Peanut Butter Cups

To round out the birthday celebration I decided to try my hand at making some peanut butter cups. I found this recipe on Brown Eyed Baker and knew I had to try them. I was a little heavy handed on the chocolate with mine so they wound up with a higher chocolate to peanut butter ratio than a traditional Reese's but the flavor of the peanut butter filling was right on and delicious. They were very fun to make and I will definitely try my hand at them again and fill each cup with a little less chocolate for the peanut butter lovers in my family. This time my mom brought the leftovers to work and they were a definite hit with her friends there.

Peanut Butter Cups
From Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients:
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
4 cup milk chocolate chips (two 11.5 oz bags)
1/4 cup vegetable shortening

Directions:
Line a mini muffin tin with paper liners; set aside. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine the peanut butter, butter and brown sugar over medium heat. Heat until completely melted and starting to bubble a little, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat. Add the confectioners' sugar a 1/4 cup at a time, stirring until completely combined with the peanut butter mixture after each addition. Set aside and let cool.

Meanwhile, melt the chocolate chips and shortening together in the microwave on 50% power in 30 second increments, until completely melted, stirring after each burst.

Using a small cookie scoop or a couple of teaspoons, spoon melted chocolate into the bottom of each lined muffin cup.

Use a heaping teaspoon to scoop out the peanut butter mixture. Roll it into a ball, and then flatten it slightly into a disk. Place on the prepared baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Once finished with all of the peanut butter mixture, refrigerate both the muffin tins and the peanut butter patties for about 30 minutes.

Place a peanut butter patty on top of each chocolate lined muffin liner. Then use a scoop or a spoon to add more melted chocolate on top and around each peanut butter patty. (If the melted chocolate firmed up, just pop it back into the microwave at 50% power for 30 seconds or so to re-melt.)

Refrigerate again for 30 minutes, then you are ready to serve! Store in the refrigerator or freezer.  You can keep at room temperature in an airtight container if you're going to serve them the same day, but they'll start to get soft if not a cool room temperature.

Reese's Cup Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

So you know from my last post that my mom loves French onion soup. Well when is comes to dessert her favorite combination of flavors is chocolate and peanut butter. It is not my favorite flavor combination so I don't make it very often but the birthday girl gets her favorite so off I went to find the ultimate in chocolate and peanut butter desserts. After much searching I decided on this cake from Annie's Eats and homemade chocolate peanut butter cups which I will post about later this week. Both of these came out great and she was very happy. The cake and frosting are both very rich so we had a lot of cake left over. I made mom take two big pieces home and Joe took the rest to work the next day. I think he said it lasted about 20 minutes before the plate was practically licked clean.

Now I made a small mistake while making the frosting and only put in 1 1/2 instead of 2 cups of confectioners sugar. The icing was still light and fluffy, it just had more peanut butter flavor that it probably would have if I had added all 2 cups of sugar. So I suggest you taste as you go along and stop adding the sugar when the flavor is to your peanut butter liking.

Reese's Cup Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake
From Annie's Eats

Ingredients:
For the cake:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk

For the icing:
2 cup confectioners' sugar
2 cups creamy peanut butter
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup heavy cream

miniature Reese's cups, halved and/or chopped for decoration

Directions:
For the cake, center a rack in the over and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 9x2" round cake pans, dust the insides with flour, tap out the excess and line the bottoms with rounds of parchment paper. Place the pans on a baking sheet.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add the sugar and beat for about 2 minutes, until thoroughly blended into the butter. Add the eggs and yolks one at a time, beating for one minute after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk; add the dry ingredients in 3 additions and the butter milk in 2 (beginning and ending with the dry ingredients). Mix each addition only until it is blended into the batter. Divide the batter between the prepared cake pans.

Bake for 26-30 minutes or until the cakes feel springy to the touch and start to pull away from the sides of the pans. Transfer to wore racks to cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unmold them and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up.

For the icing, place the confectioner's sugar, peanut butter, vanilla and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

To assemble the cake, level each cake layer and place one cake layer on a cardboard circle covered in foil. Spread peanut butter frosting on top of the cake layer. Place the second cake layer on top of the frosting. Frost the tops and outside of the cake with remaining peanut butter frosting. Decorate with halved and chopped Reese's cups as desired.

Cheesecake Brownies

In addition to the "regular" brownies that I made for Dani baby shower this week, I also wanted to do something else.  I was trolling the internet and saw a recipe for Halloween cheesecake brownies where they used food coloring to make the cheesecake orange and I thought that it was a great idea.  Only since we knew Dani was having a girl I could make them pink.  I didn't like that recipe though since it used packaged brownie mix and I didn't want to use packaged mix.  I did a little more digging and decided to use this recipe from Annie's Eats as my guide.

The end result was tasty but not exactly what I was looking for.  I wish there was a little bit more brownie base and like Annie said, it was difficult to swirl the two batters together.  Don't get me wrong, they tasted wonderful but just not exactly how I wished they had come out so I am still on the hunt for the perfect cheesecake brownie recipe because I can't think of a better flavor combination that those two.  So if anyone has any recipes that I could try out, send them my way!

Cheesecake Brownies
Slightly adapted from Annie's Eats

Ingredients:
For the brownies:
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup flour
1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

For the cheesecake:
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk
5 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2-4 drops red food coloring (or your color of choice)

Directions:
Line a 9-inch suare baking dish with foil, making sure it goes up all four sides.  Mist lightly with nonstick cooking spray.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and chocolate, stirring until smooth.   Remove from the heat, then beat int he 2/3 cup sugar.  Mix in the eggs.  Fold in the flour, cocoa powder, salt and vanilla extract and mix until just incorporated.  Do not over mix at this point.  Gently fold in the walnuts.  Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.

To make the cheesecake layer, in a separate bowl beat together the cream cheese, egg yolk, sugar and vanilla extract until smooth.  Add in the food coloring, one drop at a time, and beat until you reach your desired color.  Drop in large dollops evenly over the top of the brownie batter.  Use a dull knife or a spatula to swirl the cream cheese mixture with the chocolate batter.

Bake for 35 minutes, or until the batter int he center of the pan is just set.  Let cool completely, then life out with the foil and peel away.  Cut brownies into squares.  Refrigerate when not serving.

The Baked Brownie

One of my coworkers is having a baby and we threw her a small shower at work this week.  When we asked her what her favorite dessert was, she replied brownie.  A nice rich, fudgy brownie with a crispy crust and no chocolate chips!  I told her no problem.  My go to brownie recipe has mini Hershey kisses in it so I needed to find another recipe to make for her.  To the internet I went and came across a post from Brown Eyed Baker where she listed her top 10 favorite brownies and the Baked Brownie was her number one favorite brownie recipe.  The picture she posted looked like everything that Dani was looking for so I knew this was the recipe.  By the way, the cookbook that the recipe came from looks tremendous.  I think I may have to break down and buy it.  The original recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of espresso powder but I didn't have any so I didn't use it.  I still think they came out great.  I imagine the espresso powder would just give you that hint of coffee flavor in them so if you are looking for that flavor go for it, otherwise it is OK to leave it out.

I made the brownies while Joe was at work and he was drooling over them by the time dinner was over so I let him have a taste later that night and he gave it his seal of approval and ate it with a nice large glass of milk, which, according to him, is the sign of a great brownie, who knew!

The Baked Brownie
From Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. dark unsweetened cocoa powder
11 ounces dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
5 eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter the sides and bottom of a 9 x 13 inch glass or light-colored baking pan.  Line the pan wiht parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, salt and cocoa powder together.

Put the chocolate and butter in a large bowl and set it over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and smooth.  Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the water and add the sugars.  Whisk until completely combined, then remove the bowl from the pan.  The mixture should be room temperature.

Add 3 eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined.  Add the remaining eggs and whisk until combined.  Add the vanilla and stir until combined.  Do not overbeat the batter at this stage or your brownies will be cakey.

Sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate mixture.  Using a rubber spatula (not a whisk), fold the flour mixture into the chocolate until just a bit of the flour mixture is visible.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.  Bake in the center of the oven for 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway thorough the baking time, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs sticking to it.  Let the brownies cool completely, then lift them out of the pan using the parchment paper.  Cut into squares and serve.

Store at room temperature in an airtight container or wrap with plastic wrap for up to 3 days.

Black Bottom Cupcakes

My friend Danielle's birthday was on Friday so I had to bring something into the office to celebrate.  She let me choose so after lots of searching I decided on these black bottom cupcakes.  A mixture of rich chocolate cake and cheesecake with chocolate chips?  What could be better?  Of course, when I went home and told Joe what I was making, he gave me the look and asked if there would be any for him to take to work too.  Since the recipe only makes 12 cupcakes, of course I then had to double it.  They went over very well in both offices and were really easy to make.

Black Bottom Cupcakes
From Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients:
For the filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 oz. semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

For the cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
5 tablespoons naturally processed cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup water
1/3 cup unflavored vegetable oil
1 tbsp. white vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Make the filling:  Beat together the cream cheese, granulates sugar and egg until smooth.  Stir in the mini chocolate chips.  Set aside.

Make the Cupcakes:
Adjust the rack to the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.  Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners.

In a medium bowl sift together the flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.  In a separate bowl, mix together the water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla extract.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and stir in the wet ingredients, stirring just until smooth.  Stir any longer and you will over mix the batter and end up with less than tender cupcakes.

Divide the batter among the muffin cups.  Spoon a few tablespoons of the filling into the center of each cupcake, dividing the filling equally.  This will fill the cups almost completely, which is fine.

Bake for 25 minutes or until the tops are slightly golden brown and the cupcakes feel springy when gently pressed.  Let cool completely before serving.  Store in refrigerator.

S'Mores Bars

Both of my brothers were addicted to Teddy Grahams when they were younger.  Do you remember those little teddy bear shaped graham crackers?  They loved them, it was the go to snack.  David has been asking me for awhile now to make a dessert using Teddy Grahams.  When I saw this bar recipe over on my friend Elisha's blog Delish, I knew it would be the perfect recipe to use the Teddy Grahams and make David happy.  I made them for the family reunion on Saturday and they were great!  Oooey, gooey and delicious.  I am glad that I stole a little piece at home to try them because by the time I got to the dessert table at the party they were completely gone!  Not even a crumb left.  The only thing I changed from Elisha's recipe was using honey Teddy Grahams instead of regular graham crackers.

S'Mores Bars
Slightly Adapted from Delish

Ingredients:
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups finely crushed (food processor or rolling pin will work) honey Teddy Grahams
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 1/2 cups mini marshmallows

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease or spray a 13x9 inch baking pan.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.  Mix in egg and vanilla.  In a separate bowl, mix together the finely crushed Teddy Grahams, flour and salt.  Gradually add the Teddy Graham mixture into the butter and sugar and mix until it is the consistency of wet sand.

Press about half of the dough over the bottom of the 13x9 inch pan, using your fingers or a measuring cup to form an even layer in the bottom of the pan.  Sprinkle 1 cup of the chocolate chips and 3 cups of the marshmallows on top of the layer.  Crumble the remaining dough onto the top of the chip and marshmallow layer.  Spread the last cup of chocolate chips and 1/2 cup marshmallows on top and bake for 25-30 minutes.  The crumble topping and marshmallows will be a nice golden brown.

Let cool 1-2 hours on a wire rack, cut into bars and serve.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Ice Cream

I love ice cream.  Always have and probably always will.  For my birthday in December my parents bought me the ice cream attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer.  I never knew how much I actually loved ice cream until I made it at home.  There is just something about ice cream you make yourself.  You control the ingredients, you know exactly what goes into it, there are no preservatives involved.  It is wonderful!  I have only used it a few times but now that summer is in full swing I am sure I will be using it more.  Along with the ice cream maker I also received a fabulous ice cream cookbook by David Lebovitz called The Perfect Scoop.  All of the ice cream flavors that I have made so far have come out of this book and all of them were wonderful.

In order to make David's concept on Sunday, we needed some ice cream to go with the blondie.  I decided to do a nice and rich chocolate ice cream and throw some peanut butter chips in.  It made the perfect blondie sundae.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Ice Cream
From The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

Ingredients:
2 cups heavy cream, divided
3 tbsp. dutch-process cocoa powder
5 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup peanut butter chips

Directions:
In a medium saucepan, combine 1 cup of the cream with the cocoa powder.  Warm over medium-high heat, whisking to dissolve the cocoa.  Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and let simmer for 30 seconds, whisking constantly.  Remove the pan from the heat, mix in the chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth.  Stir in the remaining 1 cup of cream.  Transfer the mixture to a medium-large mixing bowl.  Set a fine mesh sieve over the top.

In the same saucepan, combine the milk, sugar and salt and warm the mixture over medium-high heat.  In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks.  When the milk mixture is warm, gradually whisk into the egg yolks, beating constantly.  Return the egg-milk mixture tot he bottom of the pan with a spatula, until the mixture is slightly thickened.  Remove from the heat, pour through the mesh sieve into the chocolate-cream mixture and stir to blend.  Stir in the vanilla extract.

Place the ice cream mixture over an ice bath and stir to cool.  Refrigerate until well chilled.  Stir to mix.  Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.  Fold in the peanut butter chips at the end of the ice cream maker's cycle.  Store in an airtight container and freeze until ready to serve.

Caramel Brownies

When it comes to desserts, chocolate isn't usually my first choice.  If there is some apple related or carrot cake on the menu I usually head towards those options first.  The only exception to this is if the chocolate on the menu is combined with caramel.  Caramel in all of its oooy gooey goodness is like liquid gold.  Pour caramel over anything and it will taste good, at least in my book.  When I saw these brownies, I knew I had to try them.  They just looked so good and full of caramel!  A co-worker's birthday was coming up and she loves chocolate so I thought it would be a great opportunity to try this recipe out.  They were very easy to make and were so good that I am glad I had to bring them into work for her birthday.  Otherwise, Joe and I would have probably eaten them all ourselves.

Caramel Brownies
From Annie's Eats

Ingredients:
For the brownies:
1cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
12 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups pecan, coarsely chopped (optional, I omitted)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

For the caramel filling:
14 oz. caramel candies, unwrapped
1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a 9x13 inch baking pan with foil and grease the foil well with butter or cooking spray.  Combine the butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water.  Heat, stirring occasionally, until completely melted and smooth.  (Alternatively, microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until completely melted.)  Remove the bowl from the heat.  Whisk in the sugar, eggs and vanilla until incorporated.  Stir in the four and salt just until combined.  Spread about half of the brownie batter in the bottom of the prepared pan in an even layer.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Remove from the oven, maintaining the oven temperature, and let cool for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, add the chopped pecans (if using) to a medium skilled over medium heat.  Toast, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and light golden brown.  Remove from the heat and set aside.  To make the caramel filling, combine the caramel candies and cream in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat.  Heat, stirring frequently, until melted ans smooth.  Stir in half of the pecans.  Immediately spread the caramel mixture over the bottom brownie layer.  Pour the remaining brownie batter over the caramel layer, taking care to pour and spread it evenly otherwise it will be difficult to spread evenly over the caramel layer.  Sprinkle the chocolate chips and the remaining pecans on top of the final brownie layer.  Bake for 20-25 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack and let cook completely before slicing and serving.  (To speed cooling, chill int he freezer for at least 30 minutes.)

Lift the browning from the pan using the edges of the foil.  Remove the foil and cut the brownies into individual squares.  Store in an airtight container.