Tag: brownies

Peppermint Bark Brownies

One of my favorite Christmas treats is the peppermint bark from Williams Sonoma. I tend to pick it up after Christmas when it goes on sale (I mean, that stuff is expensive as heck), and it’s absolutely delicious. So when I saw these peppermint bark brownies in a Christmas baking magazine by Delish, I just had to make them.

I adapted the recipe a bit to suit my own tastes, as I usually do, and they are indeed delish. I used a dark chocolate brownie recipe I’ve made many times before, but next time I’ll dial back the frosting – I think it was a bit thick compared to the brownie itself. The frosting would make a wonderful addition to dark chocolate cupcakes as well.

Ingredients

For the brownies

  • 12 tablespoons butter
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup flour

For the frosting

  • 1 cup butter, at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
  • 1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips, melted and cooled*
  • About 1/4 cup crushed cand canes

*Be careful when cooling your melted white chocolate chips – they can begin to harden faster than you might imagine! I let mine sit until they were just cool enough to blend into the frosting. 

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 tin with baking spray.

In a large pot, melt butter over medium-low heat. Stir in sugar, allowing the mixture to become just hot, but not bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and vanilla. Whisk in eggs, then stir in flour.

Pour batter into the baking tin and spread evenly. Bake for 29-32 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before frosting.

To make frosting, beat butter on medium speed for about 1 minute. Add powdered sugar and beat on low speed until the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter. Add peppermint extract, then melted white chocolate chips. Beat to combine completely, until smooth.

Spread frosting over cooled brownies and sprinkle with crushed candy canes. Cut into squares; makes 24.

Cadbury Mini Egg Brownies

There are so many chocolate brands available in the United States. Hershey (my favorite), Cadbury, Ghirardelli, Nestle, Lindt…the list goes on. Pittsburgh has its own chocolate maker, Sarris, whose shop is a Willy Wonka-style paradise complete with an ice cream parlor.

Cadbury’s mini eggs are solid chocolate, covered in a crunchy candy shell, and they’re an Easter delicacy. I found this recipe at Savor the Spoonful, and added more vanilla, as I do to nearly every recipe I bake. The end result is an ultra-chocolate treat; my mom, who is retired but still substitute teaches and sometimes works at the aftercare program at The Ellis School (my alma mater and where she taught and served as director of athletics for many years), told me that she “didn’t even get past the library” with these last week. High praise, indeed.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter, melted
  • 3 eggs, at room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1 cup flour
  • 3/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 9-ounce bag Cadbury Mini Eggs, divided (1 cup crushed, remainder whole)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 pan with parchment paper, allowing the paper to hang over the sides, and spray with nonstick spray.

Divide your eggs; take 1 cup and crush them using a meat mallet or rolling pin; leave the rest whole. You don’t have to crush the eggs completely; you want a mixture of small bits and larger chunks.

In a large bowl, whisk together melted butter, eggs, and vanilla extract. Add sugars and stir until combined, then stir in flour, cocoa powder, and salt until just combined. Stir in crushed Cadbury eggs.

Pour batter into pan and smooth to make an even surface; top with remaining whole Cadbury eggs. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until a cake tester comes out with a few moist crumbs. Remove from oven and cool completely in the pan before serving. Makes 16.

Dark Chocolate Mint Brownies

Peppermint patties are one of my favorite things, though I hardly ever have them. I feel like I used to see the full-sized version in the candy displays at supermarket checkouts, but it’s been a long time since I’ve found one there.

This recipe, which is actually inspired by the Girl Scouts Thin Mint cookie, uses miniature ones – though you could chop up some full-sized ones if you can find them. Alternatively, you could use actual Thin Mints in these, but I feel like the peppermint patty is a better option, not just for how they look when they’re cut but also because you get a bit more peppermint this way.

Ingredients

  • 12 tablespoons butter
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup flour
  • 16 Miniature Peppermint Patties

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 tin with baking spray.

In a large pot, melt butter over medium-low heat. Stir in sugar, allowing the mixture to become just hot, but not bubbly – this yields the shiny, crackly top. Remove from heat and stir in cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and vanilla. Whisk in eggs, then stir in flour.

Pour about half the batter into the pan and top with peppermint patties, spacing evenly in rows. Pour the remaining batter over top and smooth with a spatula. Bake for 29-32 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely in the pan before cutting. Makes 24.

Oreo Brownies

Oreos and brownies are delicious enough on their own, no? And yet when combined, they are even more amazing, albeit laden with calories. Everything in moderation, I suppose.

This recipe is adapted from Sugar Spun Run, and I admit that I over-baked mine by at least a few minutes. The middle pieces are fudgy, just like I intended, but the edges are crispier than I’d like. My recipe adaptation was to just use Oreos in the brownies themselves and not sprinkle extra crushed-up ones over the top, but you could certainly do that if you like. I also used regular chocolate chips, rather than mini chips, in the batter and I feel like minis would have been better. Live and learn. 

Ingredients

  • 10 tablespoons butter
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, divided
  • 1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2/3 cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 16 Oreo cookies (I used Double Stuf)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 9 baking tin.

In a medium saucepan, melt butter and 1/2 cup chocolate chips; stir in cocoa powder and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar and eggs, then pour in chocolate mixture and whisk to combine. Stir in vanilla, then add flour and salt and mix to combine completely. Add remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips.

Pour half the batter into the tin and top with Oreos, arranging evenly in four lines of four. Top with remaining batter and spread to cover the Oreos as best you can. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a cake tester comes out with a few fudgy crumbs, not wet batter. Cool completely before cutting. Makes 16.

Caramel Frosted Brownies

caramelbrownieBrownies are one of my favorite things to bake (and to eat). Start with a reliable recipe as your base and add whatever flavors you want – mix in toasted nuts or chocolate chips, frost them, drizzle them, whatever you want.

These treats are basic and delicious, using my standard easy brownies recipe and caramel buttercream. I almost sprinkled Heath bits on top, but decided to leave them as-is. I’d also like to come up with a caramel swirl brownie, not unlike peanut butter swirl brownies. Or event a caramel peanut butter swirl? This also just gave me an idea for peanut butter caramel frosting…and now my imagination is running wild. We’ll see what happens. 

Ingredients

For the brownies

  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 6 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

For the frosting

  • 12 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons caramel sauce, to taste 
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 baking tin; I always sprinkle the bottom of the tin with sugar when I’m baking brownies for a crunch bottom crust.

In a mixing bowl, stir together oil and sugar, then add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each. Stir in cocoa powder, then salt, flour, and vanilla until the batter is smooth.

Pour into the baking tin and spread into an even layer. Bake for 30-34 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. These brownies are fudgy, but shouldn’t be too gooey in the middle when they’re done; the center will look mostly set on top.

Remove from oven and allow to cool before frosting.

To make frosting, beat butter and powdered sugar on low speed until the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter. Add caramel sauce and vanilla and beat to combine completely. Pour over brownies and frost with an offset spatula; cut into 24 squares. 

Mexican Chocolate Brownies

mexicanchocolatebrowniesWhat makes something a “Mexican chocolate” treat is subjective. Some recipes just use cinnamon, while others use cinnamon and cayenne pepper. Cayenne is one bridge too far for me baking-wise, so these Mexican chocolate brownies are just a combination of fudgy dark chocolate and cinnamon.

The brownie base is the King Arthur Baking fudgy brownie recipe, and I mixed in a bag of dark chocolate chips and a teaspoon of cinnamon into the batter. You can go easier on the cinnamon if you like, but I feel like the dark chocolate can take it. Also, these brownies had the most amazing shiny, crackly top I have ever seen; this is achieved by melting butter, then adding sugar and re-heating it to allow the sugar to dissolve. Brownie magic, for sure.

Ingredients

  • 12 tablespoons butter
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 12-ounce bag dark chocolate chips

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 tin with baking spray.

In a large pot, melt butter over medium-low heat. Stir in sugar, allowing the mixture to become just hot, but not bubbly – this yields the shiny, crackly top. Remove from heat and stir in cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and vanilla. Whisk in eggs, then stir in flour, cinnamon, and dark chocolate chips.

Pour batter into the baking tin and spread evenly. Bake for 29-32 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely in the pan before cutting. Makes 24.

Peanut Butter Cheesecake Brownies

pbcheesecakebrowniesBrownies can be made with cocoa powder or various types of baking chocolate, usually the unsweetened kind. Unsweetened chocolate is essentially chocolate in its purest form after cacao beans have been roasted and the cocoa butter and cacao solids have been separated from their pods. You wouldn’t want to eat it because of the bitterness level, but when you mix it with butter, sugar, eggs, and other flavorings, you can get very tasty brownies.

This recipe comes from the Baker’s Unsweetened Chocolate package, and like most recipes you can find on the back of a box or bag, it’s a reliable one. The one surprise is that there’s no vanilla in this recipe, so if I make it again I’ll likely add some. Texture-wise, these are fudgy and soft, not unlike a cheesecake filling all around.

Ingredients

For the brownies

  • 4-ounce package Baker’s Unsweetened Chocolate, chopped
  • 12 tablespoons butter
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup flour

For the peanut butter cheesecake swirl

  • 8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 egg

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 13 baking tin with foil and spray with baking spray.

Melt baking chocolate and butter in the microwave or on the stovetop, stirring until smooth. Stir in sugar and eggs, then fold in flour Pour into prepared tin.

In a mixer, cream together cream cheese, peanut butter, and sugar; beat in egg until mixture is smooth. Pour over brownie layer and spread evenly, then swirl with a knife to create the marbled pattern.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Remove from oven and cool completely; lift out of the tin using the foil and cut into squares. Makes 24.

Slutty Brownies

sluttybrowniesApparently, putting Oreos into brownies and blondies makes them “slutty.” I’m really not here to judge that, nor am I here to shame anyone or any treat for their romantic behavior. In any case, these treats are a delicious combination of chocolate chip cookie base, Oreo middle, and brownie top. There are tons of recipes online that use store-bought cookie dough and boxed brownie mix, but I wanted a from-scratch version and found this recipe at Crazy for Crust. They absolutely did not disappoint.

My next endeavor will be making a version where the base is a peanut butter cookie. My only worry there is having a perfectly baked peanut butter cookie base – which can dry out – and a fully baked brownie top. I won’t be deterred by fear, though. Stay tuned.

Ingredients

For the chocolate chip cookie base

  • 1 stick butter, melted
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips
  • 24 Double Stuf Oreo cookies

For the brownie layer

  • 4 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate, coarsely chopped
  • 12 tablespoons butter
  • 1 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 cup flour

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 13 baking tin with foil and spray with baking spray.

Make the chocolate chip cookie base: Mix melted butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Add egg and vanilla, then stir in baking soda, salt, and flour. Fold in chocolate chips and press mixture into the baking tin; top with Oreos, spacing evenly.

Make the brownie batter: Melt unsweetened chocolate and butter, stirring until smooth. Stir in sugar, then add eggs and vanilla extract. Stir in salt, cocoa powder, and flour; pour over Oreo layer.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack completely before serving. Makes 24.

Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

peanutbutterswirlbrowniesI don’t usually have kitchen disasters (not to sound like The Most Interesting Man in the World), but when I do, I learn from them. Last week I baked peanut butter swirl brownies, and although the recipe said to pull them when they still jiggled in the middle, I ignored my baker’s instinct to discover, once cooled, that they were raw in the middle. Not gooey or fudgy like a brownie should be, but actually raw. Inedible raw. Food-poison-risk raw.

To the internet I went, in search of another recipe, and I found this one at Mike Bakes NYC. I’m pleased to say that this turned out very well, even if they are likely to spike your blood sugar in dangerous ways because they’re so rich. Seriously friends, it’s probably a good thing they only bake in an 8×8 pan.

Ingredients

For the brownies:

  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the swirl:

  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8×8 tin with parchment paper or foil; if using foil, spray with baking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder. In a medium bowl, whisk butter, eggs, and vanilla; add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined; pour into prepared baking tin.

To make the swirl, whisk the peanut butter, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt until combined. Drop by large spoonfuls onto the brownie batter and swirl with a dull knife.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in a non-swirl part of your brownies comes out with a few fudgy crumbs. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Store at room temperature. Makes 16.

Toffee Coffee Brownies

toffeecoffeebrowniesThe King Arthur Cookie Companion has an awesome brownie recipe that you can dress up any way you like. This combination is one of their many adaptations, a super fudgy brownie with coffee icing and toffee bits (though in this photo I feel like they look like chopped nuts).

Next time, I might use chocolate-covered toffee bits for even more flavor, because the toffee gets lost a bit against the coffee icing. They still taste amazing, though – are I cannot stress how fudgy they are. Like actual pieces of fudge, in many ways. Enjoy!

Ingredients

For the brownies

  • 12 tablespoons butter
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup Dutch-process (aka Hershey’s Special Dark) cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 3 eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 cup flour

For the icing

  • 1 tablespoon espresso powder
  • 1 tablespoon hot water
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 – 3 tablespoons heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup toffee bits

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9 x 13 baking tin with foil and spray lightly with baking spray. Sprinkle the bottom with sugar; this is my tip for a slightly crunchy bottom crust that adds a nice texture to otherwise soft treats like brownies.

In a large pot, melt butter over low heat. Stir in sugar and continue heating for another minute while stirring, until the mixture is just hot. Remove from heat and stir in cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder, then whisk in eggs and vanilla extract. Stir in flour, then spread evenly in prepared pan.

Bake for 28-30 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely before icing.

To make icing, combine espresso powder and hot water in a medium bowl. Add powdered sugar and stir; add heavy cream 1 tablespoon at a time to get a drizzly consistency. Spread over brownies, then sprinkle with toffee bits. Let the icing set before cutting. Makes 24.