Girl Scout inspired: Thin Mint Brownies!!!

Since the Girl Scouts are out selling cookies right now, I thought I would play around with some Thin Mints Cookies and my favorite brownie recipe! Lately, I have been baking everything in mini muffin pans, so here is my latest creation (with full pan instructions as well)! Girl Scout inspired Thin Mint Brownies!!! YUM! I added a Mint Buttercream Frosting and Peppermint Patty pieces for decoration, but it is not needed.

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Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
•  4 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 bag or 1 cup of semi-sweet mini chocolate chips (if you don't have mini chips use the regular size)
• 1 sleeve of Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies (crushed) 

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray non-stick spray into a 9x13 pan or 2 (24 count mini muffin pans).
2. In small saucepan over low heat, melt butter completely. Stir in sugar and continue cooking for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Do not allow sugar mixture to boil.
3. Pour butter mixture into a large bowl or stand mixer, beat in cocoa powder, eggs, salt, baking powder, and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined.
4. Stir in the flour and chocolate chips/Thin Mint Cookie pieces until well combined.
5. Spread into prepared pan or use a small cookie scoop to put batter in mini muffin pans (Note: batter will be very thick and sticky) and bake 25 in the 9x13 pan (do not over bake) or 8 minutes in the mini muffin pans (if you like fudge brownies bake on lower end).  Cool on a wire rack.
6. If you want chocolate buttercream frosting: Beat together two sticks of softened butter, slowly add in 4 cups of powdered sugar, 1 tsp of vanilla (or 1/2 tsp peppermint extract), a pinch of sea salt, 1/4 cup coco powder and add 2-4 Tbsp of milk as needed. Pipe or frost onto brownies. Add sprinkles or top with remaining Thin Mint Cookies or Peppermint Patties pieces!

THIN MINT BROWNIE CUPS!!!

"Outrageous" Brownie Cups!

Having a bad day? These "Outrageous" Brownies will make you VERY happy! They are super sweet and loaded with chocolate!

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
•  4 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 bag of semi-sweet mini chocolate chips (if you don't have mini chips use the regular size)
• 1/2 bag of Heath milk chocolate toffee baking bits

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray non-stick spray into a 9x13 pan or 2 (24 count mini muffin pans).
2. In small saucepan over low heat, melt butter completely. Stir in sugar and continue cooking for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Do not allow sugar mixture to boil.
3. Pour butter mixture into a large bowl or stand mixer, beat in cocoa powder, eggs, salt, baking powder, and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined.
4. Stir in the flour and chocolate chips/heath bar pieces until well combined.
5. Spread into prepared pan or use a cookie scoop to put batter in mini muffin pans (batter will be very thick and sticky) and bake for about 30 minutes in the 9x13 pan or 9-11 minutes in the mini muffin pans.  Cool on a wire rack.
6. If you want buttercream frosting: Beat together two sticks of softened butter, slowly add in 4 cups of powdered sugar, 1 tsp of vanilla, a pinch of sea salt, 1/4 cup coco powder and add 2-4 Tbsp of milk as needed. Pipe or frost onto brownies. Add sprinkles or top with remaining heath bar bits!

THESE ARE MOIST AND DENSE FUDGE BROWNIES!!

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My recipe was adapted from this blog/recipe

Banana Split Brownie Pizza! Fun for Kids!

THIS IS AN EASY AND FUN RECIPE TO MAKE WITH YOUR KIDS!!!

Banana Split Brownie Pizza or in other words CRAZY CHOCOLATE BROWNIE HEAVEN guaranteed to have everyone bouncing off the walls in no time! 

This is a fun idea for a kids birthday party or sleep over night!

First you want to start off with your favorite brownie recipe or a box mix 

(bake them in a cookie sheet or thin baking pan for about 15 minutes)

Let the brownies cool completely while you want make this amazing cream cheese frosting 

(cream together 1 stick of butter, 1 8oz package of cream cheese and 1 tsp of vanilla then 

slowly add  2 cups of powdered sugar) or you can use already made frosting and
then frost your brownie pizza

 

Then you want to slice up two bananas and 1 cup of strawberries

and place them on top of the frosting 

Next sprinkle mini chocolate chips all over the pizza

Optional but HIGHLY suggested: Place Mini Oreo Cookies around the pizza

Next you MUST drizzle Hershey's Chocolate Syrup all over the entire pizza

Then CUT into HUGE slices

SERVE AND ENJOY!

If you can handle it, serve with chocolate ice cream too, but it is perfect without it!

Mmmmm.....this is good for grown up people too...especially when you are having a really bad day.

NOTE: The photos shown were taken from two different kids baking classes today so you might notice the difference in pans in a few of the photos!

SHOWING OFF THEIR BROWNIE PIZZA! HOW CUTE ARE THEY?

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DOUBLE COOKIES AND CREAM BARS

I found this recipe and fell over with excitement! I mean COME ON! Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough with Oreo's and Hershey's Kisses! What will they come up with next?

DOUBLE COOKIES AND CREAM BARS

recipe from: Picky Palate

• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips
• 12 Oreo Cookies, broken up 
• 25 Cookies and Cream Hershey’s Kisses                                                                                  

NOTE: You have choices here! You can use any of these items to make this work! 

Cookies N Cream Kisses

Old Fashioned Cream Drops (I USED THESE)

Cookies N Cream Miniatures

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and line an 8×8 inch baking pan with foil sprayed with cooking spray.

Place butter and sugars into a large bowl, stir to combine, at least 2 minutes.

Add egg and vanilla, mixing to combine.

Add flour, baking soda, salt.

Add chocolate chips and Oreo cookie pieces, stirring to combine.

Press 1/3 of the dough into the bottom of prepared baking pan. Top with 5 rows of Hershey’s Kisses 5 per row (or as many as you can fit in like I did). Note: I used the Old Fashioned Cream Drops instead of the Kisses. Top with remaining dough and gently press. 

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool for 30 minutes, cut into squares and serve.  Makes 12-16 bars

Optional: I crushed up more Oreo Cookies and put them on top. I mean...why not!?  These bars are already a bazillion calories each!  May as well make it count!

Look at all of the layers of chocolate goodness!

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You may also like my recipe for OREO STUFFED BROWNIES

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Bars

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Bars

Whew! I am on a Chocolate and Peanut Butter kick these days! If you want to make a REALLY great treat for your next social event, BRING THESE BARS! Not only are they AMAZING to eat (people go NUTS over them), but they are super easy and inexpensive to make!

Ingredients:

1 (18.25) white cake mix
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 eggs
1 (12 oz) package semi sweet chocolate chips
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2 Tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2) Combine cake mix, melted butter, peanut butter, and eggs in a large bowl using a mixer or spoon a. Press this into a 9X13 pan (sprayed with non-stick spray) reserving 1 and 1/2 cup of the mixture to crumble on top.
3) In a small pot, melt chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk, and butter. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
4) Spread chocolate mixture over the mixture pressed in the pan and then crumble the 1 1/2 cups of reserved cake mixture on top evenly.
5) Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool COMPLETELY before cutting into bars.

Tip: Make the day before you want to serve them so the fudge center really sets! Or you can refrigerate them for a couple of hours! They taste good either way, but when the fudge was thick and completely set it made a WORLD of difference!

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:

A chocolate version of these bars!
 or
Fudgy Oatmeal Bars  

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"Better than Crack Brownies"

"Better than Crack Brownies"! Okay, okay...this my friends, is by far the MOST AMAZING brownie you will ever eat! If you have any sort of sweet tooth...One will never be enough!  Disclaimer: I do not condone drug use of any kind, this recipe is merely a play on words.

Imagine this:

 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
Peanuts
Marshmallows

All melted on top of your favorite brownie recipe

AND THEN
 topped off with melted chocolate chips and peanut butter

mixed with Rice Krispies

I can't begin to tell you how in love I am with these!

Chocolate Peanut Butter HEAVEN

Look at the layers of goodness!

THE RECIPE: 

• Your favorite 9x13 Fudge Brownie Recipe (click on link for my favorite recipe) or to save time use a Brownie Box Mix
• 1/2 cup salted peanuts
• 1 cup chopped Reese's peanut butter cups (I added more than one cup and ate the rest lol)
• 2 cups mini marshmallows
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
• 2 cups Rice Krispies cereal

DIRECTIONS: 

1. Butter a 9x13 baking dish. 
2. Prepare your brownies according to directions and bake for 20-25 minutes (do not over bake)
3. Remove from oven and top with peanuts, chopped peanut butter cups and marshmallows
4. Return to oven for five minutes, or until marshmallows puff and chocolate starts to melt
5. Melt chocolate chips and peanut butter together on stove top or in microwave; stir in Rice Krispies
6. Pour mixture evenly on top of baked brownies
7. Refrigerate for two hours before serving

WARNING: THIS IS A DANGEROUS TREAT! IT CAN CAUSE AN INTENSE REACTION CAUSING YOU TO EAT WAY TOO MANY BROWNIES IN A SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME. YOU WILL THINK ABOUT THESE BROWNIES DAY AND NIGHT UNTIL THEY ARE OUT OF YOUR HOUSE. THEN ONCE YOU ARE FINALLY FREE AND CLEAR OF THEM...YOU WILL START TO COME UP WITH EXCUSES AS TO WHY YOU NEED TO MAKE THEM AGAIN! BEFORE YOU KNOW IT YOUR JEANS WILL NOT FIT ANYMORE AND YOU WILL START TO BINGE EAT ON MORE BROWNIES TO EASE THE PAIN. 

(or um...at least this is what I have heard)

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 Original recipe found here 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Bars

These are THE BEST chocolate treats I have EVER made! They are always a HUGE hit! 

 You can make these so many different ways!

Photos taken by Baking with Melissa

Ingredients:

• 1 (18.25) package chocolate cake mix
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 (12 oz) package semi sweet chocolate chips
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 cups peanut butter chips or chocolate chips or candies like M&M's (optional but HIGHLY recommended)

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2) Combine cake mix, melted butter, peanut butter, and eggs in a large bowl using a mixer or spoon.  Stir in 1 cup of peanut butter chips. Press the mixture into a 9X13 pan (sprayed with non-stick spray or use non-stick foil) reserving 1 and 1/2 cup of the mixture to crumble on top.
3) In a small pot, melt chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk, and butter. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
4) Spread chocolate mixture over the mixture pressed in the pan and then crumble the 1 1/2 cups of reserved cake mixture on top evenly.
5) Add remaining peanut butter chips or candies to the top.
6) Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool COMPLETELY (about 4 hours) before cutting into bars. 

I was impatient and did not wait for the fudge center to completely cool!

Tip: Make the day before you want to serve them so the fudge center really sets! Or you can refrigerate them for a couple of hours! They taste good either way, but when the fudge was thick and completely set it made a WORLD of difference!

I found the inspiration for this recipe HERE!

NOTE: Instead of the peanut butter chips as a mix in....you can sub them out with Reese's Pieces or M&M's!!! See the photos below!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Bars....mmmmmmmm

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Look how pretty they are!!

YUMMY!

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER BARS

My friend Abby shared this recipe with me! 

Think Reese's Peanut Butter Cups only 100 times better!

Ingredients

Ingredients: 

• 2 sticks butter

• 1 lb box powdered sugar or 4 cups

• 9 crushed graham crackers (I used 1/2 sleeve of Ritz Crackers)

• 1 12oz jar crunchy peanut butter (I used creamy) or 1 1/2 cups

• 12oz chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate chips)

Combine butter (melted), powdered sugar, graham crackers, and peanut butter. 

Spread in a 9x13 dish or use a cookie sheet for thinner bars
Line dish with wax paper or parchment paper (or you can butter your pan)

Melt chocolate chips and spread on top. Add M&M's if you are adding candies to the top for decoration. Chill for about 10 minutes and then cut into bars before the chocolate hardens (to prevent the cracking you see above). Let them firm up before serving them! It usually takes about thirty minutes in the refrigerator

Add M&M's to add a seasonal flair!

Be sure to cut these bars about 10 mins. after you put them in the refrigerator to prevent the cracking like you see in the photo here.

WARNING THESE ARE SO GOOD YOU WILL NOT WANT TO STOP EATING 
 THEM!!!!!

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ROCKY ROAD CANDY

  My Grandma's Rocky Road Candy

The holidays always have me daydreaming about spending time in the kitchen with my Grandmother! Everything she made tasted like a little piece of heaven. Today, I want to share my favorite no bake recipe that my Grandmother always had at her house during the holidays.

                  A Sinfully Sweet Chocolate Treat!   

WATCH MY ROCKY ROAD COOKING SHOW HERE!  

THE INGREDIENTS :

1- 12oz Pkg of Semi-Sweet Choc. Morsels
1-14 oz can Sweetened Condensed Milk

2- Tbsp of Butter
2- Cups of Salted Spanish Peanuts

1- 10 1/2 Pkg of Mini Marshmallow

• On top of double boiler, over boiling water, melt chocolate, condensed milk and butter. 
• Remove From Heat   
• In a large bowl, combine nuts and marshmallows;  Fold in chocolate mixture  
• Spread in a buttered 9X13 pan. 
• Chill for 2 hours or until firm- cut into squares and store at room temperature. 

Note: You can also place liners in a muffin pan and make rocky road cupcakes!

Rocky Road!!

Photos taken By Baking with Melissa

                                  
So easy to make! And a perfect treat for the holidays!

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Here is another recipe you may like:
  
My famous Mississippi Mud Cake!