Pumpkin Brownies

Fall is in the air, nipping at my tights-less, ankles & pumpkin is everywhere. Well, we have our pumpkin spice coffee in house!!! I’ve been sick so I remembered an easy recipe I had spied somewhere… It called for two ingredients! So I added some spice. And frosting. And more spice on top ;)
It was just what I needed.
Enjoy!

<3 

Lishie

Pumpkin Brownies

• 1 Box Brownie Mix (I used Ghirardelli)
• 1, 15 oz can Pumpkin
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• ¼ tsp Nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8”x8”, 9”x9” or 13”x9” pan.
Combine all of the ingredients above. The batter will be thick! Pour into prepped pan. Bake for:

8”x8”: 45-50 minutes
9”x9”: 40-45 minutes
13”x9”: 30-35 minutes

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 2 c powdered sugar
• 6 oz cream cheese, room temp
• ½ stick butter, room temp

Sprinkle a little cinnamon on top of the finished brownies.

The batter will be thick:

Happy National Chocolate Caramel Day!!!

March 19, 2013 is National Chocolate Caramel Day

It’s National Chocolate Caramel Day! The union of chocolate and caramel is arguably one of the greatest flavor combinations ever conceived by man. These two ingredients appear in countless candy bars, ice cream flavors, confections, and desserts. Did you know that Milton Hershey began his career at a caramel company? In the late 1800s he began experimenting with ways to improve caramel candy and found some German-built machines for manufacturing chocolate. His attention would eventually shift completely to chocolate, but Hershey’s first product was a chocolate-covered caramel! To celebrate National Chocolate Caramel Day, enjoy some of your favorite goodies made with chocolate and caramel!

I HIGHLY SUGGEST:

DeLish DeMaria's

Stuffed Brownies
<3 Lishie

Stuffed Brownies

As you may have noticed, I took a little, much-needed vacation from blogging. I love my blog & you all but sometimes a break is in order... No worries though because I thought I would come back strong with this winner. We had the Moms Group Valentine's party this past weekend & I made these Stuffed Brownies. And oh boy was this recipe well taken by parents & kids alike. I even got a high five from one of the little ones! High praise indeed. 

Oh.Em.Gee. YUM. I have to say these are definitely DeLish. And oh so easy to make. Just please do not blame me for the caloric intake... I am pretty sure it is worth it!!! 

The inspiration for these came from a variant on the recipe I made growing up in Florida called "Symphony Bars".

Stuffed Brownies

• 1 8x8 original Brownie recipe (can be scratch-made or box mix!)
• 3 large Caramello bars, broken into their square pieces.
• couple of pinches of sea salt
• Powdered Sugar Optional

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Prep a 13"X9" pan- I line with parchment paper or aluminum foil then spray with baking spray.
Prepare the brownie batter.
Pour half of the browning batter into the prepped pan.
Place the Caramello bar pieces to fit on top of the brownie batter layer.
"Pinch" the sea salt over the Caramello bar pieces.
Cover the Caramello bar pieces with the remaining brownie batter.
Bake for about 35 minutes, or until the edges are browned but not burnt...
Carefully pull the finished product out of the pan using the liner & allow to cool.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar & cut into small, two-bite-sized pieces. 

<3 Lishie (I'm backkkkk! ;) )

Back to School Cake

These began as a snack brownie recipe off the Hershey web-site but became more of a cakey, yummy creation after I added caramel & salted the batter. I think this is my new favorite quick chocolate cake from scratch. And quick is what I needed this week. It's the beginning of the school year & I work for a prestigious, private University in New York City. We call these early days "RUSH". All of the students cram into the empty spaces of summer & come back or begin in full throttle! My days are fuller & longer & I feel the coolness of autumn in the air. Perfect time to bake a snack & perfect time to try a new, fast recipe.

Cheers to new beginnings :)!

Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake

Adapted from Hershey

• 1/2 cup butter @ room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1-1/2 cups Chocolate Syrup
• 1/4-1/2 cup Caramel sauce *I used already made 
• 4 eggs
• 1-1/4 cups a-p Flour
• 1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
• 1 tsp course Sea Salt

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13x9x2-inch baking pan.
2. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl. Add syrup & sauce, eggs & flour; beat well. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle the sea salt on top.
3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until cake begins to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely before cutting.
4. ENJOY! 
   
   <3 Lishie

The Winner is... + More S'Mores Bars... Double the fun

And the winner of the Melissa & Doug Contest, chosen through Random.org is...  kpope19!!! Please email me at lishiedemaria@googlemail.com with your name & Email address so I can send you the Melissa & Doug information- they will be sending the win directly to you!!! Hope your 2 boys & classroom kids get great use out of them- they really are wonderful toys. Please email me by Friday, July 8th, 2011 or I'll have to pass the win on to the next runner-up!

Onto a favorite recipe, revisited. I've actually posted this recipe of mine before. It really is easy & delicious. I bake it over & over again. This time, I made a double batch for a large get together, 4th of July BBQ at Liberty State Park.  

I think it was a HUGE hit!

Here's what I did this time... This may help you substitute items in a flash...

Lishie's S’Mores Bars DOUBLED

• .
• 1 & 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 sticks Butter, @room temp.
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2, 14.4 oz boxes graham crackers, crushed
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp Kosher salt
• 10 Hershey Chocolate Bars, broken in pieces
• 1, 10 oz bag mini marshmallows

Pre-heat oven to 350°, grease or spray jelly roll pan. 

Beat butter and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix together crushed graham crackers, flour, and salt. Stir the graham cracker mixture into the butter/sugar/egg/vanilla mixture. Should become one, big crumbly clump.

Press about 1/2 of the graham cracker mixture over the entire bottom of the greased jelly roll pan. Place about 8 of the pieced chocolate bars on top. Sprinkle the mini marshmallows on top of the chocolate & push them into the foundation by hand. Crumble, by hand, the rest of the graham cracker mix on top. Finally, sprinkle the last 2 pieced chocolate bars on top.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until brown.

Brownie Bites!

This week is Teacher Appreciation week & I wanted to bake something special for Gabriel's teachers.  What could I make that they could munch on with one hand ;)? Well, Brownie Bites, of course! Like munchkins that are brownies & not fried!

I used my favorite mini brownie recipe & my brand new Avon Brownie Lollipop Pan. Only I would get bakeware from my Avon-selling friend. Yes, only me... They are brilliant... I bought 2 which are the perfect size to accommodate this recipe. It yields 16 brownie bites or pops if you wish! I use butter & crushed walnuts, which I placed in the sections of the pan first before adding the batter. (Add batter only half-way.)

The Avon Brownie Lollipop Pans

I got a thank you note today so I think they liked them :) They were very yummy- I snatched one before wrapping them up. Shhh...

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week to all my teacher friends!

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Red Velvet Brownies Take TWO!

IGNORE what I said here, in this "other" R. V. Brownie post ;)... Please, please, please. Yes, those were "good" but I felt like they were missing something... wasn't sure what so I experimented & came out with these...

OMGoodness, delish! THESE are the Red Velvet Brownies for Eric. Not the other batch. Here's my recipe:

Red Velvet Brownies with Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1/2 cup dark brown Sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp Vanilla, divided
• 3 TBSp Cocoa Powder
• 2 & 1/2 TBSp Red Food Coloring (Liquid- McCormick's)
• 1 & 1/4 cups AP Flour
• 1/4 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 3/4 cup Milk Chocolate Chips
• Cream Cheese Frosting (Recipe Below)
• Red Sprinkles *Optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.


With a mixer, cream together the butter & sugars. Add in each egg, one at a time, until combined. Mix in 1 tsp. vanilla.


In a separate, small bowl, combine the other tsp. vanilla + Cocoa Powder + Food Coloring. Add this to the butter mixture at medium speed until all of the ingredients are combined & the batter is RED.


Separately, sift together the flour, baking powder & salt. Add it to the red mixture until combined.

By hand, with a spatula, fold in the chocolate chips. Pour batter into an 8x8" greased & floured pan. Cook for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow the brownies to cool completely, then frost.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 6 oz. Cream Cheese
• 1/2 stick Butter
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• 2 cups Confectioner's Sugar

Combine all of the ingredients together in the mixer until incorporated together & fluffy. 

*Lishie Tips- Add red sprinkles because everything's better with a little sparkle :)... Make sure the butter & eggs are at room temperature... &... Don't forget to mix the chips with a little flour before folding them into the batter...

Red Velvet... Brownies?

Red, Velvety, chocolate + cream cheese goodness!

DO NOT MAKE THESE!
I am NOT kidding... I have a better recipe
MAKE THESE!!!! :) They are even.more.Delish.

Another friend's birthday... & he asked for red velvet. I wanted to make something different since I had just.made.a.red, well "Rainbow" velvet cake so when I saw these Red Velvet Brownies from the blog, "How Sweet it Is" I just had to try them!

They were very good! I'd just caution about the red food coloring. For this recipe, to get the "paste" required of the cocoa powder/vanilla/coloring combo, use LIQUID food coloring & not gel. The recipe is written without specifying at first- so pay attention- the vanilla is DIVIDED.

Naked brownie ;) Before cream cheese frosting (a must!) below:

Mine came out really red, so use less coloring if you want them browner or a richer red... And, of course, the optional chips were a MUST for me!

Cream Cheese Frosting *DeLish

• 1, 8 oz. Pkg. Cream Cheese
• 1/2 stick Butter
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• 1 lb. Confectioner's Sugar

Combine all of the ingredients together in the mixer until incorporated together & fluffy. 

Brownies

Chocolate, chewy, oowie goodness!

So it's happened. I've turned into her... Felicity Pickles. A character in one of my favorite series- Ellen Byerrum's Crime of Fashion mystery books (see link below)- is named Felicity, the Food Writer, who is always baking & bringing in goodies to her co-workers at the newspaper. Sounds nice, huh? Not when the lead, Lacey Smithsonian, Fashion Writer, doesn't want to consume a bajillion calories. Laugh if you will (I do, while reading the books) but I am just.like.her now...

So make way for brownies... not just any brownies. Classic, rich, gooey, chocolate Ghirardelli ~home-baked~ Brownies.
When brownies were requested at work, I thought, OK, but I love the classic & clean bar cookie. YUM. So maybe I am not Felicity, since my coworkers are asking me to bring them the sweets?

I follow the Ghirardelli Recipe almost exactly except I use Milk Chocolate Ghirardelli chips, not semi-sweet & I use a 9x9" pan... the difference is, the bars come out a little, teensy bit thinner. And just so ya know- I use DARK BROWN SUGAR. Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate...


*Lishie tips- Remember to use ONE of those flour tablespoons to coat the chips with before folding them into the batter! Also, how old is your baking powder? Mix one teaspoon powder with 1/3 cup of hot water. If the mixture doesn't foam, the powder is stale and should be replaced. Stale BP= your baked good won't rise.

This is the first book of the series- fashion, mystery... fun, smart & a really GOOD read:
Killer Hair by Ellen Byerrum
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



View all my reviews