Brownie Batter Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes

OH MY GOODNESS. HEAVEN IN A CUPCAKE. That’s what this recipe is. Maybe I should make that it’s new name…

Anyways, this cupcake is AMAZING! (If you loveee chocolate, ofcourse.) I know I sure do. If you want me to do something for you, give me one of these cupcakes and I will do it with 110% effort.  That’s how good they are. They make for some serious motivation. The recipe is a little extensive, but so worth it! Just make sure you have plenty of time to make them (the brownie part has to freeze overnight so that spreads out the time a bit). And, if you want to impress someone, these are surely a good way to do so. Trust me. Everyone that tried one, instantly “mmmmm”’d. Honestly, that makes it all worth it.

For the BROWNIES: Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix on medium speed for 2 mins until well combined (a mixer would work well for this, otherwise just stir it – beaters won’t work because the mix is too thick)

Using a small scoop (about 1.5 tbsp) drop batter onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and freeze overnight.

For the CUPCAKES: 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. (see recipe below for frosting)

They taste just as good without frosting because it allows you to taste the brownie part even more, but then it's more like a chocolate muffin. But if you want to add to the presentation of the cupcakes, frosting looks (and tastes) good.

GOOD LUCK!

Brownie Batter Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes

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.

Who did I give these to? EVERYONE. Teachers, friends, classmates, family, my boyfriend, and myself. Who loved them? EVERYONE. I made about a dozen mini cupcakes and they were really handy to give to people without making a mess!

Valentine’s Day Cutout Cookies

 Happy Belated Valentine’s Day!

On Valentine’s Day, I made these heart-shaped cookies for my boyfriend and I to decorate. It was kind of my gift to him because I knew he’d enjoy eating them, but he also had to help me and work for it! Haha but he’s actually pretty artsy and admitted to being a perfectionist with them, so he did better than I did at decorating them. It was really fun and a great date idea not to mention, they taste delicious. Slightly buttery and melt-in-your-mouth, yet just the right amount of crunch and a blast of sweet frosting!

This recipe works well for any holiday or occasion, just use whatever cookies cutters you want! I used 3 different heart shapes that I found in my cabinet. I’ve never actually made these for Valentine’s Day, so I’m not sure if we’ve even ever used these cutters before. We usually make them for Christmas in shapes like snowmen, trees, and gingerbread men, but I had this crazyyy idea to make them for Valentine’s Day! (Brilliant, right? I know.) They are super easy, just follow along!

Ingredients

First, mix shortening, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl. Try to make sure the butter is really soft, preferably fully at room temperature, otherwise the batter will be really lumpy, like mine was.

Blend in dry ingredients. (flour, baking powder, salt)

Make sure to chill this for atleast an hour so it can get firmer. I just covered mine with plastic wrap and put it in my garage because it was like 30 degress out! I hate cold weather.

Roll dough 1/8” thick and use cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Repeat as many times as necessary.

Place on an ungreased baking sheet and bake!

For the frosting, I just used the generic frosting recipe my mom taught me when I was little for these cookies. Dump piles (about 1 cup each, depending on how much frosting you plan to use) of powdered sugar in bowls (depending on how many colors you want. I made pink, purple, and left one white). Mix in a small amount of milk – trust me, you only need a few teaspoons! Add desired food colorings and frost your heart away! I think plastic knifes work best for decorating and sprinkles are definately needed =)

And… devour.

Sugar Cookie:

¾ cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 ½ cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

Mix shortening, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Blend in dry ingredients. Chill. Roll dough 1/8” thick. Cut with cookie cutters. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 6-8 minutes at 400°.

Frosting:

Powdered/confectioners’ sugar

Minimal amount of milk

Food coloring of choice

My boyfriend ate a few and took a bunch home for his family, and I brought some to school and shared it with friends in a few of my classes. Lets just say, I had only a few left at the end of the day... =0

Funfetti Cookies

So the other day, my friend Meghan and I wanted to bake something. We didn’t want to bake the usual brownies from a box, chocolate chip cookies, you know, the same old, same old. Well we rummaged through her pantry and found a box a funfetti cake mix – a little more exciting the usual because I never make it, but still not too exciting. But then we saw a recipe for funfetti cookies on the side of the box. Bingo. I mean, you’re making cookies from cake mix. It was a weird concept, am I right?? Well, we had to try it. So we got out her mixer and went on our way. It’s an easy recipe, just slightly different than the cake recipe because it doesn’t require water.

Combine the funfetti cake mix, oil, and eggs in a large bowl. (We used her mixer. I wish so badly that I had one, but my mom says I have to wait until I have my own house. But it could always be my graduation present or a birthday present… haha I did get the Magic Bullet as a gift from her once, it’s a fancy little blender thing. And I love looking at coffee machines, blenders, those little cake pop makers and stuff at the store. I think I have a weird obsession with kitchen appliances...)

Shape the dough in 1 inch balls and place 12 onto a cookie sheet. (try not to eat the dough…. ahh what the heck, eat it! Its really yummy! Who cares if there’s raw egg in it, right?)

Dip the bottom of a glass in flour and use it to flatten the dough to about ¼ inch thick. (we had to get the bottom of the glass a little wet for the flour to stick)

Then bake at 375 degrees for 6-8 minutes (we baked ours for about 6 for a softer cookie because that’s how we agreed we liked them.)

Then if you desire, spread with frosting and decorate however you would like! (we didn’t have any frosting and thought they were good without any anyways.)

These cookies were soooo soft and chewy and DELICIOUS! Seriously, they were so easy, but soo good! It was amazing. I brought some home and shared them with my boyfriend and even though he was full from dinner, he still ate like 3. That’s how good they were. I also left a few in the cookie jar and when I went to have one the next day, they weren’t there. Thanks Dad. =P

And actually, a few days later, I made these again with my friend Laura because I told her how good they were. =)

Enjoy! I promise you will.

Recipe:

INGREDIENTS

1 (18.9-oz.) pkg. Pillsbury® Moist Supreme® Funfetti® Cake Mix

1/3 cup oil

2 eggs

1/2 (15.6-oz.) can Pillsbury® Creamy Supreme® Funfetti® Vanilla Frosting (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1- Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, combine cake mix, oil and eggs; stir with spoon until thoroughly moistened. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. With bottom of glass dipped in flour, flatten to 1/4-inch thickness.

2 - Bake at 375°F. for 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets.

3 - Spread frosting over warm cookies. Immediately sprinkle each with candy bits from frosting. Let frosting set before storing. Store in tightly covered container.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

I'm going to start this blog with the most popular dessert treat. Chocolate Chip Cookies. For me, I don't like making regular cookies as much as bars because bars always turn out softer and more moist than actual cookies. And besides, making bars is much faster and a lot less work =). But you can make cookies with this if you prefer. This has been my go-to recipe whenever I need a quick dessert to bring to a party or am just craving a sweet treat! And it has been a hit every time. Here we go... =)

(I plan to share each recipe with someone - besides my family - so I'll let you know at the end of each post, what they thought about it.)

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl...

Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy…

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition (this is what the recipe says, but I don’t think it makes a difference)…

Gradually beat in flour mixture…

Stir in morsels and nuts (or just morsels, in this case)…

Spread into a greased 15x10 jelly roll pan.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown…

YUMMMMY!

               

And here's the recipe…

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

1 cup chopped nuts

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

PAN COOKIE VARIATION: Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan. Prepare dough as above. Spread into prepared pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan on wire rack. Makes 4 dozen bars

I shared these cookie bars with my friend Sara and my teacher, Mrs. Laveau, and they both thought they were delicious! These bars are definately the best within the first few days of being made, so you might haveeee to share ;)