will not succeed.

My Two Cents: All I have to say about this recipe is, “What. Are. You. Waiting. For.”

Go make these. I had to freeze most of them so I would stop popping them into my mouth. (So yes, that means I have some if you want some!) ;)