Fudgy Brownies – Bead Yarn & Spatula

Mexican Brownies

Happy Cinco De Mayo! Do your plans include guacamole or a margarita today? Or maybe a sweet dessert? These Mexican Brownies are the perfect sweet treat for today. Unlike traditional brownies, these flavor in these brownies are enhanced by the addition of cinnamon and chili powder in the batter. Don’t worry, they aren’t spicy or anything. It actually offers a nice balance to the chocolate and they are super moist and fudgy.

If you are looking for some other desserts for today check out some of my past Cinco De Mayo treats.

Sopapilla Cheesecake and Mexican Wedding Cookies

Tres Leches Cupcakes and Churros

Coconut & Lime Cupcakes

Tres Leches Cake

Horchata Treats

Mexican Brownies

Ingredients:

2 sticks unsalted butter

2 cups granulated sugar

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon chili powder or cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the long edges of the pan. Press the paper into the corners of the pan and spray with cooking spray or lightly grease with butter.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, do not boil. Remove from the heat and let cool for a few minutes. Add the sugar, eggs and vanilla extract and stir until well combined.

Add the remaining ingredients and continue mixing until smooth. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a tester inserted in the middle comes out fudgy. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool. Once cooled, use the parchment paper to lift out the brownies and then slice.

Recipe from Food Network

S’mores Brownies

I hope you are all having a wonderful summer thus far! Today I have a treat for you that is perfect for these summer days, a spin on a favorite campfire treat… S’mores Brownies.

I began by spraying a 9 x 13 inch pan with cooking spray and lining it with graham crackers.

Next, I made my brownie batter and poured it right over the graham crackers…

And then baked it in a pre-heated 325 F oven for 40 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the middle came out almost clean.

I then switched my oven to the broiler setting and topped the brownie with mini marshmallows, chocolate chips and crushed graham crackers and placed it back in the oven for just about a minute until the marshmallows began to brown.

I let the brownie cool on a wire rack and then transferred it to a cutting board to slice it. The key is to make sure the brownies have completely cooled before slicing into them, if you slice them too soon you will have a marshmallow mess as they will still be warm and gooey and the brownies will fall apart as they won’t have had enough time to set. I speak from experience on the latter.

These brownies were perfect! The texture was spot-on… Not cakelike or too dense. And while you may think that the addition of the marshmallows and chocolate chips on top would make them too sweet, the opposite is true, it enhanced the flavor of the chocolate in the brownies. And let’s not forget the graham crackers on the bottom, they incorporated nicely into the brownie and while you may think they would get crispier when baked they actually provided a soft base to the brownies, sort of like a built-in plate. Overall, all of these flavors and textures worked together perfectly; just like your regular S’mores does.

S’mores Brownies

Makes 12 Brownies

Ingredients:

10 graham crackers

3 cups mini marshmallows

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus an additional 1/2 cup for the topping

1 stick unsalted butter

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup light brown sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan with cooking spray and line it with graham crackers.

In a medium saucepan melt 2 cups of the chocolate chips with the stick of butter over low heat, stirring frequently.

Once the chocolate chips and butter have melted remove from the heat and whisk in the granulate sugar and light brown sugar, cool slightly.

Whisk in the eggs, one at a time and then the vanilla extract.

Stir in the flour and salt and pour the batter over the graham crackers.

Bake for 40 – 45 minutes, until a tester inserted in the middle come out almost clean.

Remove the pan from the oven and set the oven to the broiler setting. Top the brownie with the mini marshmallows, and the remaining chocolate chips and graham crackers – crush the graham crackers. Place the pan back in the oven for 30 – 60 seconds, until the marshmallows begin to brown. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled transfer the brownie to a cutting board and slice into 12 pieces.

Cheesecake Brownies

Brownies… They are probably the one thing I don’t bake too much of. I’m not really sure why that is since I do like them, especially when they have walnuts in them. Yum! I tend to like that crunchy texture in my deserts… walnuts in brownies or loaf cakes, sprinkles on cupcakes and ice cream and so forth. As I am thinking about it I think the major turn-off I have with brownies is having to slice them once they are cooled. They always tend to fall apart on me and I never end up with the amount the recipe says I’ll have; 12 somehow becomes 8 or 9. But, with this recipe not only did I end up with some delicious brownies, but, I also was able to cut them into 16 equal brownies as the recipe called for.

In the bowl of my stand mixer I combined a box of Chocolate Fudge cake mix, oil, water and an egg and using the stir setting I mixed the ingredients until they were smooth. I then added in a 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and continued mixing until they were well incorporated.

I then spread the mixture into a 13 x 9 inch pan that I sprayed with baking spray.

Using a hand mixer – these are the times that I wish I had a second bowl for my stand mixer – I combined cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract and an egg and beat the ingredients until they were smooth.

After spreading the cream cheese mixture over the chocolate mixture I sprinkled chocolate chips over it.

Once it was done baking – 35 minutes in a 350 F preheated oven – I let the brownies cool completely in the pan over a wire a rack.

After some careful maneuvering – flipping and sliding – I placed the brownies on a large cutting board so I could cut them.

And then it was time to enjoy them! Overall this recipe is a keeper. While the brownies are made using a cake mix they definitely tasted like they were made from scratch – i.e. flour, cocoa powder, etc. And the chocolate chips added to the brownie batter offer a nice texture and extra dose of chocolate in each bite. These brownies actually reminded me of the Mini Chocolate-Chip Cheesecakes I posted about a few years ago and continues to be a treat I make over and over again as it is a hit amongst many of my friends. And I am sure these brownies will become something I make quite a few more times.

Cheesecake Brownies

Yield: 16 servings

Ingredients:

1 box Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix (Betty Crocker SuperMoist)

3/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons water

2 eggs

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 8oz. package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Prep a 13 x 9-inch pan by spraying the bottom with baking spray.

2. In a medium bowl, stir the cake mix, oil, water and 1 of the eggs until smooth. Stir in 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips. Spread batter into prepared pan.

3. In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract and remaining 1 egg with an electric mixer until smooth. Spread the mixture over the batter and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips.

4. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in brownie 1 inch from the side of the pan comes out almost clean. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack, about 1 hour 30 minutes. Cut into 4 rows by 4 rows.