Spiced Pumpkin Brownies

Let's have a chat about Christmas season, shall we? I know there are people out there who believe once Halloween is over, everything should be decked out in holly and mistletoe and Christmas caroles should be playing 24/7.  I'm not one of those people. Those people might be crazy and if so, you should run away from them. Quickly.

There are others that start trimming their tree the day after Thanksgiving.  I'm slightly more tolerant of this "I'll wait until Turkey Day passes to bring out my green and red holiday decor" behavior, however I still don't function that way.

In my world, Christmas can't start until it's December. And since there's still nearly a whole week of November left, I'm going to enjoy all the perks Fall has to offer until then. That means getting my fill of pumpkin spice lattes and any other pumpkin-y treat I can get my hands on.  Including these brownies.

I have to give it to Pinterest- there are some pretty nifty ideas floating around there.  I saw several pins that claimed 1 boxed cake pin + 1 can of pumpkin puree = pumpkin cake.  So I figured if it can be done with cake mix, surely it can be done with brownies. I love it when I'm right. ;)

Chubby Hubby Brownies

Real Life Fact #1: I'm obsessed with chocolate.
Real Life Fact #2: People flip over these truffles.
Real Life Fact #3: I love baking, hence this whole blog thing.
Real Life Fact #4: I'm in a wedding this weekend and need to fit into my dress that I purposely ordered too small.

What does all this mean to you? You get delicious brownies inspired by the aforementioned truffles.  What does it mean to me? That I love baking so much that I managed to make these AMAZING brownies, all while not having a single sample and sticking to my fruit-and-veggie only cleanse.

I'm pretty sure I'm a masochist.  Damn that bridesmaid dress.....

I kinda feel like a bit of a hypocrite by posting something I haven't even tasted, but trust me- I had plenty of sample testers and they all went away extremely happy.  Plus it's pretzels, peanut butter, and chocolate- how could it go wrong.

Molten Caramel Brownie Cookies

Hello. My name is Sarah and I'm an addict.  I, like every other food/fashion/DYI blogger out there, am OBSESSED with Pinterest.  This site is seriously the bee's knees.  

 

I have boards for recipes I want to try and DYI projects I'd love to attempt and photography tips and quotes I love and the list goes on.  However, I spend all this time adding to my boards that I rarely actually DO any of them.

This molten caramel chocolate lava cake was one of the very first things I pinned.  I was so excited to make it. Who wouldn't love warm, ooey-gooey caramel and chocolate? So what happened? And it sat there. And sat there. And sat there, sadly forgotten about.  I mean, how often does the occasion for making decadent individual cakes come into my life?

 

But then I became brilliant.  Make it a cookie! And so I did. I made fudgy, chewy brownie cookies stuffed with a Dove caramel.  And it was awesome. Pure heaven.

P.S. There are caramel blow-outs in heaven.  Don't worry- they're delicious.

Salted Caramel Mocha Brownie Cups

I’d like to toot my own horn if you don’t mind, so excuse me for a second while I go be a jerk....

Toot! Toot!

Ok- now that I got that silliness out of the way, how about some cupcakes?! Or rather- how about some awesome, rock your face off your face, brownie cupcakes? (Hence the tooting of the horn ;)

However, I must warn you.  These are not your average, run-of-the-mill, friendly cupcakes.

No- these cupcakes are deadly to any diet, waistline, or diabetic.  These cupcakes are so sweet they might even make your teeth hurt.  And Don’t. Even. Think. about having them without of cold glass of milk by your side.  You’ll immediately regret your decision (Yes, is this case- milk was a good choice).

But if I haven’t scared you away yet, you should get on these right away.  They make everyone your friend- I promise.  People will love you and you’ll become the coolest kid in school.  Trust me- I’ve seen it happen.



Because these things are spectacular- Caramel-filled Mocha Brownies topped with a Salted Caramel Buttercream and a Caramel Drizzle.  You ready for this?  So here’s what we do….



Adapted from this recipe

What You’ll Need:

For the Brownie Cups-

1 2/3 cups Sugar

3/4 cup Cocoa Powder

1 1/3 cup AP Flour

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Salt

4 tsp Instant Coffee Granules

3/4 cup Melted Butter

2 Eggs

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/4 cup Milk

Caramel Hershey Kisses

For the Salted Caramel Buttercream-

1 cup Butter (room temp)

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/2 cup Caramel Ice Cream Topping

1 tsp Sea Salt

4 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar

1-2 tsp Milk

What To Do:

1.       Preheat oven to 350.  In a large mixing bowl, add the sugar, cocoa, flour, baking powder, salt, and coffee granules and mix together with wooden spoon.  Then add the melted butter, eggs, vanilla, and milk.  Beat until fully incorporated- it’ll be a thick batter.  If you feel it’s too thick, add a few more Tbsp of milk.

2.       Line a cupcake tin with liners and fill cups ¾ full (you’ll have enough batter for 15-18 cupcakes).  Bake for 20-24 minutes.  Once you pull the pan out of the oven, allow to cool for about a minute and then insert a caramel kiss into the center of each brownie cup, pointed end first.  Allow to cool for another 3-5 minutes and then transfer to wire rack.

3.       While the brownies cool, whip of the salted caramel buttercream.  Stir salt into caramel and set aside.  Beat together butter and vanilla alone for several minutes until good and creamy.  Then add the powdered sugar.  It’ll be VERY THICK and might not even come together fully- don’t worry about this.  Beat for several more minutes, trying to get all the clumps of sugar out.  Then add the salted caramel and beat again.  If it’s too thick (but you want it to have body so it’ll pipe nicely), add a bit of milk, but a little at a time.  Ensure it’s all whipped completely

4.       Pipe onto completely cooled cupcakes and finish with a caramel drizzle.

Another V-Day Idea

If you're looking for yet another Valentine's Day dessert, check out Smitten Kitchen's Heart Brownies.

The idea is way cute, however I would ask Duncan (Hines that is) for a little help. One of these,  plus this easy-as-pie blondie recipe, again from Deb at Smitten Kitchen. Add in a mini-heart cookie cutter and you're set.

Photo by Deb @ Smitten Kitchen

Good for You and Your Tastebuds Brownies

I was a searching the interwebs for a psuedo-healthy dessert I can make to bring to a Superbowl party and I kept coming across cake and brownie recipes that used black beans. Yeah, you read correctly- black beans....

I know- that was my first reaction too. DISGUSTING.

But, everyone who tried it raved about it, so I thought it couldn't hurt to give it a shot. (wow- 4 "it"s in one sentence...my honors English teacher would be so proud...)

Everyone had their own "recipe" so I thought I'd let my creative side take over and just wing it. Here's what I came up with: Healthified Mocha Brownies Cupcakes

How Long Is This Gonna Take:
About an hour and a half from start to finish


But Is It Good For Me?
The recipe makes 24 cupcakes, 3 points+ each. Not to bad considering its a frosted brownie :)

What You'll Need:

*Yes, I know the picture is of 4 TABLESPOONS of margarine, but after re-consulting several frosting recipes, only about 4 TEASPOONS is needed....sorry for any confusion!

What To Do:

1. Preheat oven to 350F (or whatever your brownie directions say). Drain and rinse black beans, but keep the can. Once well rinsed, put beans back into their can and then fill to the top with water. Put beans and water into a blender and puree until smooth. (Its not going to look pretty, but stay with me. DON'T LOSE HOPE)

2. In a bowl, mix together brownie mix, bean puree, and 2 tsp coffee granules. DO NOT ADD any other ingredients that the box says to add. Bake brownies as directed on box (I put mine into cupcake tins because they're easier to transport and serve that way. If you want to do yours like this, I used my 2 tbsp "cookie scoop" to fill the tins. They aren't going to be as thick as normal cupcakes, but you don't want that...these are brownies & an inch thick brownie I think would kill a person. Bake for 25 minutes). And just take a taste of some of the leftover batter- chocolatey, coffee goodness. Not a hint of black beans. And you doubted me....

3. While the brownies bake, dissolve 1 1/4 tsp instant coffee in hot water in a medium bowl. Add powdered sugar and margarine and mix until smooth. If too thick, add an additional 2-4 tsp of water. Spread over completely cooled brownies. (I piped mine onto the "cupcakes"). Add a slight dusting of cocoa powder on top if desired.

Caramel Cheesecake Brownies

So sit back and let me tell you the story of the time that Sarah created her own dessert. At work, someone had the fantastic idea to have a Dessert Challenge. Think Chili Cook-off, minus chili plus dessert-y deliciousness. There were 2 categories I could enter: fruit and/or chocolate. I'm not one for fruit-based desserts, so I went with chocolate. (Plus, its me....why wouldn't I do chocolate?!)

So I'm wracking my brain- do I do a cookie? a cake? a brownie? a cheesecake? oh- a cheesecake brownie...maybe. Oh, but a caramel brownie could be good too.... Wait a minute! What about a Caramel Cheesecake Brownie?? Now going into this, I knew it was either going to be awesome or awesomely horrible. You'll have to wait til the end to see how it turns out ;-)

How Long Is This Gonna Take:

About an hour to an hour and a half....perhaps a little less (mine took a long time to cook)

What You'll Need:

For the brownie layer:

1 boxed brownie mix, 9x13 size (no....I didn't make it from scratch)
egg, oil, etc called on browie box

For the caramel layer:

1/2 cup sugar
1/3 stick butter

OR

1 jar caramel ice cream topping for when your caramel doesn't come out right like what happened to me.....

For the cheesecake layer:

8 oz cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg

I ended up doubling what was needed for the cheesecake layer because it looked like it wasn't going to be enough, but in the end that was a mistake- took FOREVER to bake. Make a single batch as above and if you end up needed more, maybe try a 1/2 batch

What To Do:
1. Preheat oven and mix brownies as directed on package. Set batter aside

2. Make the cheesecake topping by mixing cream cheese, 1/3 cup sugar, vanilla, and egg until nice and smooth. Set aside

3. Make the caramel by heating 1/2 cup sugar in a small pot until deep brown. Into the hot caramel, add butter and mix well, but be careful of splattering. Set aside. Mine turned into like a crunchy caramel brittle, but I was lucky because I had caramel topping on hand. Turned the brownies a little gooey, but it was ok

Thank You Hershey's!

4. Into a 9x13 pan, pour the brownie mix and level out smoothly. Then pour the still-hot caramel onto the brownie mix, spreading it as evenly as possible. Top with the cheesecake and spread evenly, making sure to get the corners. To make a design, drag a skewer or toothpick through all the layers, moving it up and down to slightly mix the layers. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until it passes the toothpick test. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting or serving.

This is it....the moment of truth.....it was

AWESOME. And I won ;)

S'mores Brownies

Chocolate, marshmallow, graham cracker all on top of a brownie- need I say more? I mean seriously, if you don't have a camp fire near by, I'd say this is a spectacular substitute. Thanks to BettyCrocker.com for the original recipe.






How Long is This Gonna Take:
1 hour beginning to end, but there's a 30 min period where you're just waiting for the brownies to bake. In reality, its like maybe 20 minutes of active time.


What You'll Need:
1 box brownie mix (13 x 9 size)
Water, veggie oil, and egg as called for on brownie box
2 cups mini marshmallows
4 graham crackers, broken into small pieces
2 Hershey bars (1.55oz each), broken into small squares


What To Do:
1. Preheat oven to temperature directed on brownie box. Make brownies as directed.


2. After brownies have finished baking, remove from oven and immediately set oven to broil.


3. As soon as the brownies come out of the oven, sprinkle marshmallows and graham crackers over warm brownies. Broil brownies about 4-5 inches from heating element for only 30-60 seconds. The marshmallows and crackers will brown VERY QUICKLY (as I all to well learned) so keep an eye on it. (As you can see, I made my brownies into cupcakes. I take my desserts into work or send them off with M, so single servings work best for that- it made 16 brownies)

4. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate on top.


5. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before you dig in