Chocolate Raspberry Brownies

Warning! These turned out super rich. Consume in small quantities.

Chocolate Raspberry Brownies

Ingredients:

4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, divided

1/2 cup butter

1-1/3 cups sugar

2 eggs

2/3 teaspoon vanilla

2/3 cup flour

1 can raspberry cake and pastry filling

4 oz. semisweet chocolate

2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 9x9 pan with foil, leaving enough to hang over the sides. Lightly coat the foil with cooking spray.

Microwave three ounces of the unsweetened chocolate with the butter about two minutes. Stir until smooth. Add sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix well. Add flour into mixture and pour into prepared pan.

Bake 30 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Spread a thin layer of the raspberry cake and pastry filling over the cooled brownies.

Chop the remaining unsweetened chocolate and semisweet chocolate. In a small bowl, microwave the whipping cream until it boils. Add the chopped chocolate and stir until smooth. Spread over raspberry layer.

Refrigerate one hour. Place a few tablespoons of the remaining raspberry cake and pastry filling in a decorating bake with a small piping tip. Drizzle raspberry filling over brownies. Cut into small pieces.

Marble Brownies

These brownies didn't turn out as moist as I would have liked, but I did enjoy the combination of white chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate on top.

Marble Brownies

Ingredients:

3 ounces semisweet chocolate

1 ounce unsweetened chocolates

1/2 cup butter

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x9-inch pan with aluminum foil. Leave some foil over the edge for handles. Spray foil with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, melt the 3 ounces of semisweet chocolate, 1 ounce of unsweetened chocolate, and butter for one minute on high. Add cocoa powder and stir. The butter should be all melted, but the chocolate won't. Microwave another 30 seconds and stir until smooth.

In a large bowl, combined the sugar and salt. Stir in the melted chocolate mixture. Add the eggs, stirring after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Place flour and baking powder into sifter and sift into mixture.

Spread in pan and bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven.

Sprinkle semisweet chips and white chocolate chips on top. Bake one more minute. Then use knife to swirl the two types of chocolate on top. Use foil handles to lift brownies from pan.

Cranberry Walnut Brownies

Sometimes I make a dessert with the intention of posting it on this blog, and then I almost forget to snap a photo before the dessert disappears!

Such is the case with these brownies.

I brought them into work. My team loved them, and I brought home a few leftovers. Then what? Yesterday I realized there were only two left, and I hadn't taken a picture yet! So the photo you see below is of the last two remaining brownies. They aren't as moist as they first were, but I have to say that the dried cranberries seemed to keep the brownies moist longer than usual.

Cranberry Walnut Brownies

Ingredients:
10 tablespoons butter
5 oz. semisweet chocolate
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup flour
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line a 9 x 9 inch pan with foil. Spray with cooking spray.

In a microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate and butter 2 minutes on high. Stir every 30 seconds. If necessary, continue to melt at 30 second increments.

Stir in both kinds of sugar, eggs, salt, and vanilla. Add flour and stir. Mix in dried cranberries and walnuts. Spread into pan.

Bake 25-30 minutes until knife comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

Fourth of July Dessert: Berry Brownie Shortcake

I know I'm posting this recipe too late for this year's Fourth of July, but you can keep it in mind for next year. :) Or you can do the Fourth of July Shortcake I made last year. That photo is still one of my favorites. I swear the blueberry in the lower left corner is smiling at me.

This recipe is yet another adaptation of a Kraft Food recipe. The original version was called Easy Brownie Shortcake Dessert. It called for strawberries and kiwis on the top. I switched the fruit to strawberries and blueberries to give it a Fourth of July flair. After tasting the frosting, I also added more powdered sugar because I was tasting too much of the sour cream and not the Cool Whip.

Berry Brownie Shortcake

Ingredients:
1 package brownie mix (plus the ingredients listed on the box)
8 oz. sour cream, divided
1 cup Cool Whip, thawed
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
about twenty-five strawberry slices and at least fifteen blueberries

Preheat oven to 350.

Make brownie batter according to the package direction, but add in 1/2 cup of the sour cream. Pour batter into greased and floured 9-inch pan. Bake for 40-45 min. Cool 10 minutes before removing to wire rack. Allow cake to cool completely before frosting.

For frosting, mix remaining sour cream with Cool Whip, powdered sugar, and vanilla.

Cut brownie horizontally in half. Put one layer on cake plate and spread with some of frosting. Gently top with the other layer. Frost again and then decorate with the strawberries and blueberries.

To go with the patriotic theme of the holiday, I arranged the strawberry slices into five-pointed stars and then placed the blueberries in the middle.

Serves about 12.

Cookies and Cream Brownies

I made these for work before the school year ended. Now, several weeks later, I'm finally posting this super easy way to dress up some plain brownies.

Cookies and Cream Brownies

Ingredients:
1 batch of brownies for a 9 x 13 pan
1 can of cream cheese frosting
10-15 Oreos
about 1/2 cup of Wilton chocolate candy melts or semisweet chocolate chips

Make the batch of brownies. When they cool, frost them with the cream cheese icing. Place the Oreos in a sealed plastic bag and crush them with a few passes with a rolling pin. Sprinkle the crushed cookies on the brownies.

In a disposable decorating bag, melt the chocolate candy melts or chocolate chips in the microwave. Drizzle the melted chocolate over the brownies. Keep refrigerated.

Mississippi Mud Cake

While down in Atlanta, my sister-in-law came in the house after picking up the mail and called to me, "I have something for you!" It was a recipe card she had received free in the mail from Southern Living magazine. After a trip to the grocery store the next day, we had the goods to make this very sweet treat.

We decided it was more of a brownie than a "cake." :)

Mississippi Mud Cake

Ingredients:
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup butter
4 oz. semisweet chocolate baking bar, chopped
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 tsp salt
1 10.5 oz. Bag miniature marshmallows

Place pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 8-10 min or until toasted.

In a large bowl, microwave butter and chopped chocolate for 1 min, stirring every 30 seconds or until melted and smooth. Stir in sugar, flour, cocoa, eggs, vanilla, and salt. Pour into greased jelly roll pan.

Bake at 350 for 20 min. Remove from oven, and sprinkle evenly with marshmallows. Bake 8-10 more minutes or until golden brown. (Note: It will seem like too many marshmallows, but go ahead and put on the whole bag. I mistakenly only put on some of the bag. They did cover the cake as seen in the picture below, but afterward my sister-in-law and I agreed that it could have used more marshmallow.)
While the marshmallow layer is baking, you can make the chocolate frosting.

For that, you'll need the following:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup cocoa
1/3 milk
1 16 oz. package powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Stir together first three ingredients in medium saucepan over medium heat until butter is melted. Cook, stirring constantly, for two minutes. Remove from heat. Beat in powdered sugar and vanilla.

Drizzle frosting over warm cake. (You may have more than you really need. Save the rest for some other cookies.) Sprinkle with toasted pecans.

This dessert makes enough to serve at least 16 people.

Chocolate Mint Brownies

This dessert is all butter and sugar. Prepare yourself for something extra sweet. I recommend cutting it into tiny bite-size pieces and sharing with many people.

In other words, I recommend not cutting into large pieces like you see below. I think I gave a sugar-high to the round of guinea pigs who tried the slices in the photo. :)

Chocolate Mint Brownies

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) plus 6 tablespoons butter or margarine, divided
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
3/4 cup cocoa
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 2/3 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon mint extract
green food coloring
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 13 x 9 inch pan. Microwave 2 sticks of butter (1 cup) in large bowl until melted (about 2 minutes). Stir in sugar and vanilla. Add eggs and beat well. Stir in cocoa, flour, and baking powder. When well blended, pour into greased pan.

Bake 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack.

Once bottom layer has cooled, you can make the mint layer. Combine powdered sugar, 1 stick butter, water, and mint extract. Beat until smooth. Add about 4 drops of green food coloring and blend. Spread over top of brownies. Cover and refrigerate for an hour or two.

To make chocolate glaze, microwave 6 tablespoons butter and chocolate chips in small bowl for one minute. Stir until mixture is smooth. Allow to cool slightly. Then pour over mint layer. cover and return to refrigerate. Chill at least 1 hour before serving.

Red and Green Cherry Cheesecake Brownies

The red and green maraschino cherries in this cheesecake brownie make it a fun Christmas treat! I found them a little tricky to cut, so I think if I make them again, I might stick them in the freezer for ten minutes before cutting.

Whether or not they turn out a little messy, they are definitely delicious if you like cheesecake and brownies!

Red and Green Cherry Cheesecake Brownies

Ingredients for crust:
4 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate, broken into pieces
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
2 cups sugar, divided
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour

Ingredients for cheesecake topping:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
½ cup sugar
½ cup green and red maraschino cherries, chopped
½ teaspoons almond extract

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 13 x 9 inch baking pan.

Place unsweetened baking chocolate and two sticks of butter in large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at 50% power for 2-3 minutes, stirring after each minute, until mixture is smooth.

Beat in 2 cups sugar, 3 eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla until blended. Stir in 2 cups of flour. Spread batter in greased pan.

Beat cream cheese, ½ cup sugar, and 1 egg. Stir in red and green cherries and almond extract. Spread over top of chocolate batter in pan. Bake 35-40 minutes or just until set. Remove from oven. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars and cover. Refrigerate leftover bars.

Yields: 36 bars

Caramel Brownies

The students at one of my previous schools liked to call these “Speech Contest Brownies,” as I always brought them to the final round of the spring speech contest so that the finalists would have something to look forward to after they performed.

The recipe came from a guy who was in a class I was taking years ago. He brought these several times, and people begged him for the recipe. Here it is with a few of my personal hints for optimal enjoyment.

Caramel Brownies

Ingredients:
1 ½ sticks margarine, melted
1 German chocolate cake mix with pudding
1 small can of evaporated milk
1 package of caramels (like the Kraft kind pictured below)
1 12-oz. package of chocolate chips

Unwrap all the caramels and put them in a small microwave-safe bowl. Then preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt the margarine in a microwave-safe bowl. Then add the cake mix and 1/3 cup evaporated milk (that’s about half of the small can). Spread ½ mixture in bottom of an ungreased 9 x 13 pan. You will have a very thin layer of batter, and you may want to use a buttered spatula to help spread it out.

Bake at 350 degrees for six minutes. Meanwhile, melt caramels and 1/3 cup evaporated milk (the other half of the small can).

After the six minutes are up, take the pan out of the oven and spread the chocolate chips over the cake. Then drizzle the melted caramel mixture on tops of this. Finally, drop the rest of the cake mixture by teaspoonfuls on top.

Bake another 15-18 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool completely before attempting to cut them. I find it helpful to refrigerate them or even throw them in the freezer for 15 minutes before cutting them. That way the caramel mixture has a chance to solidify and they won’t be quite as messy to cut.