Brownie Pops, and Happy 4th of July!!

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brownie, brownie pop, cake pop, chocolate, dessert

Hope everyone in the US is enjoying all the celebrations paired with July 4th! And everyone else, happy Wednesday! Personally, I don’t really have any spectacular plans. My husband always sees a Will Smith movie or an alien movie on July 4th, so I think we’re going to see Men in Black 3 and hopefully we’ll get to see fireworks! They’re my favorite part of this holiday, afterall! 🙂So for today, I don’t really have a recipe per say, but a festive treat nonetheless. My nephew turned 2 last week and he had his party over the weekend. Since I live so close to my sister now, I helped her decorate and prepare for the party. It was a cute red and blue themed train party! I was in charge of dessert, like usual, and her request was brownie pops. She didn’t want to go through the hassle of making cake and making frosting and mixing them together (and by that, I think she didn’t want me to take the time and dishes to do all that :P). She wanted it simple, so she asked if I had a good fudgy brownie recipe that would require no extra add-ins and could be made into pops due to the extremely moist and fudgy quality of the brownies. I immediately recommended the Baked Brownie. Best brownie ever, and awesome for brownie pops!Like I said, I was in charge of the baking, so with the help of my older nephew, we made the brownies. Once cooled, I squished and rolled them into 1-inch ball, placed them on wax paper, stuck a lollipop stick into them, and froze them for 30 minutes. They were then dipped into melted chocolate chips/melts, allowed to set, then dipped halfway into melted white chocolate chips/melts and dipped in sprinkles. For my first attempt at any sort of cake pop/brownie pop, they came out pretty well though they certainly are a bit of work and time! Everyone loved them and they came out quite adorable if I do say so myself, but I think I’ll stick to cupcakes and cookies and whatnot! 🙂 One batch of brownies made about 45 brownie pops, and then we served the other batch of brownies straight up with the extra chocolates drizzled over them and any leftover sprinkles. I also wanted to share with you these cool stars that my sister found. You make them yourself with your choice of scrapbook paper, and they were a really nice addition to the party decorations. She now has them hanging in my nephew’s room and they look really cute in there, too!

So, that’s it for today! Hope everyone has a wonderful July 4th, and happy Wednesday! 🙂

P.S. I apologize for the quality of the photos… camera phone 😉

One Year Ago: Panko-Crusted Salmon

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Cream Egg Brownies

I hope everyone had a great Easter! I spent my Easter at work, but then I spent my two days off with my mom, sister, and nephews. My oldest nephew helped my mom hide an Easter basket for me 🙂 I may be in my upper 20’s but I still love holiday traditions! One of my favorite Easter candies is Cadbury cream eggs, and lucky for me, my basket was full of them! Original cream eggs, caramel eggs, and a new chocolate cream egg. Yum yum!! My husband absolutely loves cream eggs, so when I saw this recipe for cream egg brownies, I knew it was something I had to try.The reason I’m posting this after Easter is for all you Cadbury cream egg fans. Once your eggs are all gone, and you need a fix, try these brownies! The filling is a copycat of the actual cream egg filling, but these brownies aren’t overly sweet like the cream eggs. The creamy filling is subtle, but these brownies are great! For extra cream egg goodness, you can always double to filling! So go ahead and eat all your cream eggs, then when the craving for more hits, make some cream egg brownies!Cream Egg Brownies
Yield: 16 brownies

Brownies:
⅔ cup flour
2 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa powder
½ teaspoon salt
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream Filling:
¼ cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
⅛ teaspoon salt
1½ cups powdered sugar

Glaze:
3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes

To make the brownies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom and sides of an 8-by-8-inch pan with parchment paper, leaving a slight overhang on two edges.

In a small bowl, combine flour, cocoa, and salt; set aside.

In a double boiler or a medium-large bowl set over gently simmering water, melt chocolate and butter; stir until smooth, then remove from heat. Whisk in sugars and stir until dissolved and mixture has cooled slightly. Whisk in eggs and vanilla extract until just combined; do not overmix. Sprinkle flour mixture over top of chocolate mixture and fold in using a large rubber spatula until just incorporated. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Transfer pan to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

To make the cream filling: Beat together corn syrup, butter, vanilla, and salt on medium-high speed until smooth. Add powdered sugar, a little at a time, mixing until creamy and stiff. Place ¾ of the cream mixture on top of cooled brownies and spread into an even layer. Add a drop of yellow food coloring to remaining cream mixture and stir until evenly colored. Drop dollops of yellow cream on top of white layer, and then gently spread over the white layer. Let set at room temperature for about 10 minutes.

To make the glaze: In a small saucepan over low heat or a microwave safe bowl, melt chocolate and butter together; stir until smooth. Pour over cream filling, carefully spreading into a thin, even layer. Chill until set, at least 30 minutes, but preferably overnight.

Using the edges of the parchment paper, remove brownies from pan. Use a long sharp knife to cut the brownies into 2-inch squares. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days, bringing to room temperature before serving.

Source: Adapted from Love & Olive Oil

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

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St. Patrick's Day

Hi all! Just wanted to wish you a Happy St. Patty’s Day 🙂 And share with you a recipe that is perfect for this fun Irish holiday! This is actually the very first post I ever made on my blog, so sorry that this isn’t anything new! But like usual, I’m behind on my holiday baking… so this will have to do for now, until I get my St. Patty’s Day treats baked up. By the way, I’m totally bummed because I couldn’t find festive sprinkles at Target this year. They always have holiday sprinkles! But maybe I was just too late, because all I saw was Easter stuff… oh well, there’s always next year I guess. So anyways, if you’re looking for a delicious, alcoholic baked goodie to celebrate, check out these Chocolate Cupcakes with Baileys Buttercream. Delicious chocolate cupcakes brushed with Irish cream liqueur, topped with an Irish cream buttercream. You can even add Guinness to the cake batter, in place of water, to make them extra festive! Nothing says happy St. Patrick’s Day like some Irish alcohols!!!

Eggnog Truffles

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chocolate, eggnog, nutmeg, rum, truffles

This may seem a little late, but eggnog is still in the stores, and sometimes cravings exceed their season (I’m still making pumpkin treats!). I made these delicious little treats for Christmas, and they were a huge hit. And this just shows how far behind I am with things still! My goal was to have this posted in time for Christmas, along with some other little candies I made, but obviously that didn’t happen… sorry! I’ll try to be more on top of the ball!

Anyways, back to the point here. These eggnog truffles are awesome. I’m not a huge fan of store bought eggnog. The flavor just isn’t quite right. I much prefer homemade eggnog in all its raw-egged glory. 🙂 But put store bought eggnog with some white chocolate, and we’ve got ourselves a winner! The truffles taste like creamy little balls of eggnog with a hint of nutmeg and rum. My sister thought they needed more rum flavor, so I’m sure they could be made with real rum instead of rum extract for a little more of a kick. If you have any leftover eggnog, this is a perfect use!Eggnog Truffles
Yield: about 2 dozen truffles

14 ounces white chocolate
¼ cup heavy cream
¼ cup eggnog
½ teaspoon rum extract
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
8 ounces white melting chocolate

Place the white chocolate in a medium glass or metal bowl; set aside. In a small saucepan, heat the cream and eggnog until barely boiling, stirring regularly. Add hot cream mixture immediately to the white chocolate and stir until melted and glossy. If chocolate doesn’t melt completely, heat over low heat in a double boiler or microwave for short increments in the microwave. Once melted, stir in the rum extract and nutmeg. Let cool to room temperature then place in refrigerator for a couple hours until solid enough to form truffles. Using a small cookie scoop or a teaspoon, scoop out balls of ganache and place on a cookie sheet lined with waxed or parchment paper. Using your hands, roll the ganache into smooth, uniform balls and return to cookie sheet. Refrigerate overnight, or until fully solid.

In a double boiler over low heat, or in a microwave safe bowl, melt the melting chocolate until smooth and glossy. In small batches, remove truffles from the refrigerator and use a fork to dip the cold ganache into the melted chocolate. Place dipped truffles on another cookie sheet lined with waxed paper. Decorate or garnish if desired, while chocolate coating is still soft. Continue to pull batches of ganache from the refrigerator to dip in the melted chocolate until all are dipped and garnished. Let coating harden at room temperature, or place in refrigerate to expedite hardening. Serve truffles at room temp; store in airtight container in the refrigerator.

Source: A Dash of Sugar and Spice original

Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookies

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chocolate, cookies, dessert, peppermint

I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays, and are enjoying your time off, if you’re fortunate enough to have some! I know this might be a little late, but it’s still December so it’s okay to post a peppermint recipe, right? I found these delicious baking chips last year, and they were available this year, too. Andes peppermint crunch baking bits. Super good… Creamy white chocolate bits with a little bit of crunch to them, and candy cane coloring and flavor. What better way to use them than with chocolate! Personally, I love these chocolate cookies. They’re rich, but stand up to the peppermint flavor perfectly. And the little baking chips look so cute nestled in the cookies! If you’re a fan of rich chocolate and peppermint, you’ll love these cookies!Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed
1¼ cup sugar
2 large eggs
½ cup dark cocoa powder
½ teaspoon peppermint extract
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon coarse salt or table salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 (10-ounce) bag Andes peppermint crunch baking bits
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Blend in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl as needed. Mix in the cocoa powder and peppermint extract until well blended. Add the flour, salt and baking powder to the bowl and mix on low speed just until incorporated. Gently fold in the baking chips and chocolate chips. On a work surface or against the side of the mixing bowl, mix the dough by hand to ensure even distribution of the chocolate chips.

Divide the dough equally into 16 or 20 pieces. Roll each portion of dough into a ball and flatten just slightly into a disc. Place on the prepared baking sheets, a few inches apart. Bake 16 to 20 minutes, or until the cookie edges are set. Let cool on the baking sheets 5-10 minutes, where they will finish cooking, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Source: Adapted from Annie’s Eats