Serving Up {Brownies}: Extreme Brownies

Typing this post is like torture to me right now.  We were on vacation last week and I have not yet made it to the grocery store to "restock" the kitchen from our being gone which means the fridge is bare.  I am having my normal mid-afternoon sugar craving and there is nothing in sight to satisfy it.  Then I sit down at the computer to post and have to stare at this deliriously amazing cookie/brownie treat and it is doing nothing to help the sugar craving...except that I have now added Oreo's to my grocery list.

The combination of a chocolate chip cookie layer, topped with Oreo's, topped with brownies really do make these brownies "extreme".  For the next time you really want to wow your audience....or when you just can't quit decide between cookies or brownies.  These are awesome!

One Year Ago: Easy Fish Tacos

Two Years Ago: S'more S'morgasbord

EXTREME BROWNIES (also known as Slutty Brownies)     
(recipe from What's Gabby Cooking?)
printable version

For the Brownie layer:
10 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups white sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup flour

For the Oreo layer:
1 package of Oreo (regular stuffed or double stuffed)

For the Cookie Dough layer:
1/2 cup unsalted butter (at room temp)
1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

For the Brownie layer:
In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter over medium high heat. Add the sugar and cocoa powder once the butter is melted. Whisk to combine and remove from heat. Add the salt, vanilla and eggs and continuously whisk until the eggs are combined. Add the flour and continue to mix. Set the batter aside.

For the Cookie Dough layer:
Cream together the butter and sugars in a mixer. Add the eggs and vanilla, making sure to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl. Add the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder and mix on low until everything is incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips. Set dough aside.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Line the bottom of a 9x9 baking pan with tin foil and then spray the tin foil with baking spray.
Layer the cookie dough on the bottom of a 9x9 baking pan, pressing down to form the bottom "crust".
Layer as many Oreos that will fit on top of the cookie dough. No need to overlap. One single layer will do.
Pour the brownie batter evenly over the top of the Oreo layer.
Bake for 30-35 minutes. Test with a knife to see if the center is done. When they test done, remove from oven and allow to cool before cutting and serving.
Serve with ice cream :)

Serving Up {Cookies}: Fudgy Brownie Cookies

I really hope that nobody is completely cookie-ed out.  I know there are treats and candies and cookies everywhere you look - particularly the internet.  My site is no exception.  And while my intention had been to post a hearty soup or meal today, I had two people ask me for this recipe just in the past week so I figured that I better get it posted.

I am a huge brownie fan so I am somewhat leery of cookies that claim being anything close to a brownie...because, well cookies just aren't brownies!  Until now.  This recipe gets it right.  It probably helps that it begins with a brownie mix for it's base, but I am not complaining one bit!  Ease in preparation and an amazing outcome!  Works for me!

One Year Ago: Loaded Chocolate Crinkles

FUDGY BROWNIE COOKIES     
(recipe from Tasty Kitchen)
printable version

1 packaged Fudge Brownie Mix (18-21 ounce size)
1 1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
2 Tbs. water
1 cup chocolate chunks

Whisk brownie mix, flour and brown sugar together.  Using a spoon, stir in eggs one at a time and then add butter and water.  The batter will be very thick.  Fold in chocolate chunks.
Cover batter and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare cookie sheet by greasing or lining with parchment.
Drop dough by the tablespoon onto prepared cookie sheet.
Bake for 8-10 minutes.  Allow to cool on the pan slightly before transferring to a cooling rack.

Serving Up {Brownies}: Caramel Brownies

These brownies are not a new recipe - in fact, they have been around for a while because I remember making them back in college when I needed a really decent chocolate fix!  The recipe has kind of gone viral thanks to blogs and pinterest so my guess is that you have seen it before.  But should you have ignored it (for what reason I cannot imagine) by all means trust me that these are worth making.  Thanks to the use of a cake mix as the base, they come together super quick and they are worth it!  You will thank me on this one!

One Year Ago: Chicken with Basil Cream Sauce

CARAMEL BROWNIES     
printable version

50 caramels
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1 pkg. german chocolate cake mix
¾ cup butter, melted
1/3 cup evaporated milk
6 oz. chocolate chips

Place caramels and 1/3 cup milk in a small saucepan; melt over low heat and set aside.

Beat the cake mix, 1/3 cup milk and melted butter until well blended. It will be thick. Spread ½ of the batter into a greased 13x9 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 6 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Pour melted caramel over the chocolate chips. Top with the remaining batter. Bake at 350 degrees for an additional 18 minutes or until done – DO NOT overbake. Refrigerate to be able to cut.

Serving Up {Brownies}: Moist Zucchini Brownies

It is nearing the end of zucchini season around here, but I still have a few stragglers coming on in my garden.  What about you?

We have enjoyed zucchini cookies, zucchini muffins, zucchini bread and even zucchini pumpkin bread.  I have also shredded and frozen enough bags of zucchini to keep us in zucchini until next harvest season.  My kids actually love all the zucchini baking that has been going on, but it was these brownies that caused my daughter to declare, "everything is better with zucchini!".  Brownies made better by zucchini?  Now that is zucchini marketing at it's finest!

Truth is, these REALLY are awesome brownies!  We have gone through two pans of them in just the past five days.  Even my husband (the only zucchini-adverse in the family) ate four of them before I finally told him the secret ingredient.

The batter, when prepared and put into the pan, is really dry.  Don't worry, you have not left an ingredient out.  Somehow while baking the zucchini works magic and turns the dry batter into something moist and magical...and chocolate!

One Year Ago: Strawberry Lemonade Quencher

MOIST ZUCCHINI BROWNIES with Buttermilk Chocolate Frosting     
(recipe adapted from Blogchef)
printable version

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2-3 cups shredded zucchini

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 13x9 baking pan with non-stick spray.

In a large bowl, mix together oil, sugar and vanilla and mix until well blended. In another bowl combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt and add the flour mixture gradually to the sugar mixture, mixing well. It will be VERY dry and crumbly - it's okay! Fold in the shredded zucchini. Spread the mixture into the prepared baking dish.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until brownies test done.

Chocolate Buttermilk Frosting
6 Tbs. cocoa powder
1/4 cup butter
2-3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup buttermilk***
1 tsp. vanilla
pinch salt

In a saucepan, melt the butter and cocoa powder together. Allow to cool slightly. Add the vanilla, buttermilk and salt and then gradually add the powdered sugar until you reach the desired consistency.
Frost cooled brownies.

***You can make this recipe using regular milk instead of buttermilk, but you have to use more powdered sugar in order to reach the desired spreadable consistency.

Serving Up {Brownies}: White Chocolate Brownie Decadence

I interrupt the scheduled post to bring you something that will CHANGE YOUR LIFE!  Seriously!  This may only be slightly exaggerated, but don't risk it.

I generally try to stay ahead of my posts by 2-3 weeks (I admit that the word "try" is key) so I really am in here typing away, BUMPING ANOTHER RECIPE that was already scheduled, because these brownies are simply worth it.  And you are worth it.  It is 2:00 p.m. and I have had nothing substantial to eat yet and yet I have already eaten two of these brownies - and I am worth it :)

I earmarked this recipe a year ago and had high hopes that they would taste as good as they looked.  Leigh Anne at Your Homebased Mom has rarely posted anything that I haven't really liked.  So over the weekend we were invited to a BBQ and my husband told me that he volunteered me to bring a dessert "so that you can make one of those little recipes that you like to pin" - he knows me so well.  I did exactly that and made two little recipes that I had pinned - one white chocolate brownie (for me) and one chocolate brownie (for hubby).  I was thrilled with how they both turned out but it has been these little white squares of danger that won't give me any rest....they just keep calling my name.  And now you have the recipe and you can make them and you can see exactly what I mean.

One Year Ago: Cilantro Ranch Dressing

WHITE CHOCOLATE BROWNIE DECADENCE     
(recipe from Your Homebased Mom)
printable version

1 cup butter
1/2 cup white chocolate,chopped
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. To make the brownies, melt your white chocolate and butter either in the microwave or a double boiler; watching and stirring often so the white chocolate does not burn.  Once the butter and chocolate are melted, whisk in the eggs and vanilla and then add the sugar.  Add flour last.  Pour the batter into a greased 9 x 13 pan.   Bake for 25-30 minutes.   Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup white chocolate, chopped
3 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. whipping cream (or more to make desired consistency)
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Melt the butter and white chocolate in the microwave or double boiler. Remove from heat and add powdered sugar, whipping cream and vanilla, using additional whipping cream to reach desired consistency for frosting.   Frost brownies once cooled.

Serving Up {Brownies}: Twix Brownies

This is the second recipe from my Easter weekend that became an instant hit!   I only wish I had a better photo to show it off, but at the rate these brownies were eaten, by the time I realized the photo was horrible, there were no brownies left to take a picture of.  That is how good these brownies are.

And it is a brownie, but it doesn't even realize that it is a brownie.  A boxed brownie mix baked atop a shortbread crust, topped with caramel and then a chocolate topping - it's actually called a Twix brownie.  I call it delightful.  I think you will too!

One Year Ago: Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup & The Ultimate Grilled Cheese Sandwich

TWIX BROWNIE     

(recipe from Jasey's Crazy Daisy via pinterest)

printable version

Crust Layer

1 (12.8 oz.) package of Simply Sandies Shortbread Cookies
6 Tbs. butter

Brownie Layer
1 box of brownie mix plus ingredients to prepare
1/4 cup hot fudge ice cream topping

Caramel Layer
1 (14 oz.) bag of caramels
2 Tbs. heavy cream

Chocolate Topping
1 (11.5 oz.) bag milk chocolate chips
2 Tbs. butter
1/4 cup heavy cream

Line a 9x13 pan with foil and then grease the bottom and sides.

Using a food processor, pulse the cookies until they are completely crumbled.  In a medium bowl, melt butter. Add cookie crumbs and stir until all the crumbs are moist. Press into the bottom of prepared pan.

Prepare brownie batter as directed on the back of the box, mixing 1/4 cup hot fudge ice cream topping into brownie batter. Pour batter on top of cookie crust and bake as directed.  Cool.

Place caramels and cream in a saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until caramels are completely melted. Pour caramel over cooled brownies.  Allow brownies to cool until set.  You can quicken this step by placing brownies in the refrigerator until caramel layer is set up.

Melt chocolate, butter, and cream together in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until melted and creamy. Pour over cooled caramel layer.  Cool to allow chocolate to set.

Cut and enjoy.

Serving Up {Brownies}: Heavenly Brownies

My blog is officially one year old!  I have to admit that when I began I wasn't sure if it would even make it this long :)

In reviewing the recipes that I have posted (and the many more that I still want to post) I was shocked to realize that I had not yet posted my all time favorite brownie recipe.  In an entire years time you would think that I would set my priorities!  (I have posted this favorite brownie recipe, but real life dictates that, sadly, not all brownies can be mint brownies).

I am definitely a brownie girl.  And it isn't about the chocolate because I don't get weak in the knees over chocolate cake the way I do over brownies.  It is something about the dense texture, the chewy chocolate goodness and the fact that no frosting is needed before digging in - although a scoop of ice cream and drenching it all in fudge syrup doesn't hurt anything.  And boy do these brownies have the dense texture and the chewy chocolate goodness down!  When I lived in Vegas there was a little market that sold baked goods and their brownies were SO good!  They are the only store baked good that I have ever indulged in on a regular basis.  These rival those brownies!

When I make this recipe I use one bowl and a wooden spoon - which is all the more reason to love this recipe for it's simplicity.  I take the microwave method over the stove top method for heating the butter and sugar and find that once I mix my sugar in with the melted butter I microwave the mixture three times for one minute each time, stirring in between.  I don't know what that does, but it DOES make a difference.  I also find that if you can keep from eating the entire pan immediately, freezing these brownies only  make them all the better.  An individual brownie, snuck from the freezer while kids are sleeping and eaten while only partially thawed is divine!
(Oh, and my only tweak to this recipe from the way I found it was to remove the espresso powder - so if that is your thing, add it back in.)

One Year Ago: Slow Cooker Italian Beef Sandwich

HEAVENLY BROWNIES     
(recipe from King Arthur Flour)
printable version

1 cup butter
2 1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4  cup dutch-process cocoa
1/2 tsp. salt (increase to 1 tsp if you use unsalted butter)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 Tbs. vanilla
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 9x13 pan.

In a medium bowl, or in a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine. Return the mixture to the heat (or microwave) briefly, just till it’s hot, but not bubbling; it’ll become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating the butter and sugar a second time will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on you brownies. Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl.

Stir in the cocoa, salt, baking powder and vanilla. Add the eggs, beating till smooth; then add the flour and chocolate chips, beating till well combined. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake the brownies for 28-30 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out dry. The brownies should feel set both on the edges, and in the center. Remove them from the oven, and after 5 minutes loosen the edges with a table knife; this helps the brownies from sinking is the center as they cool. Cool completely before cutting and serving.
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Serving Up {Cake}: Triple Layer Brownie Fudge Cake

Valentine's Day is just about here, and I'm just going to come out and say it....Chocolate says LOVE to a lot of people!  My husband is one of those that chocolate speaks to.  If you also have someone who's love language is chocolate, might I suggest this recipe for a very rich, very chocolate Valentine's Day treat.  Serve this with a couple of chocolate dipped strawberries as a garnish and I know that I would be swooning!

This recipe reminds me of something that would be served at a really nice restaurant.  One of those desserts that you order with two forks, because as good as it is, it's just too much for one person.  In fact, this recipe is just rich enough, and just chocolate enough, that my kids think of this cake as "mom and dad's chocolate cake".  And I am just okay with that :)

TRIPLE LAYER BROWNIE FUDGE CAKE     Pin It

(recipe from Taste of Home)

printable version

1 1/2 cup butter
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
3 cups sugar
5 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cup flour
3/ tsp. salt

Frosting:
16 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
3 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
milk chocolate bar, shaved (optional garnish)

In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt butter and chocolate; stir until smooth. Stir in sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla, flour and salt.
Pour into three greased and floured 9-in. round baking pans. Bake at 350° for 23-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes; remove from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

For frosting, melt chocolate in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Gradually stir in cream and sugar until well blended. Heat to a gentle boil; boil and stir for 1 minute. Remove from the heat; transfer to a large bowl. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours or until mixture reaches a pudding-like consistency, stirring a few times.
Remove from refrigerator and beat until soft peaks form. Immediately spread between layers and over the top and sides of cake.
Garnish with shaved chocolate if desired.
Store in the refrigerator.

Serving Up {Brownies}: Favorite Mint Brownies

I pride myself in the fact that I have never met a brownie that I haven't instantly become friends with. I'm a brownie kind of girl. And although I love brownies in all their forms, I have a special fondness for mint brownies. And I'm not the only one - I became kind of well known in our previous ward for "Katherine's mint brownies" - they were requested at more than one baptism and the bishop offered them one year in ward council as a reward for ward history submissions.  Most ward history submissions ever!

This is one of those recipes that came with me when I moved out of my mom's house. Since that time I have enjoyed a fair number of mint brownies and have tried a number of other recipes. And while I have enjoyed most of them, none have beat this recipe. It is definately my "go-to" mint brownie recipe.

 

FAVORITE MINT BROWNIES     

(recipe from Pam H.)
printable version

6 eggs
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup cocoa
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt

In a large mixing bowl, blend eggs until bright yellow in color.  Gradually add the sugar; mixing until well combined.  Next add the melted butter and vanilla.  Combine dry ingredients and sift together and then add to the wet mixture and stir until combined.  Spread into a greased 12x17" pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, being careful not to over bake.  Cool on a wire rack.

Mint Filling:
1/2 cup butter, softened
3-4 Tbs. evaporated milk
3 1/2 -4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 - 3/4 tsp. mint extract
food coloring

Beat the butter until soft and then alternate adding the milk and powdered sugar until all the powdered sugar is used (may use additional milk if necessary).  The texture needs to be that of a spreadable frosting so that it doesn't tear the brownies.  Add mint extract to taste and food coloring of your choice.  Spread over cooled brownies.  Chill.

Chocolate Glaze:
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine the butter and chocolate chips in a small saucepan over med-low heat until melted; stirring frequently.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.  Let cool slightly before pouring over chilled mint layer of brownies.  Spread carefully.  Allow to cool completely before cutting.

**These brownies freeze really well so they are great for making ahead of time.