Red Velvet Brownies

Oh my word these are yummy!  I wasn't so sure when I first pulled them out of the oven.  I thought they were overbaked because the top had kind of a crust over it.  I figured the whole pan would be dry.  However, underneath that crust was a very moist and fudgy crimson brownie.  Really really tasty. I found this recipe on

myrecipes.com

This recipe was sure easy to throw together but it takes a long time for them to cool before they slice nice & neat.  Some of my family would have preferred them un-iced but I can't imagine red velvet cake without icing so I had to add it.  I spread the cream cheese icing on while they were still warm.  I like it when the icing gets really thin and warm and then settles into a nice smooth flat top when cooled. The original recipe had mentioned garnishing the top with white chocolate curls which would have been delightful but I didn't have any white chocolate.  When I first pulled these out of the oven, I figured these would be just like a red velvet cake but simply spread into a flat pan and served horizontal.  I was wrong. These definitely do not have the nice soft texture of a good red velvet cake. They are dense and fudgy and have slightly more chocolate flavor than your average red velvet cake.  I didn't measure my chocolate very accurately before melting it so I could have been a little heavy handed with the amount.  But whatever....they still turned out heavenly and I will definitely be making these again.  These brownies would be wonderful to give as a gift or bring as a casual dessert for a party.  They are so pretty to look at with their deep beautiful red color. I bet they'd be even more stunning with some sort of garnish or decoration on top.

Enjoy!

I didn't use a specific cream cheese icing recipe.  I literally just threw a chunk of cream cheese into a bowl, added some softened butter, clear vanilla, cream & powdered sugar. I added powdered sugar & cream until I reached desired consistency.  I always make brownie icing a fair amount thinner than I would cake icing.  I like it to be nice and smooth on top.

Red Velvet Brownies
My  Recipes


1 (4-oz.) bittersweet chocolate baking bar, chopped
3/4 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 (1-oz.) bottle red liquid food coloring
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line bottom and sides of a 9-inch square pan with aluminum foil, allowing 2 to 3 inches to extend over sides; lightly grease foil.

2. Microwave chocolate and butter in a large microwave-safe bowl at HIGH 1 1/2 to 2 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring at 30-second intervals. Whisk in sugar. Add eggs, 1 at a time, whisking just until blended after each addition. Gently stir in flour and next 4 ingredients. Pour mixture into prepared pan.

3. Bake at 350° for 44 to 48 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool completely on a wire rack (about 2 hours).

4. Lift brownies from pan, using foil sides as handles; gently remove foil. Spread cream cheese frosting on top of brownies, and cut into squares.



Trisha Yearwood's Brownies

 This is such an easy brownie recipe.  It's absolutely delicious. The chocolate is not super dark, but it's not as sweet as milk chocolate either.  The texture of these brownies is a cross between fudgy and cakey.  Of course they will be fudgier if you take them out of the oven earlier.  Mine have a slighty crunchy outer crust with a soft fudgy center. They developed a nice flakey crackly top which to me is a sign of a GOOD brownie. I covered the top of mine with a buttery chocolate icing that was fairly thin while warm but firmed up and became fudge like when cooled.  I know when you read the ingredients of these brownies, your eyes will go to the "shortening".  Mine did.  There is no butter in this brownie recipe.  I was not sure what this omission would do to the texture or especially the flavor, but I wasn't disppointed.  These are so tasty.  I made sure that I removed my brownies from the oven before they tested done.  I did the toothpick test but there were still very sticky wet crumbs on my toothpick when I removed the pan.  I hesistated and almost placed the pan back in the oven but I'm glad I didn't. When these were completely cooled they were perfect!!  I will definitely make this recipe again.  Oh, I wanted more brownies than an 8 inch pan but there did not seem to be enough batter in a double recipe for a 13x9 inch pan so I made a triple recipe and it was a perfect amount for a 13x9 inch pan.

Trisha Yearwood's Brownies

2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate
1/3 cup solid vegetable shortening, such as Crisco
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped pecans  (I did not add nuts)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Grease the bottom of an 8x8x2-inch pan.

Melt the chocolate and shortening together over simmering water or in the microwave.
Cool slightly.  In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs well.

Add the sugar and combine thoroughly, then stir in the chocolate mixture.

Sift the flour together with the baking powder and salt, then stir into the chocolate mixture.  Stir in the nuts and vanilla.

Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

After cooling for about 20-30 minutes, spread icing on top and let cool completely before cutting.


Chocolate Icing for Brownies
1 stick butter, melted
4  cups powdered sugar (add more if you like thicker consistency)
½ cup baking cocoa
½ cup whole milk
1 tsp vanilla flavoring.

Directions:
In a medium bowl combine the powdered sugar and the cocoa powder and stir to mix well. Add the melted butter, milk and vanilla and mix until smooth.  It's ok if icing seems somewhat thin, it firms up when thoroughly cooled.

Marshmallow Brownies

I found this brownie recipe on "First Look Then Cook" blog. I follow her blog regularly. I was really excited about making these brownies but I was not totally jazzed about the results. They were ok but I'm more of a fudgy brownie person and these were definitely cakey. And even though I added more marshmallows than the recipe called for, my marshmallow layer was kind of wimpy. They were definitely tasty and moist and sticky & gooey & all that good stuff but I don't think I'd make them again. Or maybe if I do try a marshmallow brownie again, I will use my own fudgy brownie recipe.

Marshmallow Brownies
http://firstlookthencook.wordpress.com/2010/05/19/marshmallow-brownies/

Ingredients

Brownies:

• 1 C butter, melted
• 2 C sugar
• 1/4 C cocoa
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 C flour
• 3/4 C chopped nuts (if desired)
• 2 1/2 C mini marshmallows

Frosting:

• 1/4 C butter, melted
• 2 TB milk
• 1/3 C cocoa
• 1 1/4 C powdered sugar

Mix together melted butter, sugar, coca, eggs, vanilla and salt. Add flour and mix just until combined. Fold in nuts, if desired. Bake in a greased 9×13 pan at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. IMmediately top with marshmallows and bake an additional 2 minutes. Use a knife dipped in water to spread marshmallows evenly. Cool completely. To make frosting, whisk ingredients together until smooth. Spread frosting over marshmallow layer.

Makes about 24 brownies.

Ina Garten's Brownies

This recipe uses a lot of butter & a lot of chocolate, but then again, it produces a LOT of brownies. I like that! I usually double a recipe anyway but with this one I didn't have to. These brownies are super fudgy. Not cakey at all. The edges are crunchy but still moist. The brownies rose during baking, right up to the edge of the pan, but deflated upon cooling. On Food Network website, these brownies received wonderful reviews but the few negative words were mostly, "too greasy or oily". I don't even get that. They were nowhere near greasy. Very moist...yes, but not at all greasy. Indeed they use a pound of butter, but it also makes about double the amount of the usual recipe. I used up some more of my leftover Easter candy. This time, Reeses peanut butter cups, the mini ones. I simply cut them in half. Since I made 2 separate pans, I only mixed the peanut butter cups into 1 pan. The other pan got milk chocolate chips. Both were fantastic. These brownies taste delish warm, but need to cool completely before they are really sturdy. They produce that nice crackly top that you sometimes get on brownies. I don't know why I didn't line my pans with foil like I usually do but these slipped right out of the pan after they cooled and I cut them. No problems. I guess the only negative about these brownies is the amount of chocolate & butter. They are expensive to make, especially if you are using a high quality chocolate. You could probably experiment with the darkness of the chocolate. I actually used a bit less unsweetened & more semi sweet so mine were probably a bit sweeter but I don't like really dark chocolate. You could use less or more coffee. And of course there are many different mix ins you could use as well.
But even though these are kind of pricey I still highly recommend these if you like a moist fudge like brownie.

Outrageous Brownies

Ina Garten

foodnetwork.com

Ingredients

1 pound unsalted butter
1 pound plus 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
6 extra-large eggs (I used 7 large eggs)
3 tablespoons instant coffee granules (I used 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder)
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups chopped walnuts (I left out the walnuts)

(I baked my brownies in two 9x9 inch square pans. One pan I mixed in Guittard milk chocolate chips & the other pan I used chunks of Reeses Peanut Butter cups)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Butter and flour a 12 x 18 x 1-inch baking sheet. (I used two 9x9 square pans)

Melt together the butter, 1 pound of chocolate chips, and the unsweetened chocolate in a medium bowl over simmering water. (I used a large glass bowl in the microwave at 50% power) Allow to cool slightly. In a large bowl, stir (do not beat) together the eggs, coffee granules, vanilla, and sugar. Stir the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and allow to cool to room temperature.

In a medium bowl, sift together 1 cup of flour, the baking powder, and salt. Add to the cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the walnuts and 12 ounces of chocolate chips in a medium bowl with 1/4 cup of flour, then add them to the chocolate batter. Pour into the baking sheet.
Bake for 20 minutes, then rap the baking sheet against the oven shelf to force the air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough. Bake for about 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. (I removed from oven when moist crumbs stuck to toothpick) Do not overbake! Allow to cool thoroughly, refrigerate, and cut into 20 large squares.

Left-Over Easter Candy Brownies

My kids received WAY too much Easter candy over the weekend. This recipe was a way to use up a little bit of the ton that we have. Of course it will only work with the chocolate variety. Not jelly beans, or Starbursts, or Sour Patch Bunnies......just chocolate. But you can probably use just about any candy bar in these brownies. Some possibilities are, peanut butter cups, Kit Kats, Milky Ways, Snickers, any Hershey bars...things like that. Mix em up! These turned out wonderful. I kept the chunks of candy sort of big so they wouldn't totally melt into the brownies. I'm sure these brownies would be fabulous with nuts as well. I don't really care for nuts in any of my baked goods so I always leave those out. If you decide to make these, I included a note below that says to take brownies out of oven before you think you should. I always have better luck when I remove them when they appear to be underdone. I'm certain that they continue to bake after removal. After they have totally cooled, they really firm up and what appears to have been underdone actually turns into a nice fudgy piece of goodness. And the marshmallow cream?? Well, that's good with just about anything chocolate, I think. You could also replace the marshmallow creme with Dulce de Leche (sp?) or caramel sauce.

Even though the marshmallow creme is added underneath the top chocolate coating, it kind of seeps through during baking.

This photo shows a bit of the caramel filled, I think Ghiradelli candy bar I added plus the chunks of the dark chocolate Dove candy bar I used.

Left-over Easter Candy Brownies

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups baking cocoa
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 6 large eggs, divided
• 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 - 1 1/2 cups chocolate candy bars broken into rough pieces. (I used a variety such as mini Hershey Bars, Dove Dark Chocolate Bar, Caramel filled Chocolate Bar)
• 7 oz jar Marshmallow Creme
• 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips (or additional candy bar pieces)
  

Directions:

PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Prepare 13x9 inch pan. I lined mine with foil and sprayed with Pam.

COMBINE flour, cocoa and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add 4 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla extract; mix well. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Reserve 1 1/2 cups batter. Spread remaining batter into prepared baking pan. Sprinkle with chunks of candy bars over the batter. Put a layer of marshmallow creme over the top. (There is no easy way to do this. I sprayed a rubber spatula with Pam and placed blobs of marshmallow creme randomly over the batter & candy bar chunks - I didn't try to actually spread it out). Beat remaining eggs and reserved batter till light in color. Stir in semi-sweet morsels (or candy bar chunks). Spread evenly over marshmallow cream.

BAKE for 30 to 35 minutes or until center is set. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.

Note: I have better luck if I take these out before I think they are done. They seem underdone when I remove them from the oven but set up after cooled. When they have totally pulled away from the side of the pan, that's too late - they will be a bit dry. Take them out sooner and you will have a nice fudgy brownie.

Frosted Fudgy Brownies

These brownies are completely fantastic. Some of the best brownies I have ever made. I found the recipe on allrecipes.com. I pretty much followed the recipe but did not add nuts and since the brownie part is very dark chocolate, I used milk & semisweet chocolate in the frosting so it would sweeten the whole thing. The recipe calls for unsweetened chocolate in both the brownies and the icing. I'm happy with my results. I did not use my kitchen aid mixer for this recipe. Just used a large bowl and a spatula in my hand and they turned out perfect. The brownies developed that wonderful flaky top, which on their own would be delicious but the icing was absolutely fabulous. I have not made icing like this before and will definitely make it again. I might even make like a triple batch of this icing and frost a whole cake with it - it's that good. Very smooth and creamy. Instead of placing the hot pan/bowl of cooked icing in the fridge to thicken, I placed the pan in the sink in some ice water. I stirred it every few minutes and it was sufficiently thickened in about 15 minutes.

In the mood for chocolate? Try making these today! Wonderful recipe and very easy.

I actually made these last night so they have set overnight. The frosting is still extremely creamy and smooth but not sticky on top.

Yeah, these are definitely fudgy brownies so if you are a cakey brownie lover, then these aren't your thing.

Scrumptious Frosted Fudgy Brownies
allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

8 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened baking chocolate 1 cup butter 5 eggs 3 cups white sugar 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 2 cups chopped walnuts

1 1/4 cups white sugar 1 cup heavy cream 5 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened baking chocolate 1/2 cup butter, softened 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 13x9-inch baking pan. Place 8 ounces of baking chocolate with 1 cup of butter in a microwave-safe bowl, and microwave on High until the chocolate is soft and the butter has melted, about 2 minutes. Stir to mix.
2.	Place the eggs, 3 cups of sugar, and 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract in a large bowl, and beat with an electric mixer on high speed for 2 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to low, and beat in the melted butter-chocolate mixture. Beat in the flour until just combined (do not overmix), and stir in the chopped walnuts. Spread the batter in the prepared pan.
3.	Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with fudgy crumbs, about 35 minutes. Cool in the pan before frosting.
4.	To make frosting, combine 1 1/4 cup of sugar with the heavy cream in a saucepan over medium heat, and stir until the sugar dissolves and the mixture begins to simmer, about 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, and let the mixture simmer for 7 minutes without stirring.
5.	Remove the cream mixture from the heat, and stir in 5 ounces of baking chocolate and 1/2 cup butter, stirring to melt and blend the chocolate. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; whisk until smooth. Place the frosting in the refrigerator and stir every few minutes until the frosting is chilled and thick, about 30 minutes. Frost the cooled brownies, and cut into squares.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

Check these babies out!!! These are outrageous! Sinful, decadent and sooooo delicious! This recipe is a combination of a few different recipes. I originally saw these on...I think "Lovin in the Oven" blog. I took her idea but used my own recipes. I've always loved the Ghirardelli brownie recipe. It's in the Ghirardelli cookbook but also listed on the back of their sweet ground cocoa can. So you take any brownie recipe (even a box mix if you'd like), bake it in a 13x9 inch pan, let the brownies cool and then top them with the eggless chocolate chip cookie dough recipe below. I also melted some semi-sweet chocolate chips with a touch of shortening and piped some on top of the raw cookie dough. The whole combination is unbelievable to me! Let me remind you, I love chocolate chip cookie DOUGH more than I do the actual baked chocolate chip cookie. So this recipe is pretty much next to perfect. Some folks said "Oh they are sooo rich!". (me, rolling my eyes). There is nothing too rich for me. I can eat half the damn pan. No really, I can.

The cookie dough spreads nicely on the cooled brownies. It's not a super thick cookie dough but after chilling, it's nice and firm like a soft fudge.

I usually add extra chocolate chips to my brownies but they were just left plain for this recipe.

I know this photo is out of order but some for some reason, I couldn't cut & paste it properly. But anyway, this was the cookie dough I spread on top. It was the perfect amount for a 13x9 inch pan. I used Guittard milk chocolate chips in it.

I really liked the look of the drizzled melted chocolate on top. Might be pretty with some melted white chocolate.

GHIRARDELLI Brownies
From my Ghirardelli cookbook

4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups Ghirardelli ground chocolate
1 1/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Using a spoon, stir eggs with sugar and vanilla; add butter.
Sift GHIRARDELLI GROUND CHOCOLATE with flour, baking powder and salt.
Stir into egg mixture; add nuts if using.
Spread into greased 13x9 inch pan.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Topping:
1 c. butter, softened
1 c. packed light brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
4 Tbsp. milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
Combine first 5 ingredients in a mixing bowl and cream together. Add flour and stir until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread in an even layer on top of cooled brownies.

Double Decker Fudge Brownies

Oh my word!!!! That's what I have to say about these awesome, delicious decadent brownies. I LOVED this recipe! Just the right amount of chocolatety-ness, sweetness, fudginess, cakeyness & thickness. They were just what I like in a brownie. Everything about them was perfect. I found the recipe in my "Chocolate Chocolate" cookbook by Lisa Yockelson. I love this book but I don't pick it up that often to bake from it. There are sooo many recipes in this book and the photos are lovely. These brownies are a nice cross between a fudgy brownie and a cakey one. They are not extremely dark chocolate but not milk chocolate either. I think everyone should try making these! Yes, they are rich but aren't brownies supposed to be rich? The fudge topping is what makes them so rich but they would not be nearly as good without the fudge topping - in my opinion anyway. The recipe calls for a 9x9 inch pan but I doubled the recipe and used a 13x9 inch pan. There was a little too much batter for the 13x9 so I scooped some out and made some small cupcake size with the extra batter. The 13x9 inch pan ended up with some really thick brownies!

If you really like chocolate, I highly recommend this book. It is PACKED with recipes! It's a very thick book.

I think if you used the 9x9 inch pan that the recipe suggests, your fudge topping would not be so thick. The fudge icing on top starts off being so silky, just like a nice frosting but it sets quickly and becomes fudge like.

The recipe calls for mini chocolate chips to be mixed in the batter but all I had was regular size. The regular size worked fine. They added some extra chocolately chunks to bite into!

These are going to be so difficult for me to leave alone! God these are good!

Double Decker Fudge Brownies
Chocolate Chocolate cookbook by Lisa Yockelson

3/4 cup bleached cake flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
2 sticks (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 ounce bittersweet chocolate
4 large eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
2 teasoons vanilla extract

(Fudge topping recipe below)

Oven 325 degrees
9x9 inch pan - sprayed

Sift cake flour, all purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder & salt onto sheet of waxed paper.

In small bowl, toss chocolate chips with 3/4 teaspoon of the sifted mixture.

In a medium size mixing bowl, whisk the melted butter, melted unsweetened chocoalte, and melted bittersweet chocolate until smooth.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs until blended, about 15 seconds. Add the sugar and whisk till combined, about 45 seconds. Blend in vanilla and melted butter/chocolate mixture. Sift the flour mixture over and stir to form a batter, mixing thoroughly until the particles of flour are absorbed. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Scrape the batter into a prepared pan and spread evenly (batter will be thick). Smooth the top.

Bake brownies for 35 to 40 minutes or until set.

After removed from oven, let the baked brownies stand in the pan on a cooling rack for 3 minutes. Carefully place dollops of frosting (recipe below) on top of the hot brownies. Smooth and spread the icing, being careful not to cut into the top of the brownies.

Let the brownies stand in the pan on a cooling rack for at least 5 hours or until completely cool. The topping should be set and softly firm.

Chocolate Fudge Topcoat

3 3/4 cups, plus 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
Pinch of salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 tablespoons milk at room temperature

Mix the powdered sugar & salt in large mixing bowl.

In a small bowl, whisk the melted butter and melted chocolate until smooth.

Blend in vanilla extract.

Pour the chocolate mixture over the powdered sugar, add the milk and beat for 2 minutes on low speed, using an electric hand mixer or until combined and smooth. Scrape down sides of the bowl once or twice to maintain even texture.

Use the topcoat immediately.

Do NOT overbeat this topcoat. Keep mixer on low speed. Overbeating will create volume and spoil the fudge like texture. LOW SPEED!