Chocolate Caramel Brownie Bites

I'm not exactly sure who ever made up these national food days, but they sure are fun to celebrate. I made these brownie bites specifically for national brownie day today. Others at work also participated by bringing in their own brownie creations to share with others. It was fun to see what everyone came up with.

I like these bite sized brownies because they're perfect when you're trying to feed a crowd. Especially during the holiday season, easy is crucial. These are a spin off of another brownie dessert I've made before. Since we're a peanut-free school, I had to take a different route with the frosting. No fear though, a simple chocolate fudge buttercream did the trick.

You can most certainly top these with a store bought frosting, but homemade buttercream is really pretty easy to make and tastes so much better! I've already made this dessert easy by using a packaged brownie mix so please don't skip the frosting, it's worth your time I promise.

Holiday platters are always chock full of cookies, if you're not much of a cookie person, give these brownie bites a try. They're sure to please a crowd!

Chocolate Caramel Brownie Bites

Ingredients:
18 oz. fudge brownie mix {plus ingredients called for on pkg}
1 bag Rolo candies unwrapped
2 sticks butter, softened
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1-1/2 lbs. powdered sugar
few tsp of milk, for thinning

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease two mini muffin pans and set aside. Unwrap Rolo candies, place in a bowl and set in freezer while you prepare brownies.

In a large bowl, prepare brownie batter according to package directions. Using a small cookie scoop, drop batter into prepared pans, filling only 3/4 of the way. Bake in oven for 15 minutes or until set. Remove from oven and immediately place a Rolo {small side down} into each brownie. Place back into oven and bake for two minutes longer. Remove from oven and let cool completely before trying to remove from pan.

To make buttercream; in the bowl of a stand mixer or large bowl, cream together butter and vanilla until light and fluffy. Gradually add in powdered sugar and cocoa powder. Use milk to thin frosting to your desired consistency.

When ready to frost; simply add a dollop on of each brownie bite or use a pastry bag with the Wilton 1M tip or other star tip to frost each individual brownie. Makes 40+ brownie bites.

*You're likely to have extra frosting leftover, don't throw it away! You can easily stash it in the freezer to have for another time. Just put into a freezer safe bowl, make sure to label and date with contents.

Homemade Brownie Mix

As I've browsed freezer cooking recipes and articles over the past few years, I've always run into these make ahead mixes for cookies, pancakes, waffles, brownies and so much more. I'd yet to have tried one, but I like the idea behind it. Eliminate the convenience of simply opening up a boxed mix by pre-measuring the dry ingredients for your desired recipe. Because that's really why we think they are so much easier than baking from scratch, right? You still have to add in eggs, oil, butter and what not.

Normally when I make brownies for example, I have used recipes where you melt chopped chocolate into butter instead of using cocoa powder. So this morning I tinkered around with some recipes and finally came up with a good standard brownie that I could easily adapt to be made ahead. I was really happy with the results and even received thumbs up from the little taste testers.

They come together very quickly with few ingredients. In fact I spent probably about five minutes mixing together the dry ingredients for two batches. I can easily adapt the recipe to include different flavors. I was low on chocolate chips, so in the second batch I threw in butterscotch instead. Peanut butter or mint chocolate would also be fantastic choices. The finished brownies themselves are slightly chewy around the edges yet soft and decadent in the middle.

I will be storing my batches in the freezer just because the flour and other ingredients will stay fresh longer. I'm sure we'll have no problem putting these to use in no time though, in between hungry kids and bake sales for the school.

You can definitely adapt your favorite breakfast and dessert recipes to be made ahead, just mix together the dry ingredients and then add in the wet when ready to prepare. For those of you that might not be keen on freezer cooking, this could be an excellent way to still save you some time in the kitchen. Because in the end that what it's all about; giving you more time to focus on what's really important in life. Family.


Homemade Brownie Mix

Ingredients:
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup chocolate chips {or any other flavor chips you prefer}

additional ingredients needed to prepare brownies:
2 eggs
1 stick butter, melted
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions:
In a medium bowl, mix together all dry ingredients using a whisk. Label a quart size freezer bag with contents, date and additional ingredients needed to finish brownies. Pour dry ingredients into bag, squeeze excess air out and seal shut.

Store either in the pantry for up to six months or in the freezer for up to one year.

When ready to prepare brownies: dump dry ingredients into a bowl. Using a whisk, mix in eggs, melted butter and vanilla. Mix together just until smooth. Pour into a lightly greased 8x8-inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool before serving.

Frosted Cookie Brownies

Last Friday I spent the better part of my day preparing a home-cooked meal for a friend's family. They'd been dealing with a lot in the past week and frankly I just thought relieving the stress from planning one meal might be helpful.

I got busy in the kitchen and made a big pan of lasagna, Parmesan-garlic breadsticks, salad and these brownies. I love doing things like this for others! If I had an endless supply of money and time, I could see spending my days making up meals for others and surprising them. It's a passion I share and I hope they can feel the love that goes into each and every single dish.

It's been years since I've made these bars. In fact the last time I remember making them, I was newly married and our middle child was only a few months old. I made them for a fundraiser, a friend's daughter was needing to undergo multiple surgeries and they were having a huge benefit and bake sale.

Taste of Home was where I first spotted these, as were many of the recipes I first learned to prepare. I've since made a few changes, mainly replacing the store bought cookie dough with my own homemade version. It doesn't take much time to mix up.  The bars are very rich and decadent, just like a good brownie should be.

I split the recipe into two small 8x8 inch pans, but typically you can prepare these in a large 9x13 pan. If you feel like surprising a neighbor or friend, I highly recommend making the two pans. There's certainly plenty for everyone! Or stash the other pan in the freezer for another day, or when you need dessert but short on time.

Frosted Cookie Brownies

Ingredients:
1 batch of chocolate chip cookie dough
3 cups mini marshmallows
12 oz. bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 sticks butter
4 eggs
1-1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Frosting:
2 cups mini marshmallows
1/4 cup milk
1/2 stick butter
2 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate
3-4 cups powdered sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease either two 8x8 inch baking pans or one 9x13 pan. Press cookie dough into prepared pan(s) and bake for 13 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, place marshmallows, chocolate chips, and butter and cook over low heat. Stirring often, let cook until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl to let cool. Once cooled, beat in eggs and vanilla. Gradually add in flour, baking powder and salt and mix together well.

Pour brownie mixture over cookie crust and bake in oven for another 35 minutes. If using two smaller pans, you'll probably need to increase time to 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

To make frosting: combine marshmallows, milk, butter and chocolate in a small saucepan. Let cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until melted together and smooth. Remove from heat and whisk in powdered sugar, until frosting is smooth and reaches your desired consistency. Frost brownies with the icing and cut into bars.

Caramel Peanut Butter Brownie Cups

Last night we hung out with some friends from my husband's softball team. We had some great weather (minus the few random rain showers), the kids all played well together and we enjoyed some good eats including these decadent brownie cups.

I usually get asked to provide desserts when it comes to gatherings and I have to say I don't ever complain! I have so many different recipes bookmarked and ideas in my head especially when it comes to desserts that I don't know if I'll ever have time to complete them all.

These are definitely one of the most decadent desserts I've ever made. I started with a boxed brownie mix. While I do try to cook from scratch as much as possible, sometimes we just can't go wrong with a little Betty Crocker in our life. I baked these in a mini muffin pan and then topped them with a Rolo. After they cooled I made up my favorite peanut butter frosting, this stuff is just one big bowl of goodness I tell ya. I don't get a chance to use it on any of my cake or cupcake orders since it contains cream cheese and whipped cream and those are not ingredients I can use with a home-based business.

You'll have a good amount of extra frosting with this recipe so you can plan to use it on a batch of cupcakes, a small cake, sandwiched in between some cookies....I wouldn't even judge if you sat down and ate it by the spoonful. It's really that good, I promise!

Caramel Peanut Butter Brownie Cups

Ingredients:

1 box fudge brownie mix plus ingredients called for on package

Rolo candies, unwrapped (I used about 40 or so)

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

3/4 c peanut butter

3 c powdered sugar

1 c whipped topping, thawed

Directions:

Unwrap Rolo candies and chill in freezer while you prepare and bake brownie bites. Preheat oven to 325. Prepare brownie batter according to package instructions. Grease 2 mini muffin pans with nonstick cooking spray. * I used a family size Betty Crocker brand mix so I ended up with close to 40 brownie cups, other brands might only yield closer to 2 dozen* Using a small cookie scoop drop batter into prepared cups, filling about 3/4 way full. Bake for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven and immediately place a rolo candy (small side down) into each brownie bite. Bake in oven for 2 more mins and then remove to a cooling rack. Let cool completely before trying to remove from pan.

In the meantime make your frosting, cream together butter, cream cheese and peanut butter until smooth and creamy. Gradually add in powdered sugar. Finally mix in the whipped topping. Once brownies are cooled, remove from pan. When you're ready to serve, top each bite with a dollop of frosting. I inserted a large star tip (Wilton 1M) into a pastry bag to decorate mine. Store extra frosting in the fridge.

Makes around 40 brownie bites

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