Marshmallow Swirl Brownies

To help make ends meet, I recently became a Pampered Chef consultant. I've really been enjoying the job - it's so fun to do parties, meet new people and play with cool Pampered Chef products. I'm always on the hunt for easy and delicious recipes to demo at my parties, and this one from Pillsbury fit the bill! I came across the recipe on a box of Pillsbury brownie mix and figured that no one could resist the combination of chocolate and marshmallow. I mean really, is there anything better than marshmallow fluff? Give these a whirl - they are fantastic and super easy!

Marshmallow Swirl Brownies

Cooking Spray
1 pkg fudge brownie mix
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
2 large eggs
1 (7 oz) jar marshmallow creme
1/3 cup chocolate frosting

Heat oven to 350. Prepare brownies as indicated on package with oil, water and eggs. Cool completely.

Spread a thin layer of marshmallow creme over brownies. Place frosting in microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for 10-20 seconds. Stir until smooth. Drizzle frosting over marshmallow creme. Swirl with knife.

Refrigerate 15 minutes. To cut cleanly, spray a knife with non-stick cooking spray as needed. Store loosely covered in the refrigerator.

Mexican Chocolate Crunch Brownies

Last December I got together with my wonderful friends Lauren, Sarah, Jenn and Colleen for a potluck lunch. We had so much fun that we decided to do it again this past Saturday. We chose Mexican for our lunch theme and I was put in charge of dessert. I have to admit I was at a bit of a loss, as there aren't a ton of Mexican desserts to choose from. I didn't want anything too heavy, as Mexican food is so heavy, and I also didn't want anything super complicated. I remembered that Anna of Cookie Madness had posted several Mexican cookies and brownies on her blog, so I ran over there for inspiration. It was there that I found this recipe for Mexican Chocolate Crunch Brownies.

They sounded yummy, plus I had all the ingredients on hand except for the cereal, so they were also convenient. These came together in no time and have a wonderful chocolate/cinnamon aroma. I have to admit, I wasn't sure what I thought of these at first. The crunchy cereal base kind of threw me off, but the more I tasted, the more they grew on me. The girls seemed to like them a bit more than I did, so they couldn't have been too bad. I loved the addition of cinnamon to the brownie batter and the cinnamon sugar topping. They were a nice ending to our wonderful Mexican feast!

As for that feast, we started off with awesome barbecue chicken quesadillas made by Jenn and delicious dip and guacamole from Colleen. For our main course, Lauren made us a Mexican taco bake and Sarah made Mexican rice. Everything was delicious! (I believe Sarah is going to post all the food from our lunch, so check out her blog for all the mouth-watering pics!) Thanks to Jenn for hosting and I can't wait to do it again!

Mexican Chocolate Crunch Brownies

1box (12.8 oz) Cinnamon Toast Crunch® cereal (about 8 cups)
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1 box (19.5 oz) fudge brownie mix
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons cinnamon-sugar (from 3.62-oz jar)*

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray. Place cereal in food processor bowl with metal blade (crush cereal in 2 batches if necessary). Cover; process until finely crushed (about 4 cups). Or place cereal in large resealable food-storage plastic bag; crush with rolling pin. (I did it in a bowl with a potato masher!) In large bowl, stir butter and corn syrup until well blended. Add crushed cereal; mix thoroughly. Press evenly in pan.


In large bowl, make brownie mix as directed on box, using oil, water and eggs and adding cinnamon. Stir in 2/3 cup of the chocolate chips. Pour brownie batter over cereal mixture. Sprinkle remaining 2/3 cup chocolate chips evenly over batter.
Bake 20 minutes. Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar evenly over brownies. Bake 14 to 18 minutes longer or until brownies are set when lightly touched in center. Cool 10 minutes; loosen edges but do not cut. Cool completely, about 2 hours. For brownies, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows.

*Three tablespoons sugar mixed with 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon can be substituted for the cinnamon sugar.

The perfect bite

These. Are. So. Good. I'm not even sure what else to say about them! But if you love peanut butter and chocolate, you won't find a better treat than these brownie peanut butter cups. I found the recipe on Bake or Break and the only change I made was to make them in mini muffin cups instead of standard size ones since I was bringing them to a party. They are simply out of this world. The gooey peanut butter center paired with the slightly chewy brownie and chocolate and peanut butter chips throughout just can't be beat! Make these now!

Brownie Peanut Butter Cups

3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon water
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup peanut butter chips plus about 1/3 cup more for garnishing
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips plus about 1/3 cup more for garnishing
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350°. Spray or grease 12 muffin cups. (I used a mini muffin pan and got 28 brownies.)
In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine sugar, butter, and water. Microwave on high for 1 minute or until butter is melted. Stir in 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips until melted. Stir in egg and vanilla extract. Add flour and baking soda, stirring until blended. Allow to cool to room temperature. Then, stir in 1/2 cup each peanut butter chips and semi-sweet chocolate chips. Spoon batter by heaping tablespoonfuls into muffin cups.
Bake for 13-15 minutes or until top is set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out slightly wet. Place pan on wire rack. Centers of brownies will fall upon cooling. If not, tap centers with the back of a teaspoon to make a hole.
Place peanut butter in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 45 seconds, then stir. While brownies are still hot, spoon about a tablespoon of peanut butter into the center of each brownie. Top with semi-sweet chocolate chips and peanut butter chips. Cool completely in pan.

Love Bites

For Joe's faculty meeting this month I wanted to make something a little Valentine's Day-ish but I didn't want to buy a lot of ingredients. Right after Christmas I had picked up a bag of Dark Chocolate Mint Truffle Hershey's Kisses on clearance because I thought they sounded delicious (and they are, they taste just like Andes mints, which I adore). But I didn't need to eat the whole bag myself, so I thought I would use them up and make the recipe for Mint Capped Brownie Cookie Cups that was on the back of the kiss bag. I added some red sprinkles and candy hearts for decoration - a little nod to the holiday is better than none, right? These are very tasty and simple to make. I finally got to use my mini muffin tins, and I loved them for this recipe because it helped me with portion control (I tend to make giant cookies and then I don't get as many out of my recipes) and allowed me to bake all 48 cookies at one time. The chocolate and mint go wonderful together, but you could use any flavor Kiss you like - and with all the new flavors they keep unveiling you have a wide variety to choose from!

Mint Capped Brownie Cookie Cups

48 Hershey's Kisses brand Dark Chocolate Mint Truffles
2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Hershey's cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Powdered sugar (optional)

Heat oven to 350 and line 48 small muffin cups with paper or foil baking liners. (I just sprayed the tins with non-stick spray and they were fine.) Remove wrappers from chocolates.
Beat butter, granulated sugar, water and vanilla in a large bowl on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs; beat well.
Stir together flour, cocoa, salt ang baking soda. Gradually add to sugar mixture, beating on low just until blended. If necessary, refrigerate until firm enough to handle. Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place in prepared muffin cups. (I did not refrigerate the dough and just spooned the dough into the cups free-form.)
Bake for 11 to 13 minutes or until cookie surface is set. Cookies will appear soft and moist - do not overbake. Cool about five minutes in muffin cups on wire rack. Press Kiss into surface of each cookie cup. Cool completely in pan on wree rack. Sprinkle each cooke with powdered sugar, if desired.

(It's hard to rely on your) Good Intentions

Anyone else remember that song? I believe it's Toad the Wet Sprocket - ah, high school memories. Anyhow, I entered the What's Cooking? recipe exchange with the best of intentions. For those of you who don't know, What's Cooking? is a fantastic cooking message board that I frequent. One of of the other WC? regulars, Katie, of the awesome blog Good Things Catered, arranged a fun recipe swap for us - basically we all submitted our favorite holiday dessert recipe, then Katie shuffled them up and redistributed them so we were all given a new recipe to try out and post about.

I was excited when I got my recipe - Fudgy Mocha Toffee Brownies from Cooking Light - because I have actually had this recipe set aside for several months but haven't gotten around to making it yet. And the trend seemed to continue, as with all the hustle and bustle of getting ready for the holidays I almost didn't have a chance to make them for the recipe exchange either. But as luck would have it I ended up needing to prepare a treat for one of Joe's students and decided that I would seize the opportunity to make the Fudgy Mocha Toffee Brownies.

I got started Wednesday night after dinner and the gym. So it was kind of late and I was kind of tired, but I was making those brownies! I melted the chocolate and the butter, preheated the oven...then realized that I did not have any instant coffee. Hmmmm. My brilliant (yet obviously cloudy) mind told me that using regular grounds coffee would not yeild the same result as instant. But since I had already melted my chocolate and felt committed to these brownies, I decided that I would leave out the coffee and make them "Fudgy Toffee Brownies" instead.

I got back to work fully focused on my task - and then my mom called. Since I am normally the queen of multi-tasking, I saw nothing wrong with chatting on the phone while preparing my brownies. I got the batter all ready and scooped it into the pan. It was very, very thick. So thick that I re-read the recipe to see if I'd left something out. It seemed as if I had gotten it right, so I popped the brownies in the oven. 10 minutes later I checked on the baking brownies and they looked exactly the same as they had before I put them in the oven. Hmmmm again. I read the recipe for a third time and this time realized I had forgotten the baking powder. Not the reason for the super thick batter, but still a mistake! Not much I could do at that point, so I crossed my fingers and finished baking the brownies.

And you know what? They were delicious! Super dense and fudgy (I guess that's what a lack of baking powder will do) with a fantastic crunch from the toffee bits. Wow, I love toffee. So much that I began eating the little pieces out of the bag plain after eating a brownie. Yum! I need to find another recipe to use them in. Anyhow, I'm glad I finally got to make these brownies, and I will definitely make them again - maybe I'll even try to get it right next time!

Happy holidays!

Fudgy Mocha Toffee Brownies

(Source: September 2007 Cooking Light)

Cooking Spray

2 tbsp instant coffee granules

1/4 cup hot water

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups AP flour

1 1/3 cups sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

2 large eggs

1/4 cup toffee chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Coat bottom of a 8x8 pan with spray.
3. Combine coffee granules with hot water, stir until the granules are dissolved.

4. Combine butter and chocolate chips. Microwave on HIGH for 1 minute until butter melts; stir until chocolate is smooth.

5. Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk.

6. Combine coffee mixture, butter/chocolate chip mixture, vanilla and eggs in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk.

7. Add wet mixture to dry ingredients. Stir until well combined. **the batter was really thick**

8. Spread evenly into pan and sprinkle evenly with toffee chips. Bake for 22 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

It's a Rocky Road

On Saturday afternoon I was struck with the urge to bake. I announced to Joe that I was going to whip up some pumpkin chocolate chip blondies, but that suggestion was received by Joe rather unenthusiastically. I asked him what he would prefer and he said "Something really unhealthy." I thought about what Joe liked best (and since he's not a huge sweet person there wasn't much to think about) and decided to make some rocky road brownies. I used the brownie base from the Caramel Cashew Brownies I had made a few months earlier and added chopped pecans to the batter. When the brownies were done I sprinkled the tops with more pecans, mini marshmallows and chocolate chunks, then stuck the whole thing back in the oven for a few minutes to soften the marshmallows a bit. These were delicious and definitely "really unhealthy."

Caramel-Cashew Brownies

Freakin' yum. These brownies are amazing. They are also super rich, so I recommend cutting them into small squares before serving. A little of these goes a long way, but they are incredibly delicious. I found the recipe on the Food Network website. This was my first attempt at brownies from scratch, and I definitely picked a winner!

Caramel-Cashew Brownies

Brownies:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces plus extra for greasing

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup cake flour, sifted

3/4 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chunks

Carmel-Cashew Topping:

1/4 cup cream

Approximately 40 store bought caramels

Pinch salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 to 3/4 cup raw cashews

Make the brownies:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Line an 8-inch square baking dish with a sheet of aluminum foil, making sure to cover the corners and sides. Lightly butter the aluminum foil, including corners and sides.
In the bowl of a double boiler set over simmering water, combine the butter and chopped unsweetened chocolate. Stirring often, heat until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar and salt. Add the eggs and vanilla and stir until well blended. Fold in the sifted flour and stir just until the flour disappears. Stir in the semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chunks.
Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and spread evenly. Bake approximately 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Baking time will be longer if you are using a metal pan. Do not overbake. Transfer the dish to a wire rack and cool completely.

Make the Carmel-Cashew Topping:

Pour the cream into the bowl of a double boiler set over simmering water. Unwrap caramels and put them into the bowl. Stirring frequently to prevent sticking, combine the cream and caramels until the mixture becomes homogeneous and smooth. Take the mixture off the heat and keep stirring until the caramel becomes a little thicker and the mixture begins to cool down. Add a pinch of salt and the vanilla and stir. Coarsely chop the cashews and fold them into the caramel mixture until nuts are completely coated with caramel. Pour mixture over the top of the cooled brownies and spread evenly.

Refrigerate the brownies until the caramel is set, about 30 to 45 minutes. Remove brownies from the pan by grabbing the sides of the aluminum foil and lifting them from the pan. With a serrated knife, cut the brownies into 2-inch squares. These can be stored in an airtight container for 2 days or in a covered container in the refrigerator for 4 days.*

*I suggest storing these in the fridge, since the caramel is very sticky.