Recipes

Salted Caramel Brownies

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Let me get you a napkin for that bit of drool you’ve got trailing down from your lower lip…

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These lovely salted caramel brownies are courtesy of a recipe I tagged a few months back in Cooking Light.  I’ve been dying to make them but I had no good reason to… and honestly I was trying to avoid having an entire batch of delicious brownies sitting on my kitchen counter BEGGING me to eat them.  Seriously. I have control when it comes to a lot of things in life.  Chocolate is not one of those things.

Then Jess posted a call-to-action on her blog Stylish, Stealthy & Healthy to join this little thing called the Blogger Sweet Swap.

Eureka!  This was the perfect excuse to make the brownies!!  Just think of the Sweet Swap as an arranged penpal relationship… with benefits.  Sweet benefits.

Without further ado, let’s get to it!

Combine the following in a big ole bowl:

  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder

Then combine these guys in a little bowl:

  • 6 tbsp melted butter
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Pour the wets into the dries and stir to combine the thickest brownie batter you’ve ever laid eyes on.

The recipe calls for baking these guys in a 9 inch square metal pan coated with cooking spray for 19 minutes at 350 degrees until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  I baked mine in an 8 inch glass dish for 20 minutes, then 5 more minutes, then 5 MORE minutes.. then got impatient and took them out.  Seriously, every time I bake brownies the darn toothpick NEVER comes out clean.  Anyone else have this issue??

After the brownies cool completely, it’s time to make the caramel deliciousness.  Melt 1/4 cup butter in a small pot, then whisk in:

  • 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1.5 tbsp evaporated fat-free milk

Cook for two minutes, then remove from heat and whisk in:

  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Spread the yum sauce over the brownies:

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Once everything cooled off completely I decided to extract the brownies from the pan….

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Oh dear…

It looks like a Brownie Massacre.

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Then I cut the hunks o’ brownie into tiny little brownie babies.  Why did I think brownies would be a good idea again??

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Next up is the chocolately drizzle. The following go into a microwave safe bowl:

  • 2 tbsp evaporated fat-free milk
  • 1 ounce bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Microwave on HIGH for 45 seconds or until melted, stirring after 20 seconds. I scraped the chocolate into a ziplock baggie, snipped the corner off with scissors, and drizzled it over the brownie squares.

Disaster.

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Then I sprinkled the tops with a bit o’ sea salt, picked the prettiest 12 of the bunch, and tucked them neatly into metal tray:

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They kind of look like the photo… kind of.

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So Molly @ Hungry Hungry Runner, I PROMISE these were edible and pretty and neatly packed when I shipped them.  Whatever happens after this point is on the hands of the USPS.

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I bet you’re wondering what I did with all those leftover brownies, huh?  All I can say is these brownies are seriously delicious.  More like fudge than brownies (probably due to my  aforementioned brownie baking incompetencies).  ABSOLUTELY delicious and seriously sweet.  I stuck a few in the freezer for this weekend too 🙂
 

Ingredients List (makes ~20 brownies)
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 6 tbsp butter, melted
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 3 1/2 tbsp evaporated fat-free milk, divided
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 ounce bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
  • 1/8 tsp coarse sea salt

Curious to see how they arrived??? Check out Molly’s post for her recap!

Curious to see what sweets I got?

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Then click here for the pumpkin chocolate chip muffin recipe!!

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Recipes

Mini Pumpkin Muffcakes

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Oh so simple, and oh so delicious.

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In the past week or so, I realized that my year-to-date pumpkin intake is severely below goal this year.  It dawned on me that I have only enjoyed ONE Starbucks pumpkin latte this year and I’ve only made pumpkin cookies ONCE.  Sad!  The very next day, I received an email newsletter from Hungry Girl that was ALL ABOUT PUMPKIN.  Fate?  I’m thinking yes.

Do any of you get the Hungry Girl email newsletter?  I am a big big fan.  She always has simple healthy recipe ideas and offers up tips on healthier options to make at chain restaurants.  She’s also coming out with a show in January, which I’m pretty pumped about.

One of the pumpkin recipes in the newsletter that caught my eye was this recipe for Caramel Pudding Pumpkin Cupcakes.  I truly am a baker at heart.  Yes, I love to cook, but if I had to choose I’d pick baking any day.  One of the reasons I rarely bake is that I possess little to no will power against baked goods.  I’m the girl who has to try a “little bite” of each baked good at family get togethers… only to end up eating the sugar equivalent of 7 king size snickers bars…  For those of you who were Sex and the City watchers, I could totally relate to the episode where Miranda ate chocolate cake from the trash can.  Like I said.  Little to no willpower.  So rather than suscept myself to sugar induced comas, I avoid baking. 

Unless of course I have plenty of people to pawn my wares off on…  And when all else fails, I scale it down.  I mean way down.  I’ve been known to make a solitary no-bake cookie.  Talk about proactive measures!

When I got to baking these pumpkin cupcakes, I decided to cut the recipe down to 3 cupcakes.  Come on.  You have to give yourself a little wiggle room Winking smile 

I assembled the ingredients for 3 cupcakes in a large bowl (making a few minor tweaks from HG’s recipe):

  • 1/2 cup Better Crocker moist yellow cake mix
  • 1/4 cup canned pure pumpkin
  • 1 egg white
  • 1.5 tsp Smuckers sugar free breakfast syrup
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 packet Truvia
  • dash of salt

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I whisked everything together with a fork for a good two minutes:

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Then divided evenly into 3 muffin tins, which I popped into a 350 degree oven for 12 minutes…. and VOILA! 

Little bits of joy:

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I’m so proud Smile 

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While the cupcakes cooled, I got to work on the caramel icing.  For three cupcakes, I only needed 1 caramel candy (the little cube caramels you can find individually wrapped in the bulk candy section of the grocery store) and 1 tsp Almond Breeze Vanilla Unsweetened Almond Milk.  I put both of the icing ingredients into a bowl and popped into the microwave on 50% heat for 1 minute, then stirred, and repeated for another minute.

Then I just drizzled the caramel goodness over top of the three cupcakes:

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I had one of these little guys with my evening cup of Earl Grey tea.  It reminded me of the pumpkin muffies you can get at Panera (you know, the ones that are dusted with powdered sugar?).  These cupcakes really are a cross between a muffie and a cupcake….  A muffcake, if you will Winking smile 

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Not only were they super easy and scrumptious, but they made my kitchen smell absolutely heavenly.

Stats on 1 Mini Pumpkin Muffcake (as prepared by Fervent Foodie):  106 calories, 23g carbs, 1g fat, 2g protein, 1g fiber

Mini Pumpkin Muffcakes Ingredients List (makes 3)

  • 1/2 cup Better Crocker moist yellow cake mix
  • 1/4 cup canned pure pumpkin
  • 1 egg white
  • 1.5 tsp Smuckers sugar free breakfast syrup
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 packet Truvia
  • dash of salt
  • 1 caramel candy
  • 1 tsp Almond Breeze Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk

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