Coca-Cola Brownies

Tink found a recipe for Coca-Cola Brownies online and asked me if she could make them.  I've been trying to encourage both of my girls to get more active in the kitchen.  Once I start culinary school I won't be home for dinner on Thursdays and the girls will be in charge of making something.  They are excited and it has inspired them to start trying out more recipes. Tink made my banana bread last week and Goose made my breadsticks.  They set up their laptops in the kitchen and just followed along.  So cute. Anyway, this recipe for Coke brownies was easy and fun.  Tink really enjoyed herself and we both enjoyed finishing off the Coke (a rare treat in this house).  These brownies are much, much, much better the next day.  They are great the first day, but something happens when they sit for 24 hours--they plump up and the flavor deepens.  So, make them the day before you want them!

You will need:

1 box fudge brownie mix (1lb. 2.3oz)
2T oil
1 egg
1/2 cup Coca-Cola
1/2 cup buttermilk
*****************
For the frosting:

1/2 cup butter (Smart Balance)
1/4 cup cocoa
1/4 cup Coke
4 cups powdered sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease just the bottom of a 9x13 pan.

Empty the brownie mix into a large bowl and add the buttermilk.

Then the Coke...

the oil...

and the egg.

Mix thoroughly and then pour into your greased pan.

Bake for around 25 minutes and then let them cool for at least an hour, 3 is better.  You just want to make sure that they are completely cool before you frost them.

After they are cool you can make the frosting.  Melt the butter and then add the cocoa and Coke.

Whisk for 2 minutes on medium speed.

It looks awesome, but don't give in to temptation like Tink and try it. No sugar yet! :)

Now add the powdered sugar, whisking after every cup until combined.

(This recipe makes quite a bit of frosting.  You could halve the recipe and still have plenty to cover the brownies.  Using the full recipe makes for a thick topping.  Absolutely delicious, but maybe a bit excessive.)

Spread over your cooled brownies.

Now, as Tink likes to say, it's time to feast!

These brownies are moist, fudgy, and decadent.  And soooo much better the next day!  I don't know why it happens, but the Coke and even the chocolate flavor is stronger the next day.

You won't be disappointed if you have to eat them the first day. Believe me, I understand! :) :)  But if you can wait...wow.

Enjoy!!

Tink's Coca-Cola Brownies

1 box fudge brownie mix (1lb. 2.3oz)

2T oil

1 egg

1/2 cup Coca-Cola 

1/2 cup buttermilk

*****************

For the frosting:

1/2 cup butter (Smart Balance)

1/4 cup cocoa

1/4 cup Coke

4 cups powdered sugar

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees 

and grease just the bottom of a 9x13 pan.

2. Empty the brownie mix into a large bowl

and add the buttermilk.

3. Then add the Coke, the oil,

and the egg.

4. Mix thoroughly and then pour into your greased pan.

 

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

6. Cool completely.

7. For the frosting:

melt the butter and then add the cocoa and Coke.

 

8. Add the powdered sugar, whisking after every cup until combined.

 

9. Spread over the cooled brownies and feast!

Don't forget to leave a comment on my first giveaway and enter to win a $50 gift card to any CSN store!  The contest ends at 5pm on the 30th of August!

Dulce de Leche Brownies

It did not take me long after writing my last post to figure out what I wanted to do with the dulce de leche. I have a recipe bookmarked that I have wanted to make for a long time. So, adapted from Baking Bites Dulce de Leche Brownies.

You will need:

1/2 cup butter (Smart Balance)
2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup flour (I used King Arthur white whole wheat)
3 T cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup (+) dulce de leche



I melted the chocolate and Smart Balance in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat, set aside, and cool. (I took a picture, but it turned out blurry and unusable.)

Whisk together the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. You don't really need to use your stand mixer for this recipe. Very simple process.



While whisking, pour in the cooled chocolate mixture.



Then whisk in the flour, cocoa powder, and salt.





Pour the batter into a parchment-lined, lightly greased 8-inch baking dish. Baking Bites used tin foil instead of parchment. So, whatever you have on hand. :) Then drop the 1/2 cup (or a little more) of dulce de leche by spoonfuls onto the batter. Use a knife to carefully swirl it around.



Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes. Check it after 30 minutes. Or do like I did...shut the door to the bedroom and totally forget that you have brownies in the oven. I think they cooked for about 33 minutes. Could be more...or less. Was at least 30 because that's what I set the timer for and it was blaring away when I finally remembered the brownies. But they didn't burn!



I picked up the parchment sides to remove the brownies from the pan. You could let them cool before slicing as Baking Bites suggests. OR you can cut into them right away and feast. Like we did. Be careful biting into them if you don't let them cool. The dulce de leche is super hot.



And gooey. And sweet. And awesome.



With some of the leftover dulce you can spread a little more on top of the brownies. I have discovered that there is no such thing as too much dulce de leche. Ooooooo, baby!



Enjoy!

My Favorite Fudge Brownies

I have been making these brownies since I cut out the recipe from my mom's Better Homes and Gardens in November 1993.



See? :) I am not even going to pretend that these brownies are healthy and I never try to "improve" this recipe. They are absolutely perfect...unless you like cakey brownies, which I do not. These brownies are gooey and rich and oh soooo good!

You will need:

1/2 cup butter
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
**************
For Chocolate Glaze:

3T butter
2T cocoa
2T milk (I used skim)
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla



Chop up the butter and add it and the chocolate to a medium saucepan.



Melt over low heat.



Turn off the heat and stir in sugar.



Mix thoroughly.




In a separate bowl, scramble your eggs.



Then add about 1/2 cup of the chocolate mixture to the eggs to temper them. You don't want little bits of cooked egg in your brownies. Big yuck.



Now add your flour and combine. Yep, just 2/3 of a cup. This recipe is heavy on the sugar, easy on the flour. Makes for a fudgy brownie.





Pour into a greased (on the bottom only) 8-inch pan. Bake for 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Don't overbake!!



Let cool completely on a wire rack. This will be hard. They smell awesome and you are going to want to dig in right away. Hold off--the glaze is amazing! Tink asked me every five minutes if the brownies were cool yet.

Add your 3T butter, 2T cocoa, and 2T milk to a saucepan.





Stir until the mixture comes to a boil.



Remove from heat and add the powdered sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla.



Pour over your brownies.



Wait no longer! Time to cut into these yummies




and feast!



Enjoy!

A Monkey Makes Cookies

The monkeys have been learning to cook and bake this summer. Among other things, I taught the Goose to make her great-grandmother's spaghetti sauce and Tinker Bell to make her grandmother's meatloaf. I also let them experiment with box mixes. Now, you would be hard pressed to find a box mix of any kind in my kitchen before this summer, but it is a great way to get the girls starting baking. It's how I learned, after all. Tink makes the most amazing Chewy Bars from a Jiffy cake mix. (I'll have to post pictures of her making them!) The Goose has been making brownies from a box, but I found a recipe on another food blog, Life's Ambrosia, for making cookies out of a brownie mix. I was intrigued and the Goose said she would love to make them. What fun we had!! Okay, she was a little annoyed at me hanging over her shoulder taking pictures, but I'm that kind of mom. :)

You will need:
1 box fudge brownie mix
1 1/4 cup King Arthur flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 stick butter (Smart Balance), melted
2-4 T water
1 cup (or whole bag) of chocolate chunks



Put your brownie mix in a large bowl and add the brown sugar...



and the flour and mix together.



You need to add the eggs one at a time. Always break an egg into a small bowl before adding to your batters or mixes. This way you can check for shell or other anomalies. Our chickens lay perfect eggs, of course. :)







After the eggs, add the butter and start with just 2 T of water. I actually ended up needing to add 4.



At this point the batter is pretty stiff. You might have to help your monkey stir.



Now it's time for the chocolate chunks. The recipe calls for one cup, but Goose thought it would be more fun with the whole bag.



CAUTION: Monkeys have been known to steal chocolate! Keep your eyes on them at all times!!



Dang, I turned away for one second!

Stir in all the chocolate chunks that are left after the bowl is raided by monkeys.



Grease your cookie sheets with a bit of cooking spray. I use Smart Balance, of course.



Here's what I changed about Life's Ambrosia awesome recipe-- I lowered the oven temperature to 325 because I...well, I just never bake cookies at a higher temp. Probably doesn't make a hill of difference, but it's just what I do. We did not refrigerate the batter for two hours either. The starving monkeys were too impatient and I figured with the lower temp they would be chewy without chilling. And they were!

Goose put heaping soup spoons of dough on a standard size cookie sheet. She got 9 on each sheet. Press down on the cookies just a little bit. Don't flatten them, but just help them look more like cookies and less like balls. (hee hee)






Since I had the oven turned down a bit we had to bake them for 14 minutes instead of the recommended 8-10 at 350. Let them cook on the cookie sheets for two minutes so they will set. Then you won't be able to stop eating them!



Goose said, "the chunks melted and make the cookie creamy. The edges of the cookie are crisp like a cookie, but the middle is squishy and chewy like a brownie. And they smell like pure chocolate!"

Tink said, "heaven with a side of heaven."

So...a hit, I think! The cookies got that amazing brownie crust on top that is sooooo good. Try them today and head over to Life's Ambrosia and check our her great blog.