Oreo Brownies with a Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Swirl

This past weekend, one of my co-workers decided to throw a pool party and BBQ at her house.

I immediately signed up to bring dessert, because…I mean, what else would I bring?? 🙂

Being my first pool party of the summer (and the fact that Texas has become AN OVEN ON BROIL this summer) it was no surprise that I found myself cannon-balling onto her pool after being there for about…mmmm… two and a half minutes.

I am also a 24 year old child, so cannonballs and that “dunking category” game are a must at all pool parties.

I also knew that I wanted to bring, not only the world’s best cannonball technique, but also a dessert that involved Oreos and peanut butter.

Why such a specific combination?

Because while I was at work the day before, I had a good 30-minute conversation with another co-worker of mine about the greatness that is Oreos dipped in peanut butter.

Yep, that’ll fuel your run, fo sho!

So, because of this mouth-watering convo, I officially had a craving.

 And here is what I did.

I made my normal fudge brownies and then poured the brownie batter into a large sheet cake pan.

The I mixed together cream cheese, peanut butter, sugar, and an egg, poured that on top of the brownie batter and swirled it around with a knife.

I then took two sleeves of OREOS, crushed them up into large chunks, and sprinkles those crazy chunks on top of the batter.

Now THAT is a brownie, friends.

Oreo Brownies with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Swirl

makes 36 brownies

Ingredients:

For the brownie-

• 3 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 4 cups white sugar
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 5 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups unsweeetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

For the peanut butter cream cheese swirl-

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg

Topping-

• 12 oz crushed Oreos (2 rows worth of cookies in an 18 oz package)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Butter and flour a large sheet cake pan or rimmed cookie sheet (I use this one).
3. For the brownies, mix together butter and sugar until creamy.
4. Add in eggs one at a time until thoroughly combined.
5. Stir in vanilla extract.
6. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, and salt.
7. Gradually mix flour mixture into butter mixture until barely combined.
8. Fold in chocolate chips.
9. Pour batter into baking pan.
10. In a small bowl, mix together cream cheese, peanut butter, sugar, and egg until creamy.
11. Pour on top of brownie batter and swirl around with a butter knife (but try not to scratch the bottom of the pan!)
12. Sprinkle crushed Oreos on top of the brownies and pat down to secure them in the batter.
13. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes (for super soft brownies), rotating the pan at 20 minutes so that the brownies bake evenly.
14. Let brownies cool completely before cutting into squares.

ENJOY!

Marathons & Brownies. No Holding Back.

I have a sincere respect and love for long distance running.

The Big D Texas Marathon in April 2010 was my first marathon.

I had run a few 5Ks, 10Ks, and half marathons before, but I quickly learned that training for a full marathon is a whole different ball game.

The Big D was a challenge (to say the least) due to improper training, pushing myself too hard in the weeks leading up to the race, and sporadic knee and ankle pain.

On race day, I surprisingly kept a great pace and felt strong up until about mile 22. At that point, the thought of running 4.2 more miles felt more like 40. 

I just HURT ALL OVER. 

Fortunately, it hurt more to walk than run, so I kept pushing and finished in 4 hours and 45 minutes.

It was no Boston qualifier, but it still felt AMAZING to finish.

I will never forget this lady who, after finishing at about the same time as me, asked me “What number is this for you?” I told her that it was my first and asked her the same question. 

“30th!”, she replied. I responded with, “Hoooooly smokes!”

She then said “Just wait! A month from now…you’ll be looking for another one to run.”

At the time, I thought to myself, “There is NO WAY I will EVER do this again”…but she was right.

About a month later, I was surfing the web for more marathons.

So, for a little over a year now, I have been ITCHING to run another one…or three.

I am officially registered for the:

San Antonio Rock N’ Roll Marathon on November 13, 2011

Chevron Houston Marathon on January 15, 2012

And have not officially registered, but probably will race in The Woodlands FIRST Marathon on March 3, 2012!

I know that is a lot to take on, but I thought that since I’ll already be trained, WHY NOT?!? 

However, between my involvement with a running club called WoodlandsFit & being in a healthy running environment at work all day, I am committed to training WELL for these upcoming races so I can 1) Be injury free 2) Maintain a healthy weight and 3) Finish in less than 4 hours.

I have also been reading Kara Goucher’s Running For Women, which is geared more towards the beginner runner, but is also chocked full of great tips and training techniques that I never knew! Love it!

I am ECSTATIC about these upcoming races and get anxious just thinking about them!

What are you training for? Any races on the horizon??

Ok, so enough on races and running…let’s talk about BROWNIES!

Just as I do not hold back when it comes to running, I also do not hold back when it comes to brownies.

The fat kid inside me L-O-V-E-D every bite of this decadent little treat.

Recipe to come tomorrow, but I’ll leave you with the fact that fudge brownie, cream cheese, peanut butter, and Oreos were involved…and it’s heart-pumping insanity.

Happy Monday! Make it a wonderful week!

Better Brookies

I am so white.

Vampire white.

I should probably bake less and tan more.

Just kidding. Not happening.

Pale Baking > Less Baking

Ever since I saw these on my friend Amanda’s blog (she doesn’t know she’s my friend, but she is) I have had an insatiable craving for Brookies. 

In college, my friend Kate and I used to make Brookies at least once a week using Pillsbury Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and a box of brownie mix.

They were insane and the complete highlight of my week.

I’m not a big store-bought cookie dough or brownie mix person, but when their powers combined, it makes for a very nice little treat.

Well, I had some time on my hands, so I decided to make the cookie dough and the brownie from scratch.

I need to have time on my hands more often.

I have to be honest and say that these Brookies are just a tad better than my college day Brookies.

Behold the Mound ‘O Brookie!

Tad Better Brookies

Cookie Dough Ingredients:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temp
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup white granulated sugar
• 3.4 oz package instant vanilla pudding mix
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup butterscotch chips
• 1 cup white chocolate chips

Brownie Ingredients:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups white granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa Powder)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp espresso powder
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

To make cookie dough:

1. Cream together butter and sugars.
2. Mix in dry pudding mix, eggs, and vanilla extract.
3. In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt.
4. Gradually add flour mixture into butter mixture until barely incorporated (don’t overmix!).
5. Fold in white chocolate and butterscotch chips.
6. Butter and flour a 13×9 baking dish.
7. Press cookie dough into the bottom of the pan.

To make brownies:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream together butter and sugar.
3. Mix in vanilla extract and eggs.
4. In a small bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, salt, and espresso powder.
5. Gradually add cocoa mixture into butter mixture until barely incorporated (don’t overmix!).
6. Fold in dark chocolate chips.
7. Pour brownie batter over cookie dough.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out with a a few fudgy crumbles stuck to it.

Let Brookies cool completely before cutting into 24 squares.

ENJOY with ice cream or milk or both!

Not Ok

Brent’s stomach issues are a bit more severe than we thought.

He woke up at around 2:45 this morning worse off than he was last night.

I heard him in the bathroom around 3:00, and when he came out, I asked if he was doing ok. 

He said, “No…I need to go to the ER.”

This was a big deal coming from the man who avoids anything hospital-related as much as possible.

So I jumped out of bed, threw on some clothes, and we bolted out the door with the hopes of finding a 24-hour ER that wouldn’t cost us an arm and a leg.

I also forgot my glasses on the way out, so I am SURE someone thought I was a drunk driver from my half-blind driving skills.

We arrived at St. Luke’s Community Emergency Center around 3:30 AM and saw a doctor around 4:00 AM.

I feel like ANYTHING you do at this hour feels weird, but our little ER visit was somewhat strange in addition to the early morning hour.

Our doctor was a very tall and rather fit man with black hair that he had slicked back into a low pony. As he was talking to us about Brent’s food poisoning, he all of the sudden said, “Oh my..you’re not going to believe this!”

“Ummm…what?”

He proceeds to reach down to the floor with a paper towel in hand and returns to our eye level with the paper towel folded up in his hand and exclaims, “A TICK!”

“Ummm…gross. And random.”

He then proceeds to be completely focused on his new little blood-sucking friend, says “We need to exterminate him” and grabs the ear scope off of the wall and smashes the tick that is inside of the paper towel.

Crunch.

After our rather bizarre and interesting experience with the tick exterminator doctor, we left the exam room and headed to the front desk…bracing ourselves for the ER price tag.

Much to our surprise, we were bid fair well by a chipper front desk attendant saying “Ok, that will be all! Hope you feel better soon!”

I responded with, “Ummmm…sir, we haven’t paid yet.”

The man responded with, “Oh, all of the exams after midnight are FREE!”

Brent and I proceed to stare at the man in silent disbelief for a good 10 seconds.

Me: Ummm…what?

Of course, I instantly become skeptical…and the fact that I watch way too much Dexter does not help…but we confirmed with the man that we did not owe anything and headed for Walgreens to fill Brent’s prescriptions for 2 different antibiotics.

We arrived home around 6:00 AM and crashed.

I woke up around 9:45 AM…Brent around 11:00 AM.

While I was waiting for my french press coffee to finish steeping, I wrote the hubs a note on our Write Plate.

This is my preferred canvas of random communication between the hubs and me.

After waking up a bit, the hubs forced down a small gala apple and some gatorade and played on his PS3 while I took pictures of him.

The sacrifices he makes for my little blog…

Nova was very concerned about our early morning exit for the ER.

But still thought that 3:30 AM was the perfect time for some “hey mom, try to get my big red squeaky iguana from me” action.

Alright, one throw, but then I have to take your daddy to the ER…

Nova is insatiable when it comes to playtime.

Photo courtesy of Kevin & Amanda blog

You know what is also insatiable??? My sweet tooth (as if you didn’t already know that…)

While I was browsing my normal blogs this morning, I came across this tower of utterly delicious insanity and realized that I HAVE TO MAKE IT as soon as the hubs is able to look at normal food without having to make a beeline for the toilet.

I can literally feel my taste buds perk up every time I look at this picture. 

I am the epitome of Pavlov’s dog…I realize this.

I also have a special place in my heart for Oreos, but I tend to actually favor Newman’s Own Newman O’s. They contain no partially hydrogenated oils and no trans-fatty acids, and I think they taste much better.

They also come in Peanut Butter flavor, which would make this dessert situation even more delectable…if that is even possible.

Does anyone have any fun plans for the weekend? 

My plans are to work, take care of my sickly husband, and hopefully bake.

Anyone else planning on baking anything???

Baby Brownies

My sister-in-law gave birth to her third precious little bambino this past Wednesday, so I made some super sweet brownies to celebrate the birth of super sweet baby Callie.

New babies are a great excuse to make brownies.

Especially brownies that are packed with all things wonderful and glorious, like chocolate, peanut butter, hot fudge sauce, peanut butter M&Ms, chocolate chips, cream cheese frosting, and more peanut butter.

Yep. I went there.

Cream together butter, peanut butter, hot fudge sauce, sugar, and vanilla extract.

Mix in eggs, one at a time, until thoroughly combined.

In a separate bowl, sift (whisk) together flour, cocoa, and salt.

Gently mix cocoa mixture into butter mixture.

Fold in chocolate chips and M&Ms.

Baked goods with M&Ms make me happy.

Fold them in!

Butter and flour a 9×13 baking dish and pour in the batter.

This is the thickest brownie batter of all time, so it will require your assistance to spread around evenly in the pan.

Drop cream cheese frosting on top of the brownie batter by the spoonful.

Mmmmmm, lookin’ good…

Take a knife and swirl around cream cheese frosting until evenly spread out.

Swirl around until the top of your brownies look like the top of a skunk.

Or Cruella DeVille’s hair situation…you choose.

Bake at 350 degrees until the top looks like this! 

(I sprinkled a handful of chocolate chips on top after removing the brownies from the oven).

Let these cool on a cooling rack until they are completely…cool.

Cool?

While they are cooling, throw toys at your sleeping golden retriever and try to wake him from his slumber.

Mean. I know. He clearly hates his life.

His reaction to my toy-pelting was a big ‘ole stretch.

Fail.

Once the brownies are cool, cut them into squares (or rectangles), remove them from the pan, and place them back onto a cooling rack.

Place a baking sheet underneath the cooling rack.

You’ll want something the catch the peanut butter drizzles.

Melt about 1/3 cup peanut butter in a microwave safe bowl for about 20 seconds.

Using a spoon or fork, dip into the melted peanut butter bowl and drizzle it over the top of the brownies.

Let the peanut butter set for about 5 minutes, then serve and eat!

Oh man. 

Mom taught me better than this.

These brownies are so wrong but oh so right.

 Peanut Butter Hot Fudge Brownies with Cream Cheese Frosting Swirl

Ingredients:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup hot fudge ice cream topping sauce (not heated)
• 3 cups white sugar
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 4 eggs, at room temp
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup unsweetened dark chocolate cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup peanut butter M&Ms
• 1/2 cup cream cheese frosting ( I used leftover frosting from my coconut cupcakes, but store bought frosting will work also)
• 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips (for sprinkling on top of the brownies while they are still hot)
• 1/3 cup peanut butter, melted (for drizzling)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Butter and flour a 9×13 baking dish.
3. In a large bowl, cream together butter, peanut butter, hot fudge sauce, sugar, and vanilla.
4. Add eggs to butter mixture, one at a time, mixing thoroughly in between each addition.
5. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powders, and salt.
6. Slowly mix half of flour mixture into butter mixture until flour is barely combined.
7. Slowly mix in other half of flour mixture into butter mixture until barely combined.
8. Fold in chocolate chips and peanut butter M&Ms.
9. Pour batter into greased baking dish.
10. Drop cream cheese frosting, by the spoonful, over batter and swirl around with a knife until evenly spread out.
11. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until cream cheese frosting is a light golden color.
12. Remove brownies from oven and place pan on a cooling rack.
13. While brownies are still hot, sprinkle 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips over the top.
14. Let brownies cool completely before cutting.
15. Once cut and cooled, place brownies on cooling rack and drizzle melted peanut butter over the top.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or lots and lots of milk!

ENJOY!

Wee Li’al Shamrock Brookies

I feel like the Irish have it going on:

They have cool accents

They get to live in one of the most beautiful countries in the world

They eat lots of crustaceans

Irish.Soda.Bread.

Everyone is an O’Houlihan or O’Malley…which just sounds awesome

I feel like the closest Brent and I are to being Irish is the fact that he likes beer, a-lot.

And a like Pierce Brosnan, aaa-laauut.

No, we are not Catholic, so no, we did not observe Lent, but you know what? 

I still made celebratory St. Patty’s day brookies.

Why?

Because I wanted to dig through two mighty large bags of M&Ms, pull out all of the green ones, and make shamrocks out of them…that’s why.

And I wanted to use the word “shamrock”.

ANNNDDD I wanted to use my new whoopie pie pan…to make brownie cookies with.

I thought about making a big ‘ole rainbow cake instead, but that could get awkward.

I’ll stick with the shamocks thank.you.

Now, I have to point out that BUTTER is not included in this recipe. I know. WHO AM I.

I decided to replace the butter with a mixture of Libby’s canned pumpkin and Nutty Chocolate Chip Better Butter.

Before you judge, know that this recipe makes 12 legit-sized cookies that happen to be SUPER moist and delicious.

YES, butter makes everything better. I believe in butter.

 And YES, these brookies would be better with butter.

But hey, these lucky little shamrocks clock in at around 100 cals each, which is pretty impressive considering that they are really tasty and a nice size.

Don’t you just hate those “Not Really Healthy But Let’s Call Them Healthy Because You Have To Bake Them In An 8×8 Pan And Then Cut Them Into 48 Squares” healthy brownies?

Yeah these are not those.

I like these. Especially nuked in the microwave for 30 seconds and topped with cold vanilla ice cream.

But if yer feelin’ frisky, throw in 1 stick unsalted softened butter. They will only get better.

Wee Li’al Shamrock Brookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup Nutty Chocolate Chip Better Butter *
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

Green M&Ms and jelly beans (sliced lengthwise into 4ths) for decoration

*If you do not have Better Butter, order some stat. If you cannot order it between now and the time you make these brookies, you can substitute it with 1/3 cup Nutella, Peanut Butter & Co’s Dark Chocolate Dreams, or just peanut butter.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. In a medium bowl, stir together pumpkin, Better Butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract.
3. In a small bowl, sift together cocoa powder, flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. Stir flour mixture into pumpkin mixture until barely incorporated.
5. Pour batter into a 12-cavity whoopie pie pan.
6. Bake for 15 minutes, or until brookies are puffed but still gooey in the center.
7. While still hot, press M&Ms and jelly bean “stems” into tops of brookies creating a shamrock shape.
8. Remove from pan and serve warm.

ENJOY!

Birthdays & Breakfasts

This past weekend was filled with breakfasts, birthdays, and lovely time with the fam.

Well, we only attended one birthday PARTY, but I feel like everyone and their dog celebrated someone’s birthday this past weekend.

Kind of makes you wonder what goes down in early JUNE ever year…

Saturday began around 9:00 AM with a hot bowl of yummy oats:

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup milk

pinch of salt

Topped with a heaping spoonful of Better Butter Nutty Chocolate Chip, cinnamon, and honey.

Ummmm, may I have anotha? 

Seriously good.

After breakfast, we got dressed and headed over to Brent’s cousin’s house for his dad’s sister’s birthday party.

Aunt Vicki’s party. That’s easier.

His cousin made a cute little cupcake tree.

Cupcakes make everything so much better.

She also made these deviled eggs. I have to talk about them because they were the BEST deviled eggs I have ever had. 

I never make deviled eggs. They intimidate me for reasons that I can’t explain.

Scones? Simple.

Homemade cinnamon rolls? Easy.

Beef Bourguignon? Bring it.

Deviled eggs??? I need a day to think about it.

Just in case the Tree O’ Cupcakes did not satisfy our sweet tooth, she also made an assortment of cookies and ooey gooey brownies.

My kinda party 🙂

Birthday Girl!

We left the party around 5:00 PM and headed home. 

Brent was going to have to get up at 4:00 AM the next morning for a day-long fishing trip in Galveston, so around 7:00 PM, I hit the gym and then headed to my sister’s house in Houston.

She is getting married on April 30th and is up to her ears in invitation making materials, so I though I would spend the night at her place and help put a dent in the announcements.

We planned on meeting at her place around 9:45, so I decided to grab a late dinner in Houston around 9:15 PM at Pei Wei.

I thought it may be a little creeptown hitting up Pei Wei an hour before they close, by myself, on a dark cold rainy Houston night, but it was actually really nice and very enjoyable.

I brought a mag in with me so I could stare at something other than chopsticks while waiting on my food.

Well, it was pretty wonderful until the boisterous high schoolers sitting next to me started making fun of me for snapping pictures of my fortune cookie.

They asked if I wanted them to take a picture of me with my camera.

Ummm, no, I’m good. It’s past your bedtime. Go cuddle with binky in your race car bed.

And I bet your fortune was lame.

Ok, moving on.

I ordered the Japanese Teriyaki Bowl with chicken and extra veggies.

I think I really could eat Pei Wei every single day.

Nom.

My fortune. Wow. Groundbreaking.

So I met up with Hannah around 10:00 PM and we both decided that the night was young and we needed Yogurtland.

My yogurt flavors: pistachio, red velvet, dark chocolate cupcake, coffee, and cheesecake.

My toppings: LOTS of sprinkles (I know, I’m a child), Peanut M&Ms, and coconut.

I’d like to point out that I did not mix the above yogurt flavors together. Sick.

My sister gets a bunch of flavors, one or two toppings, then whips it into her notorious brown, lumpy “mush mush soufflé”.

We started calling her yogurt “mush mush soufflé” about 20 years ago. It stuck.

So did our “days” sitting in the front seat in Mom’s car. Hannah gets Mon, Wed, Fri and I get Tues, Thurs, Sat and don’t you forget it.

Here is me with my delicious, orderly bowl of separated yogurt.

Sunday morning, Hannah and I went to one of our favorite little breakfast spots for some nourishment-Empire Cafe.

I went with plain organic coffee. Hannah went with her typical Christmas Juice Chai Tea.

Hannah’s nourishment: english muffin, fruit, turkey patties, & roasted potatoes.

My nourishment: english muffin, fruit, big ‘ole omelette with mushrooms and feta, and about half of Hannah’s potatoes.

It was a lovely weekend filled with family and lots of delicious food. My favorite kind 🙂

Now, stay tuned because I made some INSANE blueberry scones with a vanilla orange glaze yesterday that I will post tomorrow!

Tonight, Brent and I are going to see Keith Urban at the rodeo! I am SO looking forward to spending some quality time with my beloved, rodeo fun, and a big.hiney.cheeseburger. 

Happy Fat Tuesday!

Double Chocolate Brownie Torte with Butterscotch Ganache

Since Brent was out of town this last weekend, my sister came over on Saturday for a sister date at my house.

As mentioned in the previous post, we are both brownie lovers. 

Extreme brownie lovers.

So I decided to make a Double Chocolate Brownie Torte with Butterscotch Ganache.

This was so good, it hurt a little bit.

Ya know what else hurts a little bit? Pavement. Pavement hurts a little bit.

Why do I know this?

Because yesterday, I was walking my sweet giant little 14 month old golden retriever, Nova.

While walking him, I looked down at my phone to check an email in the exact moment that Nova saw a squirrel.

Nova went for it.

Before I knew it, I was SUPERMANNING through the air and proceeded to be dragged by my sweet little punkin head down the oh so lovely pavement road.

It’s ok, It’s ok. It was nothing a Double Chocolate Brownie Torte with Butterscotch Ganache and a heaping scoop of vanilla ice cream couldn’t fix.

Later on, however, I did have a bit of anxiety that someone was filming me and I would end up on YouTube, like this lady.

It wouldn’t surprise me. I.FLEW.

Now, I made a little bit more butterscotch ganache than I needed. 

So what do you do when you have more butterscotch ganache than you actually need?

You close your eyes and keep pouring.

Oopsies.

The thought of not using all of this right then and there was inconceivablish…

I told you, I just can’t be trusted. Don’t be like me.

Unless you like delicious things…then be like me.

So whether or not you get dragged by your 90 lb baby-triever down a lovely paved road today, you should still make this.

Double Chocolate Brownie Torte

Ingredients:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs, room temp
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (semi sweet will work too)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease and flour an 8-inch cake pan.
3. Mix together butter, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl.
4. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until mixed thoroughly.
5. In a separate medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, and salt.
6. Gradually stir flour mixture into butter mixture until barely combined.
7. Fold in chocolate chips.
8. Pour into pan and bake for 20-25 minutes. You will want the center to still be a little bit gooey.
9. Cool for 10 minutes in pan.
10. Remove from pan, place on a large serving platter, and pour warm Butterscotch Ganache over the top.

Butterscotch Ganache

Ingredients:

• 6 oz butterscotch chips
• 6 Tbsp heavy whipping cream
• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan, heat cream and butter over medium heat until just before the boiling stage.
2. Place butterscotch morsels in a heat resistant bowl and pour hot cream/butter over morsels.
3. Let sit for 15 seconds, then stir until smooth.
4. Pour over torte.

Serve with ice cream!

Sister Date and The Butterscotch Ganache Debate

Brent, being a chiropractor, is working on becoming certified in Acupuncture. To become certified, he has to attend an acupuncture seminar in Dallas once a month for 8 months. His second seminar was this last weekend, so since he was out of town, I called up my sister to come spend obligatory time with me while he was away 🙂

My sister is an incredible triathlete and competes in tri’s quite often. She and her fiance had completed a 50 mile bike ride that morning (ya know, no big) so she was a little pooped when she arrived at my hizzy.

I made sure to have some delicious post-workout snacks ready when she arrived 🙂

Out of honey-roasted peanuts, Craisins & almonds, Wheat Thins, Chex, and Chip-Ins, the Chip-Ins stole the show.

I saw these while checking out at the grocery store and decided to grab a bag. They are all-natural popcorn chips made by Popcorn Indiana. I’ve only tried the Hot Buffalo Wing flavor, which is really good! The other flavors offered are Sea Salt, Jalapeno Ranch, and White Cheddar. 

I definitely see some Jalapeno Ranch in my future 🙂

They are light and airy, but have a ton of flavor, a satisfying crunch, AND you can eat like ten billion of them for half the calories and fat that you would get in normal chips. 

Sold.

For dinner, sister and I decided to order 2 medium 2 topping pizzas online from Domino’s while snackin’ on Chip’ins.

I really like Domino’s and prefer it over most deliver pizza companies, but I am always a little disturbed by the greased soaked box that it usually comes in…

I mean, it’s not a game changer, just a little distracting I guess. 

That’s all.

BBQ chicken with spinach for me.

Pepperoni with jalapeno and black olive for her.

She got 3 toppings…diva.

We each ate 3 pieces.

That means we had 10 pieces left over.

Hannah decided to leave her 5 leftover slices in my fridge.

Math tells me that Brent and I will have to finish them off for ya sis.

Shame.

We hate pizza.

Now, when Hannah and I have a sister date, dessert is an absolute must.

I love this about her.

She makes my dessert addiction feel normal.

Our sister date desserts usually involve brownies with ice cream, brownie pies, mint brownies, iced brownies, brookies (cookie brownies, duh), brownies on a stick, brownies smothered in Nutella, espresso brownie cakes, hot brownies, cold brownies, new brownies, old brownies, cream cheese swirl brownies, brownie cupcakes, peanut butter brownies, and blonde brownies…just to name a few.

So I thought I would change it up and make a Double Chocolate Brownie Torte with Butterscotch Ganache.

Hannah insisted on me leaving the Double Chocolate Brownie Torte goodness alone and forgo adding the ganache.

Much to my dismay, we had a plain jane Double Chocolate Brownie Torte with vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Okay, okay, it was still absolutely delicious without the ganache.

The next morning, Hannah leaves at 7:30 AM, and what do I do?

Breakfast? You can wait.

Doggy? I can’t take you outside right now.

Teeth? I’ll brush you later.

I have a butterscotch ganache to make.

The Double Chocolate Brownie Torte is D-VINE all by itself, but drizzled with The Greatest Butterscotch Ganache of all time???

I’ll let you figure it out. 

Recipe to come, manana!

Fat Witch Brownies and a Trip Down Memory Lane

I.love.brownies. I have never met a brownie I did not like. I especially love brownies while on vacation. Did you know that vacation brownies have zero calories, zero fat, zero sugar, and are chocked full of amazing ingredients like guilt-free, pure bliss, Christmas morning, puppies, and freedom? You did, didn’t you. Same page…I like that.

Okay, moving forward!

I found some brownies this last September while the Mr. and I were on a little last minute vacay in NYC. The company is called Fat Witch. First of all, how can you not love this name? And how can you not feel the freedom to completely indulge when someone hands you a brownie called a “FAT WITCH”??? 

I’ll take two thanks. 

These big gals can be found in almost every little cafe in NYC. The flavors include: 

• The Original FatWitch – original chocolate brownie
• JavaWitch – original brownie with cappuccino chocolate chips
• BlondeWitch – Like a chocolate chip cookie in a brownie form
• RedWitch – original with dried cherries inside
• SnowWitch – white chocolate brownie
• CaramelWitch – original with a layer of caramel inside
• BreakfastWitch – oatmeal walnut and coffee on a little bit of brownie
• FatWitch Walnut – original with walnuts

However, if giant delicious brownies are not your thing, you can settle for a FatWitch Baby, a Blonde Baby, or a Walnut Baby. Equally delicious, just skinnier.

Once returning from NYC, I was delighted to find that I could order these fatties online AND buy the FatWitch cookbook! Love it.

So go now, place your order, and in 3-5 business days, you too can shimmy and shake all the way to your mailbox with the pure unashamed excitement of what you are about to experience.

Ok, now a quick trip down memory lane on the NYC Express. Don’t you just LOVE that city??? I do. I told Brent the other day that if we ever go back, we are staying for good. He said if that was the case, then we wouldn’t be back for quite a while. We will just have to see about that.

The first time I went to NYC was with my family and some family friends. I was in high school. We did all of the touristy thing such as buying knockoff Louis Vutton on Canal St, go to the top of the Empire State Building, experience visual overload while in Times Square, etc. It was a fabulous trip.

The second time was about 4 years ago when I was determined to leave the collegiate bubble that is Baylor University (Baylor, I’m not hating on you, but face it, you ARE a bubble) to become a world famous chef through an education at The French Culinary Institute. 

Here’s what happened to that dream:

Hannah and me in NYC for FCI trip

• “Mom, I think I want to quit Baylor and go to culinary school in NYC.”
• “Ok dear, well go tour the French Culinary Institute over Spring Break. Hannah, go with your sister.”
• Friday of Spring Break 2007 – Fly to NYC
• Hannah and I check into the most SKETCH hotel ever. Pretty sure this was the set for The Shining.
• Saturday – I meet with the FCI Admissions Director while my sister aimlessly wanders around Soho.
• I tour FCI. Love it, but immediately become intimidated and overwhelmed by the idea of living in Soho and knowing no one.
• Hannah and I spend all of our money on taxis and cheesecake, thus have to walk 40 blocks back to The Shining hotel on Saturday night.
• Sunday – Fly back to the Baylor Bubble to graduate 2 years later with a Human Resources degree.
• Everyday since Sunday, Spring Break 2007- Regret not going to The French Culinary Institute.

Me eating a chocolate covered ice cream ball in NYC during FCI trip,  contemplating the pros and cons of going to culinary school vs staying inside the Baylor bubble.

Soooo, long story short, I still want to go. Maybe I’ll enroll after we move there 🙂

Now for a few more recent photos from our September 2010 trip…

picnic in Central Park

Crumbs red velvet cupcake. Chomp.

Bethesda Fountain

I love NYC