Triple Chocolate Brownie Cookies

As I was looking through my new Taste of Home 2010 Annual Recipe cookbook, I came across this chocolate lover's delight!  They are easy to make despite having to chill the dough and definitely fill that chocolate sweet tooth! They taste like brownies!

• Triple Chocolate Brownie Cookies
• 
  
• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 3/4 cup butter, cubed
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup baking cocoa
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips, divided
• 2 teaspoons shortening
• 
  
• In a microwave melt chocolate and butter; stir until smooth. Cool slightly. In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar. Stir in chocolate mixture. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually add to chocolate mixture and mix well. Stir in 1-1/2 cups chocolate chips. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or until easy to handle.
• 
  
• Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 7-9 minutes or until edges are set and tops are slightly cracked. Cool for 2 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.
• 
  
• In a microwave, melt remaining chips and shortening; stir until smooth. Drizzle over cookies. Let stand for 30 minutes or until chocolate is set. Store in an airtight container. Yield: 6 dozen.

This post is linked to:

• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace!
• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!
• Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff!

Easy Brownie Torte

Brownies are one of my hubby's favorite desserts so I had decided to make up some for the Valentine's Day weekend for our enjoyment.  When I pulled out a box from my pantry and to my delight found this recipe on the back of the box!! What a great idea to make for a special occasion like Valentine's day!  It is so simple to make but it looks so elegant.  The best part is that I have all the ingredients in my pantry!  However, I am going to change the Reese's peanut butter cups with either chopped Snicker bars(hubby's favorite candy) or Heath bits.  If I use Heath bits I am going to put some of the bits between the layers of brownie too.

Easy Brownie Torte

1 box brownie mix
3 Tbsp. water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 container chocolate frosting
1/2 cup Reese's peanut butter cups, coarsely chopped 


Heat oven to 350°F. Line 13x9-inch pan with foil so foil extends about 2 inches over sides of pan. Spray foil with cooking spray. Make brownies as directed on box for 13x9-inch pan, using foil-lined pan. Cool completely, about 1 hour 30 minutes.


Remove brownie from pan by lifting foil; peel foil away. Cut brownie in half lengthwise; place 1 half on serving plate.(or a 10x5 piece of double thickness cardboard covered in foil, cellophane, or coated giftwrapping paper)


Spoon frosting into microwavable bowl. Microwave on High 15 to 20 seconds. Stir frosting until smooth. Pour half of frosting over brownie half on plate. Place other half of brownie on top; pour remaining frosting over top. Sprinkle with candies. Refrigerate 30 minutes to set. Store loosely covered.

This posted is linked to:

• Food On Fridays at Ann Kroeker’s!
• Recipe Swap at The Grocery Cart Challenge!
• Friday Feasts at Mom Trends!
• Foodie Friday at Designs By Gollum!
• Frugal Friday at Life as Mom!

Muddy Buddies aka "Puppy Chow"

Somehow both the box of Chocolate Chex and Rice Chex were open at the same time!  There is only a few people in my house that like Chex cereal in a bowl of milk.  So instead of throwing it out to the birds or just dumping it in the trash, I figured that I would use it up before it went stale and make a sweet treat with the cereal.

I love making Muddy Buddies because it is quick and easy and you can fill your sweet tooth with chocolate!

I poured the Chocolate Chex and Rice Chex cereal into a big mixing bowl and gathered the rest of my ingredients.



I melted 1 cup milk chocolate chips, 1/4 cup margarine, 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter in a pan. Once melted I removed it from the heat and stirred in 1 tsp. vanilla.  Then I poured the melted mixture on top of my cereal.
Once the cereal was coated with the chocolate/peanut butter mixture, I poured the covered cereal into a ziploc bag that had 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar.



I shook the bag to coat the cereal with the powdered sugar. Once it was fully coated, I added in another 1/2 cup powdered sugar to finish coating it.

Now it is ready to eat!  All total it took me about 10 minutes from start to finish!

With the holidays coming, I am going to be adding this to my list of "go to" appetizers/munchies to have on hand for when guests are visiting!  I love that this recipe is kid friendly as well!  Most of my kids will eat it and most of them know how to fix it without a lot of help from me!

Here is the full recipe:

8-9 cups Chex cereal
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup margarine
1 cup chocolate chips
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2-2 cups powdered sugar

Pour cereal into a big mixing bowl. In a separate bowl or pan, melt peanut butter, margarine, and chocolate chips together. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla. Pour melted mixture on to the cereal, stir carefully until all the cereal is evenly coated.  Put powdered sugar into a gallon ziploc bag(or even a paper grocery bag), pour coated cereal into the bag, close bag and shake until cereal is coated with powdered sugar. Add in more powdered sugar if needed, and shake the bag again. Open bag and enjoy!

This post is linked to:

• Food On Fridays at Ann Kroeker’s!
• Recipe Swap at The Grocery Cart Challenge!
• Friday Feasts at Mom Trends!
• Foodie Friday at Designs By Gollum!

Peanut Butter Filled Fudge Cupcakes

I have been trying to find baked goods to make so that I can stop buying pop-tarts and other high fat/calorie prepared foods that had been purchasing for hubby's snacks at work.  While looking through one of my cookbooks, I came across this awesome recipe for a cupcake that actually has a bit of nutritional value to it.  They are easy to make. I am even planning on letting my kids have them for a breakfast along with some eggs or yogurt!

Peanut Butter Filled Fudge Cupcakes

1 cup all-purpose flour (1/2 cup whole wheat, 1/2 cup white)
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup shortening (or butter)
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk

Filling:
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter (can use crunchy)
1 TBSP. honey
1 TBSP. milk

In a bowl, stir together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.  In a mixing bowl, beat shortening for about 30 seconds. Add brown sugar and vanilla; beat well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Add dry ingredients alternately with 1/2 cup milk, beating well after each addition. In a medium mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, peanut butter, honey, and 1 TBSP. milk; beat well.

Place a scant 2 TBSP of batter in each muffin cup. Spoon about 1 rounded teaspoon cream cheese mixture into center of each; fill cups half full with remaining batter(1 TBSP each muffin cup). Bake in 375° oven for 20 minutes or until done. Cool on wire rack.  Makes 16-18 cupcakes.

Notes: I use my small and medium Pampered chef scoops to measure out the batter and the filling for the muffin cups.  These can be left unfrosted or frosted.  I frosted some of mine with just a can of already made frosting from my pantry stockpile.

This post is linked to: 

• Cupcake Tuesday at Hoosier Homemade!
• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!
  
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday over at Blessed with Grace!
• Tuesdays at the Table over at All the Small Stuff!

Chocolate Chip Bread

Looking for something other than chocolate chip cookies??? This quick bread can be a great substitute!! It is very easy to make into loaves or muffins!



Chocolate Chip Bread

Ingredients

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 3/4 cups milk
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups (9 oz.) chocolate chips(I prefer milk chocolate)
• 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts(optional)

Directions
PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Grease two 9 x 5-inch loaf pans.

COMBINE flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Combine eggs, milk and vegetable oil in medium bowl. Add to flour mixture; mix just until moistened. Stir in morsels and nuts. Spoon into prepared loaf pans.

BAKE for 55 to 60 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes; remove from pans. Cool on wire racks.

NOTES: If you are looking for even more chocolate flavor, drizzle or spread the cooled loaves with chocolate! Microwave 1/2 cup chocolate chips in heavy-duty plastic bag on HIGH (100%) power for 45 seconds; knead bag to mix. Microwave for an additional 10- to 20-second intervals, kneading until smooth. Cut a small hole in corner of bag; squeeze to drizzle over bread. If you don't want to use a plastic bag just melt chocolate chips in a bowl and use a knife to spread some melted chocolate on top. Personally, I love to spread the chocolate on top so that when I cut the loaves each slice has an extra kick of chocolate. However, if you are looking for elegant loaves, drizzling is the best option.

This post is linked at:

Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday over at Blessed with Grace!

I am Blissfully Domestic at Blissfully Domestic!

Out of the Pantry Brownies

One of the box mixes that I just can not seem to get rid of in my house is brownie mixes! However, during my spring cleaning event,  I have decided to work at getting rid of them! I decided to make up some brownies but did not want them to be just "plain ol' brownies".   So I used a couple of my odd n' end items to spruce them!

I took one of the five boxes of brownies that I had in my pantry along with the dozen mini Heath bars and a dab of carmel ice cream topping out of my fridge to make up the brownies. 
First, I unwrapped all the mini Heath bars and put them back into the small Ziploc bag.  Then I took my rolling pin and let out some frustration on the Heath bars to crush them! 

After I crushed the bars, I made up my brownie mix as instructed on the box.  If you don't want to use all the oil that the box calls for you can do 1/2 applesauce and 1/2 oil.  I didn't have any applesauce so I just used the oil actually I didn't quite have the 2/3 cups like the box says but didn't add any extra water or anything and the brownies came out fine. 

Once the brownie mix is stirred well and ready to pour in the pan...Pour about 1/2 of the brownie batter in your slightly greased baking pan.  Then take your crushed Heath bars(or you can use any kind of candy, like leftover Easter candy!) and spread over the top of the batter.  Then drizzle carmel ice cream topping over the Heath bars. Then pour the other 1/2 of the brownie batter over the top of the Heath bars and carmel topping. 
Now your brownies are ready to cook!!  Cook according to the box instructions---350° for 28-30 minutes. 
Once they are cooled...cut and enjoy!  One thing I noticed in doing the brownies this way when I cut into them is that ALL the Heath bars and the carmel soaked into the brownie batter as it cooked!!  I was hoping that the Heath bars would do like what mini chocolate chips do being stirred into the batter. My thinking is that I did not use enough of the Heath bars or that I crushed them too finely or something???  

Despite having all the Heath bars and carmel topping "melt" into the batter, the brownies tasted wonderful!!  They came out nice and thick and rich!!  They made great brownie sundaes for the family!!

This post is linked at: 

• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday over at Blessed with Grace!
  
• Kitchen tip Tuesday, over at Tammy's Recipes! 
• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
  
• I am Blissfully Domestic at Blissfully Domestic!

Chocolate Streusel Bars

I love these easy to make bars! They are rich so a little bit goes a long ways!  I have even made these with the Nestle swirl chips and they taste great, especially the peanut butter/milk chocolate swirl chips.

Ingredients:

‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑

1‑3/4 cups all‑purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup cocoa

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine

1 egg

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)

2 cups (12‑oz. pkg.) semi‑sweet chocolate chips, divided

1 cup coarsely chopped nuts (optional)

Instructions:

‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13x9x2‑inch baking pan.

2. In large bowl, stir together flour, sugar and cocoa. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add egg; mix well. Set aside 1‑1/2 cups mixture. Press remaining mixture onto bottom of prepared pan.

3. Bake 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in medium microwave‑safe bowl, place sweetened condensed milk and 1 cup chocolate chips; stir. Microwave at HIGH (100%) 1 to 1‑1/2 minutes or until chips are melted and mixture is smooth when stirred; pour over crust. Add nuts and remaining chips to reserved crumb mixture. Sprinkle over top.

4. Bake additional 25 to 30 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. About 36 bars. Prep Time: 20 min. Start to Finish: 2 Hrs. 55 min.

This post is being linked to:

•  Tempt My Tummy at Blessed with Grace 
•  Tasty Tuesday at Forever, Wherever
  
• I'm Blissfully Domestic at Blissfully Domestic
  
• Kitchen Tips Tuesday at Tammy's Recipes
  

*photo courtesy of Hershey's Kitchens

Scrumptious Sunday Recipe Swap--DC Brownies

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE BROWNIE BARS

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine

2 cups (12‑oz. pkg.) semi‑sweet chocolate chips, divided

1‑1/2 cups sugar

1‑1/4 cups all‑purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts(optional)

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13x9x2‑inch baking pan.

2. In large microwave‑safe bowl, place butter and 1 cup chocolate chips. Microwave at HIGH (100%) 1 to 1‑1/2 minutes or until chips are melted when stirred. Add sugar, flour, vanilla, baking powder, salt and eggs; stir with spoon until smooth. Stir in remaining 1 cup chips. Spread batter into prepared pan; if desired, sprinkle walnuts over top.

 3. Bake 30 minutes or until center is set. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. Store tightly covered. 36 bars.

NOTES: I love to serve these brownies topped with scoop of ice cream, fruit(strawberries are the best!) and Hershey's Chocolate Syrup.

For more scrumptious recipes, head over to Happy To be At Home!  Kate has shared her pizza fondue recipe, which sounds sooo yummy! 

Easy Peanut Butter Fudge

Over the last few days, I have been snowed in so I have had plenty of time to get my holiday baking done. I have several things in my freezer now to make up some goodie trays for the neighbors plus still have goodies available for us for the holidays. Today though was one of those days were my get up and go got up and left before I even got started on my day! So I was looking through my recipes, I found this one fudge recipe that makes ALOT but seemed easy to complete!

I got this fudge recipe from my friend, Leni!! I must say that this fudge is soooo easy!! It only has 3 ingredients, all of which I keep in my pantry!

So by now you are probably wondering what are the 3 ingredients and just how easy is this fudge!

Easy Peanut Butter Fudge

1 bag(12oz) milk chocolate chips

1 jar(18oz) crunchy peanut butter

1 can condensed milk

Put chocolate chips and peanut butter in a double boiler pan. Heat til the chocolate chips are melted(took about 5-7 minutes). Remove from heat and add the milk. Stir til smooth. Pour into a wax papered lined pan. I used a 15 x10 jelly roll pan. It isn't very thick but they make bite size pieces for kids! If you want thicker fudge use a 9x13 pan. Let cool and then cut into pieces. I stuck mine in the freezer to cool because I had the oven on and I knew that it would take a long time to firm up. Once it is cool you can cut it and put it in the fridge or freezer til you want it.

See I told you easy! Definitely something easy to do for last minute gift giving or needing something to take to that holiday party!

For other kitchen tips, head over to Tammy's Recipes!!

For other tempting tummy recipes and more; head over to Blessed with Grace!

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Themed Day

A glimpse into my kitchen yesterday...

Starting to work at getting some baking done for the sample goodie trays that I make for gifts for my neighbors and for dessert at the family dinner on Christmas day.

Here is two of my boys(12yo, 8yo) working at making some fudgy buttons. This recipe is soooo kid friendly! I let my 12 yo work the stovetop part of the directions and the 8yo did the rest of the stirring and then they both worked at putting them on the wax paper. The boys had fun mixing it together and shaping the "buttons".

Here is close up of their finished product. After tasting his work, my 8yo ds said, that they taste like melted Reese's cups!

While they worked on the fudgy buttons, I did up some haystacks! These were easy to make as well!

Haystacks

1 can chow mein noodles
1 bag(12oz) butterscotch chips
2/3 cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter
2 cups salted peanuts(optional)

In a bowl, mix peanuts and noodles together, set aside. In a double boiler pan, melt chips and peanut butter together until smooth. Remove from the heat, and pour over peanuts and noodles, stir til combined. Drop by the teaspoonful on wax paper. Cool til hardened. To speed up the cooling process you can put them on wax paper on a cookie sheet and put in the freezer for 15 minutes.

The last thing that came out of my kitchen yesterday was Amy's recipe for Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Cookies!! Yummy!! These were easy to make as well. The kids loved helping to unwrap the peanut butter cups and putting them in the cookies.

Stay tuned...there is more goodness that is going to be coming out of my kitchen this week!!!

Easy Dessert from the Pantry!!

Been invited somewhere where you need to take a dessert? Putting a meal together for a family and realize that taking a dessert would be a good thing? Or are you just in need of some chocolate?? I got a solution to your dilemma!!!

This is an easy dessert that you should have most of the ingredients in your pantry(well they are in mine due to the recent grocery sales and clearance Halloween candy!). A rough estimate of total cost for one pie is about $3.00!

Here is the original recipe...

NO Bake Cool Whip Pudding Pie

2 pkgs(3oz box) instant pudding, any flavor
2 cups milk
1 tub(8oz) Cool Whip
1 Graham Cracker Crust

Mix 2 packages of pudding and 2 cups of milk thoroughly. Gently fold in 1 container of Cool-Whip. Spoon into a graham cracker crust. Chill.

MY FIRST VARIATION:
2 pkgs(3oz) instant chocolate pudding
1 can evaporated milk
1/2 cup 2% milk
1 tub(8oz) Chocolate Cool Whip
1 Graham Cracker Crust
3 snack size Reese peanut butter cups, chopped

Mix 2 packages of pudding and 2 cups of milk thoroughly. Gently fold in 1 container of Cool-Whip. Spoon into a graham cracker crust. Sprinkle with chopped peanut butter cups. Chill.

MY SECOND VARIATION:
2 pkgs (3oz) instant chocolate fudge pudding
1 can evaporated milk
1/2 cup 2% milk
1 tub(8oz) Chocolate Cool Whip
1 Oreo Cookie Crust
6 snack size Reese Peanut butter cups, chopped & divided

Mix 2 packages of pudding and 2 cups of milk thoroughly. Gently fold in 1 container of Cool-Whip and 3 peanut butter cups. Spoon into a graham cracker crust. Sprinkle with 3 chopped peanut butter cups. Chill.

I think the next time I do this I am going to try Snickers bars or Milky Way bars! YUM! Oh and just in case you are wondering why I used mostly evaporated milk instead of just all "drinking milk" is because the pudding mixture comes out thicker and creamier rather than being a little watery!

I have seen a similar recipe using Jello Mix as well. However, I prefer chocolate!!

And since this is Wednesday, it works for me to fill my sweet tooth or to provide dessert to a friend who just had a baby!

For more works for me, head over to Rocks in my Dryer.