Brownie Covered Oreos

I started writing this post last week, but I had the flu at the time. Thinking about food with the flu is not a good idea and i'll just leave it at that. Sometimes you want something simple and easy without having to make the same usuals, and that's what I liked about this. By no means are oreos and brownies a new dessert, but it is a new way (to me atleast) of going about it which made it fun and gave me some ideas of other things to try. I used the red winter oreos which would also look good for Valentine's day!

Brownie Covered Oreos
Picky Palate


Ingredients:
1 Box Brownie mix
1 Package Oreos
White chocolate, melted for drizzle

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare brownie batter according to package directions. Leave in mixing bowl. Dip Oreos in brownie batter then place in bottom of cupcake tin that has been generously sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until brownies are cooked through. As soon as you remove, take a plastic knife and run along edges.
2. Let cool for 5 minutes, remove, drizzle with melted white chocolate.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Swirl Brownies

Being sick is NO fun. I don't know where this cold came from that is cursing my family, but with a holiday weekend coming up, it needs to be gone soon! Here's another cheesecake brownie recipe I saw recently and knew immediately I would be trying them soon. After making pumpkin spice pancakes last weekend I still had some left over pumpkin puree (and still do..so im sure you'll be seeing another pumpkin post soon!), I also happened to need a dessert for something so I think it was fate. These are just as good as they look and sound and definitely worth giving a try. Not in the mood for brownies? (wait..is that possible?) Try giving these pumpkin chocolate chip bars a shot. They will surely test your will power.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Swirl Brownies
seen on the amazing Perry's Plate

Ingredients:

Brownie Batter:

3/4 cup butter, melted

1 cup sugar

1 T vanilla

2 eggs

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Cheesecake Batter:

6 oz cream cheese, softened

1 egg

1/3 cup sugar

2 T flour

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp each ground ginger and ground cloves

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8x8" or an 11x7" baking pan.

For the Brownies:Beat together melted butter, sugar, and vanilla, then beat in eggs one at a time. Combine dry ingredients in small bowl, and then gradually stir into butter mixture by hand.

For the Cheesecake:In another bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in remainder of ingredients until smooth.Spread about 2/3 of chocolate batter into prepared pan. Spread the pumpkin batter over top, distributing evenly. Drop the remaining brownie batter over cheesecake batter. To make the swirls, run a butter knife back and forth through the pan.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely and chill before cutting and serving.

Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies

Someone tell my boy it's not cool waking up multiple times during the night. I don't remember the last time I slept through the night. It's been a very long time. And I don't see an end to my sleepless nights anytime in the near future. It took Rylee about a year until she slept good at night. Then not long after that I was pregnant again. And sleeping while pregnant at times can be as bad as when the baby is actually out. Landon is only 4 months. And while I don't want my baby to grow up, I miss sleep! That has nothing to do with these brownies, other than the fact that I can't think about anything else right now than i'm ready for bed!! So, brownies are good. Cheesecake is good. I don't see how these could possibly be bad. I've made plain cheesecake brownies before, but I think I prefer the chocolate ;)

Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies
Baking Bites

Brownies:
1/2 cup butter
2-oz dark chocolate, chopped
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt

Cheesecake layer:
8-oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8×8 or 9×9-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil and lightly grease.In a small, heatproof bowl, melt butter and chocolate together. Stir with a fork until very smooth. Stir in cocoa powder until fully incorporated. Set aside to cool.In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs and vanilla extract. Whisking steadily, pour chocolate mixture into sugar mixture. Stir until smooth. Sift flour and salt into the bowl and stir until just combined.Pour into prepared pan and spread into an even layer.Prepare cheesecake mixture. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, cocoa powder, egg and vanilla extract until smooth.Drop in dollops onto prepared brownie batter. Gently swirl two batters with a butter knife.Bake for 35-40 minutes, until brownies and cheesecake are set. A knife inserted into the cheesecake mixture will come out clean.Cool in the pan completely before slicing and serving, either at room temperature or chilled.Brownies can be refrigerated, covered, for several days.
Makes 16 large brownies.

Cocoa Brownies with Browned Butter and Walnuts

This is another recipe from this month's bon appetit that I couldn't wait to try. In fact, the picture for these was the cover. And you can bet I was excited when it slipped through the mail slot and I saw these. So of course, I made them nutless as previously explained. However they were fantastic either way. All the things a good brownie should be- fudgey inside, chewy and they had a (slight) crackly top. Although I thought these were great, I wouldn't call them my favorite. But then again, that would be a very hard thing for me to do with any brownie recipe. Just a reminder: don't make these if you're out of milk. You'll be kicking yourself if you do. Oh hey, know what I just noticed? These are almost identical to Best Cocoa Brownies that I posted a while back ago, haha. Guess I shoud have checked that earlier. I was thinking they felt familiar and didn't decide to check until after these ones were done. Either way i'm sure I would have made them!

Cocoa Brownies with Browned Butter and Walnuts

bon appetit magazine

Ingredients:

10 TBLS. (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 1/4 c. sugar

3/4 c. natural unsweetened cocoa powder

1 t. vanilla extract

2 large eggs, chilled

1/3 c. plus 1 TBLS. unbleached all purpose flour

1 c. walnuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 deg F. Line 8x8 inch pan with foil leaving 2 inch overhang. Coat foil with nonstick cooking spray.

Melt buter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking until butter stops foaming and browned bits form at bottom of pan, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; immediately add sugar, cocoa, 2 t. water, vanilla, and 1/4 t (generous) salt. Stir to blend. Let cool 5 minutes (mixture will still be hot).

Add eggs to hot mixture 1 at a time, beating vigorously to blend after each addition. When mixture looks thick and shiny, add flour and stir until blended. Beat vigorously 60 strokes. Stir in nuts. Transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake brownies until toothpick inserted into center comes out almost clean (with a few moist crumbs attached), about 25 minutes. Cool in pan on rack. Using foil overhang, lift brownies from pan and cut.

*Can be made 2 days ahead. Store airtight at room temp.

*Linked up to Sweets For A Saturday

Cocoa Rouge Brownies

I decided to make brownies for Matt to take to school for his birthday. Last year I made cupcakes and it took forever since I needed about 50. I had a can of cocoa rouge from Guittard i've been wanting to try and so decided to try these brownies from Guittard's website. I'm lucky I happened to have enough of all the ingredients because I didn't look at the list before I started making these and I had exactely just enough. And I gotta say, I felt a little disgusted as I was making them. I made a double batch (14 eggs, 6 c. sugar, 6 sticks of butter..) I just had to remind myself that these were for abot 40 people, it's not like 1 or 2 people are eating all of these. They turned out good though, I liked them. They were thick and sturdy and would hold up well as part of a brownie sundae.
Cocoa Rouge Brownies
Guittard



Makes 24 two-inch squares
Ingredients:
1¼ cups E. Guittard Cocoa Rouge (this is a dutch processed cocoa, you could try sub. a diff. brand)
1¼ cups unsifted all-purpose flour
1½ cups unsalted butter (3 sticks)
3 cups sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
7 large eggs
2 cups (8 oz) chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:
Line a 9x13x2-inch pan with foil. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Blend cocoa and flour in a medium bowl until uniform; set aside. Melt butter in large microwave safe bowl for 1-1½ minutes, until melted. Mix in sugar, salt and vanilla with a wooden spoon. Vigorously beat in eggs one at a time until smooth and glossy. Mix in dry ingredients until smooth and free of lumps. Stir in walnuts (if using) and spread into prepared pan. Bake 45-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center still has moist crumbs. Cool completely on rack before cutting with a long bladed sharp knife.

Smore's Brownies & Marshmallows

In honor of an upcoming camping trip, I decided to do this post on smores brownies I found on cookies and cups. And also some smores marshmallows i've seen somewhere before. I never really used to like smores, but now I can't get enough of them! Yea, remember I got a smores sundae from Ghirdadelli and one of my favorite things are smores cookie bars and I also made little mini smores? Don't worry though, i'm not out of smores recipes just yet ;)

Smores Brownies

Ingredients:

6 Hershey Bars (although I only needed about 4..)

1 box brownie mix (or make your own)

2 cups mini marshmallows

For the crust:

1 1/2 cups of crushed graham crackers (approx 12-13 whole graham crackers) PLUS reserved 1/4 cup for garnish

6 T. butter

1/4 cup sugar

Directions:

Preheat to 350. Crush graham crackers.In a bowls combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Press into bottom of 9x9 (I used 8x8) baking pan using back of spoon to form the crust. Bake crust for 10 min until slightly golden. Meanwhile make your brownie mix and pour brownie batter on top of graham cracker crust and bake according to directions.

About 2 minutes before the brownies are done, remove from oven and lay about 4 Hershey bars on the top followed by the mini marshmallows. Place back in oven for about 2-3 min until marshmallows are puffed and slightly golden. Add a sprinkling of additional crushed graham crackers and you may also garnish with additional Hershey bar pieces. Let cool before cutting into.

Smores Marshmallows

Just put a marshmallow on a stick (such as for a lollipop). Melt some chocolate. Crush some graham crackers and roll the marshmallow in the chocolate followed by graham crackers.

Best Cocoa Brownies

I love brownies. They follow closely behind cookies as my favorite sweets, EVER. Now Matt, he can be pretty finicky about his sweets. He doesn't like homemade brownies. He likes the kind in a box, from a mix. So usually when I make homemade brownies he says they're okay, but box mix is better. But not this time.. No, this time I made these and his exact words after trying one was, "These are pretty good, box mix quality. And that's a compliment." Funny guy. Anyway, we all loved them. They're on the thinner side and very fudgey. These actually don't even take much more work than making them from a pre-packaged mix.

Best Cocoa Brownies

Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:

10 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups sugar

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process)- I used Ghiradelli, yummm

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs, cold

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2/3 cup walnut or pecan pieces (optional)-I didn't use

Directions:
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F. Line the bottom and sides of an 8×8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides.
Combine the butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a medium heatproof bowl and set the bowl in a wide skillet of barely simmering water. Stir from time to time until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth and hot enough that you want to remove your finger fairly quickly after dipping it in to test. Remove the bowl from the skillet and set aside briefly until the mixture is only warm, not hot. It looks farily gritty at this point, but don’t fret — it smooths out once the eggs and flour are added. OR You can just do this step in the microwave, which is what I did and it worked fine. Just combine those ingredients in a bowl and microwave until hot. But be careful dipping you finger, you don't want to burn yours like I did mine.
Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Stir in the nuts, if using. Spread evenly in the lined pan.
Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter, 25-35 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack.

Cookie Dough Brownies

This was my first time using Dutch processed cocoa. It's a little harder to find than normal natural cocoa since most typical grocery stores don't have it. I got mine at Whole Foods and they only had 1 kind. I thought these brownies were reallly good!! Matt thought they were good. But he doesn't really like homemade brownies. What?? I know..he likes boxed mix best. Which is fine, I like that kind too, but I like homemade better. He also doesn't like 'fake' cookie dough. So this wasn't his favorite dessert but he didn't think it was bad. I mainly thought of his brother when I saw these because he really liked the cookie dough cupcakes. The cookie dough topping was a little too much for me. It was really thick and i ended up scraping off 1/2 of it so it was more like a frosting than a thick layer. (the pic is from before I removed 1/2 the cookie dough). This recipe makes a lot, so be prepared to share.

Cookie Dough Brownies

Beantown Baker

Brownies:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

2 1/4 cups sugar

4 large eggs

1 1/4 cups Dutch-process cocoa

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

tablespoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups chocolate chips

Cookie Dough:

3 sticks butter, softened

1 1/2 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup sugar

9 tbsp milk

3 cups flour

3 cups mini chocolate chips

Prepare Brownies:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan. In a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine. Return the mixture to the heat briefly, just until it's hot, but not bubbling; it'll become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating this mixture a second time will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies.

Transfer the sugar mixture to a medium-sized mixing bowl. Stir in the cocoa, salt, baking powder, and vanilla. Whisk in the eggs, stirring until smooth. Add the flour and chips, again stirring until smooth. Spoon the batter into a lightly greased 9" x 13" pan.

Bake the brownies for about 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, or with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. The brownies should feel set on the edges, and the center should look very moist, but not uncooked. Remove them from the oven and cool completely on a rack.

For cookie dough:

Cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in milk. With mixer on low, add flour and mix until well combined. Stir in mini chocolate chips.To assemble:Spread the cookie dough onto the cooled brownies. Chill the brownies until the cookie dough is firm. Cut into bars and serve.

Week 5: Boudin Brownie Recipe

We didn't get around to delivering today. We may (or may not) do it later on in the week. Matt's pretty burned out with school right now and so he's not really into doing extra work at the moment. But I did make something. I got bored today and felt the urge to bake. I've baked every day for over the last month except for Monday, it was kind of weird. I love baking. Cooking is good too and I do that just about everyday as well, but there's just something about a baked good that's hard for me to resist. Maybe cuz it's warm and comforting and I have absolutely no will power at all against them. None. Which is why it's essential to give these things away before I scarf whole batches of things down by myself. Anyway, enough of that. I'm gonna have to have another brownie if I keep thinking about it.

For all of you who don't know what Boudin is, it's a company from San Francisco, commonly known for their sourdough bread. They also have brownies I guess, I've never had one. But next time I go by i'll have to give them a try. This recipe was adapted from the one they use and was featured in the L.A. Times, the recipe and photo are also on cookiemadness. Here's a scaled down version of the original. I thought they were really good, even though they were slightly underbaked. Probably because I was a little too anxious to eat them, ha! The batter was really different from any other brownies i've made, it was kind of like a real thick mousse. And the top formed this really thick, flakey crust, I really liked it. I didn't put nuts in them though, since Matt doesn't like them. Thoughtful, huh? Here's the recipe, don't get anxious like me and take them out before they're ready though.

Boudin Brownie Recipe

1 stick unsalted butter plus extra for greasing

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate

2 1/2 large eggs – (to halve an egg, crack 1 and use 2 tablespoons)

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 tablespoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cups flour

1 cup toasted, chopped pecans or walnuts

Preheat oven to 375 (350 for glass pan) degrees. Line an 8 inch square metal pan with foil and butter the foil.
Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add chocolate, turn off heat, and stir until melted from the residual heat. Let it cool for about 5 minutes.
Beat the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy, 5 to 7 minutes. Beat in the melted chocolate (which should be slightly warm, but not piping hot at this point), vanilla and the salt. By hand stir in the flour until it is almost combined, then add the nuts and continue stirring gently until all flour disappears.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth to the edges, and bake in the center of the oven until puffed and almost set, about 38 to 40 minutes.

Day 23: Cheesecake-Swirled Brownies

There was a yard sale today at the end of the street so we delivered to them. They seemed pretty into the health talk thing next week and had a couple of questions. One lady was asking some questions about cancer since it runs in her family and another lady about her husband's heels. We had 2 plates but decided instead of doing 2 deliveries we would just give them both since there were a few of them there.
This recipe I got from smittenkitchen. I liked these but I think I like brownies better just being a brownie. Maybe brownie cheesecake but not so much cheesecake brownies. Don't get me wrong though, they were real good! And I actually thought they were better the next morning, cold from the refrigerator.

Cheesecake-Swirled Brownies

Makes 16 2-inch square, thick brownies
Brownie batter

1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate chopped

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

Cheesecake batter

8 ounces cream cheese, well softened

1/3 cup sugar

1 large egg yolk

1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Plus

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Make brownie batter: Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan. Heat butter and chocolate in a 3-quart heavy saucepan — though I did mine double-boiler style, placing the mixing bowl I was using over simmering water, thereby creating one less dirty dish and melting the chocolate more gently — over moderately low heat, whisking occasionally, just until melted. Remove from heat and whisk in sugar, eggs, vanilla, and a pinch of salt until well combined. Whisk in flour until just combined and spread in baking pan.
Make cheesecake batter: Whisk together cheesecake batter ingredients in a small bowl until smooth. Dollop over brownie batter, then swirl in with a knife or spatula.
Sprinkle chocolate chips over cheesecake/brownie batter swirl.
Bake brownies: Bake until edges are slightly puffed and center is just set, about 35 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. It also makes the brownies a lot easier to cut when they're cold, almost frozen.