Mint Brownies with Fudge Frosting

As I've mentioned before in a previous post, I've always been a bit indifferent to the idea of making brownies from scratch.  It just seems like there are so many steps when a boxed mix is quite frankly (in my opinion) just fine.  And by just fine I mean that I would have no problem finishing off the whole pan by myself :)  I always end up loving any brownies I make from scratch, but my preconceived notions still somehow manage to persist.

But during a Pinterest search for some St. Patrick's Day recipes I kept coming across mint brownies.  And the more pins I saw the more I was craving some for myself.  Typical, I know.  I swear I believe Pinterest is responsible for 99.9% of my food cravings!

There are tons of great mint brownie recipes out there, but I decided to try my hand at coming up with something new that would have all of the aspects that I was craving.  i.e. a soft brownie base, a thicker layer of mint and then a fudge frosting on top.  These brownies are extra minty in flavor because I used mint chocolate chips for the fudge frosting instead of semi sweet chocolate chips.  If you're not looking for as much of a punch you can stick with semi sweet.

I don't really have a lot of green in my closet, so hopefully I can placate anyone who might pinch me for not proudly bearing the color with one of these babies....at least that's my plan :)

Happy {early} St. Patrick's Day!!

Red Velvet S'more Bars

Anyone still there??  Anyone??  Geez it's been a long time since I've posted.  Almost three months to be exact.  This blog is something that I've been (for the most part) pretty regular with for quite some time and then I just stopped cold turkey not too long after Thanksgiving.  [pun intended]

I guess I could come up with some pretty good excuses:

1. I battled a gnarly sinus infection for about 8 weeks there.  No lie.  Nothing would get rid of it.  The netty pot became my best friend.

2. Then I got the flu.  For the first time.  Ever.  It was awful.  103.7 degree temps are no fun.

3. Because of the aforementioned excuses I lost my sense of smell and thus taste.  And when you can't taste you can't cook.

4. Who wants to eat food prepared by someone who's sick???  Even if I had cooked something, I wouldn't have felt right asking someone to eat it.
5. I still haven't been able to transfer all of my old food photos onto my new laptop and thus can't blog them.
6. By the time I get home and cook something there is ZERO daylight left which means I can't take photos in our sunroom the way I like.  I've tried shooting with artificial lighting and I never can get it to look the way I want it to.

And honestly I just needed a break. I tried to take a break here and there for a while, but 1 or 2 weeks just wasn't enough. I needed a breather. This blog is just a hobby, but it takes a great deal of time and I think I just got burnt out.

I felt like every post there was an apology for the week of silence followed by a promise that I was back in action. But really I just needed to step back from everything a bit.

So for my return post I wanted to feature something that I absolutely loved.  And these red velvet s'more bars fit the bill :)  I always loved sitting around a fire, whether I was camping or just in someone's back yard, and toast a marshmallow until it turned that perfect golden color.  That meant it was just crispy on the outside, but still warm and not burnt to a crisp on the inside.  And of course you always had to have half a Hershey's bar for each smore.  I don't know how some people can use just one or two of those tiny little squares.

This recipe is the perfect solution when you want to have a great comfort food-type dessert for a get together, yet you don't have a fire pit in sight.  These little guys were super easy to make and certainly won't last long once you bring them out!

 

*More pics coming tonight!  Apparently they didn't save on the draft, but I didn't want to delay the post just for that reason. 

Gingerbread Pumpkin Bars

Kind of like the last post on pecan pie, these gingerbread pumpkin bars are a wee bit tardy.  I realize that although there's no law stating you can't whip up a pumpkin based recipe after Thanksgiving, Christmas always takes over and most of the recipes are geared towards all things red, green and peppermint.

[Just a forewarning though...I still have some homemade pumpkin puree to post....]

But alas I couldn't let this recipe go to waste.  I saw a ton of pumpkin recipes floating around Pinterest all throughout the fall, but these bars caught my eye because they deviated just ever so slightly from your standard pumpkin pie bars....these bars have a gingerbread base and a streusel topping.  I know, it sounds kinda funny; gingerbread AND pumpkin?  Isn't gingerbread supposed to be reserved for Christmas and gingerbread boys and girls with those cute m&m buttons?

I know it sounds weird, but somehow it works.  Gingerbread is a bit spicy, pumpkin pie is a bit spicy....so together they go, right?

I only made one change from the original Land O' Lakes recipe and omitted the glaze.  These bars were sweet enough on their own and I didn't feel they needed it.

While the bars are so delicious they probably won't last that long, I will admit that these little guys did get a bit soggy by day 2.  So just a word of warning:  if you're making them ahead of time for an event I wouldn't do so really far in advance.  To combat this I might bake the bottom layer solo for a few minutes while preparing the filling the next time I make these.

And there will definitely be a next time.  Yum!

PS If you want lots of streusel you can make extra.  There was just enough, but I might try doubling the amount I use next time.

No Fail Pecan Pie

Oh my dear!  Where to start??  First off, let me apologize for the silence.  My beloved macbook officially bit the dust last week and I've been in the process of mourning the loss.  You know the stages:  denial (pretending that my mac would somehow come back if only I plugged it into so many different outlets), bargaining (if I buy it a new screen maybe that'll do it!) and acceptance (finally realizing that my time with my first ever macbook was done....I've officially become one of those crazy Apple converts and saying goodbye to the piece of technology that was responsible for this was tough).  I got a new Macbook Pro this weekend and finally began the process of transferring photos and getting some new posts put together.  Woohoo!

Today's post is a little late due to the aforementioned issues, but I figured it is better late than never.  Pecan pie reminds be a lot of Thanksgiving, but you can also eat it year-round, which is why I decided to still do a post on it.  I mean, I would never turn a slice down.

I don't bake a lot of pies.  I love eating them, but making them really is an art.  It's not making cookie dough, rolling it into a ball and then you're good to go.  If you're not used to making your own crust it can be quite a daunting task.  Remember this terrible awful scenario from my last year's Thanksgiving pecan pie attempt?  Yeah, I'd like to forget it too.  

Because of that terrible awful experience I did a LOT of research with regards to recipes and techniques.  I absolutely love caramel pecan pie but wanted to stick with a traditional recipe since it's the kind my hubby's grandad loves so much.  I also knew I wanted something that wouldn't leave me with that dreaded watery/wet middle which can sometimes happen.  

I ended up settling on a pie crust recipe from Smitten Kitchen (hello obsession!) and a filling recipe from King Arthurs flour which had received rave reviews.  Luckily for me (and the hubby's family), this pie turned out just as I had hoped and I was actually able to bring an edible dessert to this year's get together.  [Insert loud sigh of relief}  I loved the flavor and texture of the pie crust and thought the filling had the perfect amount of richness while still keeping with the familiar flavor that everyone loves.  I definitely found my new go-to!

Today's post will only feature the filling recipe....I tried to post both the crust and filling recipe and it was WAY too long!  Check back Friday for the crust recipe and details!

Oooey Gooey Red Velvet Chess Squares

Every Wednesday night growing up I would eat dinner at our church before whatever activities I had on hand.  The food was always the very best kind of down home Southern food you can imagine: fried chicken, green beans flavored with ham hocks, homemade biscuits and sweet tea. If it was something your great grandmother might have made from scratch it was there.

It's been a while and my memory is a little fuzzy, but I'm pretty sure a local restaurant called Lulu's came in and fixed everything.  Some Wednesday nights they would make this stuff called ooey gooey cake.  It was basically heaven in sugar form.

Ooey gooey cake is very similar to chess bars and pies.  They both don't completely firm up when done, resulting in a gooey texture. And seeing as how I'm that person who loves pulling cookies out of the oven when they're not quite finished baking to keep them super soft, this recipe hits the spot for me.

I've had the basic yellow cake-type and then chocolate versions of ooey gooey cake and chess squares, but had never tried a red velvet version.  Curious, I did a quick search of the internet to see if I could find a recipe, but to no avail.

Off to the mixing bowl I went armed with a few ingredients I thought might produce the result I was looking for.  And I've got to say I feel like I got exactly what I was hoping for.

The bottom layer of these ooey gooey red velvet chess squares is somewhat similar to that of a brownie.  But the top layer of butter and cream cheese is what qualifies them to carry their title.  These squares are really easy to make and would be perfect to take to a Christmas or holiday get together.  Or if you're like me and have a slight obsession with red velvet recipes then you can make them all year long!

Warning:  These bars are very rich and extremely addictive.  Eat one (or three!) and then give them away, lest you end up eating the whole pan.....

Chocolate Pound Cake with Old Fashioned Fudge Icing

I made my first pound cake not too long ago, and after the pleasant (and delicious) experience I decided to branch out and try another flavor.  My hubby's stepmom made the most amazing chocolate pound cake with a fudge icing one night when we were over there (think icing being poured directly over the hot cake just out of the oven....) and that sealed my decision to take on this recipe from the Junior League's Perennials cookbook.

Some chocolate on chocolate cakes are too much for some people.  I may not be in that camp, but there are those out there who don't particularly care for the "death by chocolate" types of confections.  The good news is that this is a cake even those said individuals will love.  The actual cake's flavor isn't so overpowering, letting the rich fudge icing get its share of the limelight as well.

This icing is the kind that everyone's grandmother used to make.  The kind you cook.  I'm not sure what it is about cooking chocolate icing, but it makes it so much better than the frosting you simply whip in a stand mixer.  Simply put, this icing takes the cake (pun intended).

Funfetti Cake Mix Cookies

Is this funfetti overload?  I realize today's post might be a bit much since I just did a post on Funfetti Cake Batter Fudge last week.  But these cookies were so delicious that I couldn't help continuing the trend......

Apparently October is popular for birthdays in my family, as my mom, sister and grandmother all have their special day during the month.  I had already agreed to make a pound cake for our breakfast brunch, but also wanted to bring something else.  A sweet something else on the side.  I had a friend in high school who made the most amazing cake mix cookies, so I thought funfetti cake mix cookies might hit the spot.






These cookies are based on the cult favorite funfetti cake mix, so they don't take too long to make it from the bowl to the oven to your tummy.  Four ingredients, eight minutes in the oven.

I added a bit of cornstarch to these as I've found that doing so keeps cookies soft and fluffy.  You could really use any cake mix you'd like....I think next time I might try red velvet!

Funfetti Cake Batter Fudge

When I think of celebrations I usually think of something sweet; something sugary and rich and quite sinful.  While everything that falls into these categories is delicious, all those recipes often take quite a bit of time, effort and energy to prepare.  This isn't necessary a bad thing unless you're in a time crunch.  A layer cake is great, but you also have to consider that one will take you anywhere from 2 1/2 - 3 hours to make.

Insert today's funfetti cake batter fudge recipe.  You get all the sugary goodness with just 5 ingredients that literally take 5 minutes to throw together.  And funfetti just screams "celebration" in my book.

This was my first time making fudge and I must say it was much easier than I thought.  I got a little impatient waiting for the fudge to set and tried to cut it too soon....word to the wise: patience is a virtue. If you try to rush this step your fudge won't be firm enough to cleanly cut and remove from the pan.  What you end up with is a gooey mess.  Albeit, a gooey mess that I enjoyed eating before returning the pan back to the fridge, but still.

Just make sure to give this stuff away ASAP unless you're okay with devouring the entire pan :)  It's delicious!

Sour Cream Pound Cake

I've been baking pretty steadily for the past few years, but somehow have never managed to get around to making a pound cake.  I think I've always found them a bit intimidating and would rather just go the good old fashioned layer cake route, which is what I'm most comfortable with.  

I feel like so many things can go wrong with a pound cake...it can get too dry and then there is no icing to mask the problem (literally and figuratively)....they have a bad reputation for sticking to the pan.....they can collapse during the baking process leaving you with nothing but a big battered mess and a bad mood.  I'm pretty sure the list could go on and that a lot of you reading this have a few mishaps of your own that you could add.

I had been perusing various sites and blogs for a pound cake recipe that would be worthy of my maiden voyage with the dessert, but always came up short: the recipe instructions wouldn't be specific enough ("bake 40 minutes to 95 minutes"...what?!), there would be less than glowing reviews from frustrated bakers, maybe the picture accompanying the recipe couldn't exactly be characterized as aesthetically pleasing which would lead me to the believe that it probably didn't taste good either.

I was about to write off my search as a lost cause when I got wind of the infamous sour cream pound cake recipe that belongs to my hubby's stepmom.  Cathy has always turned out delicious meals, but apparently this recipe takes the cake (pun intended).   My husband's grandfather has even dubbed the dessert the best cake he's ever eaten.

The crust is hands down my favorite part.

And I must say that I have now seen the light and will be turning to this recipe from here on out when I need a no-fail sweet staple.  This recipe was super easy to follow and produced the most amazing cake that had both that perfect crackled crust on the outside and the moist flavorful inside that I was looking for.  

Cathy's suggestion to dust the pan with sugar also turned out to be a new favorite tip.  I used a 2-piece fluted angelfood cake pan and sprayed it with Pam for Baking (it contains flour) and then sprinkled the pan with some sugar.  The usually frustrating task of removing the cake from the pan was a breeze and I loved the extra bit of flavor the sugar dusting gave the crust.  

*Two extra tids bits and tips:

1. I will say just a teeny bit of batter seeped out of the bottom of my 2-piece pan, but it didn't affect my cake.  Next time I'll just set  a baking pan underneath the cake in the oven to eliminate any small mess.

2. I was a bit unsure of how to remove the cake from the pan since technically it wasn't made for a pound cake.  If I were to flip the pan over like I normally do it would have ruined the crust.  I ended up pulling the top portion of the pan out of the bottom by the flute and then literally used my hands to lift the entire cake off of the flute after it had cooled for about 30 minutes.  This may not be the correct way to do it, but it worked for me.

What about you?  Do you have a favorite pound cake recipe?  If not, let this be yours!

Chewy Chocolate Chip Toffee Bars

I wouldn't necessarily consider myself a huge toffee fan, but when I caught a glimpse of these Chewy Chocolate Chip Toffee Bars over on Pinterest I couldn't resist giving them a go.  Reason being that I linked over to the recipe and realized just what all kinds of goodness went into these little babies....

Layer 1: Graham cracker crumbs, butter, toffee bits
Layer 2: Chocolate melted with sweetened condensed milk
Layer 3: Chocolate chip cookie dough and a few graham cracker crumbs
Layer 4: Toffee Bits sprinkled all a-top

Hhhhmm...considering that I would have eaten just the bottom layer alone I figured that these couldn't turn out too bad.  And I will have to say that they certainly didn't disappoint in the least.  I was worried that each of the layers would be too thin (my graham cracker mixture barely covered the bottom, but because all of the ingredients are pretty rich and flavorful the ratios turned out to be spot on.

I enjoyed the idea of these bars so much that I think I might experiment in the future with sugar cookie dough or mint chocolate chip bits....or maybe peanut butter...or white chocolate.  Well, you get the idea.

Enjoy!

Banana Bread Brownies with Brown Butter Frosting

Bananas are unfortunately on my list of least favorite foods.  It's not that I don't like the flavor, but rather it's the texture of the them that bothers me.  They're mushy.  Mushy and gooey.  They kind of remind me of clumpy baby food to think of it.  [insert slight gag reflex]

Oddly enough I love banana flavored foods though, particularly banana flavored desserts.  I've always been a fan of banana bread, so when I came across these banana bread brownies topped with a brown butter frosting I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take them up to a family gathering at Lake Burton.

I wasn't exactly sure what the expect though....would they be super sugary and dense like your typical brownies?  Or would they still have more of a standard bread-y texture?  I was fine with either, especially since the brown butter frosting was involved!  I had never made a brown butter frosting, but was surprised at how easy it was to make.  You just have to be careful to watch it, lest your brown butter frosting become burnt butter frosting.  Yikes!

These turned out to be slightly sweeter than your average loaf of banana bread without being too dense.  I was a little worried there wouldn't be enough frosting, so I did 1 1/2 times the amount listed in the original recipe.  I was so glad I did because it turned out to be just the perfect amount.  No one wants the tease of a too thin layer of frosting after all.

And since you don't have to wait for the brownies to cool to frost them this whole dessert comes together from start to finish in under an hour.  While it's no secret I love spending hours upon hours in the kitchen, you don't always have time to stand over an oven for an entire afternoon.  Another plus is that this frosting can be made all in one bowl, no stand mixer required.....less dishes are always a good thing!

Hopefully you'll go bananas for these banana bread brownies too :)  Enjoy!

Glazed Doughnut Muffins

A few weeks ago a Dunkin Donuts opened up not too far from where the hubs and I live.  Every time I pass it I have to muster up every bit of self control I have not to pull through the drive-thru and order up a mixed dozen.  Red velvet?  Yes please.  Chocolate Frosted?  Yes again.  Plain glazed?  You bet.  I'm pretty sure I've never met a doughnut I didn't immediately make friends with.

But what about doughnut muffins?  I came across the recipe for these on one of my favorite blogs, Sweet Pea's Kitchen.  I've tried several other recipes from Christina and have always been blown away, so I figured I'd give this one a go.  I wasn't exactly sure how it would be possible for a muffin to taste like a doughnut, but I took a leap of faith based on all the rave reviews I read.

I was making these muffins for my Sunday School class, so I made them the night before to be on the safe side.  That way if they were a flop I would still have a few hours to throw something else together the next morning.  What can I say, I'm a bit of a worry wart and would always rather be safe than sorry!

These muffins turned out tasking much more like doughnuts than I had anticipated.  I loved the subtle brown sugar and cinnamon flavor they had and was pleasantly surprised that the glaze that topped them didn't make them so sickeningly sweet that they seemed like a rich dessert.

I was a little perplexed as to why my glaze never set up like the one's in Christina's photos (mine was more clear and never took on that hard/white appearance even after it had dried), but it was delicious nevertheless.

These muffins would be a great unexpected addition to any breakfast or brunch, and they are especially a new favorite of mine since they can be prepared beforehand.   Dare I say these muffins might be able to give Dunkin Donuts a run for their money?  I'll let you be the judge :)

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

Two of my favorite things are red velvet cake and brownies.  I've heard of several versions of brownies over the years....blondies, Reese's cup brownies, chocolate chunk brownies, m&m brownies, ones with caramel.....you name it, it's probably been done.  But it was on Pinterest where I came across a red velvet version of these delicious chocolate bars.

I don't know what it is about the red color, but it just makes everything taste better.  After all, a red velvet cake is nothing but a chocolate buttermilk cake that's blushing a deep red scarlet color.  But I swear the color makes it taste different somehow.

These brownies were incredibly easy to put together and I loved that they were topped with a lovely layer of cream cheese.  Cream cheese just adds another layer of richness.  This addition isn't necessary in my opinion because the brownies themselves are so yummy, but I think it lends another flavor that complements the chocolate perfectly.

Look how moist those babies are...

Just a word of warning....you may need to wear your stretchy pants the day after you make these because I can promise you you're going to both lick the bowl clean and then turn around and eat three (or five) of these delicious bars :)

Those brownies may or may not be missing

because I ate them...only for photographic

purposes though :)

Six Layer Caramel Cake

Besides ice cream cake, the hubby's sweet treat of choice is a good ole classic yellow cake with caramel frosting.  I've almost made one several times over the years, but the thought of trying to conquer a caramel icing always leaves me opting for either a store bought one or a quick trip to the local Dairy Queen for that ice cream cake.  I've heard horror stories about this frosting, and I'd rather not spend hours trying to make it only to have to face the poor boy and tell him that there won't be a birthday dessert after all.  And if I were really honest I just don't like the possibility of failing.

However, I had a change of heart a few weeks ago when he turned the ripe old age of 27.  This was his first birthday we were celebrating as a married couple.  Plus, he does so much for me each and every day that I figured I could put forth some extra effort and give it a go.  Seriously, marrying this boy was the best decision I've ever made.  And so I owed him a cake.  One made of from scratch with plenty of love.  And with plenty of blood and sweat and tears.  Okay, I may have been exaggerating on that last part, but still.

After some searching I decided to tackle two recipes from one of my favorite sites, AllRecipes.  I have such a love affair with this site because there are plenty of ratings and reviews which give you a good idea of which recipe is the best.  There are also plenty of suggestions written in by such reviewers which can help you with any troubleshooting.  Both the yellow cake and caramel frosting recipes came from this site and I must say I was incredibly pleased.

All that being said, I definitely wouldn't start with this cake if you're not comfortable with layer cakes.  The six layers are very thin and can be tricky to manage if you're not used to transferring and stacking them in multiples.

And of course caramel frosting is a whole other animal.  Unlike buttercream or cream cheese frosting, it stiffens and sets very quickly, so you have to work very fast.  This was my first time working with it, so hopefully I'll get more of the hang of it with each passing go-round.

But this cake was unbelievably moist and the frosting was the perfectly rich complement to the buttery layers.  Yes, it was time consuming and expensive to make (12 egg yolks?!), but it was oh so worth every bit of it.  Don't let my review of the complexity of it scare you....I just want to make sure a first time cake baker doesn't take a whirl with it and then get frustrated when it flops :)

I hope you enjoy these pics, because

I had to cut the cake before presenting it to the hubby

in order to get a few good snaps.

The recipes below have been altered quite a bit with regards to the quantity they yield.  The original yellow cake recipe makes 2 larger layers and frosting recipe listed below makes 6 times the original amount.  Link back to the main source for smaller quantities.

Quick and Easy Puff Pastry Dough and Sweet Peach Tarts

Puff pastry is one of those things that, frankly, has always scared the bejesus out of me.  This type of pastry has many, many tiny layers and when it bakes, each of these layers puffs up so you can see each buttery plane.  Thus, the name.

I'm fairly comfortable making pie crust, pizza dough, biscuits and the like, but the thought of constructing all of these little layers kind of makes me want to sprint to the frozen foods section of the Publix up the street and just pay the $4 for a package of it.  

But on a recent Saturday I had some time on my hands and thought, why the heck not?  I didn't inform the hubby of my endeavor so that if flopped I wouldn't have anyone to explain it to anyone.

However the pastry turned out to be so much easier than I could have ever imagined.  No, really.  Yes, it takes a bit of time, but it took much less time and effort than I was expecting.  And boy was it worth it.  I've never had frozen puff pastry so I don't have anything to compare it to, but I will say that each of those buttery, flakey layers was just divine.  And I must admit that I certainly ate more of those said layers than I probably should have.  Whoops.

You can use this puff pastry for quite a variety of delicacies, but I chose top little squares of mine with fresh peaches, honey and brown sugar for a tart.  Yes please!