Quad- Brownie

In my book you can’t go wrong with a brownie, especially one that’s made with four different types of chocolate! Yes you heard me right, 4 kinds of chocolate…

First you start with your favorite brownie recipe then you add a half cup each of milk, dark, semi-sweet, and white chocolate chips. If you are feeling like you need just a little more chocolate in your system or it has been a really rough work week please feel free to add a rich, gooey chocolate frosting :)

Here is one of the brownie recipes I use frequently. Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 cup butter, melted
3 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt


Directions

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish.

2.Combine the melted butter, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each, until thoroughly blended.

3.Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Gradually stir the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture until blended. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared baking dish.

4.Bake in preheated oven until an inserted toothpick comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove, and cool pan on wire rack before cutting.

Baklava

Baklava is one of my favorite treats. I mean I like cupcakes and cookies but I can pass those up but when this stuff is around I have NO will power. I mean none, zip, nada. I make it a few times a year for special occasions. I’ll let you in on a little secrete, its super easy once you get it down. It helps is you have another person around to put on the next layer of phyllo as you brush the butter on but if noone is around its totally doable by yourself.

Here is the recipe, try not to eat the whole tray by yourself!!

Baklava

INGREDIENTS
1 (16 ounce) package phyllo dough
1 pound chopped nuts
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup water
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup honey

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F(175 degrees C).

Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9x13 inch pan.

Chop nuts and toss with cinnamon. Set aside. Unroll phyllo dough. Cut whole stack in half to fit pan. Cover phyllo with a dampened cloth to keep from drying out as you work. Place two sheets of dough in pan, butter thoroughly. Repeat until you have 8 sheets layered. Sprinkle 2 - 3 tablespoons of nut mixture on top. Top with two sheets of dough, butter, nuts, layering as you go. The top layer should be about 6 - 8 sheets deep.

Using a sharp knife cut into diamond or square shapes all the way to the bottom of the pan. You may cut into 4 long rows the make diagonal cuts. Bake for about 50 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp.

Make sauce while baklava is baking. Boil sugar and water until sugar is melted. Add vanilla and honey. Simmer for about 20 minutes.

Remove baklava from oven and immediately spoon sauce over it. Let cool. Serve in cupcake papers.

Oreo Fudge Bars

These are so scrumptious and rich! Have a big glass of ice cold milk close by if you attempt to make these! I know they are called Oreo Fudge Bars but I guess I didn’t think they were going to be so fudgey! I ended up chopping these in to bite size pieces because I think had I kept them in the original size I’d cut them it would have been to much to handle. The recipe is as follows.

Oreo Fudge Bars
adapted from thecrepesofwrath
1 18 oz. package of Oreo cookies
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a 9×13 pan with foil and lightly spray with Pam. Set aside 6 Oreo cookies for the topping.

2. In a small food processor grind the rest of the cookies. If you don’t have a food processor, just pound with a rolling pin until the cookies are crumbs. Add the salt
to the crumbs and stir to combine.

3. Melt the butter and gently stir together with the cookie crumb mixture. Press firmly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Coarsely chop the remaining cookies into chunks and set aside.

4. Over a double boiler or in the microwave (careful not to burn the chocolate - I usually melt the chips halfway and then stir them until they’ve melted completely), melt 3/4 cup semi-sweet and 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips together with the condensed milk and vanilla.

5. Stir the chocolate mixture frequently until smooth and spread evenly over the prepared cookie crust.

6. Sprinkle the mini (or regular) chocolate chips and the Oreo cookies chunks over the top of the filling. Press down gently into the chocolate topping. Bake for 20-22 minutes oven.

8. Chill in fridge until completely cold and set before cutting into bars or it will make a big mess

Banana Cupcake

Spring has sprung! Well not quite but it sure feels that way. Here in the Pacific Northwest we have been blessed with the sun after our “artic blast”. In honor of the spring feeling I give to you banana cupcakes.

I know what you are thinking.

“I don’t like banana”.

For years I thought I didn’t like coconut and fish. Let me tell you, when you eat it every day for close to a month, you learn to love it. Now I crave both. Sometimes you need to try something a few times before you really appreciate it.

Try it, I dare you.

Even if you don’t think you like something, be adventurous. Take a bite. Step outside that bubble, but most importantly, don’t let what you think you know hold you back from a lifetime of discovery.

This recipe is for banana bar however follow the mixing directions, scoop and bake like you would any other cupcake.

Frosted Banana Bars

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed ripe bananas

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 10x15 inch jellyroll pan.

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the sour cream and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the batter. Finally, mix in the mashed banana. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.

3. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow bars to cool completely before frosting.

I like to frost with this.