Lovin' From the Oven

Cookie Dough Brownies

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Sorry about the pictures– I didn’t enough lighting to take a decent picture and it was the best I could do before I had to rush off to work. I can’t stand the shadow in the second picture and tried to brighten them up the best I could without photoshop 🙁

My friend, Ian, turned 23 this past week and he celebrated by having a dessert pot luck at his place after dinner at Macaroni Grill. He’s a vegan, but makes an exception for my baked goods, so I knew I had to include lots of good ol’ fatty dairy products in it 🙂 What a good friend I am, right? Haha.

I saw this recipe on Let’s Get Cookin’! and had to give it a shot with my favorite brownie recipe. I used my favorite brownie recipe posted numerous times before here on my blog, but to make it easy for you, I’ll repost it again. You can also opt for using a brownie mix rather than making brownies from scratch to cut down on time if that tickles your fancy. This dessert is very decadent and rich. A bite was plenty for me, and I’m usually a monstrous dessert eater. Don’t get me wrong, they’re delicious.. it’s just a bit overload for me!

Brownie:

  • 1 cup butter
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup AP flour
  • ½ cup cocoa
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 8″x8″ pan.
  2. Melt butter in saucepan over low heat. Once melted remove from heat and add sugar, vanilla, and eggs. Blend together.
  3. In separate bowl, mix together flour, cocoa, and salt. Add dry mixture to the wet and mix well.
  4. Pour into greased pan and bake for 35-40 minutes.
  • 1-1/2 sticks butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 4-1/2 tbsp milk
  • 1-1/2 cups flour
  • 1-1/2 cups mini chocolate chips.
  1. Prepare your brownies according to the package in a 9×13 pan. Let cool completely.
  2. Next, combine the butter, sugars, milk and flour until well combined. Then stir in the mini chocolate chips.
  3. Spread the cookie dough on the cooled brownies.
  4. Then chill the brownies until the cookie dough is firm. Cut into bars and serve.

P.S. Thanks so much for all your Seattle suggestions! I’m such a foodie and can’t wait to try out some of the restaurants/cafes/bakeries that you all have suggested. I’ll be gone the 26th-29th (Mon-Thurs), but I’ll make sure to document and keep you guys posted on all the good food!

Black Bottom Cupcakes

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I’m finally back from my cruise/family vacation! I went on a 5 day cruise to Ensenada, and honestly, if I had the choice, I wouldn’t do it again. Cruises are just not for me. That was my first cruise that I’ve ever been on and I just wasn’t very impressed. I’m not a fan of being stuck on a boat for a week. Don’t get me wrong, the idea of an all-you-can-eat buffet for every meal and 24 hour room service are definitely some perks, but I’d much rather spend my vacation roaming on land than going 20 miles max in the water.

I got this recipe from allrecipes.com and was very pleased with it! I halved the recipe and it made 10 cupcakes. The only difference is that I upped the cocoa powder for more of a chocolate flavor and added more vanilla extract that usual. Also, I would keep my eye on this when baking and lower the baking time. I don’t think they needed to bake for that long, since the top came out kind of dry. The inside was pleasantly moist, though.

  • 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3 cup white sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line muffin tins with paper cups or lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray.
  2. In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, egg, 1/3 cup sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt until light and fluffy. Stir in the chocolate chips and set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, 1 cup sugar, cocoa, baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Make a well in the center and add the water, oil, vinegar and vanilla. Stir together until well blended. Fill muffin tins 1/3 full with the batter and top with a dollop of the cream cheese mixture.
  4. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

Mocha Cupcakes with Kahlua Cream Cheese Frosting

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Please excuse my repetitive posts of cupcakes recently. I realized that my photos are also becoming somewhat homogeneous. Hmm… I’ll have to work on that. I’m done with midterms this week and the weekend is finally here! As you may or may not know, I’m kind of a nerd at heart. I love the marvel superhero comics, my favorite being X-Men. I’ve seriously been counting down the days for Wolverine to come out ever since last year. That day is finally here! I’m celebrating the end of week 5 with the midnight showing of Wolverine. Luckily, my boyfriend is a bigger nerd than me, so I don’t have to hold back my adoration for X-Men. 🙂

By the way, is anyone watching this Bulls/Celtics game? It’s so ridiculous!!! I can’t stand the celtics, but oh my goodness, ray allen! By the way that they’re playing, this game will never end. But man, what a game to be at. They’re going into the 3rd overtime right now… how intense is that?!

I haven’t baked in a week and it’s driving me nuts! Luckily, I’ll be baking this weekend and next week, as I’ll be sending out cookies for my mailing list. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, check out my previous post. I got this recipe from Culinography and pretty much followed it exactly, with a few minor adjustments. I piped on the cream cheese frosting and dusted some cocoa powder on top (the second picture, I just slathered on the frosting and got a little lazy 🙂 The cupcake was indefinitely moist, flavorful, and went well with the Kahlua frosting. I upped the cocoa and mocha, making an even stronger cupcake. After baking, you couldn’t really taste the coffee much.. it just had a coffee aftertaste. Now, don’t go thinking that I’m an alcoholic because I put a little kick into the frosting. I actually despise drinking and everything about it, but if I HAD to choose a drink, it’d be a white russian. You can always sub this frosting and use a regular cream cheese frosting if you don’t want the alcohol or plan on serving it to kids. The recipe with my adjustments is as follows:

Mocha Cupcakes
2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
1 cup yogurt
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
5 1/2 rounded tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup water
4 tablespoons espresso powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat over to 350 degrees F. Insert liners into a cupcake pan.

On medium speed, cream together the sugar, butter, and eggs until fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix in the yogurt.

In a separate bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, cocoa, and salt.

In a measuring cup combine the water, coffee and vanilla.

Alternate adding the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar/sour cream mixture with the coffee mixture. Mix thoroughly.

Fill the cupcake liners three-quarters full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of cupcakes comes out clean. Remove cupcakes to wire rack and cool before frosting. (makes 24 cupcakes)

Kahlua Frosting
5 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
2.5 tablespoons Kahlua
16 ounces powdered sugar

Cream together cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Mix in Kahlua, then powdered sugar in one cup increments until frosting reaches desired consistency. Apply to cupcakes. (frosts 24 cupcakes generously)

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