Brownie Cupcakes

My friend Tiffany really loves chocolate. Not like in the normal I-like-chocolate-it-tastes-good kind of way. She REALLY really loves chocolate. There's no such thing as too much chocolate in her mind. So for her birthday, I decided to try out these brownie cupcakes from my cupcake cookbook (yes, I have such a thing. don't judge).

Birthday present, courtesy of Jean

The thing I like about this book is that it has different cakes and different icings, and then it tells you how to mix and match the flavors to make unique cupcakes. I chose to pair the chocolate ganche icing with the brownie cupcakes.

For the cupcakes, you need:

• 2/3 cup (4oz) unsweetened chocolate
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs
• 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Now, I changed a few things. I used regular-sized dark chocolate chips because that's what I needed for the icing so I just used the rest for the cupcakes. Why buy more stuff than necessary, right? Right. I also didn't use pecans because I'm just not a fan of nuts in brownies.

First step: Preheat oven to 325 and put liners in the cupcake pan. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a saucepan, and then transfer to a large bowl. (I actually just melted mine the microwave to cut out a dirty pot.) Add the sugar, flour and vanilla, and mix well. Add the eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Lastly stir in chocolate chips. Fill the liners with batter and bake for about 20 minutes.

I made the cupcakes the night before so they had plenty of time to cool before I iced them.

Pre-iced cupcakes

On to the icing. You will need:

• 1 cup (6oz) dark chocolate
  
• 3/4 cup whipping cream

I actually had no idea what whipping cream was or where to find it. I blame it my on lactose intolerance. (Luckily, I managed to find it on my own.) So for the icing, you need to bring the whipping cream to a boil and then pour it over the chocolate. Stir until melted together. Let the icing cool until room temperature before icing. I just spooned some over each cupcake.

I guess you are supposed to let the ganache harden for a while once they are on the cupcakes, and even though I had made them a few hours before, that apparently wasn't enough time to harden. Anyway, they were still really delicious and easy to make.

And most importantly, the birthday girl loved them! :)

One very happy birthday girl

Ho Ho Holidays

Every December my friends and I do a girls-only Christmas party in which everyone brings a gift and a delicious snack. We drink wine, eat great food, share gifts, gossip, etc. Although finding an awesome gift (for less than $15) and coming up with an appetizer is slightly stressful, I still get excited for girl time. Being the last minute kind of girl that I am, I picked up my gift (two really awesome cookbooks!) about 30 minutes beforehand.

Luckily, I had already figured out what treat I wanted to bring. A while back, someone at work brought in these amazing s'more bites. She started selling Pampered Chef products, and if you don't know anything about it, they often make recipes using the products so you will want to buy them. They do have really cool baking/cooking tools, but 1. I feel too young/inexperienced to be purchasing such serious cooking tools and 2. I don't have enough money to buy these "special" products. As soon as I tasted these, I knew I wanted to make them for the party, and they were pretty easy to make (even without the special tools).

So I got this recipe from Pampered Chef's website, but here's what you need:

7 whole graham crackers, 1 cup finely crushed
1/4 cup powdered sugar
6 tbsp butter, melted
4 bars milk chocolate candy, divided
12 large marshmallows

You make these using a mini muffin pan. First, preheat oven to 350°F and then combine graham cracker crumbs, powdered sugar and butter in a bowl. Then spoon this mixture into each of the mini muffin cupcake slots. When I was making them, it seemed like a small amount in each cup, but they end up quite perfect. You bake this for 4-5 minutes and then take them out and put a piece of chocolate in each cup. I actually used chips instead of bars because they were cheaper. I think I might have used to many chips in each slot though because it seemed a little too chocolatey (hard to believe that's possible!). They melted just the same though.

Next you need to slice 12 marshmallows in half so you have 24 halves. Then place one half marshmallow on top of the chocolate and put the tray back into the oven for about a minute or until the marshmallows are soft.

The next part is where I would change a few things. It says to go ahead and melt the remaining chocolate and then dip the top of each bite into the chocolate. (Melt for about a minute and half or two minutes, stirring each roughly every 30 seconds.) I wasn't able to pick up the bites right away because they crumbled. I ended up spooning a little chocolate on each bite, which worked out well especially since I was in a hurry (last minute as always!). With more time, I would recommend waiting for the bites to harden up a bit and then dipping them in the melted chocolate.

So melty

Either way works, but letting them sets allows the crust to harden so you can pick them up and eat them easier. Regardless, these were a huge hit, and I will definitely be making them again! They are so easy and quick to make. I think I will also make some as part of my Christmas cookie packages :)

Final product