Brownie Batter Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes

So today I am finally uploading because I can't resist this outrageously delightful chocolate tastiness. It comes from the blog of KevinandAmanda.com Amanda is a fun and unbelievable talented web/font designer, scrapbooker, crafter, blogger.. you name it she can do it lady. With the loss of my camera and photoshop on the fritz I am giving Amanda full credit for not only the amazing pictures but for the sinfully fabulous treat. Just looking at these will give you a chocolate fix...


Brownie Batter Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes with Outrageously Rich Chocolate Indulgence Frosting

BROWNIE BATTER

1/4 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup fat-free sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup milk
1 (18.25 oz) box devil’s food cake mix

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix on medium speed for 2 mins until well combined. Using a small scoop (about 1.5 tbsp) drop batter onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and freeze overnight.

CUPCAKES

1 (18.25 oz) box devil’s food cake mix
1 (3.9 oz) pkg Jello instant chocolate fudge pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
2 cups mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray and line with cupcake liners. Combine all ingredients except chocolate chips into a very large bowl and mix on medium speed for 2 mins until well combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Using a large scoop (about 3 tbsp) drop batter into the cupcake liners, filling about 2/3rds full. Remove brownie batter from freezer and press into the cupcake batter. Bake for 22-28 mins. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

FROSTING

5 sticks butter, softened
8 oz powdered sugar
1.5 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa)
a pinch of table salt
1.5 cups light corn syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
16 oz milk chocolate chips

Melt chocolate chips in the microwave, stirring well every 30 seconds. Allow to cool for 5-10 mins. Combine butter, sugar, cocoa and salt in a food processor and process until smooth, about 30 seconds. Scrape the bowl as needed. Add the corn syrup and vanilla and process until just combined, about 5-10 seconds. Scrape the bowl again, then add the melted chocolate and pulse until smooth and creamy, about 10-15 seconds. You can use a mixer for this too, if you don’t have a food processor, just don’t whip the butter too much! :) Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated.

Makes & frosts 36 cupcakes.

Chocolate Oatmeal No-Bake Cookies

Here is an easy treat when you need something quick and simple. My 11 year old made these last night all by herself..

Chocolate Oatmeal No-Bake Cookies

1/2 C Butter
2 C Sugar
1/2 C Milk
4 Tbsp Cocoa
1/2 C Peanut Butter
3- 3 1/2 C Quick cooking Oats
2 tsp. Vanilla

Add butter, sugar, milk and cocoa to a saucepan. Slowly bring to a rolling boil, and boil for 1 minute. (cooking longer can cause dry cookies.) Take off heat. Stir in the peanut butter, oats and vanilla and drop onto wax/foil paper. Let cool until set.

Girl Scout Thin Mints

Oh Be still my heart. When my friend sent me this recipe to try it seemed too good to be true. The truth? After getting over all the angels singing... my mouth was very very happy.

Girl Scout Thin Mints

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/3 cup milk (any kind)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp peppermint extract

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. With the mixer on low speed, add in the milk and the extracts. Mixture will look curdled. Gradually, add in the flour mixture until fully incorporated.
Shape dough into two logs, about 1 1/2 inches (or about 4 cm) in diameter, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for at least 1-2 hours, until dough is very firm.
Preheat oven to 375F.
Slice dough into rounds not more than 1/4 inch thick - if they are too thick, they will not be as crisp - and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cookies will not spread very much, so you can put them quite close together.
Bake for 13-15 minutes, until cookies are firm at the edges. Cool cookies completely on a wire rack before dipping in chocolate.

Dark Chocolate Coating
10-oz dark or semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup butter, room temperature

In a microwave safe bowl, combine chocolate and butter. Melt on high power in the microwave, stirring every 45-60 seconds, until chocolate is smooth. Chocolate should have a consistency somewhere between chocolate syrup and fudge for a thin coating.
Dip each cookie in melted chocolate, turn with a fork to coat, then transfer to a piece of parchment paper or wax paper to set up for at least 30 minutes, or until chocolate is cool and firm.
Reheat chocolate as needed to keep it smooth and easy to dip into.

Makes 3 1/2-4 dozen cookies.

Cake Truffles

I know I owe a few of you some recipes but this is too good not to post IMMEDIATELY. Ok so the cake balls..truffles.. balls.. Umm I like cake TRUFFLES better..sounds fancy, they are quite popular in the baking world right now. They seem to be all over the place.. They are tasty and easy to make, not to mention cute as a button. I'm nodding my head slowly waiting to be convinced.. the wait is over. Last night I ate these at our better-late-than-never holiday bakery party. Lisa Taylor, you are a rock-star! Cute, Check. Easy to make, check. Moist, check. Make your mouth sing, double check. MMMM Hit the high note on this one.. thanks Lisa!

Chocolate Truffles

1 package (18.5 oz.) chocolate cake mix
( + ingredients for making the cake)
½ cup butter or margarine, softened
½ cup unsweetened cocoa
½ cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
½ cup of your favorite jam (I like seedless raspberry!)
2 packages (8 oz.) milk chocolate squares or chips (for dipping)


Prepare cake as package directs; cool. In saucepan, over medium heat, melt butter; add cocoa and sugar. Stir until smooth. Add vanilla and jam; stir until smooth and glossy. Remove from heat. Crumble cake and add saucepan mixture, mix until well blended and moist. Roll into about 1 inch balls. Melt Chocolate and dip chocolate cake balls in the chocolate. Place on wax paper and let cool until the chocolate is not shiny and is smooth and firm. Enjoy! Makes anywhere from 45 to 70 truffles depending on the size of the balls.

Note from Lisa: You can really get creative with this recipe. You can use any kind of cake, any kind of flavoring, and any kind of chocolate you want! My sister made truffles with a white cake, apricot jam and dipped in white chocolate. Instead of using jam, you can use peanut butter, caramel or butterscotch ice cream topping, or anything else you can think of. You can even put chopped nuts inside or sprinkled on top. You could roll a maraschino cherry in the cake mixture and then dip in chocolate. Get creative!


For the party, I actually split the mixture into thirds before adding the jam so that I could have three different flavors in one batch. I did add ½ cup of seedless raspberry jam to the first part, ½ cup of peanut butter to the second part, and ½ cup of caramel to the third part so that the flavoring was more prominent. If you make the recipe as it is written above, the flavoring will be more subtle.

Chocolate Zucchini Cookies

I'm still out my ears with Zuchinni so I have been looking for new recipes to use it up. Here is one I found just yesterday and have discovered a new favorite! We love these new cookies. My kids decided that I should call them Chocolate Zucchini Muffin Tops because they soft and yummy like muffins but in a cookie form. We opted out of chocolate chips but decided that extra chocolate never hurts so we're doubling up next time. Give these a try and you'll be in for a real treat.

Chocolate Zucchini Cookies

1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheets. In a medium bowl, cream together the margarine, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; gradually stir into the creamed mixture. Fold in the grated zucchini. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Makes approximately 3 dozen cookies.

Texas Fudge Cake

I'm not certain where this recipe comes from. Texas I guess. We got it from an old neighbor Kris Bell. We find any excuse to make this yummy cake and don't even wait until birthdays or special occasions, although this month we had two requests. Josh turned 11 and Alex turned 7. This can be made in a standard cake pan or a sheet cake pan. We prefer the second.


Texas Fudge Cake


Dry Ingredients:

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda

Set this bowl of dry ingredients aside.

Liqued Ingredients:

2 sticks real butter
1 cup water
4 TBS cocoa

Combine in a saucepan and bring to a boil, then when completely melted pour over dry ingredients, mix thoroughly.

Mix together

1/2 cup buttermilk or regular milk
2 eggs , beaten
1 tsp vanilla

Add to other mixture, pour into a greased cake pan or sheetcake pan. Bake 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Use toothpick to check.

Frosting:

2 cups powder sugar
3 TBS cocoa
1/2 stick melted real butter
little milk

Mix together and add milk for spreading consistancy. Spread over hot cake.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins

2-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions: In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, beat the eggs, sour cream, water, milk, oil and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 325° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Yield: 2 dozen.

Fiddlehead brownies

This is my favorite version of the classic brownie. It comes from the fiddlehead restraunt in Juneau, Alaska. Bake up a batch and call the neighbors, Its a restraunt version so there is plenty to go around.

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Fiddlehead Brownies

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1 cup butter ( 2 cubes)

6 oz unsweetened milk chocolate (1 cup cocoa + 4 TBS butter)

7 eggs

1 tsp salt

3 1/2 cups sugar

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

2 cups chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 325o F Lightly oil and flour 12x17 inch jelly roll pan. In a small pan over low heat, or in a glass bowl in the microwave, melt together butter and chocolate. Cool slightly. In large bowl beat eggs and salt until foamy. Add sugar slowly, beating until light and fluffy. Add Vanilla. Using large spoon, stir chocolate mixture into eggs until mixture is marbled. Stir in Flour and add nuts. Mixjust until blended. Do not overmix. Pour into prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake 30 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean and edges are slightly puffed and cracked. Let cool 10 minutes. makes 48 2x2inch brownies.