Layered Brownies with Browned Butter Frosting

I am just one of those people who don't always keep up with the "fads".  I guess that is why it has taken me so darn long to make browned butter frosting. Now I am left thinking to myself "WHY?" Why did I wait so long and how can I add more hours to my day to work off all the browned butter frosting I will be consuming?!  It is heaven, pure and simple! And when you put it on top of brownies and then top them with MORE chocolate it is pure heavenly bliss! So get going already, you NEED these! I got this recipe at My Kitchen Cafe, of course! I did change them to match what I had in my pantry (my mom's pantry, actually!)

Layered Brownies with Browned Butter Frosting
makes a 9x13 pan of brownies

Brownies:
1/2 cup butter
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1/4 t salt
1 cup flour
1 t vanilla

Browned Butter Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 t vanilla

Glaze:
3 T butter
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 300.  Lightly grease a 9x13 pan and set aside.

For the brownies:
In a small sauce pan, melt the butter and chocolate chips until smooth. Set aside until cool. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, eggs and salt.  Mix with an electric mixer until the eggs are pale and the mixture is thick. Fold in the warm chocolate/butte mixture and then add the flour and vanilla.  Mix until well combined.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes.  The brownies should just start to pull away from the sides.  Cool completely before frosting.

For the Browned Butter Frosting:
Place the stick of butter in a sauce pan and cook over low heat for about 15 minutes or until the butter is a golden brown.  Be careful not to burn it. Once it is a nice caramel brown color remove it from the heat.  Pout it int a bowl and add the powdered sugar, cream and vanilla.  Mix until smooth and thick.  Spread the frosting on top of the cooled brownies.

For the glaze:
Melt the butter and chocolate chips in the microwave or over low heat until smooth.  Pour over the frosted brownies, tipping the pan to cover evenly or carefully spread with a knife or spatula. Chill the brownies until the glaze is set, about 2 hours.

Friendship Bread

I know! It has been FOREVER!  I have been traveling the country and spending some much needed time with my family, my mom especially!  So there you have it, my excuse for lack of posts, take it for what it is worth!

Now, on to yummier (is that a word?) things!

I don't know about you but Spring makes me feel all friendly and stuff.  I think that might be because I can finally venture outside of my house without getting frostbite.  Or maybe it is the sun finally making an appearance, or all the friendly flowers popping up.  Well, whatever the reason I usually end up making Friendship Bread and spreading around the love.  So this time I decided to spread it around on a much bigger level, the only catch is you have to make it yourself!  We have been making this recipe in my family for a while so I have no idea exactly where it came from, I know there are lots of recipes for this bread out there but here is mine...
* The starter for this bread has to sit for 10 days so plan in advance, it is well worth the wait!

Friendship Bread

Starter

2 1/4 t yeast (one package)
1/4 c warm water
1 c flour
1 c sugar
1 c milk

Dissolve the yeast in the water.  In a different bowl mix together flour,sugar, and milk.  Add the yeast mixture and mix well. Store this in a large jar with a lid or in a large zip lock bag on the counter, DO NOT REFRIGERATE!

This bag will take 10 days and makes 2 loaves plus 3 starters to give to friends.  Make sure to put the date on the bag to track the days.

Day 1:  Do nothing
Days 2-5:  Mash, yes, mash your bag 2 times a day
Day 6: Add one cup flour, one cup sugar and one cup milk to the bag and mash together
Day 7-9: Mash the bag and release the air 2 times a day
Day 10:  YES!  Today is the day!  The day you get to make your bread! Follow the direction below...
* If you forgot and today is really day 11 or even 12, do not fret, you can still make your bread*

Squeeze the contents of the bag into a large bowl.  Add one cup flour, one cup sugar and one cup milk to the bowl and mix together.  Now get 3 big baggies and add one cup of this mixture to each bag (this is the starter for 3 more batches for you to share, keep one for yourself if you want to make more bread in 10 days!)

Now, here is what you do with what is left in the bowl...

Add:

1 c oil
3 eggs
1/2 c milk
1 t vanilla

Mix this well and set aside.

In another bowl mix:

2 cups flour
1 c sugar
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1 t salt
2 t cinnamon
1 large box instant vanilla pudding (you can also add other flavors of pudding, chocolate is really good, so is butterscotch)

Add these ingredients to the starter mixture and mix well.

In a small bowl mix together 1/2 cup sugar and 1 t cinnamon.

Spray 2 loaf pans.  Pour 1/4 of the cinnamon and sugar mixture into the bottom of each pan to coat the bottom.  Divide the bead batter evenly between the pans and top with the remaining cinnamon and sugar.

Bake at 325 for one hour.

Restaurant Style Chicken Nachos

I am a huge fan of mexican food in general, but nachos {Good Nachos} top my list. I made these on a whim to copy our favorite Mexican restaurant and they were so yummy! I need to put them on here so that I will remember to make them again! This is more just a list of ingredients because you can make as big a plate of these as you like!

Restaurant Style Chicken Nachos

Chicken, cooked and shredded

green enchilada sauce

cheddar cheese/jack cheese

refried beans

tortilla chips

sour cream

salsa

guacamole

Preheat your oven on broil. Place an oven rack about 10 inches from the top of the oven. Cover a pie plate or cookies sheet with foil and pile on some tortilla chips. Cook shredded chicken in enchilada sauce in a sauce pan until warmed through. Heat up refried beans (I like to add a little enchilada sauce and shredded to these). Put dollops of beans all over the chips. Next add the chicken in the same way. Top with lots of shredded cheese. Place the nachos in the oven under the broiler until the cheese is melted and starts to bubble. Top with sour cream, guacamole, and salsa. We like to gather around and eat off of the same plate just like at a Mexican restaurant!

*You could totally use any kind of meat: shredded beef, shredded pork or make it vegetarian and just use beans!

Nutella Smoochies

I {KNOW!} I am still on this whole Nutella kick! I thought I would get over it, once the Holidays and WND (World Nutella Day) were past. But then I thought, who am I kidding? There are Holidays all year long I could use Nutella for, why limit myself? So I made the trek to Costco and bought myself the motherload pack that only Costco carries and found this recipe from Giada De Laurentiis.

Nutella Smoochies
(24 cookies)

1 3/4 cups flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 cup nutella
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar, plus more to roll the dough in (about another 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 t vanilla
Hershey's kisses

Preheat oven to 375.  In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In another bowl, place the Nutella, butter, and both sugars.  Using a hand mixer beat the ingredient together until creamy. Add the egg and vanilla and blend until combined.  Add the dry ingredients and mix until incorporated.

Shape the dough into walnut sized balls and roll in sugar.  Place the cookies on a cookie sheet.  Bake for 6 minutes.  Remove the cookies, quickly place a kiss in the middle of each, pressing down slightly.  Return the cookies to the oven for another 2-3 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack.

60 Minute Rolls

When I found this recipe over at Lick the Bowl Good, I just knew they were for me! I am a huge procrastinator, especially when it comes to making dinner, I usually put off even thinking about it until 4:00 pm and by then I have to scramble. So, you can imagine my relief when I found these, LIFE SAVER! And it doesn't hurt any that they are super yummy!

60 Minute Rolls

(24 good sized rolls)

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup sugar

2 t salt

3 T butter

3 packages (0r 6 3/4 t) active dry yeast

1 1/2 cups warm water

5-6 cups flour

In a small sauce pan, stir together milk, sugar, salt and butter.  Heat over low until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves.  Cool to lukewarm.

Dissolve yeast in warm water in mixing bowl.  Add the lukewarm milk mixture and 4 1/2 cups of flour to the yeast mixture and mix, using the dough hook, on low for about a minute.  With the mixer still going, add the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time. (I didn't need to add all of it, so just add until the dough starts to clean the sides of the mixing bowl).  Continue mixing for another couple of minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic. (The dough will be slightly sticky to the touch.)

Place the dough into a greased bowl, turning to grease the top.  Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm, draft free place for 15 minutes.  Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 24 equal pieces.  Shape each piece into a ball and place in a greased muffin tin or 9x13 pan. Each 9x13 pan will hold 12 rolls.  Cover the pans with a clean dish towel and let the rolls rise for 15 minutes.

Bake at 425 for 12 minutes or until the rolls are golden brown.  Brush the tops with melted butter when you take them out of the oven.

Conversation Hearts

Happy Valentine's Day!

I found this recipe over at a kid's craft site called the Crafty Cow. This was such a fun, albeit messy, project I did with my family! I really LOVE how they turned out and my kids thought it was so cool to color on them! I think this will be a new Valentine's Day tradition for us!

Conversation Hearts

(this makes a TON!)

1 package (1/4 oz, or 2 t) unflavored gelatin

1/2 cup water

2 t light corn syrup

2 lbs. powdered sugar, plus more for dusting (I probably used about another pound when all was said and done)

Assorted flavoring extracts of your choice

Assorted food coloring of your choice

small heart shaped cutters (I found mine at Jo-Anns in the cake decorating section)

Food coloring markers (I got mine at Wal-mart in their cake decorating department, they are called Food Writers by Wilton)

1. Place corn syrup, gelatin, and water in a small saucepan and heat over low.  Stir until the gelatin is well-distributed and dissolved.

2. Pour the gelatin mixture into the bowl of a mixer fitted with paddle attachments. Add one cup of powdered sugar and mix on low until incorporated.  Continue adding powdered sugar one cup at a time until all 2 pounds is used.  Stop and scrape down the sides as needed.  The dough will change from watery liquid to a stiff dough.

3. Once you have mixed in all the sugar, turn the dough (it will be sticky) onto a powdered sugar coated work surface.  Add more powdered sugar to the top and knead the dough, adding more sugar as needed, until it is no longer sticky and very smooth.

4. Now, decide how many colors/flavors you want and divide the dough into that many pieces.  Add a few drops of color and flavor and knead until it is totally mixed in.  (You may want to use gloves for this as the color can stain your hands.) Roll out each ball to desired thickness and cut out hearts of varying sizes. I covered the balls I wasn't using so that they didn't start to dry before I could roll them out.  Place the heart cut outs on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper and let them dry for 24 hours.  I know that this is a long time but they need to dry that long before you write on them or the ink will run.  Once they are totally dry, write on them with edible markers.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

These little yummies are so easy and such a fun party food. I used ready made and frozen Italian meatballs from Sam's Club and these literally took about 3 minutes to throw together and then about 2 hours in my crock pot! My kids thought they were great too!

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

1(15 oz) can tomato sauce

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup vinegar or cider vinegar

1 T molasses

1 t Dijon mustard

1/2 t chili powder

25 frozen Italian meatballs (or homemade meatballs, cooked through)

Mix all ingredients in your crock pot, except meatballs, until smooth. Add meatballs and cook on low for at least 2 hours (or until meatballs are heated through). You can just let these babies simmer while you party on!