The Brownies above all Brownies

The long awaited Brownie recipe. I'm sure by now you have forgotten my promise to you. Yup, I knew you would... Early last year I gave you a banana bread recipe that I gave in exchange for this brownie recipe. Well, here it is a huge favorite for our friends and family alike. To make this recipe it a little different I decided to give two options for the topping. The first an old fashioned fudge one is the original frosting for these brownies. The second is a yummy mint alternative for all those mint chocolate chip ice cream fans out there. Either way these brownies should please just about everyone. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup baking cocoa
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

       Fudgy Icing

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa
• 1/4 cup milk

               Or

         Mint Icing

• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons creme de menthe liqueur or ¼ tsp of peppermint and 2 Tbs. of milk that have been mixed together in a little cup. If mixture is to dry add a little more milk.
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, combine sugar, flour, cocoa, salt. Combine oil, water, eggs, and vanilla; add to dry ingredients. Spread in a greased 13-in.x 9-in.x 2-in. baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 23-26 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Directions for Icing

Fudgy Icing ~ over warm brownies from oven

1. Melt butter in medium saucepan. Add sugar and cocoa stir until well blended then add milk. Bring mixture to boil for 1 minute. Stir as sauce cools slightly to a thicker fudge sauce. Then pour over brownies and let cool.

Mint Icing ~over cooled brownies from oven

1. In a small bowl, beat the confectioners' sugar, 1/2 cup butter or margarine and creme de menthe until smooth. Spread evenly over the cooled brownies, and then chill until set.
2. In a small bowl over simmering water, or in the microwave, melt the remaining 6 tablespoons of butter and the chocolate chips, stirring occasionally until smooth. Allow to cool slightly, and then spread over the top of the mint layer. Cover, and chill for at least 1 hour before cutting into squares

Red Velvet Cake

This recipe is a very special because it comes from someone that my family loves very much, our NaDonna. She is a woman with a big heart, opened arms, and has welcomed us into her family. NaDonna and her family are truly remarkable people with so much love to give. They have blessed us greatly by sharing all (at one point or another) of their holidays with us. Since our families are scattered across the United States it means so much to us to have a place close by to call home. They have also been available to help lend a hand and a shoulder through many major challenges in our lives, such as when Daddy was gone for Basic Training and both of our children's births. We are so abundantly thankful for this gift of friendship and feel so richly blessed to call them our Georgia family. So, since Valentine's Day is just around the corner I think it’s appropriate that I share a dessert from a woman we love so much. Please enjoy a slice of NaDonna's Red Velvet Cake.

Original Recipe Yield 1 - 8 inch layer cake

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 1/2 cup canola oil or butter
• 1 Tablespoon baking soda
• 1 Tablespoon distilled white vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 Tablespoon of cocoa powder
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 ounces red food coloring ( I didn't put any dye in the cupcakes that are in the photo)

Frosting

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

4 cups confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 8 inch round pans.
2. In a large bowl, mix together sugar, oil, and eggs. Add food coloring and vinegar to buttermilk. Add baking soda , cocoa powder to flour. Add flour mixture and buttermilk mixtures alternately to the sugar mixture. Mix well. Stir 1 teaspoon vanilla into batter. Pour batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until done. Remove from oven, and cool on wire racks.
4. Mix together cream cheese, butter or margarine, confectioners' sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in nuts. Frost cooled cake.

 

Frosted Christmas Cut-Out Cookies

This cookie recipe is very special to me because I've been making it for my cookie party's for many years now. So, as you can imagine I’ve been creating and tweaking this recipe for just as long.  As the story goes it all began during my childhood when one of my Aunts would bring decorated Christmas cookies to our family's Christmas celebration. A few days beforehand she would get together with her sister in laws and they would bake up a storm. I just loved that they did this and 6 years ago I decided to make it an annual event with my friends. The party changes from year to year with the guests sometimes woman and other times children. Once I made them with my sister and a friend of my husband’s for our Baby Shower. My husband at the time was hanging decorations from the ceiling. Shocking as it may be he is not the biggest cookie decorating fan. In any case this has become one of my favorite Christmas traditions. I love it how gives such a wonderful time of fellowship among friends. One of the feisty parts of decorating is how we all get a little competitive, but it's always in good fun with plenty of laughs to go around. Of course the very best part is that we have yummy frosted cookies to take home!

Ingredients


Cookies

1 egg
1c of butter
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2  tsp baking powder
dash salt
3 c. flour


Frosting

1 c. butter (softened)
2 tsp vanilla
1/4-1/2 c. milk
3 2/3 c. powdered sugar


Directions

1. Mix together one at a time egg, butter, sugar, then mix in together baking powder, vanilla and salt. Once mixed add flour a cup at a time.
2. Refrigerate dough for an hour. When ready roll out in between two pieces of parchment paper or tin foil . If using tin foil  spray the two inside pieces with canola oil for easier roll-out.  Bake at 350 degree F for 7-9 minutes (watch carefully). Once cooled decorate 
3. To Make Frosting: Mix butter, vanilla ,milk and powdered sugar(to desired consistency), Once frosting is ready add food coloring. Makes between 2-3 dozen cookies

Fondant Icing

A few weeks ago we celebrated our youngest child’s 1st birthday! Hard to believe my little pea pod is a one year old now. We had decided to keep his party on the smaller side and invite kiddos who happen to have parents that wanted or needed to tag along :) The other little kiddos who came to our little party were all under one years of age themselves. So, with that said it was quite an amusing party. Our sweet little boy was so worn out by the time he finished his cake he looked like he was going to drop right there! Speaking of the cake I stayed up until 11:00pm the night before trying to get it just right. This fondant is very sweet and easy to work with. From what I hear it tastes much better than the kind you can buy at the store. The cake itself is my Carrot Cake. I hope you have fun creating all sorts of interesting and playful cakes!



Original Recipe Yield 2 1/4 pounds of fondant



Ingredients


1/4 cup butter

1 (16 ounce) package miniature marshmallows

4 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 pounds confectioners' sugar, divided



Directions


1.Place the butter in a shallow bowl, and set aside.

2.Place the marshmallows in a large microwave-safe bowl, and microwave on High for 30 seconds to 1 minute to start melting the marshmallows. Carefully stir the water and vanilla extract into the hot marshmallows, and stir until the mixture is smooth. If you are going to add color to your fondant this is the best time to do so because if you wait you may get the dye all over your hands while kneading. OPTION A. If you have a Kitchen Aid Mixer this would be a great time to pour the marshmallow mixture into the KA mixing bowl then begin to add confectioner's sugar a cup at a time, until you have a sticky dough. OPTION B Slowly beat in the confectioners' sugar, a cup at a time, until you have a sticky dough.


Reserve 1 cup of powdered sugar for kneading. The dough will be very stiff. Tip: If the dough gets to dry you can always work a little water into it.

3.Rub your hands thoroughly with butter, and begin kneading the sticky dough. As you knead, the dough will become workable and pliable. Turn the dough out onto a working surface dusted with confectioners' sugar and continue kneading until the fondant is smooth and no longer sticky to the touch, 5 to 10 minutes.

4.Form the fondant into a ball, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. To use, allow the fondant to come to room temperature, and roll it out onto a flat surface dusted with confectioners' sugar.
  from allrecipes

Raspberry Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 box of birds eye frozen raspberries
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup cold water

Directions

1. Combine the raspberries, sugar, and orange juice in a saucepan. Whisk the cornstarch into the cold water until smooth. Add the mixture to the saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Simmer for about 5 minutes, during this time you can mash them with a potato masher when mashed enough stir  constantly, until the desired consistency is reached. The sauce will thicken further as it cools.
3.   Serve warm or cold. The sauce will keep in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.