spoon

Dulce de Leche Pecan Brownies!!

6

Category : Brownies, Dessert

I know some people are anti box mix or anti cake mix but sometimes they are necessary, they are quick and easy and with technology these days they are almost fail proof! Not to mention how can you knock something that you can dump in a bowl throw in some eggs and oil and when it comes out of the oven you know you will have a fudgy brownie?! You almost can’t mess them up and the easiness makes them appealing if you are in a hurry or if it is 10 pm and you realized you need something for the potluck at work! So if you are anti box mixes then this recipe probably is not for you, however, if you are like me and can appreciate the ease and convenience of a good box mix then this recipe is right up your alley!

I have made this twice making sure I had the measurements I thought were best before I posted this for you guys. I used a family size box mix the first time that is made for a 13×9 inch pan and the second time I used two bags of mix that were 10.25 ounces each. If it was just for hubby and I then one box would have given us plenty of brownies but I had planned to bring some to work and I wanted us to still have some at the house if we got a sweet tooth. I am going to type the recipe as I made it but if you wish to cut it
down then it will work out just adjust the other ingredients, or keep them the
same and have a brownie packed with chocolate, dulce de leche and pecans!! How can you go wrong with that? You can find the dulce de leche down the “ethnic” foods isle by the Mexican food pre-made in a can (picture below) or you can make your own! I want to make my own one day so I am sure there will be a future post on this but for now I used pre-made that I had in the pantry (what you don’t have 4 cans in your pantry like I do? Gee you are a weirdo-0 :) ) Using pre-made goes with the easiness and quickness of this recipe too! So get fancy and make some (then come tell me all about it here in a comment) or just do what I did and use a pre- made dulce de leche!

Dulce de Leche Pecan Brownies

Ingredients

  • 1 20.5 ounce Brownie Mix (your choice what brand I used Duncan Hines Chewy Fudge)
  • Ingredients per the back of the brownie mix required to make the brownies
  • ¾ cup of chopped pecans (chop the pecans and then measure if you measure them
    then chop they will not measure the same)
  • ½ cup Milk chocolate chips
  • 1 can (13.4 ounces) Dulce de leche

First pre-heat your oven based on what your brownie mix box says to heat the oven to.

In a large bowl combine the contents of the brownie mix box
and the ingredients required to make the brownie mix (this should be oil, water
and egg.)

Just mix the mixture with a fork because you do not want to
beat or over mix brownies. It will result in a flat cakey brownie. You want to
mix it until it is pretty smooth but a few bumps or clumps will be fine!

Dump into the bowl the chocolate chips and half of the dulce
de leche can and stir with a fork until it is incorporated.

Then add the chopped pecans and stir until incorporated.

Grease a 13×9-baking pan and pour the brownie mix into the
pan. Use a spatula to scrap the bowl and lick the batter off the spatula get
all the batter into the pan.

Once all the batter is in drop the remaining amounts of
dulce de leche on top of the batter and space it out a bit.

Take the side of a butter knife and smear the dulce de leche
into the batter. Get fancy and make a pretty design if you feel like being
creative!

Once the batter is ready place in your pre-heated oven and
cook per the instructions on your box mix. To test for done-ness insert a tooth
pick in the center and it should come out clean. Another way and a better way
to test for brownies is when they start to pull away from the sides of the pan
they are done. For the final check shake the pan a bit back and forth (with a
pot holder on your hand of course) while it is on the baking rack. If you can
see the brownie jiggle (like my thighs! HA!) Then you need to let it cook a bit
longer.

Once they are done cut them up! I like to do about 2”x2”
squares!

**Cooking Tip** Once your brownies have cooled for 30 to 40
minutes use a PLASTIC KNIFE to cut them and you will not tear up the brownies while
they are in the pan! Yes it is true! I only let mine cool about 20 minutes (because
I am impatient and possibly suffer from A.D.D.) and look at those clean lines!
Yeah baby!

All you have to do next is plate and serve these babies!
Preferably with a nice cold glass of milk and if you have been doing the fancy
instructions because you are feeling fancy a scoop of vanilla ice cream wouldn’t
hurt either!

Tada! Thick, fudgy gourmet looking brownies for half the
price and you spent half the time on them! Meaning you did not have to get all hot
and sweaty in the kitchen but anyone who eats them will think you slaved over
them for hours! Perfect for a birthday party, potluck or just because you want
some Dulce de Leche Pecan Brownies in your mouth stat!!

Look at that Dulce de Leche center! MMM so good once it hits the lips!!

I hope you make these! Come back here and leave me a comment
if you do letting me know what you thought!

Click the Foodista button below for the printable version. To print the entire post with step by step photos click the print icon button at the top of the post below the title.

 

Dulce de Leche Pecan Brownies

Hamburger Cupcakes

3

Category : Cupcakes, Dessert

Looking for a good and fun idea for a dessert for Father’s day?? Then I have just the treat for you! These hamburger cupcakes are fun to make with or without the kids! They are so adorable you almost won’t want to eat them! Notice I said ALMOST! They are so yummy and if you cook up some sugar cookie french fries they are even better!!

For the recipe click here! I apologize for the photos… I am not that talented but I have come a long way in my short blogging time.

Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies

3

Category : Cookies, Dessert

The other day I was in the kitchen staring a bowl of caramels on my counter. I know what you are thinking “who has caramels just chillin on their counter?” Well I usually would not (because either me or the Hubby would eat them!) but I had made the Knock You Naked brownies that PW posted and I had extras! I was staring at them and it hit me. I shouted to Hubby “I KNOW JUST WHAT TO DO WITH THESE! I have an invention idea and you are going to love it” with far less enthusiasm then my screaming excitement over my invention he replied, “what is that?” to which I explained to him “I am going to put one of these in the center of a chocolate chip cookie and then do a touch of sea salt on top! It will be cookie but caramel but chocolate and a little sweet and a little salty and it is going to be soooooo good.” I got a head nod of approval and I am sure he was thinking in his head (this woman I married is nuts and she is as excited over these cookies as a mad scientist is about a plot to take over the world!! ha ha get it? Like Pinky and the Brain!) He did, however, ask that I leave off the salt… he is not a big salt fan and I decided I would try some with it and some without it! Then I took to Google as no excited young talented inventor should do because you will immediately find that you are A. not that smart and talented as there are quite a few others who not only thought of this before you but they have already made them and blogged them! And B. They did it better then you were thinking!! So with a little less wind in my sails I went to the kitchen to conquer the cookie! I did however opt to use this recipe because I just couldn’t get the images out of my head after I had made the dreaded Google discovery! I only wish I had her caramels!

Adapted from: CC Confectionary Caramel Filled Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoons granulated sugar (I used vanilla sugar)
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1-3/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1-1/2 cups semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips (I used cup half semi sweet and half cup milk chocolate and that were plenty of chips in my opinion)
  • 1/4 lb. bar CC Confectionary Madagascar Vanilla Bean Caramels or Other Fine Caramel (I just used the plain square shaped caramels from the store)
  • Sea Salt for garnishing the tops if you are into that sort of thing.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter with the sugars using an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy (approximately 30 seconds).

Beat in the egg and the vanilla extract for another 30 seconds.

In a mixing bowl, sift together the dry ingredients and beat into the butter mixture at low speed for about 15 seconds. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Unwrap your caramels or cut up your caramels until they are about .5 inch by .5 inch.

Using a tablespoon measuring spoon, drop cookie dough onto a greased cookie sheet or a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper about 3 inches apart. Place one caramel square in the center and top with another tablespoon of dough.

Roll them in your hand so they are a nice even ball. You do not want to leave any seams in the cookie because when they bake they will spread apart so just make sure you have an solid dough ball formed.

Catherine says to bake for about 9 minutes or until nicely browned around the edges. Mine were not like that until about 11 minutes in so just check on them to get the type of cookie you want. Bake a little longer for a crispier cookie

Let the cookies cool completely on the cookie sheet. Some of the caramel may have sunk to the bottom, so to avoid breaking the cookies, this is an important step. Also remember this means the cookie will still cook while it is cooling so you don’t want to wait until they are too done in the oven or this step will cause them to overcook.

Now all that is left it is to EAT and Enjoy! Many thanks to the gorgeous and talented Catherine at Lipstick Blogger!

WE loved these cookies! They were so gooey out of the oven and the flavor combination is a party in your mouth that you will want to have over and over again!! The next day I had one without heating it up and it had more of crispiness to the cookie but then chewiness from the caramel and it was great! Dunk it in some milk and you just can’t go wrong! I highly suggest that you get yourself some caramels and try this out! You will not be sad that you did!!

P.S. Warming them up slightly the next day made them just like they were fresh from the oven! So Yummy!!

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies & Valentine’s Day Give Away!!

23

Category : Cookies, Dessert

That’s right folks… this post is a two for one!! Are you excited? Because I am! OK let’s get down to business! Look at these cookies…

Can you say YUM! I came across Erika’s Blog and fell in love with it and her main picture was this adorable cookie… and low and behold after reading her blog for a while I saw where she posted the recipe! I knew I had to try it! So here it is adapted from All Recipes and Inspired by Erika’s rendition of them

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Ingredients

  •  1 3/4 cups AP Flour
  • .5 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • .5 cup softened butter
  • .5 cup white sugar
  • .5 cup peanut butter
  • .5 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 40 miniature chocolate peanut butter cups, unwrapped

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda and set it to the side.

Cream together the butter, sugars & peanut butter until it is nice and fluffy. Then beat in the egg, vanilla and the milk.

Once you have done that mix in the flour mixture slowly until incorporated.

Shape the dough into 40 balls and bake in a min muffin pan. I used a Wilton cookie scoop that I have to ensure even size and baking.

This is what my Wilton Scooper looks like incase you were curious…

Bake the cookies at 375 for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and immediately press a mini peanut butter cup into the center of each cookie. I placed the peanut butter cups in the fridge so that they would not be soft when I pressed them into the middle of the cookie since the warm cookie is going to cause them to melt anyway.

Leave them in the pan to cool and then remove carefully. You can also do what I did as well as what Erikadid and decorate them with sprinkles of your choice while you are waiting for them to cool. the chocolate gets warm and melty so be careful or you will get it all over your hands and sprinkles… Not that, that happened to me! LOL while they cool the sprinkles will cool in place and stay put!

Look at this… See all that chocolate melting into the peanut butter… YUM!! You know you want some!

Well I hope you want them anyway because they are a part of my Valentine’s Day giveaway!! That’s right… Jason and I went to Hobby Lobby last week and there was the cutest cupcake container for putting sugar in next to the coffee pot… or keeping your favorite sprinkles… or even tea, heck the possibilities are endless!

But then I saw this cupcake plate… And thought how adorable it was and how I would love to be able to give this to one of my readers as a Valentine’s Day present…

SO I bought them (or rather Jason did… details…details) and I thought the perfect way to top off these two items would be to also send them with a fresh batch of these cookies….

So here is how you enter… I am going to give everyone 3 chances to enter (hopefully someone enters… please someone just enter to make me feel better!) If you subscribe to my blog leave a comment telling me that you signed up and that is one entry, if you already do then leave me a comment telling me you already do.

Entry number 2 is if you “like” me on Facebook. Leave me a comment on this web page letting me know that you liked me or if you already do let me know you already do.

And your 3rd option is to follow me on Twitter. Leave me a comment here letting me know that you are and that counts as your third entry! SO you all get three chances… I am going to say that this give away will close on Feb. 7th that way I have time to bake you a batch of cookies and get you your stuff before the holiday! So get to entering! My Facebook and Twitter buttons are on the top right hand side of my home page… and this page! So get to entering already!!

**REMEMBER ALL ENTERIES MUST BE MADE IN THE FORM OF A COMMENT AND THEY MUST BE MADE RIGHT HERE!! IF YOU DO ALL THREE YOU SHOULD LEAVE THREE COMMENTS! Good luck!!!**

New York Style Cheesecake & Cupcakes!!

8

Category : Cake, Cupcakes, Dessert

Well when I bought that spring form pan a few weeks ago I only had one thing in mind… MAKE CHEESECAKE! My sister Tiffani shared a recipe with me that she has adapted for cheesecake and she swears by it. I have not made a cheesecake since I helped my mom in like middle school! She must have been making it for mine or Tiffani’s birthday because we both always picked cheesecake for our birthday cake! Any-who it was perfect timing when she called me with that recipe because I had been craving some cheesecake and so was Jason!!

New York Style Cheesecake

  • 4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
  • 1 3/4 cups white sugar
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 vanilla bean (save the pod for later)
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

For the crust

  • 2 plastic pouches of graham crackers
  • Anywhere from half a stick to a whole stick of butter
  • 3 tablespoons vanilla sugar (you can use regular white sugar)

First things first… as you will see through my mishaps here that… well my sister forgot to tell me that this is really enough for two cheesecakes or 1 cake and then cupcakes! I should have noticed by the measurements being on the larger side but I was just thinking “Well Tiff didn’t say that” and thought maybe it was just going to work out. Now I see that in the future I will have other options but this is more then enough crust and filling for one 9″ pan.

OK so to get started pre-heat your oven to 350. Then you want to butter and flour your spring form pan and set it aside. In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter. Press onto bottom of spring form pan.

I wanted a nice fine crumb and Jason had just bought the Ninja so I thought it was a good time to test it out. So I put mine in there and then….

TADA! now just dump them in a bowl and add the butter. The butter is not an exact science you just add melted butter until you are happy with the texture. I like it just wet enough that when pinched it will hold it’s shape. Once you have the crust as wet as you prefer it press it down into your spring form pan. I used the bottom of a glass to press it in there nice and tight.

In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Stir in milk, and then mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in sour cream, vanilla extract and bean and flour until smooth. Pour filling into prepared crust.

They say the trick to a good cheesecake that does not crack and is the right texture is making sure you DO NOT OVER MIX the batter. Once you beat together the cream cheese and sugar (until light and fluffy) you do not even need to use a mixer you can do it by hand just until everything is incorporated…

If you have never used a vanilla bean then you want to bend it a little in your hand and then slice down the pod from end to end but not cutting all the way through.

Then with the back side of a butter knife you want to scrap the insides of the pod and get all the beans out. See below. I placed all the beans I got out of the pod on the mixer paddle so you could see it. The brown down below in the batter is the extract.

Once you have incorporated everything being very careful to NOT OVER MIX!!!! You can pour your batter on the crust…

Can you see all those black flecks… those are the vanilla beans… YUM!! Now I can tell you right now you should test the batter. If you had a situation like me I was trying to snap pictures while baking and I already am always a mess but I really had it all over my hands. I tried it and oh my word! You knew at that moment how good this cake was going to be!

Now here is where the light bulb should have gone on for me! LOOK how full this pan is… I kept thinking well maybe cheesecake doesn’t rise? I could not remember…and against my gut instinct I filled the pan this full!!! I then had a hard time banging it on the counter to get the air bubbles out but you need to do that and only fill it 3/4 full!

Save the extra batter and I will show you what you can do with it! It will keep in the fridge for up to a week I think, but I just used mine later that night. And remember you will have more then I do here since you will be smart and not over fill your pan! Because you are a genius!

Make sure you let it cool in the oven with the door closed. It will keep cooking but it will also let it naturally cool instead of going into shock from the oven to the fridge which can cause cracking!!

I had to cook mine too long because the pan was so dang full. Even though it browned like this it still tasted great!

Now with the extra I went ahead and line a cupcake pan with liners… Spray the liners with non stick spray so they are easier to eat later.

I put a heaping tablespoon of crust in each liner and pressed down with a measuring glass…

Then I put about 2 to 2.5 scoops from the “big spoon” in our silverware set. I guess that is close to the size of a tablespoon maybe slightly bigger… Now you can fill them as much as you like. I had paranoia about them rising but because they are on such a smaller scale that did not happen…

See those air bubbles… You need to be sure to bang the pan on the counter but picking it up slightly and dropping it to get all of the bubbles out of the batter and to the top or those bubbles will come out in the form of cracks… if your cups are not too full then you will have no spills and they will look like this….

That hole in the middle cupcake is where I checked it for done-ness (is that a word? It is now!!) The cupcakes were done after about 20 minutes, but be sure you check them incase yours are thicker. I sure hope you guys make this recipe! I think it is kind of great that you get enough for a cake and then a batch or two of cupcakes depending on how thick you make them… it would be great for a party when sometimes you need just a little bit more! Plus who could resist these cute little buggers? NOT anyone who is cool that’s who!

 

Look at that! I think that is the perfect crust to cake ratio! The crust is my favorite!

Go make this and tell me what you think… and learn from my mistakes friends! Cheesecakes do rise… and you should always trust your instincts!!

Red Velvet… Yes I know IT’S ABOUT TIME!!

8

Category : Cake, Dessert

I am sorry it has taken me over a week since I got back from my trip to blog FINALLY!! I hope you can all forgive me… Life just got so busy and the weather has not been very good for baking… It has bee stormy and hot an HUMID beyond belief!!
So enough of the excuses (although I plant to blog the photos of the weather that I have right after this to show you what I mean!)
So I have promised a blog of Red Velvet goodness and what is what you are going to get!!
Here is a little history on Red Velvet cake… It is a rich sweet cake with a hint of chocolate and has a distinctive reddish brown color…It is said to have originated in the Southern states…
But enough talk… let’s get down to business.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not dutch pressed)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1 ounce red food coloring
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Sift together the flour, cocoa, salt and baking soda then set aside. Usually I do not take pictures of the ingredients but I got new measuring bowls that I will have a seperate blog about and I just had to show them off… I just LOVE them!
Photobucket

Photobucket

Cream together the butter and the sugar until fluffy.. about 5 minutes…
Photobucket

Add the eggs one at a time…
Photobucket

Once you have added in all the eggs it should look about like this…
Photobucket

Mix in the sour cream, milk, food color and vanilla…
I did not use and ounce I used this new Wilton food coloring I had bought… I did not know how much to use which is why my cake is not as read this time as it has been in the past…
Photobucket

Gradually add in the flour mixture until it is incorporated but do not over mix!!
Photobucket

Pour the batter into two greased round pans. Bake cake for 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for about 10 minutes before removing from pan and setting on wire rack to cool!

I used vanilla frosting as in my research that is the original intended frosting for this cake. Many like cream cheese frosting and I will try it next time…. but…. this cake is sooooo YUMMY with vanilla frosting!!
Photobucket
Photobucket
Photobucket
Photobucket
Photobucket
Look at that… In the lighting in my kitchen it looks brown but it is actually a reddish auburn color… I wish I had added more coloring but I did not want to over do it!! I love this cake! It is rich and light at the same time… Jason agrees that is a keeper! This is the cake I intend to be the traditonal birthday cake at our house! I just wanted to share it with you…this is the second time I have used this recipe and I just love it… I hope you guys do too!!

Dunkable Brownies

4

Category : Brownies, Cookies, Dessert

I had wanted to bake something this week and I was not sure what… Then Amber said she would come over and she was in the mood for chocolate… and it hit me Dunkable Brownies!!! They are the best! My mom used to make them and I love them… So we went to the store, got the ingredients and got to cooking!! Here is the recipe and pics…

Dunkable Brownies
Ingredients:

-6 squares (6oz) Semi sweet chocolate
-4 squares (4oz) Unsweetened chocolate
-6 tablespoons ( 3/4 stick) butter
-3 Eggs
- 1 Cup flour
- 1 1/4 Cup sugar
- 1/4 Teaspoon salt
- 2 Teaspoons Vanilla
-1 Teaspoon baking powder
-2 Cups of toasted chopped walnuts ( or nut of your choice)

The first thing you want to do is preheat the oven to 325 degrees… Then line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper and toast the walnuts… I usually stick mine in as the oven is preheating and by the time it is preheated the nuts are toasted… this time I left them in too long and burned all the walnuts!! I tried one and it tasted like burnt popcorn :O(

I was sooo disapointed and then realized that I had pecans… And that is the nuts that Oklahoma is known for… heck I have a HUGE pecan tree in my backyard… So I decided to use the Pecans and call these Okie Dunkable Brownies!! After the nut of your choice is toasted take them off the cookie sheet and set them to the side until later.

Place all the butter and chocolate in a microwaveable bowl and microwave until melted. It takes about 2 minutes depending on your microwave but you want do this in 30 second intervals taking it out and stiring each time so that the chocolate does not burn…

I made a double batch so my pictures may look like more ingredients then yours…

Photobucket

Once your chocolate and butter is all melted it should be smooth with no chunks like this….

Photobucket

Once melted place all in a mixing bowl and add the sugar. Next mix in the eggs one at a time and then the vanilla. In a seperate bowl mix the baking powder, salt and flour. Slowly mix the flour mixture into the wet mixture…

Photobucket

Once the flour and the batter is all mixed together fold in your toasted nuts…

The mixture will be much more wet lookin then normal cookie dough and that is alright! That is how it should look… Because it is a brownie cookie! I lined my cookie sheets with parchment paer and placed the dough on the sheet leaving a litle room for them to spread… They seem to puff up more then they spread so once you see how they cook you will realize how many you can put on each sheet. Bake for about 12 mintues… DO NOT OVER BAKE they are not supposed to be dry inside they are supposed to have a brownie consisancy… So pull them out a few minutes early if you think they look done!

Look they look like little terds ready to bake!! Ha ha

Photobucket

I had to take a peak while they were baking… Mmmmmm Yum Yum

Photobucket

Tada… the finished product…

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend!!

Sinfully Yours,

Heather