Two Ingredient Pumpkin Brownies

One of my favorite recipes that I've ever came across on Pinterest was the Two Ingredient Pumpkin Cake that I first tried in 2011. Since then I've made it several times. The recipe simply consisted of combining a can of pumpkin with a box of cake mix – that’s it!  So when I came across this Two Ingredient Pumpkin Brownie recipe from Cookies and Cups, I just knew I had to try it.

I gathered my 2 3 ingredients (Cookies and Cups said you can add pumpkin spice), and got to work.

All I did was mix up the pumpkin, brownie mix, and a teaspoon of pumpkin spice – then pour it into the lined pan.

I baked it for 35 minutes at 350.

And you’re done.

The Verdict: These were AWFUL! I actually ended up throwing them out. The consistency was sponge like and it tasted like baby food.

Things to Note/Consider: I’m not sure what went wrong – maybe I overcooked them? Perhaps I shouldn't have added the pumpkin spice? Maybe I over mixed? Who knows? At least they were super easy to make and I didn't waste too much time and energy on them. 

Dreamy Oreo Brownies

You guys, I think we need to have an intervention. I have an addiction .... and it’s to the combination of Oreos and brownies. It seems that’s all I ever bake up these days. I've made: OreoTruffle Brownies, Brownie Hearts, Brownie Cookie Candy Goodness, and BrownieCovered Oreos. I guess I won’t stop until I've tried all the combinations possible!

Last week, my friend was having a bunch of us over for snacks and wine. I decided to try out these Dreamy Oreo Brownies from Cookies & Cups. They are very similar to the Oreo Truffle Brownies, just with the addition of cool whip and powdered sugar.

Cookies & Cups

Unfortunately, I didn't take many pictures. I made them the night prior and wasn't able to start making them until 8:30pm. I was exhausted so I apologize for the lack of quality in the photos.

I started by whipping up my boxed brownies with some chopped Oreos mixed in.

While the brownies were cooling, I put the cream cheese/cool whip layer together. It’s basically powdered sugar, cream cheese, & cool whip mixed together. Then I spread it over the brownies.

Here’s where I ran into some issues. I thought I had plenty of chocolate chips at home, but I only had less then half a bag. I measured it out and I had exactly what the recipe suggests (1 & ½ cups). Unfortunately that was not enough chocolate to cover the entire pan. I just spread it out as much as I could and topped it with my remaining crushed Oreos.

The final step is to let the brownies cool in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Since it was already 10 pm, I let them cool overnight. The next morning I tried one for breakfast –it was delish! Sadly, all my end product photos came out blurry- probably because it was 6am when I was taking them.

The Verdict: These were tasty but very rich. Honestly, I think I like the Oreo Truffle Brownies just a tad better but I would still make these again.

Things to Note/Consider: One and ½ cups of chocolate was not enough to cover my 9x13 pan -so definitely plan ahead for that. Other then that, I wouldn't change a thing.

Dreamy Oreo Brownies

adapted from Cookies & Cups

1 box of brownie mix with ingredients to prepare them

1 package of coarsely chopped Oreos divided equally into thirds

1 (8oz) tub of Cool Whip thawed in the fridge

1 (8oz) block of cream cheese, softened

2 cups powdered sugar

1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

• Prepare brownie batter according to package direction, folding in 1/3 of the chopped Oreos.
• Bake according to package directions
• Allow brownies to cool completely
• Beat cream cheese & powdered sugar until combined and smooth
• Fold in Cool Whip and another 1/3 of the chopped Oreos
• Spread the mixture on top of the cooled brownies
• Melt the chocolate and vegetable oil in the microwave
• Spread melted chocolate evenly over cream cheese layer.
• Sprinkle the remaining Oreos on top.
• Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Pretzel Crusted Brownies

Way back in March, my mom invited my cousins, sister-in-law, aunts, a couple of her friends, and me to a Tricky Tray fundraiser a coworker of hers was involved with. While it was a fun night, not one of us won a single thing. We made up for the losses by enjoying some wine and lots of bad-for-you snacks. I decided to give these Pretzel Crusted Brownies a try for the event:

Source: The Avid Appetite

I love the combination of salty and sweet and the added crunch of the pretzels intrigued me. I have never made brownies from scratch before and Shannon warned me that she has never had any luck with them so I was a little nervous about how they would taste. 

I started by making the pretzel crust: crushing up a bunch of pretzels (I used the plastic bag/meat tenderizer method), mixing with melted butter and sugar and baking it in a foil lined pan.

After about 10 minutes in the oven, I was left with this delicious looking (and smelling!) crust:

As per Rachel's instructions, I put it in the fridge to cool (resting on a towel). Then I mixed up the brownies using the same recipe she used (adapted from BAKERS One Bowl Brownies:

I have never been good at melting chocolate in the microwave. That's why my cake pops always come out horribly and anything I try to dip looks awful. I followed the instructions and let the butter melt using 10 second intervals, but it never really got the chocolate to melt completely. I kept mixing and mixing but eventually gave up and just completed the recipe.

You can't really tell, but there's chunks of unmelted chocolate in there.

Right before they went in the oven. 

Once I had the all the ingredients in though, the batter seemed to set up nicely. Here they are fresh out of the oven:

And after I let them cool and started cutting them up:

See that delicious layer of pretzels?

I halved the butter cream recipe knowing that I always wind up with extra frosting in my fridge and because I wanted to leave some un-iced in case anyone wanted them plain. 

The Verdict: They were alright. The crust was delicious and I slightly under-cooked them (which is how I prefer brownies) but they almost didn't seem chocolatey enough. I am not sure if that was my fault for not getting the chocolate to melt completely, or if I am just not a fan of homemade brownies. Now, that's not to say I didn't eat them. I did. They didn't really get touched at the Tricky Tray because there were so many other goodies there so I brought them home. And proceeded to eat the majority of them over the weekend until I finally had to throw them out so I wouldn't gain 100 lbs. 

Things to Consider: I would probably get the food processor out to crunch up the pretzels next time. Doing it by hand took forever and I think it would have been a little nicer if I got them a little smaller. I also would like to give this idea another try using a box mix and seeing if I like it any better. As I said above, they weren't bad, just not "worth" the calories to me - I would rather a nice thick, gooey, chocolatey brownie. I did love the foil method though - it made getting the brownies out really easy and cleanup was much easier too.

Anyone have a better brownie recipe for me to try? I have read that once you master making brownies from scratch you can't go back to eating them from a box-mix, but so far Shannon and I haven't found the right recipe!


Pretzel Crusted Brownies with Fluffy Buttercream Frosting
from The Avid Appetitefor the crust:
4 C pretzels
¾ C unsalted butter (1.5 sticks)
½ C sugar

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a 13x9” baking pan with foil, letting some hang over the edges. Spray with cooking spray or grease with butter and flour.
• Process pretzels in a food processor until chopped small, but not too finely. Meanwhile melt the butter in the microwave. 
• Transfer the pretzels to a mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar.
• Mix in the melted butter. Press into a the baking pan and bake for 10 minutes or until the crust has set.
• Cool in the refrigerator while you make the batter (note: I put the pan on a towel in the fridge so as not to break any glass shelves).

for the brownies:
*Adapted from BAKER’S One Bowl Brownies
4 oz BAKER’S unsweetened chocolate (4 squares)
¾ C unsalted butter (1.5 sticks)
2 C sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 C all purpose flour

• Change oven temperature to 350 degrees. 
• Combine the butter and chocolate squares in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave at 10 second intervals until the butter is melted.
• Transfer the butter/chocolate mixture to a mixing bowl or the bowl in your stand mixer. 
• With a rubber spatula, mix the chocolate pieces in the butter until they are completely melted.
• Mix in the sugar (I used the paddle attachment on my mixer, but by hand will probably work too!)
• Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well.
• Mix in the flour.
• Pour over the cooled pretzel crust and carefully smooth the edges so as not to pick up any pretzels.
• Bake for 35-40 minutes until a toothpick comes out almost clean, but with a few fudgy crumbs. BUT, make sure that the middle has set!
• Once the bars have completely (!) cooled, remove from the pan by carefully lifting out the bars from the pan using the foil overhang.

for the frosting:
½ C unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature
3 C confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp milk

• In the stand of an electric mixer fitted w/paddle (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter until fluffy. Add the sugar, one cup at a time until completely combined.
• Mix in the vanilla and milk (if the frosting is too thick, add more). 
• Once completely combined, carefully spread over the cooled brownies.

Brownie Roll-Ups

Here’s another post about a pin I tried forever ago (April 2012 to be exact) but never typed up – this time because it was a total failure.

Let me start this post by admitting that I LOVE yodels –they are my guilty pleasure. I used to buy them every so often at the grocery store and hide them at the bottom of my cart because I was so embarrassed. I was [and still am] completely devastated when they were taken off the market because Hostess & Drake's went under. I’m hoping this article is true!

Now that you have some background on my love of yodels, you can see why I wanted to give these brownie roll-ups from cookiesandcups.com a shot.

Don’t they look sort of like yodels -just missing the chocolate coating?

I'm guessing these didn't work out for me because I tried to take the easy way out. Shelly gives directions on how to make the brownies from scratch. I decided to use a box mix and store bought frosting.

So I whipped up the brownies…

and cut them into squares.

Then I put the brownies between two pieces of wax paper

and flattened them with a rolling pin.

Next came the frosting.

And here’s where this whole thing took a turn for the worst.

They did not roll correctly at all.

I tried it with one or two different squares and then gave up.

Perhaps I will need to try this again, using Shelly’s homemade brownie recipe and see if they come out any better. If I do, I’ll let you know how it turns out! Have any of you tried anything recently that didn't come out quite right?

Oreo Truffle Brownies

Yesterday, the baking bug hit me and I decided to try something new from my Recipes to Try board on Pinterest. I went with Oreo Truffle Brownies.

The original pin is from Chef in Training.

Chef in Training

The recipe is basically taking the Oreo Truffles I've made in the past and spreading them over some brownies.  

I gathered my supplies…

The original pin gives directions on how to make brownies from scratch. I decided to take a short cut and used the boxed stuff. Not only is it easier, but I've tried making brownies from scratch before and they never turn out as good as the box mix. However, I did decide to try a different brand of brownie mix. Usually I go with Betty Crocker but this time I gave Duncan Hines a shot.

I whipped up the brownies as directed on the box. While they were cooling, I got the truffle layer together. You just take softened cream cheese and mix it with finely crushed Oreos. I threw the mixture on top of the cooled brownies.

It was a little challenging to spread out the mixture on top of the brownies. I found that using a small spatula was the easiest way to do it.

Once the cheese cream mixture was spread on top, I melted some chocolate…

Sorry it's blurry

And evenly spread it on top.

Right after spreading the chocolate on top, I poured some crushed Oreos on top to garnish.

Then I covered the brownies and threw them in the fridge for 2 hours so the chocolate could harden.

Then enjoy!

The Verdict: These are delicious and very rich. In addition, they were super easy to make. I will say that when I was slicing the brownies, a few of them had the truffle layer separate from the brownie layer.

Things to Consider/Change: I wouldn't really change anything with this recipe. Perhaps if I were to make these again, I would bake the brownies in a smaller dish so the brownie layer turned out a bit thicker.

Oreo Truffle Brownies

adapted from Chef inTraining

1 box of brownie mix

Ingredients for brownie mix (eggs, oil, water)

1 package of Double Stuff Oreos

4 oz of softened cream cheese

10 oz of dipping chocolate

• Bake brownies as directed on the box. Allow to cool.
• Crush Oreos in food processor or in a zip lock bag with rolling pin. Using your hands, mash softened cream cheese and crushed Oreos until well combined. Start with 4oz of cream cheese and add more if desired.
• Spread layer of Oreo truffle on top of cooled brownies.
• Melt chocolate and pour on top of the Oreo truffle layer.
• Sprinkle additional crushed Oreos on top of the chocolate.
• Cover and put into the fridge until set.