Peanut Butter Cup Crunch Brownies

I recently saw this recipe on Pinterest and thought it would be a great treat to make and take to a casual get together, school outing, church or family get together. The recipe is so simple, and from the reviews of family and friends they are delicious!

Peanut Butter Cup Crunch Brownies
Recipe from Brown Eyed Baker.

Ingredients:

1 9x13 batch of brownies from scratch or box

10 peanut butter cups chopped

1/2 cup salted peanuts

11/2 cups of milk chocolate chips
11/2 cups of creamy peanut butter
1/2 tablespoon of unsalted butter
11/2 cups Rice Krispies cereal

Directions:

1. Prepare your brownies according to the directions and bake for 5 minutes less than the time stated. About 20-25 minutes.

2. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the peanut butter cups and the peanuts. Bake an additional 5 minutes.

3. In the meantime, on low heat, mix butter, peanut butter and chips until melted and smooth. When done add the Rice Krispies Cereal.

4. Pour mixture over the brownies and spread evenly. Let cool a few minutes and then place into fridge for 2 hours. Cut and serve. Store in air tight container in the refridgerator.

I changed the recipe, I took a short cut and used a box, dark chocolate brownie mix. I did not use the peanuts as I don't really like them.

I hope you have a fabulous weekend! I see a few more baking projects in my weekend plans! Enjoy! Come back and tell me if you make these and how you like them!

Linking to:

Mom Trends

DIY by Design

Love Feast Table

Savy Southern Style

Common Ground

French Country Living

Stuff and Nonsense

Laurie Annas

My Romantic Home

Jennifer Rizzo

A Stroll Thru Life

House in Roses

Between Naps on the Porch

My uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Unskinny Boppy

 French Cupboard , The Shabby Creek Cottage 

 No Minimalist Here , The Charm of the Home
I Should Be Mopping the Floors

The Ongoing Quest for the perfect hot chocolate

It is no secret that I love hot chocolate, and I am ALWAYS searching for the perfect one. It is my favorite beverage, it is how I start my day and often times how I end it, it is what cheers me up if I am having a bad day, and what make a great day better.

Although I am perfectly capable of shaving the chocolate, making sure to have the correct amount of bitter and dark I prefer only to make it the old fashioned way on the weekend. During the week I usually take a short cut by using a beverage already blended by someone more skilled than me, someone such as Sarabeth, Angelina, Fran, Jacques and many others.

This past week I went into my pantry and to my delight or perhaps shock I had not 5, not 10, or even 15 different kinds of drinking chocolate from around the world. I had 20!!!! Sadly I found that I only drink 5 on a regular basis, the others were experiments.

I had to take two photos to get them all in without using a wide angle lens. I think I may have a problem...

That said, I will tell you that all of the hot chocolates, cocoas, and drinking chocolates shown above are excellent. If you would like any information on any of them let me know, I am sure that most are available online, but many of them I brought back from Paris on my trips. I am embarrassed to write this but I said I had a problem and this might be confirmation of that, last year I brought back 23 cans of hot chocolate. Yes, I did say 23, in my defense a few of them were gifts! I cannot wait to go to replenish my supply! This time I know which ones to get more of and which to skip.

The All Chocolate Kitchen

I know that if you are like me you love chocolate! And like me you have seen chocolate  drinks, chocolate dessert or perhaps a chocolate bunny but have you ever seen a chocolate kitchen? A real life size chocolate kitchen?

This kitchen was built by Chef Alain Roby, former senior pastry chef for the Hyatt Hotels and a frequent contributor to Food Network. Using 1500 pounds of  chocolate donated by Callebaut, Chef Roby designed and constructed this replica of his own kitchen  to raise money and awareness for Saving Tiny Hearts, a charity for congenital heart defects.

Chef Roby and his family became involved with Saving Tiny Hearts after his own son, Jonathan, collapsed on a field in 2007 and was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect. After surgery to repair his heart he has recovered and has gone on to college.

The kitchen can be seen at 33 South Third Street in Geneva, IL. The All Chocolate Kitchen offers classes, ladies night out, birthday parties, and tastings. Why not go over and taste a delicious hot chocolate, a yummy confection or a pastry. I know I will be going on my next visit to Illinois.

Cream Cheese Brownie Recipe

I recently needed a quick  dessert to take to a party, and although I typically make something from scratch I did not have time, so I improvised by using a box mix and embellishing. I know for those die hard bakers this is sacrilegious, but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do.

I mixed up a box of  Ghirardelli dark chocolate with chips brownie mix as directed. Then in a separate bowl I made this cream cheese mixture.

Cream cheese mixture:

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg yolk

Assemble all ingredients in a bowl and whip until smooth.

Once I whipped this up, I layered the mixture in  a pan sprayed with cooking spray, a layer of the brownie mix, and then I dotted the top with the cream cheese mixture, then another layer of brownie mix, and a little more cream cheese mixture, then I took a skewer and mixed it around.

I baked the brownies at 325 F for about 47 minutes, you do not want these to be overdone, or they get very dry. To test to see if they are done take a skewer or a toothpick and stick into the middle, you want a few crumbs sticking to the utensil.

These brownies are quick, easy and delicious! For those that prefer making the brownies from scratch there are many, many recipes out there and many on this blog, so you could use one of them and then swirl in the cream cheese mixture.

Linking to:

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

This Chick Cooked at This Chick Cooks
Friday Food at Mom Trends

Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum

Check these great blogs out!

Welcome October, Welcome Fall!

"Delicious autumn!   My very soul is wedded to it,
and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth
seeking the successive autumns."
  George Eliot  

Welcome Fall, time to snuggle in with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate. This is my favorite time of the year, the crisp air, the beautiful leaves, and the start of the holiday season. Have a great weekend.

Chocolate Pumpkin Bread

via Once Upon a Chocolate

 

Ingredients

recipe and finished bread! Delicious

The recipe is as follows:

Chocolate Pumpkin Bread adapted from Paula Dean
2 loaves plus one small

21/2 cups of pumpkin puree
4 large eggs beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup of water
3 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
3 cups of sugar
2 tsp of baking soda
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups of chocolate chunks
1. Preheat oven to 350, spray pans with non stick spray or grease with oil.
2. In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, eggs, oil, and water. In separate bowl combine all  dry ingredients.
3. Gradually add dry mixture to wet. Stir to combine. Pour mixture into prepared pans.
4. Bake until toothpick comes out clean.
5. Cool on wire rack 15 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely.

I love pumpkin bread and I have been known to eat a piece of chocolate of two but never in all of the years I have made anything with pumpkin have I combines the two. I think it is now my favorite way to have pumpkin bread! Try this the next time you are baking up a loaf, I promise you will not be disappointed.

Sorry I do not have any after photos of the bread sliced so that you could see the delicious chocolate chunks nestled with all the pumpkin goodness...we ate it all!

Linking to:
Modern Country Style

Once Upon a Tart...Brownies

Brownies are the go to dessert for just about everyone, and the great thing about them is that there are about a million different recipes. So you get the basic taste that you like with a twist depending on the brownie recipe, there are fudge recipes, think ones, thin ones, European recipes, ones with nuts, chocolate chunks, peppermint, etc.

This recipe is from one of my favorite cookbooks, Once Upon a Tart by Frank  Mentesana and Jerome Audreau, the book is based upon all the recipes they serve in their cafe of the same name in New York city.

This recipe makes very thick brownies, with a rich moist center and a bit of a flaky crust on the top. I think no matter your brownie preference this one will please most people.

Once Upon a Tart

Ingredients

Ingredients

Butter, chocolate

Butter, chocolate, sugar mixture

I like to line the pan in tin foil, makes it easier to cut the finished product.

Ingredients:

4 sticks of unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips or 9 oz of good quality cocoa
2 cups of sugar
8 large eggs lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups of all purpose flower
1/4 tsp salt

optional: 2 cups walnut.

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.
2. Melt the butter and the chocolate in a pan over low heat. Be careful not to burn.
3. When butter and chocolate are combined, add sugar, stir for two more minutes. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
4. Pour mixture into big bowl and once cooled, add eggs, whisk thoroughly.
5. In a separate bowl mix flour and salt. Slowly mix into chocolate mixture until just combined, do not over mix. Add nuts at this point if you would like.
6.Pour batter into pan and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, the recipe call for them to be slightly undercooked, so the toothpick will not come out clean.
7. Remove from oven, place on wire rack and let cool to room temperature before cutting.

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